I think Hillary was framed. If anyone leaked that photo to Drudge, it was probably Obama or MSNBC

[mtnsnake]

If it was Obama's campaign that leaked it, I have to give them high points for the strategy.

Let's face it. Obama was well aware of the photo's existence, considering he posed for it and all.

Well, if you were him, when would you rather have it leaked to the public? Now or in the General Election? The answer is now, obviously.

And what a perfect time to leak it....a couple days before the most crucial debate of the campaign...and a day after Hillary went offensive on him.

Who better to frame for leaking it than Hillary?

I mean, c'mon, why on earth would Hillary leak something like this during the heat of a Democratic Primary, when she knows all it would do is stir up sympathy for Obama among Democrats.

This leakage has Obama written all over it. Get it out in the open well before the General Election so everyone gets used to it, and make it look like Hillary is responsible.

Hillary has been framed. If it wasn't Obama's campaign who leaked it, then my second guess would be MSNBC. The way they're hyping up this debate tonight, they would do almost ANYTHING, and MSNBC is showing this photo about once every 5 minutes, from what I could see this morning before I left for work.

[DemzRock]

1. I'm not so sure...

I don't know who leaked it. Maybe the corporate media is just interested in turning their guns on the leading candidate now.

I witnessed this morning a lady who saw the huge pics on the news stand. Anecdotal maybe, but it could be indicative of what JoeShmoe thinks. She said, "Is he a Muslim? That's just what we need." She didn't bother to read the medium size headline that said, >> Obama accuses Hillary of Smear << or some such thing.

Is this on Texas and Ohio front pages all over, I wonder?

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. I've been told the picture has been around for more than a year

Who is to say that Drudge wasn't holding on to it until he could use it for effect?

[marmar]

3. Umm, I think Mariah Carey can respond to this post better than I can:

"Sweet sweet fantasy baby
When I close my eyes
You come and take me
On and on and on
It's so deep in my daydreams
But it's just a sweet sweet fantasy baby"

[UALRBSofL]

4. Where's the Jennifer Flowers outrage

I suppose CNN is allowed to run a story about Jennifer Flowers but when they run the Obama story it's all Hillary's fault and there wasn't any proof.

[still_one]

8. That is the fault of what the MSM has been for some time

They were exploiting Obama's name, Osama/obama, and other nonesense against Barrack

As far as the flowers story, it is typical of the media to produce something that is B.S.

They prefer to discuss britney, lindsey, and paris, why?

Because the ASSES KNOW THAT THEY ARE PARTIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR US BEING IN IRAQ

For the last 13 plus years the media has been taken over by right wing THUGS, that is why it is happening

[DemzRock]

5. Good Mariah quote

I will be using that one!



"Sweet sweet fantasy baby
When I close my eyes
You come and take me
On and on and on
It's so deep in my daydreams
But it's just a sweet sweet fantasy baby"

[still_one]

6. I don't know who leaked it, but I don't believe it was the Obama camp

no motivation to do so, and even though Hillary is saying that they are doing it to divert attention, that is bull

it is most likely the same or related rethug group that spread through email that Obama was a radical Muslim

I don't like the MSM, but I also doubt it was MSNBC

[yellowcanine]

7. Well the Clinton campaign did not react as if she had been framed. It was more like a

mobster accused of a hit on a rival - "I didn't do it but I am glad he is dead."

[UALRBSofL]

10. Well, since it was just on CNN

I'm sure the Clinton camp will react to it some time today. Or, maybe they wont in the hopes it will just go away.

[yellowcanine]

11. What was just on CNN? I was talking about the Obama "dress" story.

[susankh4]

14. London Times tells us....

That the reaction, yesterday, was "swift."


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3433929.ece

how come the U.S. Media moguls didn't catch it? Oh wait... CNN and Fox.... are squarely in Obama's camp.

[yellowcanine]

34. Maybe the LT has a different idea of "swift" than U.S. media. And the first word out was from

Maggie Williams, who used language of justification, not denial. If they had indeed issued a swift denial it probably would have died quickly. Just another opportunity lost and another day's message getting stepped on by an insignificant dustup. This is the campaign which can't shoot straight. Maggie Williams should probably keep her mouth shut on this stuff and allow someone else to answer this stuff. She has no clue.

[rodeodance]

19. I think they might have been stunned that BO actually BELIEVED Drudge!!

[yellowcanine]

29. Keep polishing that turd. Maybe it will no longer be a turd. No one except some Clinton supporters

thinks that the Clinton campaign handled this well at all.

[Lerkfish]

50. precisely. It was NOT a denial. But it WAS saying, hey if he got stabbed, its his fault he bled.

in a nutshell that was her campaign's response.

and that backfired, as it should have.

