podesta_email_20278.txt

podesta-emails 4,112 words email

P17 V11 D6 D8 D4

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*Main Topics: *McCain and 'the race card,' McCain surrogates get fact-checked, Cindy and Cuba *Summary of Shift: *At ten US deaths this month, the Pentagon reports that July 2008 is the lowest death toll for American troops since the Iraq war started. Obama's allegations that the McCain camp is attempting to paint him as strange, foreign and different were the central subject of conversation and reporting this evening. NASA scientists have confirmed that Mars has water. The GOP worries about the arraigned Ted Stevens' impact on its ability 'to claw its way back to respectability.' Highlights 1) 'Race Card' a. MSNBC: Rick Davis defends his claims, alleges McCain has not brought a political campaign overseas and that they had no plans for an attack regardless of whether Obama visited troops in Germany [see also: highlight 2b] b. CNN: John McCain is of two minds on whether to push the issue or let the American voter decide c. ABC: McCain plays a risky strategy 2) Two McCain supporters make some questionable claims a. MSNBC: David Shuster checks for Heather Wilson's poll, comes up empty b. MSNBC: Kiley reports that the McCain camp was on the ready to attack Obama no matter what 3) CNN: Cindy McCain's Inbev-Cuban connection No Clip 1) MSNBC: Pete Hegseth and John Soltz have heated debate over Iraq and Afghanistan 2) MSNBC – MICHELLE BERNARD: "When I first saw the ['celeb'] ad, the first thing I thought: What a colossal waste of money.' […] I kinda thought the ad was laughable." 3) MSNBC – BOB SHRUM: "What's happening in the McCain campaign is they're lost in a strategic wilderness. They're wandering around, moving from negative attack to negative attack. […] *The danger for McCain here is that he's coming across as a grouch without a vision. He gives no sense of hope, no sense of where he'd like to take the country.*" Clips Highlight #1 *Rick Davis Attempts to Substantiate the McCain Campaign's Race Card Accusation* (MSNBC 07/31/08 1:14pm) [Mitchell plays Obama's dollar bill comment] ANDREA MITCHELL: Now, in response to that, you said Obama 'played the race card and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It was divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.' Explain to me, Rick how is what he said playing the race card? RICK DAVIS: Well, I think it goes well beyond that. First of all, that is one of three instances yesterday that Barack Obama said the same thing in three different locations in Missouri. Secondarily, his campaign actively has been feeding to journalists all night last night and all day today the notion that something we have done in our campaign, of which I could not identify for you today, was somehow—had racial overtones. Third, liberal blogs, all around the country, were actively pursuing this [issue] this morning, which I can only assume didn't come out of the blue. So I just wanted to make it clear and to be honest, I don't know how else you explain the quote that you just played other than to believe that somehow Barack Obama was calling something we'd done racist or something we'd done with racial overtones. Otherwise I don't know what else he was talking about. MITCHELL: Let's talk about the celebrity ad. The Obama campaign is responding to that, of course, because their take on it is that you are comparing him to two people, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears who are basically famous for doing nothing, where as he is the United States senator and democratic nominee. How do you defend the ad? DAVIS: I think it's very simple. What we did is we looked at three of the top celebrities of our time and, I f you look at what the campaign that Barack Obama has waged [sic], you would have to say he's become one of the global celebrities of our time. Even your last [indiscernible], Dr. Thompson said— MITCHELL: That's your definition. [cross-talk] DAVIS: I mean this is an interesting—*she says he's a major figure in world history. I agree he's a major figure in the world. I don't know so much about history.* *He hasn't been in the United States senate for very long and he was only a state senator for a short period of time, so I don't know what her history is, but the reality is that he is celebrity.* I don't think anybody would deny that fact and I think you can compare him to two other people with great global name recognition and a huge fan base and when you have an event that we used in the ad like he had in Germany where 200,000 of his fans show up, honestly, I know if Britney Spears could get 200,000 fans in Germany today. MITCHELL: But *you could compare him to a lot of other figures. You could compare him to political figures; to world leaders. Why compare him to two pop stars?