Clinton campaign officials deny the reports of three earwitnesses that Sen. Hillary Clinton uttered the words "screw 'em" during an internal discussion about how and whether to reach out to white working class voters in 1995. Howard Wolfson, speaking on Morning Joe this morning, said: "It ain't so. It ain’t so. We were asked about this yesterday. This is not something that occurred." Again, three contemporaneous witnesses, some with solid pro-Clinton credentials, heard it and affirm the context of it. On a conference call this morning, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer told NBC's Andrea Mitchell: "This quote that has gotten some attention late yesterday differs from the recollections of other people who were in the room. They don't remember the comment being made and they don't remember the tone or tenor that is being described. Some people are having one recollection and that's contradicted by other people who were there."
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Just wanted to point out that Phil Singer is a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, not for Obama's, as you write in this post. And with respect to the debate, the questions raised by the moderators are certainly going to be raised in a general election, but not in a debate setting such as this (particularly 45 minutes of insinuations on one's patriotism, faith, and values in a Democratic debate). It will take place in the back and forth of the campaign on a day to day basis. So I think its disingenuous to make broad generalizations from how Obama fared last night to how he would handle similar issues in the future. Sure, he had a bad night, but they both seem exhausted (and who wouldn't be!). Overall though, thanks for your fairness and insight. 
It's about time Hillary got the same sort of treatment she's been giving Obama for months and months. Go ahead and whine about it! He's tried to stay above the fray and remain respectful and courteous...and for the most part he can remain that way. If the Super delegates think this can go on until June, they're nuts. People are becoming more and more anchored to their candidate. If they feel they need to let it go on because they don't want to lose Clinton supporters, they better think again. It's either some Clinton supporters or the general election....which do you prefer?
Having Axelrod doing your trash for you does not make you respectful & courteous! Sorry, Barry is just as guilty, he's a politician too!
Hey, it's not like Hillary has demonstrated a faulty memory about events from the 1990's recently or anything.
About Baer, one who the Clinton camp says "doesn't remember" the comments, TPM posts: "Late Update: Baer, it turns out, is now chairman of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates."
This is not going to be a big deal. However, it does serve to reinforce the Clinton attitude toward any states that have already voted and any voters who are no longer useful. (I'm remembering an example from Ark. where she didn't want a program to help seniors, since they hadn't voted for Bill.) It's a long-time problem, and reminders that she feels this way don't help but don't offer up any stunning new insights into her character, either. I suppose if there were voters leaning Clinton based solely on bittergate this might sway them. But all the polling on bittergate fails to find those voters. (Pundits: Damn voters. Go poke them with sticks or something.) Tuzla will continue to matter because it was recent, it was in her own words, it was on video, it was in prepared remarks repeated many times. Simulataneously undercut her perceived strength (experience) and reinforced her perceived weakness (lying). This just reinforces that she's always been bitter post-election toward any group that didn't vote for Clintons.
Here's the truth on the Food Stamp survival of OB & his teenage mother that he & Michelle are peddling out there. I think some lying is going on.
So, Terri - I guess they're pushing that story to hide all those summers he spent on Martha's Vineyard? Give me a break. Who the fuck cares when Obama's family had food stamps? The point is that both he and his wife grew up with very limited means, to be kind.
Obviously they think the voters "fucking care" or they wouldn't be telling this story over & over on the campaign trail.
Over and over? Please. They've only had to defend this for a few days. You make it sound like it's, you know, important or something. My point is, what bearing does your Watergate-style breakdown of his history with food stamps have to do with his qualifications for the job he's asking us to hire him to do? Focusing on minutiae like that and ignoring important issues (and worse, possibly basing your vote on them) is a real danger. But from your tone, perhaps it's just an issue of you bringing up random stuff trying to smear Obama and counter something his campaign didn't even bring up. Pathetic.
That said, I don't see this blowing up unless some video or audio surfaces. But it seems her past is filled with snarky comments like this, and they keep surfacing.
Over and over as in more than once on more than one day is the story they are peddling in my state that has not voted yet. I'm not sure why it seems so easy to dismiss these things when they come from BO's side but maybe that's just you. Pathetic.
