Posted on 12/13/2007 5:15:16 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A top campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton resigned Thursday, a day after suggesting Democrats should be wary of nominating Barack Obama because his teenage drug use could make it hard for him to win the presidency.
Clinton herself apologized to Obama as they waited to fly to Iowa for a debate.
Bill Shaheen, a national co-chairman for Clinton and a prominent New Hampshire political figure, had raised the issue during a Wednesday interview, published on washingtonpost.com.
"I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the co-chair of the Hillary for President campaign," Shaheen said in a statement released by the campaign Thursday. "This election is too important, and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country. That candidate is Hillary Clinton."
Shaheen, an attorney and veteran organizer, had said much of Obama's background is unknown and could be a problem in November 2008 if he is the Democratic nominee. He said Republicans would work hard to discover new aspects of Obama's admittedly spotty youth.
"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" said Shaheen, whose wife, Jeanne, is a former New Hampshire governor and is running for the U.S. Senate next year.
"There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome," Shaheen said.
Clinton personally apologized to Obama when they were on the tarmac at Washington's Reagan National Airport Thursday morning, preparing to fly to Des Moines for a debate, according to aides to both candidates.
"Having been on the receiving end of unfair attacks for years, she doesn't think this is what the campaign should be about," said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson. "She told him she wanted to win the presidency, but not through tactics like that."
Clinton's campaign said it had nothing to do with Shaheen's comments.
Obama's campaign did not have a direct comment on the conversation or Shaheen's ouster.
However, Ned Helms, an Obama co-chairman in New Hampshire, said he saw a pattern after the recent resignations of two Clinton volunteer coordinators in Iowa who had forwarded e-mails raising questions about Obama's religion.
"When you see a pattern of people making statements and the follow-up statement, 'Oh, that wasn't authorized,' it doesn't take a genius to see that there's a thread going on here," Helms said.
Obama wrote about his teenage drug use in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father." His rivals have largely remained silent on the subject.
"Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final fatal role of the young would-be black man," Obama wrote. Mostly he smoked marijuana and drank alcohol, he wrote, but occasionally he would snort cocaine when he could afford it.
New polling shows Clinton and Obama basically tied in New Hampshire. A CNN-WMUR-TV poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows Clinton at 31 percent support, Obama at 30. The same poll had Obama trailing by 20 points in September.
Clinton's campaign has distributed its first flier that criticizes Obama's health care plan for leaving 15 million people without insurance. TV ads following the same theme also have been prepared.
But he was telling the truth, wasn’t he? Hillary Matters didn’t know he was going to say that, did she? Questions lots of questions for the queen of slime.
What a disciplined campaign....had to fire 2 staffers for Muslim e-mails.Plants at debates that she knew nothing about and said would never happen again and then it did and now Mr.Shaheen.
Does she think we are all stupid? She is known for micro-managing.So which is it,her or them?
Add Bill Shaheen to the long, long list of people used up and discarded by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Hillary has the cold-blooded power-mad loyalty ethics of Joseph Stalin.
I spent an unpleasant lunch today debating Hillary with a far left friend. He has no clue why Hillary is so unpopular. She is such a wonderful person. Its the evil Republicans who bad mouth this saint.
- OR -
Hillary! is a poor helpless waif, who is set upon by manipulative men who use her good name for nefarious purposes.
- EITHER WAY -
She should be kept as far away from the Levers of Power as possible.
She uses people like toilet paper, flushes ‘em and never thinks of them again.
And those sycophants are the lucky ones.
BINGO.
I mean...this IS Free Republic.....
I feel your pain. I have just spent most of the last 3 weeks with my dear 92 year old grandpa who is determined that she should be elected. Why?
“Because she is a woman and women have been kicked around long enough”. So I asked him what did he feel she had going for her besides ovaries. (more likely undescended testicles)
He really thinks she will bring all the troops home from Iraq, and wave her magic wand and poof! socialized medicine for everyone! Any procedure you want, just ask for it and its yours. And the cost? Well just bring all the troops home from Iraq and use all the money saved to pay for socialized medicine.
He really thinks the all the bad press about Hillary is the “evil right wing attack machine” and it’s all lies from the neocons. That little rumor about her voting for the Iraq war...........lies by the right wing. He doesn’t even believe that she could possible have made a speech supporting her vote. Lies all lies. Proving that the right wing attacks against her are vicious and relentless.
Need I mention that he gets his “news” from CNN and their “experts”.
sad, so sad.
1) destroy people who could hurt them
2) finding creative ways to get rid (sometimes deadly) of people close to them
3) finding the best political buzzwords using focus groups
4) extra marital sex
All show. If she wins dude will be back!
Like Sandy Berger.
(Flying Monkey Takes Hit For Team!!)
LOL! Great header.
Hillary: Exploiter of the functionally impaired.
It must be tough being Hillary. On some level she knows the truth: She wakes up each day with 1/2 the country hating her guts. And the other 1/2 is in danger of learning the truth.
This is typical of the Clinton Inc. method of dealing with anything.
They get their lackies to do their dirty work - so Hillary can “apologize to Obama” - and then the lacky has to take the hit for Hillary.
This is just exactly what the Clintons have always done. They WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS.
How many companies would dare put Sandy Berger onto their board of directors with his conviction for steeling and destroying top secret national documents??
...Yet he’s hired onto both Hillary and Obama’s campaigns as an advisor.
So no, Democrats don’t have to worry about people actually caring about unethical advisors. Thus, the firing of this aide for his Obama drug comment is nothing more than a public relations stunt.
If hillary really cared about ethics, then Sandy Berger wouldn’t be on her campaign payroll.
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