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Hillary Drops New Indiana Mailer Attacking Obama On Guns, "Bitter" Comments

I've just obtained a new mailer that the Hillary campaign has dropped in Indiana that attacks Obama for inconsistency on the Second Amendment -- and also reminds voters of the comments Obama made about small town America that created problems for him in the run-up to Pennsylvania.

Click on the image to enlarge:

The mailer says:

And just this month, Barack Obama accused people in rural places and small towns of being "bitter" people who "cling to guns."

Note that the mailer says Obama "accused" folks of this. Here's what Obama said last month:

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

The Hillary mailer, in selectively quoting from this, omitted all of Obama's references to people's economic circumstances, leaving the misleading impression that all Obama did was "accuse" rural and small-town Americans of being "bitter" people who "cling to guns."

Late Update: The mailer says Obama made the small town comments "this month," as opposed to last, meaning it could have been drafted in late April, which of course ended only a few days ago.


100 Comments

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Color me stunned that a Clinton mailer creates a "misleading impression" of Obama.

There are no tactics that are too low for the Clinton campaign to sink to.

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She is disgusting. I've rarely seen a politician this outwardly pandering - it's really pathetic and I truly believe that she's going to look back on this primary season and in her heart of hearts have a lot to feel ashamed about.

For some reason, it doesn't even bother me anymore. It's such a glaring contrast to how Obama is as a person and the fact that nothing she does changes the fact that she's already lost the nomination and has no chance in hell of convincing the supers to save her.

None.

No worries people.

No worries. 4 more years of McCain.
At least we won't have to deal with a mediocrity like Obama, anymore.

It's about time for Hillary "3 Balls" to stage a John Kerry style hunting trip.

Sorry, huntin' trip.

Gee, Obambi never sends out negative mailers!

Clinton is right. You never know what this guy
is really thinking. He tells voters one thing, and tells
his rich buddies something else.

Remember when Obama railed against NAFTA to
Ohio voters, then his campaign told Canada he
didn't really mean it, it was just rhetoric?

And then Obama lied to the media and said his
campaign never contacted Canada - but when the
Canadian government verified that indeed an
Obama staffer DID phone them, Obama showed
himself a liar.

So Clinton is correct to judge him by what he
says behind voters backs.
The rest, as Obama would say, is rhetoric.
and a hypocrite.

Team Clinton's approach was never intended to rise, merely rearrange the muck it was designed to flounder in.

She has been doing this ever since lying to NH women about Obama's record on choice.

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OK, Greg - one lousy post on Obama's MTP appearance (with a back-handed criticism of what he said about Hillary's saber-rattling) and then we're right back to Hillary stuff. Why does Hillary merit 3 posts of her town-hall meeting statements and Obama merits only 1? He had a lot of other stuff to say during that hour and I think you are doing the good folks here a great disservice in not posting more of his interview this morning. It really is frustrating to have to go to other blogs and news sources for this information. What's the deal?

Excellent. Atack, attack, attack and close the deal.

"Close the deal"?

Clinton has to win 70% of ALL the remaining contests to surpass Obama in pledged delegates. I doubt a misleading flyer addressing a wedge issue concerning only a minority of the voting public will really make a dent in that.

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Close the deal?

She's not even at the negotiating table.

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God, guns and g-g-g. No, she will not talk about gays to her Reagan Democrat base.

'cratic' Yikes!

Thanks for mentioning the typical misleading Hillary bullshit.

She is desperate and her lies show it. Although she still lied even when she thought she was inevitable, so maybe it is less about desperation and more about her nasty character.

Damned, Greg, so are so in the tank for Obama.

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I expect McCain will announce she's his running mate any day.

Just when I think I've gone over the top accusing her of endorsing violence, there she goes again - gun loving war monger. If you liked the last one, you'll love Hillary. That ad makes want to be sick.

It's not too surprising, considering it seems the numbers aren't going her way. She backed off a little last week, I think this has come to be expected. However, one shouldn't trust these polls too much, she may have made an error. We'll see on Tuesday.

