Why Should Obama's past be exempt?

[quinnox]

I don't understand why Obama should not face the music regarding his past. He admitted using cocaine, true? Then shouldn't this be a matter of discussion among Democrats whether this may prove to be a big drawback if he is the nominee.

Help me understand why Obama should get a free pass. While other candidates don't.

[Franc_Lee]

1. because Bush's was...

[Bullet1987]

2. What are you Hillary supporters talking about?

Insinuating that someone was a drug dealer...is MUCH MORE than "facing the music" about your past. And he has always been open about that anyway. So the apologist arguments are weak.

[MadBadger]

3. Here you go again.

[swag]

4. It shouldn't.

And guess what: having used cocaine is no big fucking deal.

Why is everybody pretending that it is?

[Bobbieo]

19. If the pressure gets too much - and it will -

and Obama starts using again then it is a big fucking deal!!!!

[swag]

37. You have no idea what you're talking about.

That is not a substance that anybody turns to to "take the pressure off."

[Evergreen Emerald]

5. I wondered the same thing

He keeps claiming he is a victim of Clinton because the issue was brought up and should be off limits. It that mantra seems to be working. Of course with the media attacking everything Clinton, it does help his cause. But, even using the word "cocaine" seems to be off limits.

Nothing of Clinton's has ever been off limits.

And we know nothing of his cocaine use. He said high school--then his aid said he quit around 20. I am sorry, 20 is not a teenager. That is long past youthful indiscretions.

We are not allowed to know to what extent Obama broke the law? And yet, every blink of Clinton's eye is dissected and attacked.

[quinnox]

11. thanks, I agree totally

[polichick]

22. I wouldn't say that 20 is "long past youthful indiscretions" - 30 is still youthful these days...

The word "cocaine" is off limits to Hillary's campaign only when they slip it in to rekindle the issue. That's a nasty tactic.

I'm not an Obama supporter, but he dealt with this issue in his book ~ and also spoke truthfully about it when he said that he inhaled, and that inhaling was the point.

[Evergreen Emerald]

24. how do you know he spoke truthful in his book?

We have no idea the parameters of his unlawful behavior.

[polichick]

28. We don't know how other candidates have broken the law either...

They've all been gainfully employed and seem to be functioning ~ I guess we could request a drug test from each of them.

[Evergreen Emerald]

30. Well, we do have information on Obama--at least some information

but apparently we are not allowed to ask the parameters of the information.

[polichick]

32. I think the voters can ask, and the other campaigns too...

...if they do it in an honorable and straightforward way ~ rather than by playing dirty tricks.

[BenDavid]

36. EE, you are right on target. HRC is the most investigated woman

in America's history. There is nothing there and the right knows it. They are saying such sweet and endearing thigns about Obama and I wonder why? Could it be the racist right is waiting for Obama if he gets the nomination, and folks I would rather know now if there is something in his past and he is not hiding it.
THE MSM thus far has been hands off when it comes to Obama. For whatever reason it is not right. Not right they can go after Huckabee and repeat every little tidbit one of their candidates say, and not receive any back lash, but you let something be said about Obama it is the clinton campaign doing it.

I say here and now Obama will lead this party down the losing street again. And to those that do not believe RACE will be a factor in this campaign then you are wearing rose colored glasses. RACE will be an issue. Hell, Michelle Obama made it an issue several weeks back when she said and I paraphrase " If You’re Black, Vote for Barack. Because He’s Black. In other words she tells the black community that they should be voting for her hubby for no other reason than they share the same color skin.Oprah's support for Obama is all about race. She should know better becasue that is racist too, and just plain stupid.

Racism is still alive and well in the South. Taje for exanple the Senate race in Tenn. harold Ford had a 2 to 3 point lead going into the last 2 weeks of the campaign, and Corker ran an add that featured a white blond headed girl and all she said was "harold call me sometimes", and within a few days Corker regained the lead and went on to win the Senate race from Tenn....

Folks we are going to be dealing with racism during this campaign if Obama is the nominee. Just like HRC she will be dealing with sexism and sexist remarks..or as Charles Barkley so stated, "this election we will see jsut who the real sexist and the racist are?"

[quinnox]

46. BenDavid is right on target

Everyone should read this post, it makes good points.

Obama would be a weak untested candidate and would be easy pickings for the republican attack machine.

[Windy]

65. You idiots should get out there and campaign legitimately for your candidate

instead of continually spewing your childish rantings here on DU. I frankly and getting sick and tired of this garbage.

Its not getting the traction that you want so you keep bringing it up.

Get off the internet and get out and pound the pavement. That's what your candidate needs.

what you're doing here is not helping her in the least.

[Lucinda]

6. Nothing IS exempt. For any of them.

The Reps will see to that. So whoever gets the nom better be ready for it.
The media is spinning things right now, so Obama is benefiting. I believe they will start de-constructing him soon. I expect Edwards will benefit from that.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. What Do You Propose To Do About It?

Lots of people have used cocaine. It's nice that he's honest about it - no "I smoked, by I didn't inhale" absurdities.

