Clinton campaign Iowa chair pushes Obama ‘Muslim’ smear
We’ve come to expect right-wing activists to push offensive, bogus smears about Barack Obama being a secret Muslim (he’s not), having attended a Muslim madrassa (he didn’t), and being some kind of Islamic Manchurian candidate (please). But no one expects Democratic Party activists supporting rival campaigns to stoop this low.
Regrettably, that’s exactly what’s happened in Iowa.
A day after the Hillary campaign hit the Obama camp for bullying voters in nasty phone calls, the Hillary crew has just acknowledged that an Iowa county chair volunteering for the campaign passed along the now-notorious email that smears Obama as a Muslim by repeating the false claim that he attended a madrassa as a child.
The Hillary campaign confirms that they are asking the county chair to step down from the campaign.
A Kos diarist in Iowa, who supports the Dodd campaign, wrote, “Over the past week or so, I have received two of the most hateful hit pieces on Obama parroting right wing talking points. One was forwarded to me from a Clinton county chair.”
To their credit, Clinton aides acted quickly to address the situation. Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said today, “There is no place in our campaign, or any campaign, for this kind of politics. A volunteer county coordinator made the mistake of forwarding an outrageous and offensive chain e-mail. This was wholly unauthorized and we were totally unaware of it. Let me be clear: No one should be engaging in this. We are asking this volunteer county coordinator to step down and are making it clear to every person involved in our campaign that this will not be tolerated.”
That said, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Just over the last week, Clinton has been waging a scorched-earth campaign against Obama, throwing everything possible at him, including questioning his character and integrity (and his kindergarten essays). At the same time, the Clinton campaign has been aggressive in insisting that the Obama campaign is engaged in a series of “dirty tricks” in Iowa.
And now this chain email issues comes to the fore.
Earlier this year, an Obama aide, on his own time, created the infamous “Big Brother/1984” ad criticizing Clinton. The campaign denied involvement, and when Obama’s advisors learned that one of their own was responsible, they fired the aide quickly, arguing they didn’t know. Without any evidence to the contrary, Obama’s team deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Likewise, I find it very hard to believe the Clinton campaign was involved in this email smear. Top aides insist they weren’t involved, and they, too, deserve the benefit of the doubt.
It’s hardly reasonable to hold Clinton responsible for an email sent by one of her county chairs in Iowa, but the incident nevertheless raises the ugliness factor of the race several degrees — and further undermines Clinton’s claim to the high ground on campaign decency.
For what it’s worth, here’s the actual email, practically every word of which is demonstrably false:
*_Most_* of this appears to be true! *I shutter to think!! *Scary guy!
**We checked this out on ‘snopes.com’. It is factual. Check for yourself. ***
If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts…this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States…better heed this and pray about it and share it.
THIS DEFINITELY WARRANTS LOOKING INTO. THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED, ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’. ALMIGHTY GOD, NOT THE GOD OF The KORAN.
We checked this out on ‘snopes.com’. It is factual. Check for yourself.
Who is Barack Obama?
Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel , Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita , Kansas .
Obama’s parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, ‘He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.’
Obama’s political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama’s introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son’s education.
Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta .
Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States , Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran (Their equivalency to our Bible, but very different beliefs)
Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential candidacy.
The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level – through the President of the United States , one of their own!!!!
Please forward to everyone you know. Would you want this man leading our country?…… NOT ME!!!
Truly ridiculous.
This person is a bad apple. Good thing the Clinton campaign got rid of him.
A smart way to respond to the problem.
There’s, of course, no evidence that the Clinton campaign was behind the Madrassa hoax as Insight Magazine suggested…
But Jonathan Alter wrote a piece at the time last January which included this from Harold Ickes…
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If they [bloggers] can finger you trying to drop poison into the well, you’ll be hurt by it,” Ickes adds. “Stuff moves out so quickly that campaigns have to exercise much more control over their negative information apparatus.”
~~~~~~~~~
It’s certainly in no way an admission that Hillary Clinton’s “negative information appartus” was behind the madrassa hoax. But, it’s hard not to read that as an affirmation that “well, you know, maybe we throw around a lot of nasty ideas and if people got wind of some of them, it wouldn’t look so good for us.”
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16842036/site/newsweek/
“this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States…”
obviously they were referring to how scary it would be to have a muslim as president (i don’t). but, we could obviously use this same quote to refer to the present bush administration, etc. etc. etc.
I agree the timing couldn’t have been worse. What an ignorant thing for this volunteer to do.
It is mildly amusing, though, that Clinton volunteers include(d) at least one flunky who doesn’t know the difference between ‘shutter’ and ‘shudder,’ and worse, who thinks “THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED, ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’.”
This volunteer wasn’t exactly a bastion of liberal, progressive thinking. The Clinton campaign did the right thing forcing them to step down.
Maybe now Barack Obama will step down for personally repeating that 20-year plan smear about Clinton (repeatedly repeating, in fact).
Swan, its a “her”, not a “him.”
No definitive word, but it seems as though the culprit could be Judy Rose, of Clinton’s Iowa Leadership Council or whatever its called…
Ben Smith has more, check it out.
I went to the Ben Smith link and read the first few comments – yikes. The Hillary-haters are out in force over there.