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I think the error that she has made in the last week was the "You're either with us, or against us" threat to Congress.

Didn't get any play outside of political blogs, but that sort of language surrounding a blatant pandering spree will probably piss off some still undecided superdelegates. And give them a useful reason to publicly step towards Obama.

For me, it only makes sense, in both cases, if you're trying to push for a VP slot, whereas, SD's opinions no longer matters, just your supporters.

This mailer is visually threatening. This mailer requires attention from the Secret Service....its a threat against Obama, why are they pointing a gun to his head?

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I'm so glad you pointed that out! That is really scary - the gun to his head. They are playing with fire and God help this country if they can't control it.

I too am very annoyed that the HRC campaign would even consider sending out a mailer with the gun barrel behind Barack's picture.

Hmmm....well SARGENT, why the lack of the update - people are very upset - oh that's right - you are fair and balanced, NOT.

I spoke to my grampa this morning, he had a classic story about this mailer...

My Gramps who lives in small town Indiana actually received this mailer yesterday, knowing he had to go into town to do some grocery shopping later in the day, he took the mailer out back, tacked it to the fence post, and then shot it with his 12 gage.

He then took the mailer (what was left of it, he had to put it in a paper bag) with him to the grocery store knowing there was a clinton headquarters on the way, he stopped by walked in, dumped the mailer on the first desk he saw, and told them 'Thats what I think of your damn mailer, and I ain't alone' turned tail and walked out and headed to the grocery store.

This morning he was still pretty proud of himself, he said he'd wished he brought his camera along to get the priceless look on the guys face in the clinton headquarters when he dumped it out down on the desk and it registered to the guy what had happed to the mailer...

Classic gramps...

Hey Bill Like what Gramps did and I pray it translates into a Big WIN for Obama Tuesday!!!
May GOD richly Bless him!!!

I'm with you Dragon.

May tuesday put this to a end.

Chops to your gramps, Bill. Perfect backfire.

She is running for Bush's third term.

Damned, Greg, so are so in the tank for Obama.

Hillery is hitting her stride. John McCain is starting to feel nervous. He thought that he had the Republican
nomination all sewed up, but it now looks like Hillary cna capture the Republican nomination.

Guns. Guns. Guns. From Tuzla Clinton's
COLD DEAD HANDS.

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LOLOL!

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Every time I think Hillary can't sink any lower, she manages to do so. Please Indiana and North Carolina, put an end to her misery.

Please Indiana and North Carolina, put an end to her misery.

And ours!

Every time I think she wouldn't dare go any further in damaging her standing in the Democratic Party, she does. It would seem that Hillary Clinton's shameless attempt to woo "Reagan Democrats" would result in a bleedoff of her support from mainstream, dependable Democrats (particularly superdelegates) that would keep her from being able to gain definitive wins against Obama. So while he has a bad month due to the media obsession with Wright, she's unable to gain any real ground. What that means is that she is weakening him, to the detriment of the Democrats in November, without helping herself in any significant way. In that context, it's hard to see her game plan as being anything more than sabotage of the winner. While I'm doubtful of the theory that the purpose of such a strategy would be to try to go for the nomination again in 2012, it is hard to justify it with any other reason.

I've posted this before but I think she's trying to gin up a vp argument. Her camp is the one that pushes that idea relentlessly. I think her strategy in these last races was solely to establish the idea that she has a vital constituency beyond women and to make that constituency sour on Obama.

I think Obama has been more and more clear that he's not going that way and Pelosi, I think, has been acting as his surrogate in slamming home that it's not happening. But, I think HRC is still trying.

I agree, I've been thinking that too.

There is no way Michelle would accept Hillary as the VP. And he listens to her.

I bet Greg just got a little woody (like gotnolife).

LOL.

May they both get wood worms.

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As polls show us, Hillary Clinton is once again willing to LIE to get a VOTE.

She spent her whole hour on This Week PROMISING all sorts of things to voters. She's a snake oil dealer for sure.

