It took nearly seven hours for them to deny this story.

And thus the story was destined to die a very "Inside Baseball" death...

"No, not to my knowledge...I've never seen that picture before. I'm not aware that anyone else here has. I'm not aware that anyone here has circulated this e-mail."

This isn't a denial, really. A denial would be: no one from this campaign sent that e-mail to Drudge. No one from this campaign circulated that picutre. He's not saying that. He's saying that he's not aware that any one did any such thing.

And I agree with the assessment that the press reaction would be different, had it been Hillary pictured. The press reaction would be non-existent--presidents and first ladies do stuff like that all the time, right? Somehow, though, I don't think that's what Wolfson is referring to.

This is a clear denial that the campaign pushed the photo:

"We've been very clear that we're not aware of it," he added. "Obviously the campaign didn't sanction it, and don't know anything about it."

Greg Sargent.

He did not strongly deny it. You are spinning it again.
here is what you wrote that he said:

"Asked if the campaign had any role, Wolfson said, "No, not to my knowledge...I've never seen that picture before. I'm not aware that anyone else here has. I'm not aware that anyone here has circulated this e-mail."

How the hell is "no, not to my knowledge" a strong denial.

All he said was that he did not have any knowledge of it.

That is not a denial that some others had a a role in it.

I always thought the Clintons were beyond contempt, but this act probably "takes the cake".

She can kiss that Veep slot goodbye!

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-knew-john-mccain-was-winning.html#links

So I guess we're being told that the "campaign" didn't "push" the photo, at least not to Wolfson's knowledge, but that it is possible that someone in the campaign, at some unidentified level, may have "circulated" the photo?

Greg:

I appreciate your efforts to be balanced, but of course the damage is done. The toothpaste is out of the tube because TPM made the decision to focus on Maggie Williams' incomplete response this morning, presumably because there was nothing else to write about and the story had to get out. You are now going to be pilloried by the those who hate Hillary (93.8 percent of the posters on here by my last count :)) for simply publishing Wolfson's unambiguous denial of involvement by the campaign.

And I will now send my most recent pledge to the Clinton campaign. This morning I wrote to the campaign and said that, until they elaborate on the role if any of the campaign in circulating the photo, I would not honor my most recent financial pledge. And the rest of the posters can go on calling the Clintons fundamental liars and the Obamas fundamental truth-tellers. And so it goes.

Oh I get it!
Obama was modeling the outfit that Michele, when Hussein wasn't pimping her on the stump, whipped up for all you Obabots to wear next time you are passing out carnations and soliciting donations at the airports.
Are they s'posed to be a big super double duper secret?

They didn't condemn it either. They didn't condemn the exploitation of bigotry as a political tactic. I think that's very telling.

One thing is clear: on a day in which they hoped to showcase Clinton's big "foreign policy speech," this isn't what they wanted to be talking about.

The Clintons must be so angry. Apparently, they are no longer able to lead Democratic voters around by the nose.

NAFTA, Iraq, the pardons, the ridiculous and self-indulgent Clinton personal dramas that characterized that Presidency, still, Democrats stuck with them.

It will be interesting to see whether loyal Democratic voters can finally shake them loose.

I doubt it. Old, destructive habits die hard.

Good. They finally denied it. Now to the, "but we do agree with the message of the email ..."

Sorry, that is too clever by half.

The circulation of this photo at this moment in the campaign is is an obvious smear attack, the equivalent of a push poll or unsigned leaflets.

Not only is the content a smear, but the entire act of circulating the photo is a smear. It's just really sleazeball politicking.

So to have Wolfson deny the campaign's involvement but partly "agree" with the message of the "media coverage is slanted" is a bit too much for me.

I don't know why the Clinton campaign did not send out a presser this a.m. denouncing the photo and denying any involvement with it.

Too clever by half always blows up in your face.

Wolfson did say, however, that the campaign agreed with part of the message in the email -- that if the same photo had appeared of Hillary, it would have been a big story.

From Maggie Williams' coy response to purely disingenuous garbage from Wolfson. They both know full well that it has never been suggested that Hillary is a Muslim. If we had a photo of Hillary out drinking with members of the health insurance industry, THAT would be analogous. This is phony crap and they both know it.

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-knew-john-mccain-was-winning.html#links

Obama should wear that to the debate tomorrow night, just to freak Hillary out.

Wolfson did say, however, that the campaign agreed with part of the message in the email -- that if the same photo had appeared of Hillary, it would have been a big story: "It is a common view among this campaign and our supporters that there is a difference in how the media covers our campaign and how it covers Senator Obama."

Wait a minute - so it's not a "big story" now?? WTF is he smoking?