* DAVIS: Do you not believe that Barack Obama is celebrity? I mean, when I'm at a grocery store— MITCHELL: That's not the way I would define him. I think the word celebrity has a certain pejorative— [cross-talk] DAVIS: *He's on the front of every tabloid. He's on the front cover of every magazine, of every, you know, celebrity journal that you see.* I mean I don't think it's disputable that he's a celebrity. MITCHELL: He's on the front cover of news magazines, Rick. [cross-talk] DAVIS: *He's a celebrity. I can't believe anybody would think otherwise.* MITCHELL: He's on the cover, as is John McCain, of the new *Time *magazine, that's a news magazine—not a tabloid, not a celebrity magazine. Celebrity, in this and age, has a tabloid, pejorative connotation. [cross-talk] DAVIS: *You've never seen John McCain take a presidential campaign overseas. * Look, there aren't supporters overseas. There's nobody in Germany, other than ex-pats, who are going to vote for Barack Obama. These are fans. What else would they be? And so* I think you're just declaring the obvious when you say 200,000 fans showed up at an event, in Germany, to celebrate his fame.* Do we really believe that the political event he put on there was for the purposes of getting votes in Germany? No. I mean, it's a celebrity event. MITCHELL: Rick…. And I think that that's a simple thing. Look, the reality is, you're missing the really important part of this, which is just because he's a great celebrity doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to lead the country and let's talk about what we think the one of the most important pressing issues were. You were just talking about it on your show and that's the distinction between whether we want to act today and get together, trying solve a problem of energy by allowing there to be drilling or whether you want to take Barack Obama's position, which is siding with select democrats in congress to keep a moratorium against trying to create new offshore sources of oil. [cross-talk] MITCHELL: Rick, let me ask you about *John Weaver, one of your former colleagues in the McCain campaign, and he said that John (John McCain) has 'been a celebrity ever since he was shot down.' Obviously back during the Vietnam war; whatever that means.* *And he says, 'I recall Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush going overseas and all those waving American flags. There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now and it isn't at Obama's. For McCain's sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop.'* How do you respond to John Weaver, a republican and a McCain supporter? DAVIS: You know, I think this is just one example of why he hasn't been involved for over a year. MITCHELL: Okay. [chuckling] Were you guys ready, by the way, on the whole subject of visiting the troops/not visiting the troops […], were you ready with an advertisement, as some have suggested, in case he had visited the troops to criticize him for doing it while on a political trip? DAVIS: No. I mean, frankly we learned about the trip from the media. We, like many people in the media weren't very well informed on what details of Barack Obama's trip was going to be. When we learned about it, it was disappointing to us because I'm very confident that the soldiers at Lansdale would have enjoyed a trip and a visit by Barack Obama. So, from our perspective, you know, look we think he made a mistake in judgment. We think those are the kinds of things that people are evaluating and look, Andrea, I think that the public surveys that are out this week indicate that not everybody's as crazy about him as the Germans who attended his event. MITCHELL: How did we get so negative here in this campaign. I'll conced you both sides, taking shots at each other. How did we go so off track? You have John McCain, the happy warrior who survived 2000 campaign barely because of the negative attacks and was so embittered by that, but vowed never to let that happen again, and you have Barack Obama, a new paradigm in American politics, two guys who say that they're going to be different. How did this come to such a negative pass? DAVIS: First of all, I wouldn't describe John bitter about the 2000 election. It was one of the greatest activities and moments of his life. He had an incredibly uplifting experience from that, the millions of people who supported him. So, please, I wouldn't refer to anything that exciting as a bitter experience. The reality is— MITCHELL: I won't use that term. You're