It's no wonder voters get the impression that all Democrats want to do is SPEND MONEY.

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And it's no wonder that the public thinks Democrats don't stand for anything...

"That crazy woman bragged about shooting at my cousin Duffy. I hate her. She is des spick a bell!" Daffy Duck

There she goes again.

And what the fuck with that sniper gun near BO's head ? Is the fucking Clinton camp sending a fucking "message" ?

(Pardon, my Fucking French today)

I know right! Ughhhhhhh. What a pathetic and disgusting ad.

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It's not a sniper rifle. It's a deer hunting rifle (looks like a .30-06 to me). Which is completely NOT what the argument is about. The argument is about handguns. Like Obama, I wholeheartedly endorse everyone's right to keep and bear as many rifles and shotguns as they can fit into their mobile home or backwoods hillbilly cabin. Handguns, however, should be illegal. And making them illegal would NOT be a violation of the Second Amendment.

Yep, sounds like the kind of guy she'd work for "with all her heart" to get elected.

If someone says the government can have his gun when it pries it from his "cold dead fingers," would that be called "clinging?"

And in another mailer, Clinton quotes Obama at the age of five when he said, "I don't want to go to church!"

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Can we get Greg to ask the Clinton campaign why they have a gun pointed at Obama's head?

Clinton's message is fair and on target (pun intended). Obama is a fake, a double-talking deceiver, a bamboozler.

Personally I want all guns outlawed so I oppose both their points-of-view. I think the 2nd amendment has been grossly misinterpreted for politically practical reasons.

"On target ?" WTF ?

Fuck you too, fogu2.

Hey, my French is improving.

Magic-thinking. The guns aren't going anyhere, and it's a lot harder for the govt to, say, call martial law when they know they are out-gunned.

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They are not out-gunned and they never will be, so the point is moot. The government has heat seeking missiles and Apache helicopters, and there is NO WAY the citizenry is going to overcome that. The only way to beat the system is to vote for a candidate who will stand up to them. And that candidate is most certainly NOT Hillary Clinton.

I think its clear that the only one who's a fake, a double-talking deceiver, a bamboozle around here, is you!

Congrats!

Who started with the negative mailers?

Who sent the first lie in them?

Cliton. In N.H. About Obama's abortion stance.

I know it's hard to imagine for drone like you, but there is a beginning to these negative attacks and this cretin has been attacking with lies like this since N.H.

That was meant for "Present" who seems to be absent of honesty.

It's telling of Clinton's weakness as a candidate that she and her hard-core supporters can now only come up with lying about Obama to justify her candidacy.

What's misleading? Obama did accuse those people of being bitter people who cling to guns. Sure, when Obama said it, he gave his reasons for saying it. But he said it. There is nothing misleading in this ad. If he had not said they were bitter and cling to guns, then the ad would be misleading.

Since you think there's nothing misleading about this ad, I assume you think that having the gun pointing at Obama's head was intentional?

I love this, ' But he did accuse those people.'

Accuse...

Get a grip sparky...

mercy...

This is distressing and disturbing and sad. But also, dishonest.

Is there no one in the press who will seize on this garbage the way they do every burp from the Rev. Wright?

Update. So what? Did the ad get the timing wrong? Therefore it's a misleading ad? Therefore Obama did not say small-town people are bitter and cling to guns? I'm beginning to get the impression people are worried about Tuesday.

Otto is a Racist Scumbag Aryan Nation Troll(ANT)

I'm amazed that this tactic is being used in a Democratic race. Clinton really has morphed into a Republican. No wonder she's been interrupted at Jefferson-Jackson dinners. Well, whatever happens on Tuesday, the Super Delegates will have a clear choice about the future of this party and the issues it wants to represent.

Are the SD's even listening ?

Hillary Clinton has endorsed John McCain for Commander in Chief ahead of her fellow Democrat, Senator Obama. Hillary has also threatened to Obliterate Iran, much like War Monger McCain sang about bombing that nation.