Talk about flying by the seat of your pants. Clinton is really hedging hard that she doesn't get personally asked about this today, that no nightly news orgs cover it today or tomorrow, and that no cable news orgs cover it before the weekend (presumably with interviews with people who were there). She's not denied the comment when it was previously in a book, and reported earlier in the campaign, and now she does. The only person she put out to defend it just said he didn't remember it and couldn't provide any alternate context or anything. It's a lie, and if it hits hard in PA before the weekend's over she's in trouble.
This is dangerous pushback for Hillary: The cover-up is always worse than the crime. So now the story becomes: Is she lying again? One of the people confirming Screwemgate is Benjamin Barber, who wrote the book the quote is taken from and, one can assume, was taking notes at the time. Barber supports Hillary and has contributed to her campaign. MSNBC found him yesterday, and he gives some context; see http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/17/907891.aspx
On working class whites: ‘“Screw 'em,” [Hillary] told her husband. “You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don't have to do anything for them.”’ -Hillary Clinton, 1995 Hillary, who, according to her only recently joined the middleclass, frames last night’s debate as if both she and Obama both said things that weren't true. Barack says his words got mangled, but not his meaning, it happens. Hillary says she out and out lied, it happens. So, they're even. His was a faux pas, a social blunder, to which he admits. On the other hand she tells blatant falsehoods, gets caught by the most powerful evidence there is, next to DNA evidence, but continues to lie. Her husband gets into the act, by lying about the lying. Making them both big fat liars. She finally says okay, I lied. Overlooked however, is Hillary’s dishonesty. Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther, and goes much deeper than anyone realizes: http://theseedsof9-11.com
Here is a link of 2 scanned pages of Benjamin R. Barber's book The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House. In this book he writes about Hillary's "Screw 'em" remark. Keep in mind that Barber is a Clinton supporter and even donated $1,000 to her campaign.
If the Screw Em quote was wrong, why did it take Hillary years and years to deny it?
Of Course she said it, IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED AND THERE ARE WITNESSES. Hillary isnt fooling anyone, she is such a bad liar, and Wolfson is even worse.
In an effort to smear Obama, "Terri" has lied about Obama's time-line and the history of food stamps. -Obama was born in 1961. His father left Obama and his mother in 1963. -Obama and his mother did not move to Indonesia until 1967. -Food stamps were available in limited form from 1961-1964. It's unclear whether or not the Obama's would have qualified from 1963-1964. -The Food Stamp Act was passed in 1964. There is no question that Obama's mother would have qualified for food stamps after this date. Hey Terri, if you want to engage in character assassination, perhaps you should try getting your facts right. Otherwise you end up looking like a complete idiot.
Hey Terri, if you want to engage in character assassination, perhaps you should try getting your facts right. Otherwise you end up looking like a complete idiot. Who needs facts when you've got ABC News and Marc Ambinder to say how great they are?
Hillary Clinton – Leadership You Can Almost Trust! On Southern working class whites: “Screw ‘em,” [Hillary] told her husband. “You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.” -Hillary, 1995 Hillary, who, according to her only recently joined the middleclass, frames last night’s debate as if both she and Obama both said things that weren't true. Barack says his words got mangled, it happens. Hillary says she out and out lied, it happens. We’re even. His was a faux pas, a social blunder, to which he admits. On the other hand she tells blatant falsehoods, gets caught by (video) the most powerful evidence there is, next to DNA evidence, but continues to lie. Her husband gets into the act, by lying about the lying too. Making them both big fat liars. She finally says okay, I lied. Although lost in the dialogue (bickering) is Hillary’s record of dishonesty. And, Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther, and goes much deeper than anyone realizes. Yes, Hillary turned her back on the white working class. Here's what she did to hundreds: http://theseedsof9-11.com
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Now, who's getting desperate?? After finally getting some tough questions instead of a pillow in a debate his true colors show & he looks like an idiot! So, what does the OB camp do? They go looking for something supposedly said back in 1995. If she would have said that the Republicans would have been all over it!!!
Posted by rockthebleachers | April 17, 2008 10:38 AM