Buckeye State Blog - Hillary stokes Muslim rumor despite knowing for a fact that Obama is not Muslim UPDATE [x2 VIDEO] - Comments

Barack's Blunder

Yurdelite — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:25:24 -0800

That is funny but his mistake did not send our military into a war ill prepared to fight it. Our soldiers were not trained to fight a war in a city going door to door.

So I 'll take Barack's blunder over Hillary's vote for the war blunder any day.

Republicans are voting in

Magi1 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:18:28 -0800

Republicans are voting in force to keep her in the race so Dems have to burn more $$$$$$ ... Clinton will win Ohio. Their primary vote doesn't matter since McCain has it locked up.

We're counting on Ohio

republicus — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:02:32 -0800

As a North Carolinian currently residing in Washington, DC, I can attest that Democrats in all parts of the country are very much hoping that Ohio rejects the Clinton campaign's fearmongering and misrepresentations in favor of a politics of new possibility. I have personally been troubled by yesterday's assault on Obama by the Clinton campaign and the media - both of whom want to see this race continue. Pollsters are already out there saying Hillary's negative ads and attacks are working in Ohio. We need those of you who've seen these tactics before speak not only for Ohio, but for the rest of us as well.

as far as i know, he doesn't beat his wife

Tim Russo — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:56:08 -0800

excellent point fozzie. well put.

60 minutes interview

Frank — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:15:17 -0800

This is a woman that understands exactly what she says - targetting those less well informed voters, in this case working-class white male voters, with language that protects her politically, and does little to dispel the seeds of doubt, planted early in her campaign with regards to Obama's childhood education. If there is ever to be a paradigm shift in national politics, it will not be with Hillary at the helm.

I feel exactly the same way

FindlayMarketGirl — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:50:23 -0800

She would say anything if she knew for sure it would give her an undue advantage. When the McCain-lobbyist story broke, Huckabee didn't say "I take him at his word", even though that seemed like the miracle he'd been waiting for.

The Clintons are making it extremely hard for many people to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now, you know why she has the highest negatives of any candidate in this race, Democrat or Republican.

Yeah

FindlayMarketGirl — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:36:40 -0800

I take her at her word.

Hillary Does Attack Not Attack but Offers Solutions!

joeybullboy03 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0800

I am very sorry to hear that you feel that way however in Ohio today Senator Obama made the biggest blunder. He gave credit to Senator Jay Rockefeller for voting against what he read in the NIE. He misspoke. It is not a quote and it can be listened as a video. The first word that comes to mind regarding Senator OBAMA wrong, wrong words, wrong time, wrong place and wrong to say untruths and direct me and Senator Hillary Clinton while she was miles away from him in Westervile Ohio. Now do you have anything more you would like to add?

Joey

Pathetic...

AnnDriscoll — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:40:20 -0800

...is always the first word that comes to mind when I hear about Hillary and her campaign's latest insinuations and attacks.

Re: What if she had said this ...

tessellated — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:38:32 -0800

Haha!

That's an excellent point, Fozzie.

What if she had said this ...

Fozzie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:31:42 -0800

STEVE KROFT: You don't believe that Senator McCain is a traitor?
HILLARY CLINTON: Of course not. I mean that's, you know, that, there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says, and, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.
KROFT: You said you take Sen. McCain at his word that he is not a traitor.
CLINTON: Right, right.
KROFT: You don't believe that he is a traitor.
CLINTON: No! No! Why would I? There's nothing to base that on. As far as I know.

If she had said that everyone -- and I mean everyone -- would agree her "As far as I know" and her "I take him on the basis of what he says" would be outrageous. These are things about which you cannot leave any room for doubt. And she almost went out of her way to leave room for doubt -- particularly with that "as far as I know" bit at the end.

Re: It is a lot worse than

tessellated — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:36:15 -0800

I was trying to be as generous as possible in my reading, audiored. :)

I hear ya.

Hillary didn't kill Vince

54cermak — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:31:39 -0800

Hillary didn't kill Vince Foster. As far as I know.