Hillary voted for the War in Iraq, and voted with Kyl/Lieberman to set the stage for Bush to attack Iran.

Hillary is echoing McCain's moronic gas tax holiday pandering.

Hillary is now out gunning Charlton Heston. She is now running around Indiana with her hands stuck in an ice bucket, in order to hold her gun in her COLD DEAD HANDS.

Hillary is McCain. Which right wing pander bear do you prefer?

Take this Republican-hack-wannabe away...NOW.

C'mon Hoosiers, here's your chance to save the Party, save the Nation by driving a stake through her political heart once and for all!

Well she just inspired me to make some calls for Barack Obama today. I am from Indiana originally so I think I'll make some calls for the campaign.
The best way I can respond to Hillary's despicable practices is to be proactive and support Senator Obama.

I am SO grateful that he is willing to be in this fight, put up with all of this garbage, in order to help bring change to our country. It is quite remarkable to me that he appeared on the scene at this time when our country and the world face so many tough challenges. I am so glad that he is able to inspire us to be hopeful and to participate.

Thank you Senator & Michele Obama!

They dropped the mailer, due to lack of funds. Wait till the spending reports come out.

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What I hate about the "guns" issue in particular, is that the implication is always left that somehow or other the person targeted is going to "confiscate your weapons". We all know it's not only BS in reality, but there's not a President who even try such a thing and think (s)he could get away with it. Same goes for the crap that we being distributed by the Bushies in 2004 in some southern states implying Kerry would confiscate their Bibles. I know idiots believe that sort of stuff, so its nice see Hillary pandering to the idiots in the electorate and using the typical GOP
approach to try and pull it off.

This from a politician who claimed she opposed NAFTA while first lady.

As for the poster who claimed we'll be getting McCain and not mediocrity with Obama, I sure hope was being sarcastic. If mediocrity is his concern, McCain is the poster boy.

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Question: can this pro-gun, anti-economist woman get re-elected in New York?

Ridiculoud pandering. A Democrat like Hillary claiming she is a strong supporter of gun rights. That is rich.

Sorry, Sunday spelling...

Ridiculous pandering.

I am sensing some movement back to Obama in IN. The early voting looks good and most recent polls are encouraging. I'm predicting a close one in IN, no more than a 2 point win either way, and a 8-10 point NC win. After Tuesday there will be more undecided Superdels than pledged delegates remaining, and Hillary's chance for the nomination gets more and more remote.
http://www.slate.com/id/2190556/
(thanks Carol, it was good enough to link again.)

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Very glad to oblige - link away! ;)

Excellent Ad. Hopefully the Oilbama will drop out after Tuesday's defeats. I hope he gets kicked out of the senate soon. He has been chairman of a committee that has held zero hearings since he was appointed, he says he was too busy running for President, which makes one wonder why he accepted the post. He voted for Dick Cheney's Big Oil Energy Bill. He has done nothing to help end the war except to vote for all war funding bills. Total empty suit.

You come across as more than a little jealous...

HA... it gets better... the gun the mailing doesnt exist....

and gues what... its a SNIPER RIFLE!!!


http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Clinton_mailings_gun_gaffe.html#comments

Thanks for the Ben Smith link. It made my day and my fucking french got improved too.

Only Hillary can shoot herself in the foot with a nonexistent left-handed model of a sniper rifle..

What an idiot!!!

Talk about backfire!
Isn't it obvious by now that Hillary can't keep pretending to be someone she isn't.

Obama talked down to small town folks with that comment. And notice that he tried to implicate Bill Clinton with George Bush as a cause of their misery. It was a slick of lying. Democrats are indebted to the Clintons for not only taking the WH back but also for racking up impressive economic gains across the board. Working class gained $7,000 per year in income during Bill's term compared to the loss of $1,000/yr under Bush.
How is Obama going to say that democrats have done good for the working class in the fall campaign? He lied and shot down his own party.
Why didn't you point that out from the entire text you printed? bias bias!!

According to Ben Smith at Politico, she messed up this gun ad, putting on it a picture of a very expensive and outdated European gun, something the folks she is appealing to are not likely to have ever seen. It is also backwards. I don't fully understand the details, but check it out.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/

Senator Hillary Clinton’s mailing attacking Senator Barack Obama’s record on guns appears to include a striking visual gaffe: The image of the gun pictured on the face of the mailing is reversed, making it a non-existent left-handed model of the Mauser 66 rifle.

To make matters worse, a prominent gun dealer said, it’s an expensive German gun with customized features that make it clearly European.

you beat me to it, I was laughing hard when I red it on the politico, it's just too stupid.

The rifle has a double-set trigger and a left-handed bolt. The pic has been reversed. As a Democrat who's also a shooting enthusiast, (yes, there are some) the picture just jumped out at me as wrong. When I studied it closer, it was obvious that it's been flipped, a mirror image. Furthermore, the rifle is a German Mauser. Fairly expensive. Not a gun I'd expect to see your average deer hunter in Indiana using.

Whoever made the ad knows even less about guns than Hillary.

BTW, the mailer isn't fooling the intended audience.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2837748

I wonder just how many small-town Indiana hunters can a afford a collector's item $2,200 German double-trigger Mauser 66?

So who's elitist and out of touch -- not to mention out of her mind? What she couldn't go to Wal-Mart?

Even with that $30 gast tax relief, that still a lot of coupons to clip.

(The photo in the ad has been reversed to make it look like a left-handed model -- look at the bolt -- but there is no such model. And who uses a sniper's rifle for duck hunting anyway? Accuracy sacrificed for graphic design.)

Why did they reverse the image? I can't imagine they intentionally wanted to convey a violent message towards Obama. Anyhow, someone should ask Ms Annie Oakley if her grand daddy taught her to shoot on a $3000 German import sniper rifle. Hey, maybe she uses one just like it to hunt vermin with her fellow "God bless us rich people" elitist Mittens Romney.

I can't imagine they intentionally wanted to convey a violent message towards Obama.

You can't imagine, but you can "think", can't you ? If they hadn't reversed the rifle photo and left the BO's photo at where it is, the whole imagery changes, doesn't it ? Probably, she wanted a noose as well in that mailer and got shouted down by her troops.

This fucking bitch brings a bad name even to monsters.

(There, one more attempt to improve my fucking french)

However technically flawed this mailer is it does accurately point out that Obama is very likely toxic for any downstream candidate outside of inner cities and urban areas. As a lifelong gun owner myself, I find Obama's "past" support for a total ban on the manufacture, sale, and ownership of handguns as so extreme as to be unelectable. His several statements since don't show much clarity beyond flip-flopping and political expediency.

"Lifelong gun owner"?

Ya came out shootin' eh Matt?

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Ahh... Thanks, Matt. That explains a lot. I've long believed that those who see the world as a threat--who have a basic distrust of their fellow man, and who buy handguns to defend themselves--tend to support Hillary. We Obama supporters tend to think of our fellow human beings more as allies.

Two of my best friends are big Hillary supporters, and they both own handguns as well. They're into that whole "self-defense" thing. I don't own a gun for self-defense, but if I did, it'd be a big old double barreled 12-gauge. Handguns are for cops, criminals and the pathologically paranoid.

The entire Clinton campaign has zero class. Get them off the stage.

James Carville: "If she gave him one of her cojones, they'd both have two."

As a feminist, I'm appalled by this comment. This should be the end of all whining about sexism from the Clinton camp. All gutter comments about Hillary's vagina are fair game, after this. Unfortunately.

Not a good day for feminists.

Indiana and North Carolina voters, end this now. Please.

Vote Obama. For civilization.

I just hope Indiana voters are savvy enough to realize how desperate Hillary Clinton is. She cannot catch up in delegates, so she's running for 2012, but she needs McCain to win in the general to make her plan work.

Wow, a freeze frame of Obama's fingers moving across his face.

