Clinton Blames Democratic Activist
Obviously it never dawned on the queen of finger pointing that her poor showing could be due to her constant lies, her hypocrisy, Bill Clinton’s constant misleading statements and Mark Penn for his experience strategy, which Clinton’s first lady papers revealed doesn’t exist.
H/T to Huffington Post
- At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the “activist base” of the Democratic Party — and MoveOn.org in particular — for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had “flooded” state caucuses and “intimidated” her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.
- “Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] — which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down,” Clinton said to a meeting of donors. “We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn’t even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that’s what we’re dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and It’s primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don’t agree with them. They know I don’t agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me.”
Howard Wolfson, communications director for the Clinton campaign, verified the authenticity of the audio.
Senator Clinton’s remarks depart radically from the traditional position of presidential candidates who in the past have celebrated high levels of turnout by party activists and partisans as a harbinger for their own party’s success — regardless of who is the eventual nominee — in the general election showdown.
The comments also contradict Clinton’s previous statements praising this year’s elevated Democratic turnout in primaries and caucuses, and appear to blame her caucus defeats on newly energized grassroots voter groups that she has lauded in the past as “lively participants” in American democracy.
“You’ve been asking the tough questions,” Clinton said in April of last year at a MoveOn.org sponsored Virtual Townhall.
“You’ve been refusing to back down when any of us who are in political leadership are not living up to the standards that we should set for ourselves… I think you have helped to change the face of American politics for the better… both online, and in the corridors of power.”
In a statement to The Huffington Post, MoveOn’s Executive Director Eli Pariser reacted strongly to Clinton’s remarks:
“Senator Clinton has her facts wrong again. MoveOn never opposed the war in Afghanistan, and we set the record straight years ago when Karl Rove made the same claim. Senator Clinton’s attack on our members is divisive at a time when Democrats will soon need to unify to beat Senator McCain. MoveOn is 3.2 million reliable voters and volunteers who are an important part of any winning Democratic coalition in November. They deserve better than to be dismissed using Republican talking points.”
The disclosure of Clinton’s remarks disparaging the prominence of party activists in the caucus process comes after she repeatedly suggested that Obama’s electability had been compromised because he had allegedly offended other key Democratic constituencies.
Sphere: Related Content
April 18th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
nah- i think i am going to let you bitch slap her
April 18th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Thanks I feel better now.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I feel that there is a concerted effort by both democrats and republicans to keep MoveOn.org down.
It began with the bill to limit money and endorsements from PACS in the 2004 run-up.
Basically, MoveOn.org is becoming its own political party. Ordinary people who agree with their views donate money and have created a political force – one that truly threatens the hegemony of the 2-party system.
Thus, the Dems and Repubs are trying their best to paint MoveOn.org as a left-wing nutjob or a “George Soros” enterprise – anything that will keep the liberal leaning Democrats and independent-leaning republicans from abandoning the failed 2-party system.
What happens ten years from now when MoveOn.org has its own candidate?
The parties need to face it – there is no voice for the liberal anymore. Obama is about as close as it gets, and it’s likely the conservative branch (the “middle” or “center”) of the democrats will get their claws into him should he actually win the nomination.
MoveOn.org offers a truly liberal choice…and choice is what the two entrenched powers in Washington are trying to prevent.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Will:
Your probably correct about MoveOn.org becoming it’s own party. There are things they do that I agree with and disagree.
I’m not going to defend MoveOn.org they can take car of themselves.
What irritates me is the continual two faces of Clinton and her constant blaming game. In this entire campaign I have not seen her take ownership of any statement or action until she has been caught on tape or in print. And even then Clinton or her spokesman say that it was taken out of content. I’m beyond politicians who keep telling us that we don’t understand whatever evidence the public reveals about them. I think the era of politicians telling us that we don’t get it is coming to an end. Unfortunately for Clinton and politicians like her it’s hard to take.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
[...] make Hillary Clinton and her surrogates go away. First Hillary and the gang blamed her loss on Democratic activist, then it was the Caucus system here and here, then it was media, the Texas Two Step and the Texas [...]