Ottack2012: When Bubba Met Obama’s Bus

Obama’s Outlandish Attacks On Free Enterprise Have Gone Off The Rails Before, Just Ask Bill Clinton

Today, President Obama Joins President Clinton For Fundraisers In New York.“‘Barack on Broadway’ is one of two events that day that will join Obama and Clinton. The two presidents will also attend a dinner featuring a performance by Jon Bon Jovi.” (“Stars Lining Up For ‘Barack On Broadway’ Fundraiser,” The Associated Press, 5/26/12)

IN 2007, THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN WENT TO EXTRAORDINARY LENGTHS TO ATTACK BILL CLINTON’S WORK IN PRIVATE EQUITY

In 2007, The Obama Campaign Attacked Bill Clinton’s Work For Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies, A Private Equity Firm. (“Yucaipa Companies: ‘Poster Child For The Ills Of Political Donations And Business,'” Obama For America Research Briefing, Accessed 5/27/12)

• Read The Memo Here

• “The Yucaipa Companies, LLC Is A Principal Investment Firm Specializing In Private Equity And Venture Capital Investments.” “The Yucaipa Companies, LLC is a principal investment firm specializing in private equity and venture capital investments. It prefers to invest in supermarket chains, cafeterias, grocery stores, and other food-related businesses.” (Company Overview Of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC, BusinessWeek, Accessed 5/27/12)

The Document Was Circulated By The Obama Campaign Along With Another That Referred To Then-Sen. Hillary Clinton As “(D-Punjab).” “These documents – with their bold type and grabby headlines, including one that referred to Mrs. Clinton as (D-Punjab) – are text-book examples of old-school opposition research practices. Second, the documents include what could be construed as attacks on Mr. Clinton, who is probably the most popular person among Democrats these days.” (Adam Nagourney, “The Backstory On Obama-Clinton Attack Memos,”The New York Times, 6/15/07)

• Obama Blamed His Research Team For Releasing The Memo Calling Clinton A Senator From Punjab. “‘It was a screw-up on the part of our research team,’ Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, said during a meeting today with Des Moines Register editors and reporters. ‘It wasn’t anything I had seen or my senior staff had seen.'” (Thomas Beaumont, “Obama: Campaign’s ‘Punjab’ Remark Was ‘Stupid’,” The Des Moines Register, 6/18/07)
• Obama: “I Told My Staff That I Don’t Want Us To Be A Party To These Kinds Of Distractions Because I Want To Make Sure That We’re Spending Time Talking About Issues …” “Obama later distanced himself from that comment, saying he had been flying from Los Angeles to Iowa at the time. ‘I told my staff that I don’t want us to be a party to these kinds of distractions because I want to make sure that we’re spending time talking about issues,’ he said.” (John Mc Cormick, “Obama Team Can Play Rough,” The Chicago Tribune , 6/22/07)

The Obama Campaign Said That “Burkle’s Company Let Ice Intended For Katrina Victims Melt.” (“Yucaipa Companies: “Poster Child For The Ills Of Political Donations And Business,” Obama For America Research Briefing, Accessed 5/27/12)

• It Also Alleged Clinton Got Rich Off Yucaipa’s Investments In “Astrological Software And The Distribution Of Playboy.” “The critique also stressed how rich Bill Clinton has grown from his friendship with the California supermarket mogul Ron Burkle. Ron lets his pal Bill fly on his plane and brought him into his Yucaipa fund, which, the Obama memo tut-tuts, has investments in astrological software and the distribution of Playboy.” (Maureen Dowd, Op-Ed, “Can He Crush Hillary?” The New York Times, 6/17/07)

THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN HAS PREPARED AN ENCORE PERFORMANCE OF THE SAME SLASH-AND-BURN NEGATIVE POLITICS

The Clinton Campaign Was Frustrated By Obama’s Attempts “To Present His Campaign As Above The Kind Of Attack Politics That Mr. Obama And His Aides Say Has Led To Widespread Disillusionment …” “A copy of the document was obtained by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, which provided it to The New York Times. The Clinton campaign has long been frustrated by the effort by Mr. Obama to present his campaign as above the kind of attack politics that Mr. Obama and his aides say has led to widespread disillusionment with politics by many Americans.” (Patrick Healy, David D. Kirkpatrick and Adam Nagourney, “To Avoid Any Conflict, Clinton Liquidate Millions In Holdings,” The New York Times, 6/15/07)

