Clinton slams Democratic activists at private fundraiser
- added April 18, 2008
- 29 responses
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- Conniepae
- added this
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Hillary sounds like Liebermann to me. He's no longer a Democrat. He's actually campaigning with McCain. Didn't Hillary state, 'She and McCain are the most qualified?' Maybe she was too tired to remember which party she represents?
At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the "activist base" of the Democratic Party -- and MoveOn.org in particular -- for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had "flooded" state caucuses and "intimidated" her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.
"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."
by: Celeste Fremon
At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the "activist base" of the Democratic Party -- and MoveOn.org in particular -- for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had "flooded" state caucuses and "intimidated" her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.
"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."
by: Celeste Fremon
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You're damn straight we are flooding you. Are you just realizing that you do not have the power, Mrs. Clinton? The power is with the people. THAT is what this country is about.
We have made the clear decision. It is not up to you to change the minds of the few to choose you over the mandate of the people. THAT is un-American.-
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- PoliticalGeek
- 4 months ago
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I was not a fan of Barack, but I have decided I have already seen enough of Hillary's spin and it feels eerily similar to Karl Rove and the Bush Administration. Politics is down and dirty, but I am personally sick of dirty politics.
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Hillary Attacks MoveOn.org? How many people know why MoveOn.org was founded?
it was IN DEFENSE of the Clinton Administration and was supposed to "move the country on" from the ultra partisanship during the Lewinsky scandal.
In fact, up until Move On backed Barack Obama, she was singing the praises of MoveOn. now>? She's spreading the same lie Karl Rove did. -
she is in sane in the mem brane.
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- stephenthomson
- 4 months ago
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"Maybe she was too tired to remember which party she represents? "
She represents the Clinton party. I thought everybody knew that. -
When I first read this, I thought it wasn't that big a deal. And in the end it really isn't. But, it is another example of how Senator Clinton really only cares about...well...Senator Clinton. You are either with her or against her. Which is one of the traits I hate most about the Bush Administration.
Is it another shocking "Gotcha" moment in this race? I don't think so. But it's yet another situation where the Clinton campaign responds with lies and distortions.
Ugh. -
They have all played dirty. It sickens me on all sides. However, just as a sidenote not out of support for anyone, but the intimidation of people at caucuses was revealed on other sites by some who were actually at them. It was reported towards John Edwards's supporters as well as Clinton supporters. If that is true regarding Clinton supporters as well it was wrong.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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Move-on seems to be all about winning and not about issues at least not the ones I care about. I have not liked some of the previous candidates they have endorsed because they have been anti-choice, faux pro-choice and less than pro lgbt rights. Worse than that most don't consider those issue important. Well when you are not equal, equality becomes a pretty important issue. So I agree with Hillary Clinton. I would go even further and say Move-on is a patriarchial organization that cares only about candidates winning rather than what they do. The best evidence is that we are still at war in Iraq.
And finally I think Hillary bashers should find some other place to do their screaming. Some of us would like to actually have a dialog or put forth an opinion rather than a hate message. Sometimes I wonder what your mother would think if she heard or read what you say/write. Shame on you.-
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- feminist123
- 4 months ago
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So really, is it so farfetched to believe groups would come together to intimidate Clinton supporters at caucuses, or even vice versa? It is wrong no matter who it is done to. People should be able to vote for their preference in peace without the threat of intimidation regardless of who it is they are placing their vote for. That is why I find the caucus system to be a total sham. On that Clinton may actually have a valid poiint. But God forbid the blogs that spew nothing but hate these days admit that. The hate expressed on blogs alone towards her is enough to make me believe it is possible. There are no angels in this.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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JanforGore -
It's nice to know there are more folks like me out there. It can be lonely. Most of us have just shut up rather than be called names because we support a candidate different from Obama.
It is not farfetched. I have heard many stories about this from people in IOWA and Nevada. Luckily they were ready in Nevada. I just heard from a young woman in PA who was doing some visibility outside an event for Hillary Clinton. Obama's people came enmasse, intimidated them with some strong language and pushed them out of the way. I think you can see into a candidate's heart by the kind of people who work with his campaign. I see only meanspiritedness. In fact, Obama supporters remind me a bit of the anti-choice activists with their zeal, rudeness and mass actions. Now that we realize that we know what to do. Who knew???-
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- feminist123
- 4 months ago
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I didn't want Hillary, or Barack. I wanted a new party, I wanted Al Gore/Chuck Hagel '08. I wanted two individuals who could step above party politics to unite the country. I am tired of ‘us against them’.