It is a lot worse than

audiored — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:02:35 -0800

It is a lot worse than parsing her words for plausible deniability. It is clearly a statement designed to leave doubt that Obama is trustworthy and believable in his statements.

It took her four lines to answer a yes or no question. She intentionally qualifies each 'no' in an attempt to leave doubt that Obama is being forthright about his religious belief.

Candidates use the kinds of phrasing Clinton did when they want to suggest their opponents are lying.

Re: Overreaction

tessellated — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:31:04 -0800

I think people are reacting based on their preconceptions of the candidate. Hillary was verbose in her denial, but so much so that people who have grown sick of Clintonian parsing sense duplicity.

Why "I take him at his word"? Why choose that phrasing? In case he is lying and revealed as such at a later date Hillary will have wiggle room to not also be implicated in his dastardly conspiracy? Why not just say the rumor is ridiculous and be done with it. Candidates only use that "take him at his word" phrasing when they want to have plausible deniability.

I agree that this issue should be put to bed once and for all but (evidently) for some voters in Ohio (I have met one) have been exposed to this rumor and it is coloring their judgment.

Hillary stokes Muslim rumor despite knowing for a fact that Obama is not Muslim UPDATE [x2 VIDEO]

Tim Russo — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:27:20 -0800

The takeaway for me from the 60 Minutes Ohio story is that the Muslim rumor about Barack Obama has become pervasive. It filtered all the way down to a guy in Chillicothe who lost his job at a paper plant. Just where do you think he got this information? And why does he believe it to the point that he has to be corrected by Steve Kroft in a nationally televised interview?

Schoenholtz told Kroft he is leaning towards Obama, but that there were a couple of issues he was “not too clear” on.

Asked what they were, Schoenholtz said, “Well, I'm hearin' he doesn't even know the National Anthem, you know. He wouldn't use the Holy Bible. He's got his own beliefs, got the Muslim beliefs. Couple issues that bothers me at heart.”

“You know that's not true,” Kroft remarked.

“No. I’m just…this is what I've been told,” he replied.

And of course Hillary does her best to stoke the rumor without sounding like she's stoking the rumor.

“You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?” Kroft asked Sen. Clinton.

“Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that,” she replied.

“You said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not…a Muslim. You don't believe that he's…,” Kroft said.

“No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know,” she said.

“It's just scurrilous…?” Kroft inquired.

“Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors, that I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time,” Clinton said.

She takes Senator Obama at his word. She doesn't denounce the rumor, neither does she reject it, just that she takes him at his word. Despite the fact that Chelsea attended the same church service as Michelle Obama in January. Despite the fact that Hillary raised money for Obama in 2004 and still has a picture of Obama's family on her desk.

Asked if she likes Sen. Obama, Clinton said, "Sure I do. You know, I liked him before we got into this election. I campaigned for him. I met him and his children. In fact, I went to Chicago to campaign and raise money for him. And we had a picture taken at the event, this was in 2004."

"And I put the picture in my office. It's still there. I look at Barack and Michelle and their daughters every day when I'm in my office. I think he's an extraordinary person. And we were friends before, and we will be friends afterwards," she added.

I'd say Hillary could have been a tad more definitive on the Muslim rumor. Either way, this thing has gotten out there, and now that Steve Kroft has corrected one voter in person, I'd say Obama picks up a vote in Chillicothe, and a few more among 60 Minutes viewers. Which might be why Hillary just sorta, you know, takes Obama's word on it. As far as I know.

UPDATE - what readers are saying....as far as I know.

The Clintons can't just be defeated on Tuesday, they have to be put away for good. They have to be humiliated and any shreds of a legacy or reputation burnt and buried. There is talk that if Clinton looses the nomination she will become majority leader in the Senate. No way in HELL we can allow this. If this becomes an issue I want to make sure every Obama supporter calls, emails, writes, harasses their Senators to ensure Clinton isn't allowed to get to this position. There is not one redeeming feature about the Clintons. I can't even express my disgust at them with out resorting to vulgarities.