[sharp_stick]

9. Leaked?

Really, who gives a shit about that stupid picture? There are a thousand pictures of politicians dressing up in local garb including shrubbo and his stepford wife. This is a non-issue and it's already boring, fortunately it will be gone from the media by Thursday. You can tell it's a slow news day when this trifle makes it into play.

[mkultra]

12. no matter who leaked it, it seemed like clinton misstepped on it

She should have said that tactics like this that engage in race baiting or demagoguery are below her and that she does not approve of these types of stories and will fire anyone on her staff that she catches doing it.


Any statement to that affect and i would have completely believed that she was not involved. He to date comments at this point make me wonder.

[bowens43]

13. yeah right, distortions and smears

this entire campaign and you blame Obama?

Hillary doesn't get it. She's stuck in the 80s/90s politics of personal destruction. This is why she's losing .

[NoBorders]

15. (All Three)

[SeaLyons]

16. I absolutely agree...

the whole thing is dirty stupid politics, and definitely not put out there from the Clinton campaign. Would make NO sense AT ALL. And who gives a damn about that stupid photo.

[rodeodance]

17. Why did Obama believe a RW website?--and then use heresay 'evidence" to diss Hillary?

that is the question that needs answering.


No evidence except heresay---from DRUDGE!! no less

[goldcanyonaz]

41. He believed Robert Novak too.

[Skidmore]

18. I think her staff framed her.

Start looking at those Republicans she hired to manage her campaign. They have a history of dirty tricks campaigning and their firm also handles McCain's campaign.

[VolcanoJen]

20. You'd have a point, if the Clinton Camp hadn't already been busted feeding Drudge.

Tracy Sefl is Hillary's conduit to Drudge. Surely you already knew that?

[yardwork]

31. Got a link for that accusation?

[anigbrowl]

40. here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/us/politics/22drudge.html?pagewanted=print

[yardwork]

46. Snort. Those aren't facts. Those are rumors and speculation.

I don't trust Drudge and I don't trust hit pieces in The New York Times. Both your sources were all for the war in Iraq. If you're supporting Obama I assume you are against the war. Why would you trust Drudge and The New York Times, who published numerous lies about the WMD?

[Lerkfish]

49. I love this tactic: come up with a link, you liar. Then when they do

you attack the link, and by association the person you already attacked.

look, Clinton ran a losing campaign. She trusted really stupid advisors. That's no reason to lash out at other people unrelated to either campaign. You really need to refocus your anger at the "consultants" who basically sabotaged her candidacy from within.

[yardwork]

54. I haven't attacked anybody or called anybody a liar.

I'm not lashing out at anybody, either. What's your problem?

[Lerkfish]

55. basically, my problem is I misread your post.

sorry

[yardwork]

62. Apology accepted! Thanks.

:pals:

[oasis]

21. Leak? Obama proudly posed for the photo.(eom)

[sandyj999]

22. Exactly What I Thought. n/t

[COFoothills]

23. I think it came from the Obama campaign too...

...and I am an Obama supporter.

Brilliant move in that it neutralized the subject at the time of their choosing and convenience before the republicans could get their hands on it.

I'm not a big fan of political dirty trickery, but that was still a pretty smooth move.

[mtnsnake]

24. Yup. It was definitely a smooth move

if it was leaked by his own camp.

MSNBC has been running with it so much, though, that I'm still a little suspicious of them leaking it themselves to hype up tonight's debate to a feverish pitch.

It also could be that the Right Wing leaked it now so they wouldn't be blamed for dirty politics during the General Election. However, I think the Right Wing would much rather have had this picture surface a few months from now, rather than at this time.

Either way, there is no way in my mind that it would make sense for the Clinton camp to leak it. There isn't more than a handful of Democrats who would ever switch their vote based on this picture, and Hillary knows that. Someone is setting her up to take the fall on this, just by the timing of it alone.

[TacticalPeek]

25. There was no leaking. It was in the National Examiner, Free Republic & another blog BEFORE Drudge.

From Raw Story:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Clinton_campaign_wont_investigate_who_sent_0225.html

The photo apparently first appeared in this report on Obama's 2006 trip from an African news agency.

Supermarket tabloid The National Examiner reportedly ran the photo in its Feb. 4 issue. The photo appeared on right-wing message board Free Republic and conservative blog Sweetness & Light before Drudge picked it up. At least one Freeper recognized the need for wider distribution.

"Good Job," a user on Free Republic said Sunday to the person who posted the tabloid pic. "it needs to get to Drudge,M.Malkin,Debbie Schussel etc....I want to see his explanation on this."

My emphasis.

[JackORoses]

26. Hillary had her booby trap explode right in her face. Serves her right.

[Lerkfish]

27. and I think you're bigfoot

nothing to back that up, though.


:sarcasm:

[donheld]

28. Aw the poor saintly Hillary

She wouldn't do such a thing.