correct. Let me just— [cross-talk] MITCHELL: Let me just say, Rick— DAVIS: *Our campaign has embarked upon an effort to defend John McCain since Barack Obama won his nomination. Every single day that Barack Obama has been out on the campaign trail, he's attacked and attacked and attacked John McCain. *There are many days and many instances that I could how you where they held the same stage where John McCain never mentioned Barack Obama's name and Obama viciously attacked John McCain. The first ad that was ever run that was negative ad in this campaign and was run one month after Barack Obama won the election by his campaign, not John McCain's. So, the reality is many people say the McCain campaign has been on the defense for some time and, to some degree, they're right because what we've had to do is defend ourselves against the ongoing attacks by the Obama campaign that started immediately after his nomination. MITCHELL: Rick, that first ad was a response ad. It was an energy ad in July and it was a response to a Republican National Committee ad. The first negative ad in this campaign— DAVIS: Andrea, if you want to go back that far— MITCHELL: Excuse me just a second. [cross-talk] MITCHELL: Was the RNC ad— DAVIS: The Republican National Committee viciously attacked John McCain in three different ad cycles, three and a half months before that. So, it— MITCHELL: That was before this nomination was decided. DAVIS: We didn't attack Barack Obama at that time. You know, he wasn't even the nominee, but the Democratic National Committee spent a lot of time saying some very unscurrilous [sic] things that Barack Obama did not push them back on and when anybody republican party said anything that was [indiscernible], who was the first person to publicly go out and say, 'Hey! This is inappropriate. We're not gonna have that kind of dialogue in our campaign'? John McCain. MITCHELL: Let me just correct myself for a moment. I wasn't saying bitter about—I didn't mean to say that. What I meant to say is that John McCain came out of 2000, saying that he would not report to negative campaigning because of what he experienced in South Carolina, which certainly would have left a lot of other people embittered and he came right back and the happy warrior. I'm just asking whether the whole tone of this campaign, on both sides, has now deteriorated/degenerated to a level that the American people could say, 'A pox on both their houses!' DAVIS: Well, I think that's a lot of hyperactivity on the part of the media. They think that, in the first month since Barack Obama has won his nomination, that this campaign has stooped to this level. We are running ads that we think attract attention to the issues that we think the American voters care the most about. That is trying to get this country out of an economic and energy crisis. John McCain has a specific plan to do that. We've talked about that in every ad we've run. It is a clear and distinct difference between the plan that Barack Obama has, which is basically go slow and, as far as he's concerned, you know, the rising gas prices just, you know, he's only a little worried about the fact that they're rising so fast, not that they're rising. John McCain wants relief for people who are pressed energy for energy prices and I think that's exactly what our ads talk about. MITCHELL: I wouldn't say there you go again, but clearly, there's a lot of, a lot of say about— [cross-talk] DAVIS: You're starting to sound like the talking voice from the Obama campaign, so I mean— MITCHELL: —the allegation that Barack Obama wants gas prices to go up. But let me ask you about this quote, you said, 'Only celebrities like Barack Obama,' there's that 'c' word again, 'Go to the gym three times a day, demand "Met-RX Chocolate Roasted-Peanut protein bars and bottles of hard-to-find organic brew—Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula.' Is that your campaign, you know, schtick right now, that he is sort of out of the mainstream, elite, going back to some of the attacks that the Clinton people tried during the primaries against him, that he does not fit with working class aspiring voters? DAVIS: Well, look—I'm gonna let working class aspiring voters make that judgment themselves, but these are all things that Barack Obama has as part of his daily routine. There's nothing more personal than a presidential campaign and we're not the ones who report those things. Those come out of news reports by folks like you, you know who make a regular habit of talking about every detail of our candidates' lives—both John McCain's and Barack Obama's. So it's not like we are out there digging up what kind of ice