MotherJones Blog: Obama Ups the Ante on Disclosure

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Obama Ups the Ante on Disclosure

Obama went before reporters from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times on Friday and cleared the air on the Rezko situation in a big way. Here's the beginning of the Trib's write-up:

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama waited 16 months to attempt the exorcism. But when he finally sat down with the Tribune editorial board Friday, Obama offered a lengthy and, to us, plausible explanation for the presence of now-indicted businessman Tony Rezko in his personal and political lives.

The most remarkable facet of Obama's 92-minute discussion was that, at the outset, he pledged to answer every question the three dozen Tribune journalists crammed into the room would put to him. And he did.

You can read the whole thing here. It's pretty remarkable; it's the closest thing to an acquittal that the press can issue. The Obama campaign tried to use it to push the Clinton-as-serial-nondiscloser story line, immediately urging the Clinton campaign to match their moment of forthrightness by releasing all of Clinton's tax records, disclosing all of her earmarks, and making the donations to Bill Clinton's presidential library and foundation public.

I'm guessing the Clinton campaign will reject all three parts of that suggestion. The question is whether voters in Pennsylvania care. I'm guessing they are a little more worried about things like NAFTA, the economy, and the Iraq War. But that said, if Obama's push on the issue of disclosure reminds just a few people that they are tired of the Clintons and their drama, he might poke a few critical percentage points into his column on election night.

Comments

Obama's pastor and spiritual guru, says that Israel is a terrorist state in the way that they treat third world people, the Palestinians. No more taxpayer money should go to the terrorist state of Israel.

Posted by: Hussein on 03/17/08 at 9:37 AM Respond

I didn't know we'd given so much to Isreal. 1.4 trillion since 1973. That's outrageous. And it doesn't include the Iraq war. I didn't hear the pastor's speech either. Didn't care to. Want to focus on what's going on right now and can hardly do that with all the nonsense about his pastor saying something 20 years ago. This is having the reverse affect and making an Obama supporter out of me.

Posted by: FreshPaw on 03/17/08 at 11:20 AM Respond

That kind of "putting the cards on the table" is going to help Obama in the long run. But it is essentially "nothing awful happened" so it will never make the top of the fold or anyone's broadcast.

Posted by: Egalitare on 03/17/08 at 12:09 PM Respond

I went to see what the story was and the page was unavailable. I Wonder WHY! Well here is somehing to look at;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDHsHM0laT8&feature=related

Posted by: Freda on 03/17/08 at 3:11 PM Respond

Fresh Paw said; *Want to focus on what's going on right now and can hardly do that with all the nonsense about his pastor saying something 20 years ago."
Now read below, it didn't say he (the Pastor) said it 20 years ago you mis read!

He has also claimed to be a “devout Christian” who attends church every week and is deeply involved in the life of Wright’s congregation (where he’s been a member for twenty years).

Posted by: Freda on 03/17/08 at 4:03 PM Respond

Clinton and Obama will both tow the politically expedient line by siding with Israel against the state of Palestine. Obama will have to be all the more "skewed" in his position to compensate for his long association with Wright. Dare I hope that the Obama supporters can concede some fairly positive diplomatic efforts on the part of Bill Clinton concerning the Middle East during his presidency? Many Israeli Jews tend to be more pro-Palestinian than American Jews because even if a hundred Palestinian kids die for every Israeli kid, if you are the mother of that Israeli kid, you're not interested in statistics, you're interested in things QUIETING DOWN so that your son isn't caught in some bomb attack in Tel Aviv.

Posted by: Kathy Giannini on 03/17/08 at 5:30 PM Respond

You guys do need to fix your link. The Trib story with complete audio interview etc. is here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0316edit1mar16,0,2616801.story

Posted by: JP on 03/17/08 at 10:42 PM Respond

Kathy,

As an Obama contributor,there is no question that Bill Clinton got as close as anyone has in coercing a meaningful deal between the Palestians and Israel. It was ultimately undone by Arafat's fear that 90% just wasn't enough. But just because Obama's minister believes in revolutionary theology, doesn't mean that Obama is slave to those opinions.

And as someone who has set boots down on Israel, the West Bank, and somehow managed a daytrip to Gaza, I can verify that a great many Israelis are more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians than their so-called "defenders" here in the U.S. are. An overwhelming number of Palestinians would rather conduct daily business with their Jewish neighbors than watch their crops rot while checkpoints are closed for extended periods of time because the actions of a few extremists. I submit that BOTH Obama and HRC would attempt to "quiet things down" more than McCain would.

Posted by: Egalitare on 03/18/08 at 3:10 AM Respond

Remove from your vocabulary phrases like"one of these days"or

"someday";

Posted by: wow power leveling on 03/19/08 at 7:15 PM Respond

Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment;not only about survival

Posted by: 数据恢复 on 03/19/08 at 7:16 PM Respond