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After wondering aloud to the Washington Post about Barack Obama’s past drug use, Bill Shaheen, Hillary Clinton’s national co-chair, stepped down today. Shaheen, who is the husband of former New Hampshire Gov. and Senate candidate Jean Shaheen, said Obama’s prior cocaine use would hurt his electability if he won the nomination.
Shaheen’s original comments to the Washington Post caused a minor brushfire, but it was largely contained inside the Beltway. Shaheen isn’t a national figure (nor is his wife), and the issue probably would have burned out after a few days if the Clinton campaign apologized—which it did—and moved on.
Instead, Shaheen’s resignation provides another news peg, and thus another chance for the story to permeate into the general consciousness. The story was initially about a Clinton rep critiquing Obama’s drug use. Now it’s about a shakeup in the campaign’s leadership. Not a good meme for a once-front-runner.
So, why fan the flames? Even if Shaheen thought it was morally right to step down, it’s better politically to keep him on board and quiet. Obama can’t bring up Shaheen’s comments too often, since it also reminds them that he did lines of cocaine. (That said, Obama did rally a fund-raising drive around the affair called “The cost of negativity.” Also, Obama strategist David Axelrod called the resignation the right thing to do.)
This may play worst in New Hampshire, where the Shaheens are popular figures among Democrats. Clinton has long thought New Hampshire to be her firewall if she loses Iowa, but this may shake that foundation if the Granite State press latches on to this story as expected.
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We've written a lot about Ron Paul publicity stunts. First the money bomb, then the blimp. The Ron Paul pinup calendar was only inevitable.
(h/t Hit & Run)
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Each Democratic candidate is already declaring victory in today’s debate. Except, of course, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, who didn’t participate. Their campaigns are, to say the least, displeased.
Team Kucinich sent out a furious e-mail after the debate demanding an explanation for his exclusion, “especially after the newspaper's inclusion of non-candidate Alan Keyes in yesterday's Republican debate.” Gravel spokesman Alex Colvin said that his candidate chose not to stage a parallel event as he has done before, but that it was a “very poor move” for the debate organizers to “censor” Gravel and Kucinich.
So, in case you’re craving your Gravel fix, here’s his latest trippy video. It’s two minutes of Gravel talking to himself. Not quite Adaptation, but still worth a glance ...
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Here was Charles Krauthammer weighing in yesterday on moderator Carolyn Washburn's performance:
"That was not just the worst debate of 2007, that was the worst debate
in western history, and that includes the ancient Greeks. There was no
record in any major European record of a debate this transcendently and
crushingly dull. It was an astonishment. The best line of the day was
Fred [Barnes] in commenting after the debate where he said the
moderator was Nurse Ratched. This moderator had the candidates
shackled, handcuffed, and gagged with these absurd 15-second responses,
30 second responses. … [S]he had taken the major issues of any
interest—Iraq and immigration—off the table at the beginning and never
asked about the NIE or Iran or proliferation or interrogation— anything
on our minds today."
He should have seen today's ...
[Via Politico]
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There's a weird egalitarianism to this debate. Dodd and Biden and Richardson are getting as much time to talk as the front-runners. Washburn is also challenging them on long-lost gaffes—stuff that doesn't normally come up for anyone who's not ahead in the polls. She asks Biden about his awkward remarks about race, to which he responds that he "got into politics because of the civil rights movement." She asks whether Dodd is running for president to restore his family name. He says he's "motivated by my family because of their public service." If the questions were meant as gotchas, the candidates dodged the bullets by wide margins.
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This debate makes yesterday's look like a royal rumble. I'm not sure they've said a single sentence that hasn't been uttered before. The moderator isn't following up, the candidates aren't challenging each other's points, and their blood pressure seems almost dangerously low. Where's Gravel when you need him ...
So, what's the latest on the Mitchell report?
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Each candidate gets 30 seconds for a "free statement." It's like six sound-bite-filled stump speeches mixed throughout the debate. You might as well be flushing time down the toilet. Richardson even manages to stick his foot in his mouth:
"I’m going to use my 30 seconds to thank people of Iowa for putting us through this good process."
"Putting us through"? "Good" catch there, Bill.
UPDATE 2:47 p.m.: Hillary manages to work a mini-dis into her statement: "Some people believe you can get change by demanding it. Some believe you can get change by hoping for it."
In a hands-off debate like this, that's a body slam.
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He looks like a ghost. Could be PBS's fault ... or an overzealous beautician.
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Carolyn "al-Qaida" Washburn is back, promising to keep people to time limits but saying, "I’ll try not to be a scrooge about it." Yesterday, the candidates seemed to bristle at the format, which didn't produce many fireworks. So far, today doesn't look much different. The audience is silent, Washburn looks sour, and there hasn't been any back-and-forth. Gotta love the PBS aesthetics—padded sound, black background, fixed camera angles. It's like a group Charlie Rose interview.
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It’s nothing new for candidates to exploit their families. Mitt
Romney makes regular appearances with his entourage of chiseled, heterosexual,
all-American sons and their wives. But with the caucuses approaching,
candidates are pulling out the nuclear option of familial endorsements: their mothers.
Hillary has a new campaign ad
featuring her mother, Dorothy. Dorothy wants voters to know “what a good person
she is. She never was envious of anybody. She was helpful.” Earlier this week,
the Edwards campaign announced
the shocking news that both of John Edwards’ parents, Wallace and Bobbie, have
endorsed their son. (Watch them phonebank for him here.) John McCain trotted
out his 95-year-old mom this week, too. “If there’s any questions we might
have about any age problem in this campaign, there’s my genes,” he says,
pointing out his mother.
Mothers are the perfect campaign weapon. First of all, they
prove that someone loves the
candidate—even if he’s a candidate only a mother could love. Showing your
softer side isn’t always a smart move, but when it’s your mother, no worries.
Secondly, they’re non-controversial. No one is going to question a mother’s
motivation or doubt their sincerity. And lastly, mothers are irrefutable: What
they say, goes. Rival campaigns don’t dare accuse someone’s mother of lying or
cheap shots. (Wives, by contrast, are not immune to this.)
Of course, dotty parents can also be a liability. McCain’s
mother embarrassed
the campaign in November by vaguely suggesting that Mitt Romney’s work at the
Olympics was tainted by his Mormonism.
But in general, introducing your mom can only help. Barack Obama, whose family life has been more complicated that most other candidates', has yet to bring his mother out on the trail. If he makes it to the general, the people will no doubt want to meet the parent.
UPDATE 1:59 p.m.: Scratch that last part. Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, died of cancer in 1995.
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