Hey Billy, isn't it sexist even assume Hillary's campaign would do such a thing as give that pic to Drudge? Oh you men, you always assume women are devious and vengeful!!!

From the desk of:

Mark Poison Penn.

Internal polling in Ohio shows that Hillary needs to strengthen her support in her core base of 65 and old KKK types.

Release the picture.

"Wolfson did say, however, that the campaign agreed with part of the message in the email -- that if the same photo had appeared of Hillary, it would have been a big story: "It is a common view among this campaign and our supporters that there is a difference in how the media covers our campaign and how it covers Senator Obama."

Did anyone ask Wolfson what he thought the "big story" would be if the same photo had appeared of Hillary? Where does he go with that?

Even if you believe the denial of responsibility, why all the disingenuous BS about how they can't understand how this photo is "divisive"? How do you reconcile "this is a silly, harmless file photo" with "If Hillary was photographed dressed like this, you media guys would have a field day with it"?

Your right, they DIDN'T condemn it. Denial or no denial, there's one thing Wolfson can't deny, and that's the Clinton camp's repeated attempts to make themselves the victims in this situation.

Senator Obama should be "ashamed" they say. (Penn's microtrend analysis must show that talking like an angry grandmother is Senator Clinton's best hope of keeping the older women.) If the picture was of Senator Clinton, MSNBC would lose the campaign for her.

Those REALLY low moments when the protein hits the fan are the things I find most endearing and real about her.

I disagree with Wolfson that the media would treat Hillary in the same way. His defense is just disingenuous.

Visual persuasion works in powerful and subliminal ways. Hillary is a white woman who is a former first lady. If the press obtained similar pictures of her, people would wonder why she was negotiating with terrorists, BUT they wouldn't see her AS a terrorists. They would understand that she was working in her official capacity.

But because of Obama's darker skin, uneducated people who are already questioning his patriotism would see him AS a terrorist. That's the difference and Hillary knows it.

Anyone have the original photo? I'll bet it'd be pretty interesting to see what (or who) has been cropped out.

Who is to say that the Obama campaign didn't plant this dumb story THEMSELVES, in order to distract attention from Hillary foreign policy speech, and they can play the victim as well.

Much too slow a response to be credible.

!!!UPDATE!!! Obama staffer planted the story/photo with Drudge!!!

Hillary's come down several notches in my opinion, but I'm still not ready to trust drudge over her.

DirkVT: I don't think this issue with the picture helps Hillary at all, neither that hurts Obama against her, but what it is sad to me of this, is that you bet that this picture will be in every attack add that the republicans come up with. And the Clinton campaign gave the weapon, like with the quote that Obama is a roll of the dice.

So let's look at the facts. Even though there has been absolutely no proof of such a thing, we'll stipulate that the e-mail was sent by someone in the Clinton campaign. It's not clear who it was sent to, but even Drudge doesn't claim it was sent to the media. The message is, if Hillary was in a photo like this, it would be all over the media. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what's so despicable about that. In typical mob mentality fashion, a whole narrative has sprung up about the Clinton's using this photo to make Obama look bad. In light of the fact that the Clinton campaign was quick to say "Politicians, including Hillary, have been known to put on local garb while traveling," what exactly are you all accusing the Clinton campaign of doing? Is there anything in the e-mail message that states, or even implies, that there is something wrong with Obama being in that picture? Does anyone, anywhere, say that the picture says anything about Obama's heritage, or beliefs? Is there any evidence the picture was sent to the media? Do we have any idea who the e-mail was sent to? I'll answer that. No. But you guys get out the torches because someone might take the picture the wrong way, and you can build a whole tortured logical chain that somehow leads back to another nefarious Clinton plot.

I'd be interested in hearing someone tell me exactly what the Clinton campaign is accused of doing, then tie that to any of the known facts in the case. But who needs facts? Release the hounds!

And now, answer v. 3.0.

Gee, funny how they only came up with a more or less real denial after award-winning blogger Josh Marshall noted their rather conspicuous lack of a denial before. Notice, however, that Wolfie's denial has a clear line of retreat to answer v. 4.0--the unauthorized staffer, let's call him "Butters," who's been asked to take one for the team, er, resign--built into it.

If it was emailed by someone using an account owned by the campaign within the last 24 hours, the information is still in their email server tracking logs. If the email wasn't authorized by the campaign and there was an imbroglio brewing, that would be the first thing anyone would order checked as part of the crisis management strategy. If no emails to Drudge's address showed up, that's the first thing Wolfson would have said on the conference call.

How about this one--

!!!Breaking News!!! Obama staffer fails to categorically deny the above post!

I love this. Can we keep making stuff up? The cool part is while my first post can be challenged, this one is actually true!

