Clinton rebuts McCain ad
John McCain is trying to foment division at the Democratic National Convention with a TV ad saying that Barack Obama passed over Hillary Clinton for his running mate.
But while some of her loyalists might be even more angry, Clinton is having none of it, at least publicly.
She quickly issued a statement in rebuttal: "Hillary Clinton's support of Barack Obama is clear. She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care. John McCain doesn't. It's interesting how those remarks didn't make it into his ad."
UPDATE: Clinton also responded to the series of ads using her criticisms of Obama at the New York state delegation breakfast today in Denver.
“Every one of us could stand up and recite all the reasons why we must elect Barack," she said, according to a statement released by her office. "The Supreme Court is at stake; our educational system needs the right kind of change. We’ve got to become energy independent; we have to create millions of new green collar jobs. We’ve got so much work to do around the world.
“None of that will happen if John McCain is in the White House. I just want to make it absolutely clear we cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush’s failed policies in America and that’s what we would get with John McCain. Now I understand that the McCain campaign is running ads trying to divide us and let me state what I think about their tactics and these ads: I am Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message.
“So let there be the no mistake about it, we are united. We are united for change.”
Clinton is scheduled to speak Tuesday and plans to release her delegates on Wednesday. But several groups of supporters are holding protests and other events in Denver.
"She won millions of votes but isn't on the ticket. Why? For speaking the truth," the announcer says in the McCain ad.
The spot then shows Clinton criticizing Obama's inexperience and attacks. "The truth hurt, and Obama didn't like it," the announcer concludes.
UPDATE: The McCain campaign now has an ad featuring a Clinton delegate who is crossing over to support him.
"I'm a proud Hillary Clinton Democrat," says Debra Bartoshevich.
"Now in a first for me, I'm supporting a Republican," she says, replacing the Clinton sign she's holding with a McCain sign. "I respect his maverick and independent streak. He's the one with the experience and judgment."
"A lot of Democrats will vote McCain," she concludes. "It's OK, really."
The Republican National Committee also has a video showing Clinton saying that she and McCain would bring "a lifetime of experience" to the White House, while Obama only offers "a speech he gave in 2002" in opposition to the Iraq war.
"Should we elect the most inexperienced presidential candidate of our times?" the narrator asks.
"Or was she right?" the narrator concludes, with an image of Clinton.
The Republican National Committee issued a memo today trying to stir things up.
"During the Democrat primaries, millions of lifelong Democrats were proud to support and volunteer for Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). They believed she had the experience and judgment to lead at a time when our country is facing critical challenges both at home and abroad. However, with their party about to officially nominate Barack Obama, these same Democrats believe that he is fundamentally not ready to lead," the memo said. "Barack Obama's decision to 'pass over' Hillary Clinton for his vice-presidential selection without even a vetting or a phone call has served to only exacerbate tensions with the Democrat Party. Obama aides accusing Clinton supporters of acting like 'Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific still fighting after the war is over' shouldn't help the situation too much."
The RNC is even hosting a "Happy Hour for Hillary" tonight at the Paramount Cafe in Denver.
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Maybe if John McRove keeps saying he's a maverick enough times, maybe he'll come to believe it. The fact that some Elephants in Donkey clothing will vote for him is meaningless. He can parade out as many as he likes.
For the life of me, I cannot understand these Hillary supporters who are planning to vote for John McCain. He is so opposite of everything that Hillary stands for! Is it just bitterness and revenge that is prompting their votes for McCain? If so, then they are not really Hillary supporters. I can't imagine (and I truly hope I am right), that Hillary would back these people up. She and Barack are almost completely in sync with their ideas and dreams for this country. McCain is another Bush term. Come on, people, think about what you are saying and doing! Do you all want to see Roe v. Wade taken away? That's what will happen under McCain!
John McCain is just showing his sleazy side again. He's a bully and blow hard who has nothing positive to contribute to the country, so he pokes and taunts like the old bully that he is. He seems to have as many dirty tricks up his sleeve as old Tricky Dick and Rove did. If Hillary supporters fall for his manipulations, they will deserve the increasing loss of equality gains for which women worked so hard over the past hundred or so years. Shame on him. Shame on women who betray Hillary Clinton by going over to his camp.
McCain has released too ads which criticize Obama for
1) picking Biden after he had criticized Obama
2) not picking Clinton because she had criticized Obama
Are these contradictory?
Will a journalist please ask Senator McCain: "Should a candidate pick a running mate who had criticized them in the past or not?"
I WAS a hillary supporter. Obama has nothing to offer our Country.
Pull it together Clintonistas...are you really ready to let go of choice, health-care, education, the environment--and live with a war for the next 100 years? That's the choice, folks. McCain's exploiting you right now. Wake up and smell it for what it is. This man and his campaign are about manipulation. Let's trade out those hard feelings for some old fashioned self - R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
oooh, big bad bully McCain. Did the wittle Obama supporters get their wittle feelings hurt???
If you can't stand the heat..... get out of the kitchen!!!
Obama is throwing the same mud slinging crap that voters have said they want no more part of. He's the classic street poitician who'll say ANYTHING to get elected. As he put it, "it's only words, it's only speeches".
I voted for Hillary in the primaries and I'm voting for McCain in the general election. Roe v. Wade is NOT the litmus test to be president. Character and experience are. We don't need any more "on the job training" (as quoted by Joe Biden about Barack America).
signed,
63-year old white working woman from Scranton, PA
I'm still a little worried that Hillary wants to run for president in four years. She can come out with much more strongly worded support of Obama/Biden and bring most of her supporters to the Democratic fold -- if she really wants to. Or she an keep saying, in a prim and quiet way, "I'm totally behind the Obama candidacy. Really."
Not convincing.
Elephants in Donkey clothing lol, how cute. I know plenty of die hard democrats that are either casting their votes for McCain or not showing up on election day at all. Take the fundamental differences out of the equation and you have one person who has 40 years of service and experience along with a REAL commitment and service to his country and you have one man that well, what has he done? Let's put aside the fact that he had to be told to wear his flag lapel pin, wouldn't put his hand over his heart for our national anthem, didn't know how many states were in our own country, and speaks like the anti-christ about epiphanal lights shining down telling you to vote for him....even if NONE of that happened, he still has absolutely no idea what he is doing. He couldn't even run a small city district, yet you donkeys want to give him an entire country because Bush made you upset. Obama is a younger, dumber, less experienced version of Al Gore. Throw out the celebrity, throw out the media and focus on whats important, and that is the fact that there is only one candidate running this year, and it definitely isn't Barack Hussein Obama.
Gov. Rendell said, "John McCain is no moderate, no progressive, no friend of women. Barack Obama is all of those things." I say, 'exactly'. Barack Obama is a man raised by women, taught by women, with two daughters of his own. If this has come to a race between men, and it has, then Obama is the only man for women to support. McCain ran around behind his first wife's back, tells offensive jokes about women being raped, calls his wife ugly names in public, and makes demeaning jokes about her participating in topless beauty contests. He would not support health care and would take back Roe vs Wade. Nothing about McCain is pro-women.
well Obama has shown how he doesn't care about Clinton supporters- he will not have my vote. Mccain still has to win it- Obama lost it
That 'White hair dude' is simply dishonest at its behest!
McCain likes woman, he ditched his sick wife who sacrificed her life while he was in prison. He sucked Cindy, she was rich!
Now, McCain won 9 houses, he is a millionaire.
Sex, violence & money - mantra of a grumpy old man!
Will you vote?
LMAO, you people are NUTS. NUTS I tell you.
Sure, let's take fundamental differences out of the equation. That makes tons of sense. Let's vote with our US WEEKLY mentality. What talking points can we latch on to? OH, OH, I KNOW! Obama doesn't wear a flag pin. Damn him.
Clinton got a LOT of support. But so did McCain in 2000 when running against Bush. Bush won. End of story. And Bush's camp was horrible to McCain then, and now they're best buds? How genuine is that?
And you know what? Clinton has done NOTHING to show that she cares about the Obama supporters! She's supposed to be part of a PARTY. The Democratic party, not the Clinton party. She can't keep crying because she lost. Its pathetic. Sometimes you don't win. Hard lesson to learn, sure, but thats exactly it. Move on!
If she truly cared about this country, she'd back Obama. They're platforms are nearly identical. If she's worried about his foreign policy experience, she can reach out and try and be the Secretary of State then...no shame in that.