[grantcart]

30. tin foil for sale right here tin foil for sale cheap

[EFerrari]

32. Why would the Clinton campaign leak it?

Because they've done this 10 times already.

And you know, if they were framed it's just because by now people accept that they behave that way. They dug this ditch in the first place.

[ProSense]

33. No, her campaign

is in bed with Drudge

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

35. I agree.

It's all because of some ill-thoughtout conspiracy theory.

I like your argument, but there aren't enough chemtrails.

[BringBigDogBack]

36. ASSumptions...

well you know what they say///

[yourguide]

37. So again, if this is a frame up

why hasnt the Clinton campaign come out and side either:

A. This did not come from anyone on our staff

or

B. If this came from anyone on our staff they will be fired, we do not condone these sorts of smear tactics

[totodeinhere]

38. If you are going to make that type of incendiary accustation...

then you should be able to back it up with proof. So can you provide a link please? And if you can't, then you should withdraw that accusation. The last thing that we need in this campaign is unsubstantiated innuendo.

[Mezzo]

39. I notice John McCain's lobbyist hasn't been in the news...

since the right wing Matt Drudge put up this so called smear, and I find that Oooooooooooh so convenient for him. But Hillary did it. suuuuuuuuuuuuure she did.

I ranted bout it earlier. ;)

[AtomicKitten]

42. The only thing worse than the Clinton hit job on Obama is you rationalizing it in this way.

This tactic is not particularly endearing to Democrats and precisely why many, many will not vote for Hillary should she somehow manage to get the nod. Well done.

On edit: Apparently everybody but you knows the Clinton camp shopped this photo around with the note attached: "You wouldn't let Hillary get away with this without scrutiny." Several reporters and pundits have reported receiving this info from the Clinton camp.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4764211&mesg_id=4764211

[Medusa]

56. Some of the Clintonistas can justify anything it seems

if she called him a racial epitaph to his face they'd probably claim it was accurate so therefor it was allowable. Or maybe just do what she did in SC, demean the contributions of thousands of people who marched for change in the 60's and instead gave all credit to LBJ who merely signed a fucking bill.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

43. I concur

[Dogmudgeon]

44. I blame Drudge.

They're tuning up the Mighty Wurlitzer for the big concert this Fall.

--p!

[uppityperson]

52. They did a big one this time. I blame Drudge. eom

[Voice for Peace]

45. I doubt if Obama's campaign leaked it, but I agree Hillary may have been framed

Maybe Drudge already had it, was waiting for an opportunity to
create more division among Democrats, as some on this board may
possibly also be intentionally doing.

[NastyRiffraff]

47. "Send this to everybody you know!"

Yes, those all-too-familiar words were in the notorious "internal" email that Drudge somehow obtained.

THINK, people. Would any campaign say that in an internal email? Jeez. It was most likely from Clinton volunteers, such as a rapid response team, typing from home. And as we all know, there are many ways of "obtaining" such an email.

Drudge's post was meant to hurt BOTH candidates.

Democrats are being played, yet again, by Drudge. And a lot of people are falling for it hard.

[milkyway]

48. LOL! Why would Obama, with the nomination within his grasp, let loose a potential game-changer?

Obama only wants to run out the clock. The contest is over barring anything major about him that dramatically changes the narrative.

This is so ridiculous it's not worth commenting about, but you're not the first to say it.

[mtnsnake]

59. I already explained why in the OP

Would you rather see it leaked by the Right Wing during the height of the General Election? Let's face it, that picture was going to get out there sooner or later. If it was later, it could be deadly for his chances if he were in the General Election.

Leaking the picture now, during the primaries, doesn't hurt him at all because the base will just sympathise with him over it, and they should.

Leaking it during the General Election is a totally different ball game. Then it's swiftboat time because he's going up against a Republican, not another Democrat.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

51. He says he has an email and quotes the message on it. From the Clinton campaign.

If no one in her campaign leaked the email to him, they should demand that Drudge produce it.

[Auntie Bush]

53. Good thinking or reasoning snake.

You got that right. No goddess of peace would do such a thing.

[jgraz]

57. The Goddess of Peas doesn't leak!

:crazy:

[ContinentalOp]

58. Bu bu but...

She's the only one who can possibly stand up to these Rovian tactics is she not? How could she allow herself to be framed like that, what with her 35 years of experience being attacked by the vast right wing conspiracy?

[Straight Shooter]

60. I think it was orchestrated by Robert Gibbs, Barack's communications director.

He's infamous for nasty subterfuge to tear down Democrats.

I'm not so sure about that rat bastard Plouffe, either, who worked on the Gephardt campaign in 2004. There was something weird going on between Gephardt and Kerry before Dean got taken down.

[Seabiscuit]

61. I think the photo came from the repubs or McCains people. They are starting early on their attacks.

And frankly I don't trust Drudge to tell us the real truth any way.