tea that he likes to drink. MITCHELL: But Rick, do you really think that focusing on whether or not he eats peanut protein bars and all of this is part of the dialogue? Is that what you really want to be campaigning about? DAVIS: Honestly, I don't think we are focused on it. You're the one bringing it up today. It's in the course of the ongoing dialogue that these things are all in the public domain. You can ask that question of every reporter that's covered Barack Obama. Why did they felt [sic] compelled to write those things? *So, I mean, all we're doing is accumulating the interesting amounts of information generated by the media about Barack Obama and putting it select for together in a public domain.* At what point in time does that not become something that can be entered in the political equation. What does John McCain talk about? John McCain talks about his plan to get this country out of an economic crisis, his plan to get sources of oil immediately so that we can bring down the cost of gasoline, and those are the things that I think you ought to focus on as well. MITCHELL: Well those are the things Barack Obama focuses on and John McCain so one just wonders about trivialization of this by some of the attacks and counter-attacks, that's all. DAVIS: I'm happy to talk about more substantive issues next time the next time I come on your program. MITCHELL: Okay, we will do that. Thanks very much. *Rick Davis, who is a celebrity on the political circuit, if not a celebrity like Britney Spears.*What can I say? Rick, Thank you very much. *The Situation Room Team Considers 'the Race Card'* (CNN 07/31/08 4:01pm) JOHN KING: Your campaign says he's playing a race card by saying that, by saying you're trying to scare people, saying he doesn't look like past presidents. Is that a fair criticism for Rick Davis to say the Obama campaign playing the race card? JOHN MCCAIN: It is. I'm sorry to say that is. It's legitimate and there's no place in this campaign for that. There's no place for it and we shouldn't be doing it. KING: They say that's not the case. MCCAIN: Okay, John. We'll let the American people judge. DANA BASH: *He's saying we'll let the American people judge, but the reality is John McCain's campaign was they were aggressive by getting the statement out this morning thinking that Obama is playing the race card but also calling those of us who cover John McCain and trying to explain why they're doing this*. *McCain Camp Risks Looking too Vicious* (ABC 07/31/08 6:30pm) CHARLES GIBSON: *It has become apparent, in the past two days, that John McCain intends, as a strategy, to criticize Barack Obama often and hard.* It started with the McCain ad, accusing Obama of being like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, a celebrity without much else to offer. *Some think McCain may have struck a chord. Others think he's going too far. * Whichever, McCain attacked Obama. Obama responded. McCain responded to the response and suddenly today the two sides were accusing the other of using race as an issue. [...] DAVID WRIGHT: [...] What McCain seems determined to do is to define Obama on his own terms. *Making the race, as much as possible, a referendum on his opponent; raise some doubts and then maybe, by process of elimination, you win, but it's a risky strategy.* Today at a town hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin, an Obama supporter took issue with McCain's new celebrity ad, comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. She scolded McCain for breaking his promise to run a clean campaign. UNNAMED OBAMA SUPPORTER: So, it seems like, to Americans like me and other people, like you may have flip-flopped on what you had said earlier. JOHN MCCAIN: There are differences and we are drawing those differences. MCCAIN COMMERCIAL: Is he ready to lead? WRIGHT: McCain says he stands by the ad. MCCAIN: *We're proud of that commercial. [...] I'm very disappointed and race will not have any role in my campaign nor is there any place for it and I'm disappointed that he's using it.* WRIGHT: Today McCain's campaign manager used even stronger language, accusing Obama of 'playing the race card.' 'He played it from the bottom of the deck,' said Rick Davis. 