"Today in the crowd I was given two mailings that Sen. Obama's campaign has been sending out. … I have to express my deep disappointment that he has continuing to send false and discredited mailing with information that is not true to the voters of Ohio," Sen. Clinton said this morning.
Then it got really ugly.
The mailings, which are actually quite old, say Clinton saw NAFTA as a "boon" for the American economy. And say her health care plan mandates people to get insurance even if they can't afford it.
"He says one thing in speeches and then he turns around and does this," she said when addressing the issue of the mailings.
"We have consistently called him on it. It has been discredited. It is blatantly false, and yet he continues to spend millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods," Mrs. Clinton said.
"That is not the new politics that the speeches are about. It is not hopeful, it is destructive particularly for a Democrat to be discrediting universal health care by waging a false campaign against my plan, to be talking about NAFTA in a way that tries to make him appear to have a plan when he does not."
Sen. Clinton said the health care mailing was similar to mailings that health insurance companies have sent out attacking universal health care proposals in the past:
"It is the worst kind of politics. Number one, it is wrong and untrue, and number two, it is exactly the talking points that the health insurance industry and the Republicans use on a daily basis.
"Sen. Obama knows that it is not true that my plan forces people to buy insurance even if the can't afford it. … My plan has more financial help my plan has been evaluated by independent experts as actually achieving universal coverage and providing the financial assistance so everyone can have health care.
"This mailing about NAFTA saying that I believe NAFTA was a 'boon' quoted a newspaper [Newsday] that has corrected the record. We have pointed it out, the newspaper has pointed it out. Time and time again you hear one thing in speeches and then you see a campaign that has the worst kind of tactics reminiscent of the same sort of Republican attacks on Democrats.
"Well, I am here to say that it is not only wrong, but it is undermining core Democratic principles. Since when do Democrats attack one another on universal health care?"
— Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (20)
Obama is full of rethoric.Ultimately he is the most dangerous type of politician. One who will use whatever means are necessary to gain power.
It is unfortunate that he will shatter the hopes of all the people who see him as our new savior.
Posted by peter | February 23, 2008 2:22 PM
Quoting Hillary from the article:
Number one is a valid criticism, if correct. But No. 2 is nonsensical. Just because a vested interest or an opposing party says something does not mean that it is necessarily wrong, or that saying the same thing is somehow a dirty trick. No. 2 is not a reasonable objection, even if true.
Posted by William from Texas | February 23, 2008 2:58 PM
Hillary can't take her own medicine.
Posted by dadpasadena | February 23, 2008 3:03 PM
I guess Hillary did not understand Michael Moore's film "Sicko"; it is insured people who pay their premiums each moth who are denied coverage by health insurance companies.
Posted by Bud | February 23, 2008 3:19 PM
Hillary's tirade would be hilarious if it wasn't such a serious issue. Her health care plan would mandate that everybody carry it, rather they can afford it or not. Mr. Obama's plan is NOT a mandate!
Hillary's screaming and hollering is not going to get her any votes. When I heard her on CNN, I thought to myself...hmmm, she's totally lost it. I don't think I want a President who yells and screams everytime something does not go her way or when her feelings are hurt. Then on the other hand I figure, if she's going to go out, she'll go out with a bang!
Obama 2008!
Posted by Deborah | February 23, 2008 3:37 PM
Hmmmm, isn't this precisely the kind of attacks that Hillary was using on Obama WHEN SHE HAD THE MONEY TO DO IT? Maybe she's going to cry again? God help us if she ever gets the nomination!
Posted by quinka | February 23, 2008 3:48 PM
Just as I was getting warmed up to Hillary---I thought she found her voice again--she has once again proved to me that she cannot be trusted to tell the truth. The FACT IS SHE SUPPORTED NAFTA. NOTHING IN THE MAILING SHE IDENTIFIED WAS INACCURATE. She attacked Obama's plan, why can't he?
Time to Quit Hillary, Pls exit with dignity.
Posted by Jane Shaw | February 23, 2008 4:33 PM
How about whether or not what Obama said was TRUE? You've only told me what claims were made and how each side put their spin on it, but you haven't bothered to take the two seconds to go to Hillary's web site, figure out what her health care plan actually IS, and then report it. And it's not just this newspaper - I've read the articles about this issue from other major news sources and not one of them thought it was important to tell its readership whether or not the allegations were TRUE.
Shame on YOU, media. Shame on you for only reporting the rhetoric flung back and forth between the opposing sides. Shame on you for misleading the public by discussing the election as if it was a popularity contest and as if the issues don't really matter. Shame on you for only allowing candidates with pretty faces and a pro-status quo agenda to get their message through your ideologically-filtered airwaves.