Let's play some more. (:

While this does seem like the sort of desperation-fueled gutter politics I've come to expect from the Clinton campaign, I don't want to go leaping to conclusions - as we've seen right here on TPM, people feel strongly about their candidate, and will post some tremendously nasty things in service of advancing the cause. Doesn't mean they got the thumbs-up from anyone, and no one else may have been aware of it.

But having said that, Wolfson's weasel-words do little to set my mind at ease on this. If this can be tied to HRC's campaign, I think this will be the final nail in her coffin - and how fitting. For someone who spends so much time bemoaning how unfairly she's treated, Hillary has always been her worst enemy. Too bad. She's a smart, capable woman.

And yes: one can *absolutely* blame the HRC campaign for the actions of its staff. If her people believe that this type of thing is acceptable, they're not reaching that conclusion in a vacuum. I teach managment and leadership theory, and have seen this time and again: the fish rots from the head down. Managers like to claim that they aren't responsible for the behavior or misjudgements of their staff, but when you make the decision to hire someone (or to entrust them with communicating on your behalf), you accept ownership of the result. Endemic problems on the ground are reflective of poor management. Period.

This photo smear tactic by Hillary is typical old school Boomer-fueled style of politics. As the New York Times and Newsweek have argued in the last couple weeks, Obama isn't a Boomer or an Xer, but is instead a part of the long-lost generation in-between: Generation Jones. GenJones politics is different than the Boomer version, and the country is fast getting burnt out on the Boomer version.

The sooner we sit back and look at this story in the context of everything else that goes on in elections and in the news today, the better. If any of you think that this story is somehow indicative of how either Clinton or Obama would act as President, then you deserve whatever election outcome you deem negative.

There are photos of GW Bush holding hands with a man. So? There are photos of Laura Bush wearing a head covering. So? The press will or won't emphasize any story regarding anyone's respect for another's culture, and it's up to you to try and gain a bit of perspective each time on what, if anything, each story means.

Further, I don't think it's so easy to tag most people here as "Obama supporters", etc., or "Hillary supporters", etc. Doing so and sussing ulterior motives are a waste of time and distract from this already distracting story.

OOOO, iceberg likes this game too. Let's all pretend the flyers were not lies or better yet that Hillary sent those flyers under Obama's name so he would only look like a liar. Let's remind everyone that Obama is not a "sham messiah" but a real messiah. But what do we say if they say we are a cult?

"not to my knowledge...
"I'm not aware that anyone else here has.":
"I'm not aware that anyone here has circulated this e-mail."

Classic weasel words used to issue a not-very-convincing non-denial denial.

Note that Wolfson got edgy when pressed, fearful that he would mistakenly say something that could be considered unequivocal.

These guys really are slimey. I feel like I need a shower.

Foreman versus Ali.

Hillary is Foreman.

Heavily favored to win in an early KO of Ali.

Ali devised the Rope a Dope plan.

Foreman threw haymaker after haymaker in the earlier rounds, and Ali lay on the ropes and did not absorb the punches.

In the later rounds, Foreman was spent and his punches lost their power and crispness, and all he could do was flail away in a feeble and lurching manner. Soon he was not able to do that, and he became easy to topple.

Hillary has now been reduced to flailing away in a feeble and lurching manner.

Their is one big difference between Hillary and George Foreman.

Foreman was a real fighter, who could knock your head off.

Hillary has always claimed to be a tough fighter, but in reality all she ever has been is a tough talker. In other words: HIllary is all Boxing Gloves, and No Punches.

Hey Sittin' Bull! Do you want to talk about Hillary's fliers? Or how about the whole "Did Obama deal drugs" flap, and Mark Penn talking about cocaine on Hardball? Or how about Bill comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson post South Carolina?
Sure, those fliers have some distortions of facts, but they're extremely tame by flier standards--Just look at Hillary's mailers that lie about Obama's Abortion record. Do you think Hillary was genuinely angry on Saturday, or was she trying to gin up a controversy because she's on a downward tack? And let's not forget that whole "plagarism" attack last week.
Look at how the Clinton camp responded to this. No denials at all for a good seven hours, then a half-ass "I'm not aware of this" statement by Wolfson. Either the Clinton camp is unfathomably awful at rapid response, or they floated the damn photo. I go with option #2, especially in the context of all the desperate, last minute phony controversies that they've been manufacturing over the last week or so.
Remember, kids...Bush "was not aware" of those Swift Boat ads.

She is getting desperate and spiraling her ass to the grave yard for "also rans." I will not vote this b^%&* even if she was the only one running. Imagine Bill running around in the white house with a box of Cigars. What a visual! That should be enough to ride her ass out of town!

The way this denial was worded certainly makes it appear that Clinton's campaign did this. You don't use this kind of weasel language if your are not guilty. You also don't send out one of your chief weasels (Wolfson) to deliver the statement, the other being Penn.

