Obama Foreign Policy Adviser Resigns Over Monstrous Remark

MONSTER BASH

Samantha Power, a foreign policy adviser to Obama's presidential campaign resigned today after it came out that she had called Clinton a "monster" to the foreign press. If you missed the news this morning, Powers said the following to The Scotsman newspaper: "We f*** up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win. She is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything."

Power said, "you just look at her and think: ergh. But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

It probably didn't help that during a telephone press conference held by the Hillary Clinton for President campaign this morning that three House members, Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) called for Samantha Power to be dismissed.


Lowey said, she was, "Calling on Obama to make it very clear that Samantha Power should not be a part of this campaign."

Wasserman Schultz said that Obama had "set a tone of hope" and that the campaign should not degenerate into personal attacks and name calling.

Meeks added that while it's understood that politics is a contact sport, that it should be about the issues and not personal attacks. He said that this was "the worst kind of politics" and that this was what was expected from the other side and that Obama should "stand up and take action."

Later in the phone call, Wasserman Schultz responding to a question from Slate about off-the-record remarks noted that from her own experience, if you've already agreed to an on-the-record interview and then say something you regret and try to make it "off record" the press generally always believes that the comment is fair play to air publically.

According to MSNBC, Barack Obama initially responded to the controversy with this:

[He's] said to have made it very clear that statments such as one from his foreign policy advisor Samantha Power have no place in American politics.

However, back in December Obama made the following statements in regard to personal attacks:

...Obama said he had "been very clear to my campaign. I do not want to see research that is involved in trying to tear people down personally. If I find out that somebody is doing that, they will be fired. And I have been absolutely crystal clear about this, and I have been clear about this for a very long time."

Of course it's not as if the Obama campaign hasn't gotten personal with Hillary Clinton before, though usually the comments are coming from Barack's own mouth in the form of sexist dogwhistles:

First there was the "tea parties" comment:

Obama merely declined to comment in this case, but he hasn't gotten to New Hampshire with clean hands, having recently reduced Hillary Clinton's experience as first lady to attending tea parties; then, responding to being called out by the Clinton campaign on the obvious sexism of that jab, he denied he was referring to her gender (really?—he'd describe a man's experience as having "tea" with people?) and resorted to a thinly-veiled update on the old "hysteria" chestnut: "Those folks must really be on edge."

Then, the "claws" comment:

Obama saved most of his criticisms for Bush, but he seemed to have Clinton in his sights when he said, "You challenge the status quo and suddenly the claws come out."

And this period piece:

“[OBAMA] I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal,” he told reporters.

’Cause you know how women are….

Driven by feelings…. Worried about their [sex] appeal… Prone to tears… The whole phases of the moon thing…

And did you catch the dogwhistle in “periodically”?

NOTE: Apparently, Andrea Mitchell and Nora O’Donnell noticed as well. Even if the boys on the bus didn’t — or approved.

PA PLAY

In Pennsylvania news at the same morning press conference there were hints that there may be at least one PA Presidential debate.

Also, when a WTAE reporter (Aaron Saykin maybe?) asked if Clinton had to win PA, Howard Wolfson said that the campaign would not make any blanket statements but said that PA was "absolutely critical to the campaign." Well, yes!
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