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CNN Forced Obama Campaign To Send Out Veep Text Early
There's been some chatter to the effect that the Obama campaign sent out its text announcing Joe Biden as veep pick at around 3 A.M. on Saturday morning as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Hillary's infamous ad.
Not so, says the Obama campaign. Turns out they rushed out the text hours earlier than intended because CNN had broken the story:
Said senior Obama aide Robert Gibbs: "Had a certain network not blown our cover at a certain time the text message would have gone out in the morning, 8 a.m. Eastern. We told people they would find out from us. When we decided it was going to get out we decided to send the text out."
The notion that the Obama camp would indulge in such a gag at a time when it's working overtime to win over Hillary supporters was always a daft one to begin with.
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Friday night on CNN was a painful experience...
CNN: You suck!
(You're getting close to Halperin territory)
August 25, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's not CNN's fault. It's the fault of the two Democratic sources that confirmed it to John King. Those two people were intent on shitting on the roll out. I have no idea WHO would want to do that, but the circle of people that could know at that point and who had an axe to grind with Obama has to be pretty damn small.
August 25, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
It was Evan Bayh who leaked it to CNN.
August 25, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Which is a good indication that Obama made the right VP choice. Bayh would have been another Lieberman-Edwards.
August 25, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
That was what I told my wife. Either Byah or Kaine, and Kaine just didn't seem like the kind of guy to hold a grudge.
August 25, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not a daft lead up to the announcement. It was a great plan. It captured the imagination---and the news coverage---for several days. CNN gave it tons of coverage. Any time you have the news and the country waiting with bated breath to hear words drip from your lips, that's probably a good thing.
August 25, 2008 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama had no Plan B -- once it leaked a good portion of America first learned about his pick from McCain's ads. Obama counted on being able to release it himself at a point when the release would be the thing covered.
Short form is that Obama got greedy about the stunt and tried to keep the secret longer than it would hold and suffered the consequences. Too cute by half.
August 25, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
That click you hear is the sound of thousands of eyes rolling all at once. "Consequences." Sheesh.
August 25, 2008 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is just another in a long line of examples of the still active Clinton campaign putting out its latest claim of outrage at Obama.
I assume folks saw Paul Begala on CNN last night beating the "Obama dissed Hillary" drum? Disgusting. Apparently he and James Carville have been all over the place flogging that message.
Hillary could shut that down, but she hasn't.
I hope she, her worthless husband, her surrogates and the PUMAs drop off the end of the earth when this mess is over.
August 25, 2008 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Paul Begala and Carville know that their political careers hinge on Clinton remaining relevant. What you saw last night, is nothing more than self-interest playing out. Did anyone ask Begala if Clinton consulted Jerry Brown on his VP selection in 1992?
August 25, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
You can dislike the person you beat all you want -- often this occurs when you have been treating that person unfairly -- but when that person has the hearts and the votes of 18 million people it might be an idea to show respect. Clinton herself may be willing to forgive you but this doesn't erase what her supporters have learned as they watch how she was treated: Obama lied about saying she was on the short list.
August 25, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
He gave her far more consideration than was merited, in light of the cutthroat Rovean campaign she ran against him.
Why is all the focus on Hillary and how mistreated Hillary's supporters feel? What about the millions of Obama supporters that had to sit through her desperate kitchen sink tactics for two months, when she had no viable chance of winning and Obama could have been taking on McCain all that time?
August 25, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hearts and minds of 18 million, my ass. On the eve of the convention, I've finally had my fill of that steaming pile of crap.
For Christ's sake, she's not Evita Peron, adored and worshipped by millions of shirtless, illiterate peasants as a saint or minor deity.
She still has her posse of TV syncophants like Beglea and Carville and Lanny Davis. There are a few thousand somewhat unhinged hardcore fanatics who have projected a lifetime of disappointment and abuse onto a fantasy Hillary who long since ceased to have any connection to the real person in their minds. There were one and a half to two million Operation Chaos assholes who said diehards are still pleased to pretend were real supporters and actual Democrats. And there are two or three million old white people who could deal with the idea of a woman president as long as she copped a manly 'tude, but who are still wrapping their heads around the fact that the new sherriff is near. And I suppose there are still a few Clinton loyalists who can't distinguish between the Democratic Party and the Clinton family.
The rest have gotten over it, moved on and are on the team. Some wistfully. Some enthusiastically, some not so much. But the idea that merely voting for her in a primary was tantemount to a blood oath of undying fealty is just staggeringly stupid. Which is, of course, why the MSM repeats it constantly.