Unfortunately, Biden, Dodd and Edwards were closed out of the '08 race by MSM. We ended up with two candidates who divide the Democratic Party, instead of uniting us. -
feminist 123: yes, I read stories of them being shouted down as well, especially the women. I suppose they believed women would be easier targets. It is disgusting all around, and I understand about your retiscence to respond. I do not even post anywhere else but Current now because of it. And though I have come across some Obama supporters who were willing to discuss and accept policy criticisms, on the whole I have to agree with you... nothing but nastiness, crudeness, and pushing aside. Perhaps that is why he can take the high road thus looking 'pristine' and above it. They are doing his dirty work for him. And I may not be supporting Sen. Clinton entirely in this either, but I have never run across a supporter of hers who was that way.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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Jan - I'm all for Gore. But he isn't running. Realistically, we are now down to two choices. My experience has been that Hillary chooses the more derisive tactics. And a more right-leaning history.
And regarding MoveOn - they only do what the people of MoveOn tell them to do. All 3.2 million of us. And sometimes the choices are not pretty. We may have to choose from so-so candidate and poor-candidate. No one candidate will espouse all of the the stances of any one person or group.-
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- PoliticalGeek
- 4 months ago
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Yes, Conniepae, they were run out. And we let them be. Shame on us. That's why when Obama came out complaining about one debate it was questionable to me regarding his motivations. Does he truly want to change it, or was he simply upset at the questions posed to him about past associations? It goes so much deeper than one debate after the first twenty. Where was his outrage when Edwards was pushed out? When Kucinich was pushed out? where was his defense of their right to run in this and his derision of this media then? And as for your last sentence in your comment, right on target. I wonder if that was even done for a reason.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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Who was talking about Mr. Gore running here? I wouldn't want him in this now. He is too good for this political sewer.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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JanforGore, this was definitely done for a reason! The same 'Talking Heads' that gave us Iraq, gave us two divisive candidates. They were the one's who pushed out the other candidates, but the type of coverage they gave to Hillary and Obama.
I brought up Al Gore running as an answer to supporting Obama over Hillary. I didn’t start out wanting either of them, but after watching both of them, I would rather see Obama ‘leading’ us through the next four years. Right now they are the only choices we have. But, down the road either of them will be targets for the Republican Party and MSM. Two against one?
MSM is spinning Barack supporters into a frenzy for a reason, it will divide the Democratic Party further. No matter who wins, one minority candidate will loose. -
It became a political sewer when a certain candidate started campaigning like a neocon. A certain OTHER candidate placed the primary above the the negative talk, and was branded a coward for not standing up for themself.
I don't have to put the names into this. You know who I'm talking about! -
I guess it’s how you define intimidation. Can simply disagreeing with a person’s position be labeled as intimidation? I see it on this site all the time. Certain people love to “flood” the boards with their views and then when anyone disagrees, the same people claim “oppression” or “intimidation”. Current is full of it. So, were people really intimidated or shouted down at the caucuses? I don’t know…maybe. Or maybe the majority of people in the room disagreed with their view and now these people are bitter (there’s that word again) and disappointed that their candidate didn’t win. We certainly seen evidence of that on current every single day, so it’s not hard for me to believe that the same thing happened in caucus states.
Speaking of intimidation,
“And finally I think Hillary bashers should find some other place to do their screaming. Some of us would like to actually have a dialog or put forth an opinion rather than a hate message. Sometimes I wonder what your mother would think if she heard or read what you say/write. Shame on you.”
Am I meant to be intimidated by this because some of my posts are critical Senator Clinton? I’m not…but some people might be.
Shame on who exactly? -
krag2112, DITTO!
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According to this, the Obama campaign had anti nuke activists ousted at a campaign event in SC. Is this progressive? Is this not also slamming activists? I don't like this one bit from any candidate. It sounds too much like Bush and his free speech zones that are anything but.
excerpt:
One of Barack Obama’s slogans is “Turn the Page,” but his campaign seemed to take a page from George Bush on December 9 in South Carolina.
That Sunday afternoon, Obama and Oprah were about to speak at University of South Carolina stadium.
A crowd of about 30,000 was entering.
And three demonstrators against nuclear power were carrying signs to warn of the risk that nuclear waste might be dumped in South Carolina in an Obama Administration.
“Obama, Please Oppose a Nuclear Dump in S.C.,” one sign read.
“Obama, Don’t Let S.C. Become Yucca Mountain,” said another.
“Barack: Stop Supporting Plans to Dump High Level Nuclear Waste in South Carolina,” said the third.