'It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.' [...] McCain has mad a concerted effort to go on the offensive. MCCAIN COMMERCIAL: Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump? WRIGHT: Attacking Obama on issue after issue. MCCAIN COMMERCIAL: He made time to go to the gym. WRIGHT: And all those attacks could backfire. STU ROTHENBERG: If he looks just to be harping and negative and mean-spirited, that would be a big problem for him. WRIGHT: McCain's aggressive attacks strategy gives Obama the opportunity to attack back, calling McCain negative and part of the old politics, as this Obama TV ad says. [Obama ad] JAKE TAPPER: Today the Obama campaign launched a new website to respond to McCain's attacks, making fun of McCain's bus, The Straight Talk Express. The website: lowroadexpress.com. Highlight #2 *McCain Supporter, Heather Wilson Cites Poll MSNBC Can't Verify* (MSNBC 07/31/08 DAVID SHUSTER: *[Heather Wilson] said that 70% of Californians supported new offshore oil drilling. When we asked for that California survey, she promised to email it to us. *Her office did email us national surveys that reflect the figures she mentioned, but nothing that was specific just to California, the state we were talking about in my question and conversation with her. *As of this hour we still have not received material supporting the congresswoman's assertion about California.* […] most California surveys this summer have indicated the split in the state is about 50/50. *David Kiley Reports: the McCain Camp Prepared to Attack Obama on Troop Visit Regardless* (MSNBC 07/31/08 4:54pm) DAVID SHUSTER: Remember the dust up over Barack Obama's decision not to visit wounded US troops in Germany? Take a look at this reporting nugget from *Business Week *reporter, David Kiley. "What the McCain campaign doesn't want people to know, according to one GOP strategist I spoke with over the weekend, is that they had an ad script ready to go if Obama had visited the wounded troops saying that Obama was…wait for it…using wounded troops as campaign props. So, no matter which way Obama turned, McCain had an Obama bashing ad ready to launch." Highlight #3 *Cindy McCain: The Cuban Connection* (CNN 07/31/08 6:42pm) WOLF BLITZER: John *McCcain's wife, Cindy may soon be linked to a beverage company that actually does business in Cuba.* That may not necessarily go over all that well in south Florida, the area's politically powerful Cuban-American community. CNN's Jim Acosta is in New York. He's working the story for us. So what is the *connection between Cindy McCain and Cuba*? JIM ACOSTA: *It's no secret Cindy McCain heads a family company that is a big distributor for Anheuser-Busch. What's not so well known is that Anheuser-Busch may be about to merge with a beverage company that owns a beer in Castro's Cuba.* [Cuban beer commercial] They're not singing this Bud's for you. It's an ad for Cristall, a beer made in Cuba and owned by Inbev, the Belgian-based beer giant that's in the midst of a hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch. Now controversy over the merger is brewing among anti-Castro Cuban-Americans and politically-crucial South Florida over Cindy McCain's ties to Anheuser-Busch. NICK GUITERREZ: Cindy McCain is a distributor and shareholder of Anheuser-Busch. Now we seem to have everyone's attention. ACOSTA: Nick Guiterrez represents the family that claims to have founded Cristall Beer. The family accuses Inbev of profiting off a brew that was ceased by Fidel Castro. Guiterrez wants McCain to enforce the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and punish Inbev for doing business there. GUITERREZ: I'd like to see Senator McCain come out and say, 'Look! This is where I stand: my wife has nothing to do with this merger. She's not an officer or director. She's got nothing to do obviously with Inbev's nefarious activities in Cuba, but I'm a presidential candidate and, to me, US-Cuban relations is an important topic.' ACOSTA: In a statement, two Cuban-American congressmen went further. 'It is extremely disturbing,' they said, 'That Anheuser-Busch may be purchased by a company with ties to the Cuban, terrorist regime.' Insisting the Arizona senator is a strong embargo supporter, the McCain campaign tells CNN, 'If the deal goes through, the McCain's would sell their shares in Anheuser-Busch,' but the campaign adds, Cindy McCain's company would remain an Inbev distributor in the US. JOHN MCCAIN: As president, I will not passively await the day when the Cuban people enjoy blessings of freedom and democracy. ACOSTA: The race could be tight in Florida. One new poll shows Obama with a slight edge. An Obama win there would leave the McCain there with one serious hangover. Inbev released its own statement saying its activities in Cuba, 'Do not violate U.S. law.' -- Jacob Roberts PAO 208.420.3470 (c) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. To post to this group, send to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] E-mail [email protected] with questions or concerns This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---