If we could impeach the "fourth estate," we would have done it decades ago.
Posted by Nolan | February 23, 2008 4:57 PM
Oh yes, Hillary's health care plan forces everyone to buy her plan, even if you don't want it or can't afford it. Yes, Hillary, tell us how those who can not afford it will pay for it? Or who will pay for them and how much that is going to cost the taxpayer in year 1 and in year 10.
And on NAFTA, yes, Hillary you were a supporter of NAFTA and helped bring pressure on Congress to pass NAFTA by recruiting provate companies to put pressure. Some of us have not forgotten what you did as part of your 35 years of experience. You have no hesitation accepting credit for the good things that happenned in your husband's administration. Well, you can't just take credit for the good and pretend you were not part of the bad. We want to know why you supported NAFTA during your husband's administration. There are plenty of news reports published about that then, and don't tell me they are all wrong!
Posted by PJudice | February 23, 2008 5:40 PM
President Clinton said at a recent rally that Republicans want to jail women who've had abortions as well as their doctors. After 12 years of control of Congress, nothing like this has ever been said by a Republican or acted upon. It's a serious lie. It's fear-mongering and has no basis in fact. No one in the media called him on it. The Clintons can manipulate and lie, but when it happens to them, they are outraged and hurt. They've played hardball from day one, and now a democrat is playing hardball with them....far from the "Republican hit machine" and "right wing conspiracy." Their sense of ENTITLEMENT TO POWER is staggering and produces DENIAL.
Posted by Meredith | February 23, 2008 5:49 PM
Hillary can't stand the truth, can't handle the truth. She's sinking fast. I'm embarassed for
her...Shame on Hillary.
Posted by Marvjn Mordkoff | February 23, 2008 6:33 PM
Does this ice queen even clarify her health care plan? no. she will have to force even the poor to buy healthcare because she can't create a plan to address the freeriders who will use the medical system but not pay for it. her plan will use the "government stick" to force the nation onto universal coverage.
Hillary is at the grasping point. she's promising the moon and calling fouls like a 4 year old.
Posted by Matt | February 23, 2008 8:34 PM
HEY
IF HILLARY IS NOT YOUR MAMMA
VOTE FOR B OBAMA
Posted by SAMMY | February 23, 2008 10:26 PM
Hillary is a dangerous person. She and Bill will do anything to return to power. Regarding Health Insurance, she would never get a plan passed by the Congress because she doesn't know anything about cooperation. She is always saying in the campaign, "When I am President, the first thing I will do is submit a bill to------" Presidents don't submit bills. She has had her chance in Congress- she flunked that test. Also, when she had a chance to get the health problem solved, she tried to impose her thinking and conducted everything in secret. Ditch her now, while there is still time. Vote for Obama.
Posted by Peter Lortz | February 24, 2008 12:08 AM
Today's episode on Hillary's tantrum raises one important question. The fliers in question have been in circulation for quite a while. It is naive to suggest that she did not know the contents earlier as I am sure her campaign knows what is happening from the opposite camp in every State since long. So the dramatics of anger will not play well with smart voters who saw that in the debate at Austin she had gone out of her way to praise Obama. This is the problem of the Clintons. While they may be crafty politicians, their personal demeanor is increasingly getting questionable. Recall, the racist rant of her husband after the SC primary regarding Jesse Jackson. This is not presidential nor elder statesman like.
Posted by Ardie | February 24, 2008 12:12 AM
HA!
Posted by Anonymous | February 24, 2008 3:22 PM
hill really seems like she losing it. over reacting and overly emotional to everything she has to deal with. cracks are showing.
she just doesn't have the right stuff to be prez. put a fork in her,
she's done...............
Posted by spacejunk65 | February 24, 2008 4:24 PM
Obama is not our savior, even though he parrots JFK and Deval Patrick. He and his supporters only pretend to be bringing everyone together as long as they are advancing his agenda. Obama is our poorest choice.
Posted by JFK | February 24, 2008 5:10 PM
It's funny how no one has brought up how Obama voted on the issues while in the Senate!!! You think it be important for everyone involved...
Posted by Larry Kegel | February 27, 2008 7:47 PM
When can we hear more constructive talk about bread and butter issues ? Perhaps the Election forum may be used to address issues like global warming,Alternative Energy Sources, World Peace , solving the international money crisis on collapsing global money markets?
Errol Smythe.
Posted by Errol Smythe | March 29, 2008 10:34 AM