Obama says Clinton not attacking him but attacking his supporters [View All]

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Transcript of the NBC Nightly News report

LEE COWAN reporting:

Well, good evening, Lester.

There's a subtle new argument that Barack Obama has been using on the campaign trail now, not only here in Ohio but also in Texas, that's starting to get some traction. He says it's not so much what Hillary Clinton says about him by way of criticism but what she's implying about his supporters that he says should get them pretty riled up.

Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Presidential Candidate): All right, next. So here's where we cut it, huh?

COWAN: At a wallboard plant outside Cleveland this morning, it was all about economic specifics for Barack Obama, especially NAFTA and whom he thinks is to blame.

Sen. OBAMA: But let's be clear, it was her husband who got NAFTA passed. In her own book, Senator Clinton called NAFTA one of Bill's successes and legislative victories.

COWAN: Using her own words against her has proven fertile ground for him of late, especially as he tries to rebut Hillary Clinton's claim that he's all talk and no action.

Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, Presidential Candidate): It's time that we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions.

COWAN: The Illinois senator has now tried to argue that it's not so much an attack on him as it is his supporters. He first tried it out at the debate Tuesday night in Austin.

Sen. OBAMA: And the implication is is that, you know, the people who have been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional.

COWAN: And now it's found a home in his stump speech, as well.

Sen. OBAMA: Some of these folks make fun of y'all. They say, `Oh, look at these folks that are being duped.'

COWAN: The attacks on Obama's supporters are hardly subtle. At a Hillary Clinton event in Ohio this week, one of her supporters went on almost a tirade.

Mr. TOM BUFFENGARGER (Machinists Union): I've got news for all the latte drinking, Prius driving, Birkenstock wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak. This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet not a fighter.

Group of People: (In unison) We want change! We want change!

COWAN: The characterization that his supporters are blindly following the Illinois senator has even gotten attention overseas, with one newspaper (the tabloid The Sun)suggesting the crowds are almost "cult-like."

Now however they're characterized, they are certainly energetic. And the more they are criticized for that enthusiasm, Lester, the more it just seems to galvanize their cause.

HOLT: NBC's Lee Cowan tonight. Lee, thank you.

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So it's not the press who have been fanning these flames ....er rather....uh they don't mention that now do they?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4749723&mesg_id=4749723