It took nearly seven hours for them to deny this story.

BFD. There was no story. Drudge is not a story, he's a part of the republican freak show.

So how is this a story? The Clinton campaign had nothing to do with what Drudge wrote.

MUST READ. Insightful analysis of the revealing exchange between Dems in Texas last week.....

http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/02/25/the-clinton-obama-exchange-you-might-have-missed/

why wont drudge just produce the email .....besides there are pictures of bush and clinton and hillary in a foreign counties garb,,,,,,why is obamites upset ,,,,its a tradition when being honored in foreign countries ...why didnt obama just show the picture himself

why does this post directly contradict what Josh has written up on the main page? could you give him a call or something?

The only question is:

Can they salvage the tattered remains of their reputations?

Wolfson, Penn, Hillary ... all will be remembered for incompetence, race-baiting, and general dishonest ugliness.

"That was funny. Along those lines, I bet the inner circle at the rnc is going nuts today. They were going to "release" that photo the last week in november. I bet they are totally pissed."

That's a good observation. Best to get everything out in February. Hillary's "Willie Horton" tactics probably help Obama. He could use this as an opportunity to show off his Christianity a little more, for the people not paying attention.

Someone posted this on Politico, Bill Clinton in a some sort of headwrap. It doesn't look photoshopped.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/47166/2006321771235899370_rs.jpg

I think it's obvious that Wolfson doesn't know whether anyone in the campaign sent the picture. They have hundreds of people working for them all over the country. The law of averages suggests that at least a handful are stupid. Wolfson knows that, and he figures Drudge isn't making this up out of thin air, so he issues an "I don't know but I don't think so" denial because he can't possibly know what everyone who is working for him is doing all the time.

Think about it - a few of you have jobs. You probably send out emails on a daily basis that would upset or embarass whoever runs your company. I know I do. If such an email reached the press, and it was implied but not proven that it came from your company, what would your boss say? I bet it would sound a lot like Wolfson's can't-be-sure denial.

There are two things to note about this story.

The first is Maggie Williams' ridiculous attempt to turn the accusation back around at the Obama camp by suggesting they don't like Somalis or something. It is undeniable, even if you support Hillary, that her campaign managers are mostly embarassing, and that does not speak well of her executive ability.

The second is the wide coverage this has received. I don't know for sure, because I wasn't there, but I'm told that years ago serious press organizations had editors who just said no to dumb sh%t like this, regardless of who else was running around with it. Someone would bring it to their attention, and in rejecting it they would send a signal to their newsroom to keep it classy, or at least relevant.

The utter nonsense that the media has been obsessed with in the past week, from the NYT story about McCain (which was about 10% relevant and 90% useless), to all of the "patriotism" questions surrounding Obama, suggest to me that that serious news editors, the kind we apparently used to have, no longer exist.

We have only the good folks here at TPM and Jon Stewart to help us laugh at it for a minute before going back to being totally depressed.

It's a shame, because there are real differences between the candidates on both sides, and I think this election actually matters. A lot.

If the question is who sent the email to Drudge then the thing to look for is who took the photo? It looks like a typical tourist type photo and my understanding of the trip that it was taken on was that it was a senatorial junket which several other senators took part on.

It was probably taken by one of the senators or their staffs though this is a guess. Who were the senators who went with Obama on that trip?

Any big Clinton supporters because it's just as possible that this came from a Republican and Drudge is saying it came from the Clinton camp to see how much shit he could stir up.

It goes something like this:

Phase 1: "She's been tested by relentless attacks from the GOP and the media."
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: "She's been victimized by relentless attacks from the GOP and the media."

I'm pretty sure that Phase 2 sounds something like, "We're tied? Oh my God, this can't be happening." I'm not sure I buy the notion that the dissemination of the Obama Towel Head shot represents a consciously articulated strategy, if it did indeed come from the HRC camp. What I do believe is that there are probably one or two Clinton staffers who love their boss and don't like black men very much. All it would take to get this started is one glass of red wine too many (per the Times) and a lot of frustration. That's a scenario I can readily imagine.

Hillary Clinton and Matt Drudge......Perfect Together!

I've been harping on Clinton's alliance with Drudge since I first read about it in NYT. When I was undecided and I was, it is one of the main factors that made me decide to support Barack Obama.

Matt Drudge is the "source" of the false story that New Orleans had 2000 buses at their disposal prior to Hurricane Katrina. While a total fabrication, this story came to frame the debate about the issue of responsibilty following the disaster. http://mediamatters.org/items/200509120005

If these are the kind of alliances that a Clinton White House would seek to make then I would never, ever, not in a million years want her as my President.