Archives for 2008

So much for the Rezko angle:

The couple who sold Barack Obama his Chicago home said the Illinois senator’s $1.65 million bid “was the best offer” and they didn’t cut their asking price because a campaign donor bought their adjacent land, according to e- mails between Obama’s presidential campaign and the seller.

The Illinois senator has said he made a “boneheaded” move in involving contributor Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a Chicago businessman, in the purchase of the property on June 15, 2005.

Rezko’s wife, Rita, also an Obama donor, bought the adjoining plot in Hyde Park from the couple, Fredric Wondisford and Sally Radovick, for the $625,000 asking price, the same day that Obama bought the house for $300,000 less than the asking price. Antoin Rezko was under federal investigation at the time.

Rezko was indicted on unrelated fraud charges 16 months later, in October 2006. Obama has since returned about $85,000 in campaign contributions made or raised by Rezko.

The sellers hadn’t previously made their side of the story public out of concern for their privacy, according to Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama’s campaign. They approached Obama’s Senate office 15 months ago and agreed to break their silence now through the campaign out of concern that the story was being distorted in the media, Burton said.

As I was writing this post, I took a break and checked the comments to a previous post, and found this:

John Cole, the troll. Is there any other way to explain the hate you bring to the discussion?

I have a question that is only being touched on. Serious questions are being raised about Obama’s relations with Rezbo (sp?), and implications of criminality. Deny these as you will, but they exist. What happens, assuming Obama’s winning the Democratic nomination for president, when bush’s department of justice indicts him two weeks before the presidential election?

And there you have it, in all the glory it deserves- the Clinton way. Throw shit out there, and even if it doesn’t stick and you can’t even SPELL the name, you have weakened your opponent. Glorious, no? I fully expect the next few weeks will be full of this sort of crap, including more false charges of sexism and whatever other garbage they can drag up (the first time I heard of the similarities between Obama’s speeched and those of Patrick’s was in the comments here from a… Clinton supporter– would it surprise anyone if team Hillary is behind the latest attack on Obama in the press?).

This election can not end soon enough.

*** Update ***

That didn’t take long- they aren’t even hiding behind anonymous sources for the plagiarism BS:

Howard Wolfson, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, today accused Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) of committing “plagiarism” in a speech in Milwaukee on Saturday night.

Wolfson made the explosive charge in an interview with Politico after suggesting as much in a conference call with reporters.

On the call, Wolfson said: “Sen. Obama is running on the strength of his rhetoric and the strength of his promises and, as we have seen in the last couple of days, he’s breaking his promises and his rhetoric isn’t his own.”

If you are wondering how desparate this seems coming from the Clinton camp, and how lame the plagiarism charges are, let me point you to this- Captain Ed is not falling for them.

Some of the commenters are donating 5 bucks every time the Clinton camp does something sleazy. Here is where to donate.

Another Clinton Camp Meme Down in FlamesPost + Comments (148)

On top of the hacktacular garbage that Tom pointed out coming from some Hillary supporters, Hilzoy makes a great point:

When I read this, I dissolved in giggles after the first sentence. It was that part about the Texas delegate selection rules “creating a new obstacle for her” that got me. In what sense are the Texas rules a “new obstacle?” Were they only recently passed? Not as far as I can tell — here, for instance, is a pdf about them from August 2007, which should have given the Clinton campaign ample time to get up to speed. While I was having fun thinking of possible analogies — would I describe the existence of the Pacific Ocean as “creating a new obstacle” for my plan to walk from Baltimore to Beijing?

If you are running your campaign on the double-edged sword of inevitability and competence, you should plan on focusing on at least one of the two. Just something to keep in mind the next time Hillary tells you she is ready to lead on day one and Obama is not.

*** Update ***

Ouch:

So let me get this straight: The Clinton campaign basically decided to bank almost everything on Texas (along with Ohio), without botheing to do due diligence on the delegate apportoinment procedures there? If she does wind up winning the White House, who’s the lucky aide who gets to troop into the Oval Office and deliver the shocking news to her that we’ve got troops in Iraq.

An Excellent PointPost + Comments (47)