Two of the protesters, Leslie Minerd and Tom Clements, have been opposing nuclear power for three decades now. Clements even worked for Greenpeace for fifteen years, starting in South Carolina, and Minerd has been a freelance anti-nuclear activist in the state her whole adult life.
Elaine Cooper, who was raised in Chicago, became active in the anti-nuclear movement in South Carolina over the last two years.
All three of them were concerned about Obama’s support for nuclear power and his opposition to reprocessing nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain, since South Carolina would likely be the next candidate for it.
So they decided to show up with their signs.
“A couple of people with the Obama campaign said, ‘You can’t take those signs in.’ And we said, ‘Oh, we know, we’re going to stand outside.’ Then the Obama staff told us we had to leave the property,” Minerd says.
“I said, ‘This is public property, and I should be allowed to be here.’ But they repeated their line, and added: ‘If you want to hold your signs, you can go to the Budweiser sign, which is on the Budweiser building three blocks away.’ So I said, ‘Oh, you’ve got a free speech zone set up just like the Bush Administration.’ I couldn’t believe they were acting like Bush.” Minerd and Clements, who were standing together, decided not to move. Then the cops came.-
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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Jan - your handle said something about Gore.
And I agree with krag. Opposition is not intimidation. It is disagreement, argument, debate, sure but intimidation? No. No one here is threatening bodily harm or anything. We just think you are wrong.
And anytime anyone disagrees with Clinton proponents, they call the Obamaniacs or some such silliness. Trust me, we are not blinded by Obama. We see things very, very clearly. Obama was never my first choice but now that it's down to two? No contest.
Hillary's coffers are being filled by big pharma, insurance companies, and the war machine. They don't give out money for nothing. She is Bush-lite as far as I am concerned. -
Yes, I support the man and his work. Support does not always have a political connotation. Not everything revolves around politics... thankfully. As for the intimidation at caucuses reported by Clinton supporters... It was not disagreement, it was intimidation just as it was towards Edwards supporters. And if you look at both their contributions, the greatest amounts are listed for both being from individual contributors.
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- JanforGore
- 4 months ago
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heard her say in regards to Obama's complaining,
"If you cant take the heat, get out the kitchen!" then she remarked laughingly, "I am very comfortable in the kitchen.. haha" Like since she's a woman she's happy in the kitchen... isn't this a bit sexist of her?
Sorry I know this doesnt have to do with this posting it's just been bothering me...-
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- rigellianaire
- 4 months ago
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1. When Lieberman ran for president in 04, he bragged that Bush was just following the plan he and Mcain came up with in 1998, it was called the....
Iraq "liberation" act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Liberation_Act
It was signed into law by slick willie.
Hillary's image consultants are trying to keep her relevant by injecting "controversy"(oooh, ahhhh, ohhh) into the "current" 24hr news cycle....
Thats actually good news for Obama fans, it means she's desperate.... -
To add to jpfdeuce - Whether you like Moveon.org or not, they held a vote by members to decide who to back and Obama won the majority. Since they were originally formed to back Bill Clinton at least we know they're trying to be fair. And if you'll read the recent posts on Current - "I was a Clinton Volunteer" and "I was an Obama Volunteer" you'll see the attitudes and passion inside each camp clearly. These articles aren't about the candidates, but the people running them.
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Thanks for the post Jan. I hadn't seen this report, but the last line in the article makes the point I would.
"The activists have met with members of the South Carolina Obama campaign about the incident and were told the actions were the result of “overzealous campaign staff.” But Minerd says, “I’m still pissed off. I didn’t expect this from Obama.”
I'm sure you know that the Obama campaign is a huge organization. To suggest that Obama himself directed these people to be shut down is nonsensical, as it is to equate this incident to widespread voter intimidation in the caucuses.
You say it wasn't just disagreement. How do you know? -
I feel bad saying this, but...I'm starting to look forward to when this contest between Clinton and Obama is over. It's wearing me out.
But even that won't mark "the end". Up next is the general election, which I expect could get even uglier with the full weight of the Republican machine focused on only one candidate, both of which seem to have a plethora of material to be used against them between Clinton's long and sordid history and Obama's at times unfortunately phrased book... -
of course..this just goes to prove that H. Clinton is part of the "Clinton Party" and she is looking out for herself and not the American People...I will be glad when she goes back home to New York.Texas,Arkansas?
she makes my brain tired by the way she spins harmless events into poison.-
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- Deepthinker
- 4 months ago
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I feel ya Tori! So much drama! Yargh!
Let's hope the general election stays pretty :)