August 25, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's been suggested by a respected and insightful poster here that maybe she couldn't have controlled that. No offense meant, but I don't buy it. I agree with you. It's her shills, especially Begala. If she'd asked them not to engage in this destructive behavior so disloyal to the party, they would have honored her request.
She didn't ask because she did want them to say those things, being helpful to McCain. Her and Bill.
August 25, 2008 9:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have said it before and I’ll say it again, when it comes to the Clinton's family, they've always put their interest first before the party.
I heard a tense conversation with one of Hillary's die hard supporter yesterday. Folks, these guys are bitter and their sense of entitlement is absolutely ridiculous. I had to remind the guy that the Party doesn't belong to Clinton's family.
August 25, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
"I had to remind the guy that the Party doesn't belong to Clinton's family."
Perhaps that was a needed first step, Gbenga! Good work!
August 25, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now the second step:
"The party belongs to Obama".
There, complete.
August 25, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now if Obama would just get the idea that it doesn't belong to him either! Particularly not the votes of those who looked at him and chose Hillary.
Euro
August 25, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
yeah yeah, the party belongs to the people and not one person and all of that.
Frankly, I'm getting sick of Clinton supporters' (and I voted for her in the primary) belly aching. We voted for her. We lost. We should move on. As time moves on I'm getting more and more excited abut Obama and doubtful that I made a good choice last spring.
August 25, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sending out the text at 3 am to piss off the Clintons would have been childish. And it seems pretty obvious the only children involved are working for Hillary.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
August 25, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
So the numerous quips I saw on Thursday and Friday about "wouldn't it be cool if he sent at at 3am" had nothing to do with it?
August 25, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's right.
August 25, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
The press were tipped off by the Secret Service. Nothing says V.P. like black SUVs pulling up to ones house three hours before the butt-crack of dawn.
In the Secret Service's defense, they had to get to Biden before the PUMA hit squad.
August 25, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I actually got out of bed and looked at the message when the phone beeped. How lame is that?
August 25, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me too...
August 25, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
When Bayh and Keane got the "thanks but no thanks" call, they both talked to the press.
"Now get out of my driveway."
August 25, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Obama campaign made a complete balls up of the SMS. The selection process was clouded by Clinton (I could say more). Biden was not Obama's primary preference. The ticket is limited. McCain has an opportunity to trump Biden now.
I am very, very disappointed. I prefer not to bellyache further.
August 25, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
They have 3MM phone numbers as a result of this move, they had a week of wall-to-wall coverage over his VP selection and you are saying they blew it?
Biden is going to be fine. McCain, quite frankly, is going to have a hard time selecting a VP that will inspire any confidence that he or she is ready to lead. Obama already answered that question
August 25, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
This text message was a toy for children: they got to feel they were going to be 'in the know'.
The upside was the buzz and, I hope, the intended effect was that Obama supporters would spread the news of the pick with Obama's talking points avoiding the media filter. It fufilled Obama's needed desire to have people love him.
The problem is that Obama does not need to impress his supporters -- he needs to convert the people who don't like him and this grandstanding with the text message and the failure to take measures for the likelihoodd it would leak lead a lot of Americans who do not support Obama to first learn of the pick from McCain's ads. A lot of Obama's plans depend on everything falling his way -- reminds me of how George Bush thinks.
August 25, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Waking folks up at 3 am was outrageous. I didn't appreciate one bit. It was uncivilized. I take my sleep seriously. The campaign that has looked and acted strangely disjointed beginning 12 hours before Obama flew to Hawaii, that was the day I believe that Obama could not persuade his primary preference and when Russian tanks rolling into Georgia.
I agree McCain has a hard decision to make, but the Biden selection has given him an opportunity he never would have had otherwise. Do you really think McCain thinks he can raise Obama's Biden with a Romney or a Pawlenty. Of course not. So the odds on him taking a chance a chance on a WOW VP have shortened.
Biden will be fine. But it's not about being fine, it's about breaking through. And this will be harder if McCain is offering a break through VP.
August 25, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
CNN is becoming a proxy of Fox News and its obsessed with Hillary Clinton. I've been debating whether to drop the channel or keep it with my FIOS TV package!
August 25, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Drop it.
August 25, 2008 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm hoping for Rudy Giuliani as the veep for McCain. That would be perfect. All Joe would have to do on the stump is say "McCain = Noun, Verb, POW" and "Rudy = Noun, Verb, 9/11".