Thank you for demonstrating yet again the utter impoverishment of the Clinton agenda.

That last was to Present.

Indiana and North Carolina Democrats, your help is needed to avert an ugly controversy awaiting us in Puerto Rico. In the U.S. territory, citizens do not vote in presidential general elections, but they are given a voice in the Democratic primary.

Puerto Rico's Democratic party decided, on March 8 of this year, to hold a primary rather than a caucus to allocate it's 55 delegates. This decision was made after it became clear that in a close contest, the total popular vote -- no matter how skewed a figure, due to the mix of primary and caucus states -- would become an important number in discussions about the nomination. States that had already had their caucuses, in full accordance with the rules established before the primary season began, did not have the re-do option.

Colorado and Puerto Rico have been allocated the same number of pledged delegates, 55. With Puerto Rico holding a primary with an expected turnout of at least a million voters, its popular vote will likely equal the total caucus votes of Colorado PLUS the primary votes of South Carolina, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Utah, combined. Puerto Rico will thus have a popular vote equivalent vote strength of 160 pledged delegates, rather than their allocated 55.

If the perception is widespread that Obama won the delegate count but lost the popular vote, it will weaken our Democratic nominee and cause feelings of resentment among Clinton supporters. Our best hope of winning in the fall is with a strong nominee who was fairly chosen because he won the most pledged delegates and the most popular votes. The large popular vote expected for Clinton in Puerto Rico may make Obama fall short in the popular vote.

If you've concluded, as I have, that our likely nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is worthy of your vote in the fall, I urge you to consider voting for him May 6. I think it is a wise move for everyone who hopes for a Democratic victory in the fall.

Even if Obama is not your first choice now, your vote in his column of the popular vote would be a gesture of hope for a Democratic victory in November. Doing so will help unite the Democratic Party and give us our best chance for a win in the general election.

As a California voter in June of 1992, I cast my vote not for Jerry Brown, my governor and favorite candidate, but instead for an inexperienced, charismatic governor of a small state, Bill Clinton. It was clear that he would be the nominee, and I wanted to add my little boost to strengthen him going into the convention and the fall election.

Thank you for your consideration.

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A modest proposal: Randall Robinson, Cornel West, Charles Lawrence, and a bunch of other AA "intellectuals" argue on behaf of so-called "reparations" for AAs. I'd like to propose a similar concept: "repatriations." Let's assume that unlike other immigrant groups, nearly all AAs are net-net no gain at all to the economy. But let's further assume half of them are serious sources of costs i.e. prisons, crime, welfare, pointless "educational" expense. So that's maybe 20 million people. So the Us government offers these 20 million people, let's say 100k each, in return for giving up US citizenship and being repatriated to, say, Ghana. For a family of five i.e. mommy and five kids, half a million dollars is enough to live like royalty in Ghana. And for single thug-life guys, a 100k should be enough for plenty of bitches, as they so colorfully say. But for the U.S. the benefits would be well worth the increased taxes necessary to pay for this scheme. Imagine, lower crime, urban neighborhoods opened up for revitalization, make-believe collegs and academic departments could be shuttered. It would be almost an American renaissance.

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Nice job, Greg. Both sides of the story, presented in an evenhanded way. I'm impressed.

you people talk as if its all about HIllary, same tired hate. Get over it, its not healthy. Its about fixing the nation from how GWB is leaving it. Who is the better to fix it?

A first term rookie whose never been tested? Someone who offers the stars and the heavens but no reality solutions? Obama doesn't give a hoot about you and me. He's concerned about Obama. Whats his solution to the gas hike? Never heard it did you? At least Hillary offers SOMETHING, which is better than what even the guy in office today is offering.

Working people understand the difference,elitists don't.

I guess people also have missed the message that while Obama is ahead in the delegate count HE NO WAY has reached the REQUIRED number for the nomination. To state otherwise is dishonest. Those are the facts just the facts! who is pandering now?

also, who is on the side of working families?

from the WAll St. Journal today:

Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign.

It's an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union.

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