In 2012, Obama Will Be A “Brass-Knuckled, Pipe-Hitting, Red-In-Tooth-And-Claw Brawler Determined To Do What Is Necessary To Stay In Power In Other Words, A Politician.” “Whichever side is right, one thing is undeniable. For anyone still starry-eyed about Obama, the months ahead will provide a bracing revelation about what he truly is: not a savior, not a saint, not a man above the fray, but a brass-knuckled, pipe-hitting, red-in-tooth-and-claw brawler determined to do what is necessary to stay in power in other words, a politician.” (John Heilemann, “Hope: The Sequel,” New York Magazine, 5/27/12)

Abandoning The Brand Of Hope And Change, Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod Voluntarily Admitted That Obama Ran A Negative 2008 Campaign And Said He Would Do The Same In 2012. “Axelrod disputed the revisionist notion that Obama ran a strictly positive campaign four years ago – just ask Hillary Clinton and John McCain if they agree that Obama played patty-cake – and said the campaign is doing what it did in 2008, drawing a contrast between Obama and the opposition.” (Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Negative Feedback Loop,” Politico, 5/30/12)

• Axelrod: “It Would Be Malpractice Not To Do It This Way.” “The difference now, he said, is that the pundit class is holding the president to a phony, Catch-22 standard. ‘Yeah, it would hurt Obama if he were to say things he didn’t believe, if he were to switch positions on a variety of issues from week to week,’ he told POLITICO. ‘But, no, I don’t see a diminution of affection or support for the president, and I think people expect him to make the case. … It would be malpractice not to do it this way.'” (Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Negative Feedback Loop,” Politico,5/30/12)

Obama’s 2008 “Hope And Change Campaign Was The Happy Cover On A Dogged, Overwhelming Attack Campaign.” “We’re talking about a campaign that outspent John McCain by as much as a 3-1 ratio in the final stretch, and devoted most of that money to negative ads. The ‘hope and change’ campaign was the happy cover on a dogged, overwhelming attack campaign.” (David Weigel, “The Myth Of The Positive 2008 Obama Campaign,” Slate, 5/22/12)

In 2008, Obama Ran “More Negative Ads Than Any Other Candidate In History.” “The ad’s potency speaks to a fact about Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign that often goes overlooked. That year he ran more negative ads than any other candidate in history, according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, a nonpartisan political research group.” (Jeremy Peters, “Aggressive Ads For Obama, At The Ready,” The New York Times, 5/8/12)

Which Is Why Clinton And Other Democrats Take Issue With Obama’s Attacks

Former President Bill Clinton: “So I don’t think that we ought to get in the position where we say this is bad work, this is good work. I think, however, the real issue ought to be what has Governor Romney advocated in the campaign that he will do as president? What has President Obama done and what does he propose to do? How do these things stack up against each other, that’s the most relevant thing. There’s no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office, and you know, basically performing the essential functions of the office, a man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.” (CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” 5/31/12)

Obama’s Supporters Worry That His “In-Your-Face Negativity” Has Caused “A Backlash Among Independent Voters Who Have Finally Given Up The Image Of Obama As A New-Breed Politician.” “But the president’s enemies, and a few of his friends, think his in-your-face negativity, on display in his attacks on Bain Capital and a snark offensive that included comparing Romney’s statements to a ‘cow pie of distortion,’ have produced a backlash among independent voters who have finally given up the image of Obama as a new-breed politician.” (Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Negative Feedback Loop,”Politico, 5/30/12)

For Some Democrats, The Obama Campaign Is “Too Divisive, Too Conventional, And Too Nakedly Political.” “For many Democrats, this is just fine and dandy, for they believe that in the Romney-Republican agenda there is plenty to be scared of. For others in the party in both politics and business, however, the new Obama posture is cause for concern. From the gay- marriage decision to the onslaught on Bain, they see the president and his team as coming across as too divisive, too conventional, and too nakedly political, putting at risk Obama’s greatest asset his likability with the voters in the middle of the electorate who will ultimately decide his fate.” (John Heilemann, “Hope: The Sequel,” New York Magazine,5/27/12)

“Several Top Democrats” Said Obama’s Attacks “May Further Damage A Hope-And-Change Persona Already Dented” By The Past Three Years. “But several top Democrats interviewed by POLITICO said Obama’s recent attacks – including his long defense, at a press conference in Chicago last week, of his decision to target Bain – may further damage a hope-and-change persona already dented by three years of partisan combat and economic turmoil.” (Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Negative Feedback Loop,” Politico, 5/30/12)