And the ads about Rudy? Wow, sorry but I lived in NYC during the Rudy years. Rudy has a pro-gay, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage record, and he has no foreign policy experience. He's so deeply connected to fortune 500 interests and lobbyists that it would make McCain look like another GW patsy. He wasnt' even a good mayor. It could easily be argued that the only reason the streets of NYC were cleaned up during his years as Mayor is because Joe Biden brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass the 1994 crime bill, putting 100,000 cops on the streets and starting an eight-year drop in crime across the country. Rudy just rode the coattails on that one, some would say.
And lastly, just think about the pairing: two adulterers on one ticket?
What a romp that would be. I'd sure like to see it. Like watching a plane crash, train wreck and Death Race all at the same time.
--
Kevin B
I'm saying it now: President Barack H. Obama, Jr., 2009 - 2017
August 25, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know about everybody else but I got the email at 5:01am. The email indicated that it was sent at 4:51am. Even if that's 4:51 CST - I'm on the East Coast - that's still not 3am. I didn't sign up for the text msg - email only - so I'm not sure if that one went out earlier.
August 25, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who the hell seriously thought it was some "3am" jab at Hillary? That's about the stupidest thing I've heard in...well...since ol' John McCain couldn't remember how many houses he owned, and then used the POW card multiple times to try to make it better.
BTW, Join the new facebook group:
"Americans Who *Don't* Need Staff To Count All Their Houses"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27940696679
August 25, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who? The last remaining unhinged Hillary diehards, of course.
For a year and a half, they've see a sexist leer in every smile, a sexist insult in every independent clause, a vicious smear in every statment of fact, a middle finger in ever gesture, and a conspiracy in every conversation. Behind every ill-considered statement of a volunteer, is a carefully considered order from the very top of the Evil Obama Campaign. Obama's invisible hand is behind every nasty comment posted on a blog and it controls and he is responsible for every uncomplimentary statement uttered by anyone in the MSM.
Umbrage is the very air they breathe, outrage is their diet. The discovery and exposure of Obama's many coded insults to Hillary is their last remaining purpose for existance, because they know in their hearts that Obama and his staff devote their every waking moment to thinking up new, ever more cruel insults to poor, poor Hillary and her poor devoted followers. They're all just the poor downtrodden victims of a gigantic male conspiracy to deprive them of what is rightfully theirs.
August 25, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
CNN is gloating over this?
Too bad they don't actually cover NEWS in this aggressive fashion.
August 25, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
a daft idea to begin with
Daft is as daft does for a few people around here...
August 25, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I CALL BULLS*$T
The fact that ABC News reported Friday evening that a Secret Service detail had shown up at Biden's home had not blown the cover? B.S.!
The Obama camp was caught playing their juvenille junior senator games and are covering up now claiming that "CNN made us do it."
The news was over Friday evening don't blame CNN, blame the high school punk who thought it would be cute to send the "3AM" message.
August 25, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
More proof that the CNN meme is false. From ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5638083
Proof that the Obama camp had comfirmed the story "hours" before the 3am text messages but still stuck with their original "3am" prank.
August 25, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
See? Here's proof! Proof positive of yet another conspiracy by Obama to cruelly insult Hillary and her devoted followers.
August 25, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
The story from ABC News certainly puts the lie to the Obama representative who said
From ABC News though, the Obama camp confirmed the story and leaked it to the news media earlier Friday and then Saturday morning started the long process of sending out the hundreds of thousands of text messages at around 3am.
They lied about CNN forcing their hand, why should we believe their denial? It's technologically and factual suspect.
August 25, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you even read what you post? Where does ABC news say that the Obama camp confirmed the story on Friday?
That the Obama camp scrambled to send the text message, even at the inconvenient hour of 0135 (when I got it here in CO) shows that they wanted to mollify supporters like me who were pissed to learn the news from CNN first.
And seriously, if the Secret Service story was proof positive, why didn't ABC News call it for Biden? ABC had the SS story hours before CNN, but they didn't get the scoop. Why? Because they weren't sure!
Some people are just paranoid and delusional.
August 25, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's all silly. It was sent at 3 am Eastern. Maybe, coming from the Obama campaign in CHICAGO, it should have come at 3 am Central. Or how about 3 am Hawaii, since he was born there?
I got it at 2 am.
August 25, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry - reading my own post I realize it sounds like I think the Obama campaign was silly sending a 3 am email. What I DO think is silly is the speculation that they did this at 3 am to poke Hillary in the eye. I have seen no evidence to date that Obama's campaign plays stupid like that. I've seen plenty of evidence that some Hillary supporters (note - I do not say Hillary herself) will take offense and manufacture umbrage at every opportunity.
August 25, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink