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First Kennedy, Now Kerry Blasts the Clinton Campaign

First it was Teddy Kennedy; then came John Kerry.

On Monday, Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama and wagged a finger at the Clintons. On Tuesday, Kerry accused the Clintonites of engaging in a "spin war" and practicing "the type of politics...a lot of us are trying to reject."

Kerry was talking to reporters on a conference call arranged by the Obama campaign. Minutes earlier, Clinton's top campaign aides had been on their own conference call with the media and had argued that the Democratic presidential delegates being selected in Florida during Tuesday's election ought to be counted by the Democratic Party. The problem: after Florida defied the Democratic National Committee and moved its primary to an early position, the party stripped the state of its delegates. All the major candidates, out of respect to the party and fearful of offending voters in the traditional early states, pledged not to campaign in Florida. But now that it seems that Hillary Clinton might do well in the Florida election (and now that Iowa and New Hampshire are done), her campaign is proclaiming, Honor the Florida voter.

Reporters on the Clinton call asked if the Clinton crew was trying to have it both ways: not campaigning in Florida (when doing so could have hurt her elsewhere) but now claiming its delegates should be recognized. Not at all, said Mark Penn, her chief strategist, and Howard Wolfson, her communications director. Should you be "seen as desperate"? one reporter asked. "Something unexpected happened," Penn explained, referring to the reported large turn-out in Florida.

Most of the scribes on the call appeared to believe the Clintons were taking a somewhat situational position. And on the Obama campaign conference call, John Kerry hammered this point. He claimed that Hillary Clinton had said there would be no delegates coming out of FLorida, yet now she was adopting a different stance. The pro-Clinton AFSCME union, he noted, had blanketed Florida with pro-CLinton literature in a "subcampaign." He slapped the Clinton campaign for switching its position and not playing by the rules. David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, called Clinton's attempted Florida grab "a very political maneuver."

Will Clinton's Florida gambit matter in the long run? The Clinton campaign wouldn't mind pocketing a win after being trounced by Obama in South Carolina, as the race heads toward Supersaturated Tuesday. Yet there's no telling if voters elsewhere will care. But if at the end of the primary contest, Obama and Clinton are close in terms of delegates, what happens to Florida could decide the election. Until then, today's back-and-forth was an instance of the Clinton camp doing whatever it takes to win and the Obama crew claiming this proves that Clinton is an old-style pol. This tussle is probably too much of an inside-baseball controversy to affect the voting in other states, but it certainly is another indicator of the bitter feuding under way as the two campaigns hit crunch time.

Comments

Excuse me Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, but what the Clintons are doing is planning to win a presidency. A feat, neither one of you has been able to accomplish. So, does Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton needs to borrow pages from your loser's manual? Not likely. Please, go somewhere and work on your 'bucket list'.

Posted by: Sharon Ash on 01/29/08 at 11:48 AM Respond

Of course Clinton is trying to change the rules in the middle at the moment she sees an advantage. With someone like Mark Penn as her strategist, I expected nothing better. This is why so many of us in the party base coined terms like "Republican-lite" and "triangulating" during the Clinton administration. Bill tore the party apart, and now Hillary is doing the exact same thing. The best Hillary can do is win a squeaker of an election with her party divided and no mandate. She's our only chance to lose in November.

I could see allowing Florida to have its delegates, but either non-voting, or without being able to vote for president. Let them vote on the platform, party rules etc. If the Clintons go for that, then maybe I'll believe they suddenly decided Florida was being treated unfairly.

Posted by: Eric Ferguson on 01/29/08 at 11:58 AM Respond

If progressives really want an end to a neoconservative lock on the White House, they better hope Hillary gets those Florida delegates. Karl Rove, the G.O.P. and the establishment media will stop at no dirty trick to make sure their political novice Sen. Obama knocks her out in the primary. Then they can slam him in the fall over his 12-year affair with indicted Chicago slumlord Tony Rezco. For more on this, see my article at http://www.thecityedition.com

Posted by: YRM on 01/29/08 at 12:01 PM Respond

"a very political maneuver."

And by a politician no less?

I think people are better informed on many of the issues and this will not go unnoticed.

Let the politicians take their best shots and the people can see what they are made of.

Seems like even the MSM is starting to stir a little. There has been more substance in the last few days than many of the weeks before.

Posted by: capt on 01/29/08 at 12:10 PM Respond

No Sharon, she shouldn't 'borrow any pages from their loser manuals'. She should go right on borrowing from George Bush's 'Winning' manual. What a breath of fresh air we can expect from that!

No thank you; I don't wish to go where that will lead.

Posted by: DaveD on 01/30/08 at 5:29 AM Respond

The Democrats are a sorry lot. Yanking the Florida delegates was a colossal boneheaded move. You'd think that after being the Washington doormat for low these many years the Democrats would wise up, but no. However, seeing as how the Democrats are responsible for a warmongering maniac like Joe Lieberman, the Dems yanking Florida's delegates is perfectly plausible. Those Democrats do love that prone position.

Posted by: Skulz Fontaine on 01/30/08 at 7:25 AM Respond

Florida chose. It matters. Saying it doesn't says people don't matter. You can debate the issue of delegates and what will happen to them forever. The reality is that the people of Florida showed up and they made their choice. It matters. I'm sure if Obama had won, the whiners of Mother Jones would be shouting in joy.
Hillary won Florida. The people chose her.

Posted by: Martha on 01/30/08 at 7:44 AM Respond

How is this measure unlike the one that gave Bush the presidency in 2000? This is the Democrats and Obama telling the floridians that they don't matter, their votes don't matter. And having the name "kennedy" doens't make one an authority nor a guru. That family have been using JFK's body as a sleigh for 45 years. Give him a proper burial FFS.

Posted by: soopermouse on 01/30/08 at 2:49 PM Respond

Is there really any chance that Florida could be counted? After telling candidates not to campaign there, that would be a low move by the the DNC. Personally, I'm not so keen on having non-elected officials use Florida to decide the presidency again...

Posted by: Evan on 01/31/08 at 12:31 PM Respond

I am certain that the super delegates will realize before the convention that Hillary can not win in November. For that reason Barack will be the Convention's choice. The Democratic elite are dim, but not stupid. They will realize that Barack can not only win, he can give them an even larger share of congress on his coat-tails.

Posted by: Mark on 02/02/08 at 12:02 PM Respond

I cannot understand why massachusetts voted for Hillary Clinton and she wins the primary here ,why our top two senators back Barrack? what ever happened to the will of the people being shown by the ones that are supposed to represent us?

Posted by: frank on 03/12/08 at 4:41 PM Respond