Maybe now Barack Obama will step down for personally repeating that 20-year plan smear about Clinton (repeatedly repeating, in fact). -CalD
To begin with, I know people are taking what Obama and his spokesperson said and linking it up with the Gerth hit piece on Clinton, but I think that’s going to far with it. On the whole, it’s not much of smear to say that someone has been planning to run for President for several years.
I know there is an underlying suggestion that the long term desire for power is bad (which Clinton also tried to insinuate in a recent mailing), but I think it’s entirely too subtle for most people to ‘get.’ I’m willing to bet that Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar isn’t on most American’s ‘have read’ shelf.
On the other hand, what’s is your comment doing in this thread? What do Obama’s statements about Clinton’s ambition have to with a Clinton volunteer forwarding an offensive and patently wrong email about Obama’s religion? If I didn’t know any better, I might accuse you of trolling.
Actually, Ben Smith has really drilled down on this pretty well. First, re doubtful’s point at #4, I don’t think the Clinton staffer wrote anything – it appears it is all a forward of someone else’s material.
Second, it explains a lot that this all comes from Jones County, Iowa. It is very rural and 97% caucasian. Even though registered Dems outnumber registered R’s, no-party’s way outnumber both and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone truly to the left there; the highways there are thick with extreme anti-abortion billboards (pictures of fetuses, “Choosy Mothers Choose Life” and other such oddities) and lots of advertising for God, lots of “support the troops” and “these colors don’t run” sort of stuff around.
I don’t think the Clinton staffer wrote anything – it appears it is all a forward of someone else’s material. -Z
To me, passing on such drivel means you assume some ownership of it, spelling mistakes, content, and all. They may not have authored it, but they accepted it. I didn’t meant to imply they wrote it, only that they agreed with it.
Karl Rove is now running the Hillary campaign.
Exact same thing they did to McCain in So. Carolina in 2000.
Put it out, then say how upset they are someone did that.
The word gets out, and no one listens to their denial. (lie)
Hillary’s camp is behind this entire thing.
Since the email claims that Snopes.com verified their claims, I thought I would check that out for myself. Nope. Snopes debunks all their claims.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
This idiot passed on a junk email forward that has been circulating around the Internet for months. He could have bothered to verify it but clearly didn’t. Either he was really stupid and lazy or a GOP plant. I’m leaning toward GOP plant.
Good for the Hillary campaign for getting rid of him. I hope they’re doing more than just asking him to leave, like telling him to leave, at least.
Doubtful @ #10 wrote:
I couldn’t have said it better myself. And by remarkable coincidence, that’s what my previous comment was doing on this thread, Doubtful. Since you asked.
11. On December 5th, 2007 at 5:19 pm, Ken said:
Karl Rove is now running the Hillary campaign.
What the hell is this? Conspiracy theory Wednesday? Drag out one lie so now it’s time to trot them all out like so many supermodel lies on a razor thin runway?
Karl Rove is NOT running the H. Clinton Campaign. Obama is NOT a Muslim. America is not a CHRISTIAN country and if it were we wouldn’t have all those backbiting gossiping evangelical white folks spreading stupid crap like this.
Makes you wonder if campaigns ought to give some guidance to their campaign managers so they won’t go off the deep end. The guy was a volunteer, and Lord knows what segments exist in the Iowa population that he thought would be enticed to vote for Hillary by his email, but EVERY campaign needs class. This weren’t class…
Facts
1. The HRC campaign did not of its existence.
2.The staffer did receive the email. 3
3.But the staffer forwarded it to NO ONE.4.
4. Instead he wrote back to the sender that it was disgusting email.
5. The HRC campaign asked the volunteer county chair to step down..
They did everything they should. Indeed I am amazed that you say
“….and further undermines Clinton ’s claim to the high ground on campaign decency.” There is no justification for such a statement. This inciident actually proves the opposite of what you say. That when confronted by wrongdoing by one of their own they do something about it. I would hope you are big enough to change your opinion. Your conclusion was condemnatory and unwarranted. She deserved the praise you heaped on Obama below, undeservedly it seems.
Fact 6. the Obama campaign did not fire Phil Vellis. Blue State Digital, Vellis’s employer, who only did technological work for Obama, not political work, fired him for violation of their policy of doing outside political work for anybody
“Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately.”
Read the rest of it below.
It is of something that it much too common in the blogosphere. Condemn her for something she didn’t do, don’t praise her when she has scted both honorably and progressively. Laud him for good things he didn’t do, and forgive him for all the bad things he does do….particularly if it’s against her.
Steve….you’re a reasonable guy…I think if you examined your responses you would see that this is exactly what happens with you and many others. ” Blue State Digital managing partner also responded:
Statement from Thomas Gensemer, Managing Director, Blue State Digital
This afternoon, an employee at our firm, Phillip de Vellis, received a call from Arianna Huffington of “The Huffington Post” regarding the “1984” video currently circulating online. Initially, de Vellis refused to respond to her requests. He has since acknowledged to Blue State Digital that he was the creator of the video. Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately. Blue State Digital is under contract with the Obama Campaign for technology pursuits including software development and hosting. Additionally, one of our founding partners is on leave from the company to work directly for the campaign at headquarters. However, Blue State Digital is not currently engaged in any relationship with the Obama Campaign for creative or non-technical services. Mr. de Vellis created this video on his own time. It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign. I have spoken with David Plouffe, Sen. Obama’s campaign manager, to inform him of this action and am appreciative of his understanding and ongoing support of our work. We wish Mr. de Vellis well in his future endeavors.”