If you vote for McCain and he gets elected, what do you receive in return? More tax cuts for the rich? What about women's rights..not as important if someone OTHER than HIllary is fighting for them? The war? The economy? I don't get this, I truly don't
Sounds like sour grapes to me
I don't understand one thing....
When is Obama going to address the Hillary supporters who are jumping on McCain boat?
He's going to be the nominee, just eat your pride and try to reach them out. That is not Hillary Clinton's job.
Just because someone voted for Hillary doesn't mean they were democrats in the first place. Hillary got votes from Republican women. Of course they'd vote for the republican now that the woman is out of the race.
Allow McCain to jump in with both feet on the Hillary ads, through the whole DNC Convention.
Then make one Obama ad, which features a Townhall meeting where McCain gets the question, "how are you going to beat the B*TCH?"(Senator Clinton)...and he chuckles
CHECK MATE
You Democrats got so greedy. It's just unbelievable. You could have won the game with a lay-up. I mean really... Clinton had this election won by what would have become embarrassing margins.
But no, you had to pass the ball to Obama to try and win it with a three-point shot from half-court. Seriously... what is the deal? Are you all afraid of actually winning the White House or just too dense to realize that after 8 years of Clinton, Obama would actually HAVE the experience by then to be a successor, and you’d have been set up for potentially 16 years in the White House?
I just get the sense that the Democrats have become so furious over the last 8 years that, as an organization, they are utterly incapable of producing effective results or leadership.
No, in our country's time of need, let's forsake the gift-wrapped victory and choose the dude who makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, despite the fact that he has no experience running anything and has like 20 months in the Senate, most of which he's spent campaigning. Un-be-LIEVE-able. No, I mean I’m all for it. Deval Patrick has shown us what stunning results a Hope/Change/Yes We Can candidate delivers. The curtains in the governor’s office have never looked so good. I’m glad he spent $20,000 of taxpayer money fixing that blemish on our state’s interior decoration record. We wouldn’t want Maine or Vermont laughing at our governor’s drapes.
So now you have a dead heat in the polls, and most of these “new voters” that Obama has inspired are the voters that habitually never show up to vote. Hope you’re happy. As an independent who enjoys being able to choose between two respectable tickets, weighing my mixed politics against the candidates’ positions, I’m pretty disappointed in you Democrats. I’m not thrilled with the Republicans, but at least they’re nominating the candidate with the best chance to win.
When it comes to getting stuff done, the most effective people aren’t always the ones you like. No one likes the big, bad, mean, angry, cutthroat capitalist oil-men types. But THOSE are the guys who are going to solve our energy crisis, and it’ll happen exactly when it becomes profitable for them to do so. It won’t be solved by all the lame bloggers out there whining about global warming or crying about how we’ve overfished the sea monkeys. I know it pains you socialist Obama supporters, but the same mean SOB corporate types who are clearing $12 Billion a quarter on oil right now, are the same ones who are going to reorganize the energy infrastructure of the country. Republicans (current administration notwithstanding) seem to generally understand that capitalism is the economic system we have in place, and that’s the system we need to use to fix our problems. Not this crazy communist nonsense coming out of the Obama camp where he’s just going to magically use the government to create “green-collar” jobs. I want an effective, fiscally responsible federal government, not an astounding Cirque du Soleil-style tax and spend bonanza.
Anyway, way to go Democrats. You had Clinton, Biden, and Dodd, all of whom would have been slam dunks. Not sure who’s coaching you, but after the last two games, one would think you’d have learned your lesson and been happy with a high-percentage shot.
It always amazes me how Democrats like to think of themselves as positive upbeat people yet are in fact so bitter and spiteful whenever they talk about anyone who doesn't agree with them.
Anyway I don't know who to vote for. Should we choose the man with so little experience or history as to be equivilent to promoting the mail clerk to CEO because he is really well spoken or do we tap the super experienced war monger with the charisma of a three day dead toad who will likely lead us into at least one major war before we finish the two we are in?
Either way, if you are so dense as to make your pick based on abortion "rights" you are gullible beond belief and probably support Obama's notion that actual infanticide is OK if a doctor screws up and an abortion attempt is born live.
No court ruling will ever outlaw abortion, only give the right to legislate its legality to the respective states. You know the way our republic was meant to function. So if you live in Alabama you may have to drive to Florida to abort your baby, and in Obama's world you would even be able to wait until after it's born!