Edwards to Clinton: No More "Politics of Doubletalk."
by TomP, Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 11:48:43 AM EDT
Xposted from Daily Kos.
Well, we all heard Senator Clinton at the debate doubletalking her way through answer after answer. It's not just the blogs who have noticed. For example, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an editorial entitled "Eschew obfuscation" on Friday morning said:
Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has become a walking Waffle House.
Folks are waking up and realizing it.
John Edwards yesterday:
"Now I have a really simple rule," he said. "When you get asked a yes-or-no question, you can't answer it yes-and-no. That doesn't work, and we saw some of that the other night."
msnbc -- First Read
A primary broke out this week instead of the MSM's coronation. I'll give you a recap and update on this fall Saturday morning, after the fold.
Let me take you back to the debate.
New York Times' Katharine Q. Seelye:
[John Edwards] suggests that Mrs. Clinton voted for the Iran resolution because she was moving from primary mode to general election mode. 'Our responsibility should be in tell-the-truth mode,' he said. Mrs. Clinton calls this a semantic difference."
NY Times
Edwards was more blunt than Obama, citing what he said were Clinton's shifting positions on the war in Iraq and Social Security."I think the American people, given this historic moment in our country's history, deserve a president of the United States that they know will tell them the truth and won't say one thing one time and something different at a different time," he told Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief.
Asked whether he stood by his characterization of Clinton's rhetoric as "doubletalk," Edwards replied firmly, "I do."
But she avoided direct answers to several questions. The New York senator wouldn't say how she would address the fiscal crisis threatening Social Security, she declined to pledge whether she would stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon or say whether she supports giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants
Jon Stewart noticed the doubletalk:
Clinton responded with a campaign of misdirection, trying to take the focus off her doubletalking and putting it somewhere, anywhere else. The campaign sent out this video and began a not-so-subtle campaign that some saw as accusing the male candidates as picking on her:
Democrat Barack Obama accused rival Hillary Clinton on Friday of hiding behind her gender after her campaign complained six male candidates engaged in "the politics of pile on" at a debate.
Obama accuses Clinton of hiding behind gender
In a matter of 24 hours, Sen. Hillary Clinton went from referring to her presidency as done deal to acting like the victim of a schoolyard beat down. She's kept a low profile since Tuesday night's trouncing in the debates, where even her closest allies and advisers said she dropped the ball ("As someone who loves her," said former Clinton adviser James Carville. "This was not her best performance."). As she regrouped, Clinton went on the offensive (or defensive?) producing a video titled "The Politics of Pile-On."
The Edwards campaign called Clinton out on her tactics of misdirection:
"All the distractions in the world won't undo the fact that on Tuesday night millions of Americans saw John Edwards speak honestly and directly, while Senator Clinton once again took multiple positions on multiple issues. We understand that the Clinton campaign isn't happy about that, but instead of smoke and mirrors, how about some truth-telling?
Edwards Campaign Statement On Senator Clinton's Damage Control Efforts
Yesterday, the Edwards campaign released this video entitled "The Politics of Parsing":
As of this {afternoon], it has been viewed more than 145,000 times already.
John Edwards yesterday on the "politics of doubletalk":
"I believe Senator Clinton should be held to the same standard that every one of us should be held to - tell the truth, no more double-talk and no defending a broken system."What I heard from Senator Clinton on Tuesday night was more of the same double-talk--and the American people are tired of it. We need a president who will say the same thing all the time.
"If the Democrats want to win in 2008, it is crucial that we nominate a candidate who can restore the trust between the president and the American people. What we saw in the debate were the 'politics of double-talk.' I have a really simple rule: if you get asked a yes or no question you shouldn't give a yes and no answer."
Edwards Statement On The Politics Of Double-Talk
This issue is not going away.
I think we have a primary breaking out here in which the voters will choose, not big money and not the media.
Should be fun!! Hope you all have a great Saturday!
Tags: Hillary Clinton, John Edwards (all tags)
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