If people think he's a bad person for having used cocaine, then they have the option to vote for somebody else. So it's not afree pass at all.

[MadBadger]

8. Dont ask that

Yesterday the OP gave that answer and it turned into a massive flame fest cuz the he/she said "What to do about Obama's HEAVY cocaine use"

[quinnox]

10. nothing Im just wondering why talking about it seems to be off limits

[cali]

9. Get this through your head: It's simply not a big fucking deal

experimented with drugs as a kid. If he did it when he was in his thirties, yeah, it'd be worth discussing, but he was a kid. And obviously he's not getting a free pass here; you've posted several posts on it. Furthermore, I don't think it will be a big obstacle if he gets the nom. Repukes will throw it at him, but most Americans are NOT going to care about something he did when he was in high school.

[Evergreen Emerald]

how do you define "kid" Cali? What if he was 20?

What were the parameters? We don't know, because it is off limits.

[cali]

He's said he only did it when he was in high school

and it's hardly off limits. In case you didn't notice, it's being discussed right here, right now. And I define kids in high school as kids. Don't you?

[Evergreen Emerald]

23. his aid stated he was "around 20" when he stopped doing cocaine.

That is too old to be considered "youthful indiscretion."

Of course, now that it is off limits, we will never know.

[cali]

31. baloney. that's too old. As the mother of a 21 year old

I can say that with confidence. And bushco got away with his exploits and DUIs as "youthful indiscretions" despite being in his 20s and 30s. You are making this into a much bigger deal than it is. And dem voters do not agree with you.

[Evergreen Emerald]

33. Bush was drunk under a bar stool while Kerry was risking his life

in the war. Bush had a DUI that was hidden by the media.

How do you know he stopped when he was 20? His aid said, "around 20."

[cali]

45. How do you know it wasn't 19? And so what if it was 21

And the Bush DUI came out before the 2000 election so it wasn't exactly a secret in 2004. I'm sorry EE, but you really do seem determined to put Obama in the worst possible light.

[Evergreen Emerald]

48. You are wrong...I would like to know the facts

You seem to be willing to ignore it.

But what we know is this: he is using it in speeches to gain votes. And yet we are only aware of vague references to youthful indiscretions. We don't know when he stopped using cocaine his aid said "around 20." We know nothing of the extent of it. Why not?

Past drug use is not important to you--that's fine. It is important to me. It shows me something of his character, his choices.

And when we ask--we are ridiculed and considered 'suspicious.'

[cali]

52. He doesn't owe you or any other prospective voter anymore than

he's said in his book and speeches. It happened 3 decades ago. It's not relevant. He went on to graduate summa cum laude from college and head law review at Harvard. He clearly wasn't doing drugs then or after. Why are you so curious about this? How can dabbling in drugs as a kid possibly tell you anything about his character. It's like people saying that Hillary's tolerance of Bills philandering tells you something negative about her character. It doesn't and neither does Obamas drug experimentation as a kid.

[jenmito]

43. And how are the Repubs. able to use that against him when BUSH considered FORTY to be in

his youth?

[quinnox]

15. but that is your opinion

I think many Democrats wouldn't share that opinion and would view this as a potential serious liability.

[cali]

20. Doesn't seem to bother too many dems, does it?

It's widely known, and he's the frontrunner in two states where it's very widely known. So it looks like it's not merely opinon on my part.

[Evergreen Emerald]

29. It has not been an issue--no one knows about it

The only time it has been brought up the media set a firestorm of attack on Clinton.

[quinnox]

34. yup

The information is not widely known, but maybe it will become more so if he is the nominee by the republicans attack machine. I don't like Obama's chances.

[cali]

39. wrong. people know. And he'll be fine if he's the nominee

at least on this non-issue.

[quinnox]

40. I disagree completely

[cali]

35. wrong. I live in Vermont. Obama made a speech about his drug

use to NH high school students within the last month or so, and it was all over the NH papers and the papers here in VT as well as papers across the country. People know. They don't care that much. Live with it.

[Evergreen Emerald]

38. you know cali: i think we can discuss this without your little snarky quips.

[cali]

41. Oh please. All I said was that you're wrong

live with it. And I can't help but be suspicious of Clinton supporters trying to make this into a big deal, when it just isn't.

[Evergreen Emerald]

47. No. That is not all you said

And if you are suspicious, then I suggest you take a deep breath and avoid hitting the send button. It is unbecoming and gives you less credibility.

[cali]

49. and I suggest you stop being so sensitive and reconsider

trying to insinuate that Obama had some big drug problem that wasn't confined to his youth. It's unbecoming and definitely chips at your credibility. In fact, it's bordering on ugly.

[Evergreen Emerald]

50. there you go--spinning and distorting

how dare you. I have never INSINUATED anything.

I don't have enough information to INSINUATE anything. And, that is my point.

You know nothing of the parameters of his drug use. If that is no big deal to you--then fine. But.

How dare you judge me because I want more information.

[cali]

57. with ease. with great ease. It's obvious that you're insinuating

hell, suggesting straight out that his drug experimenting wasn't limited to when he was a kid. In fact, you were trying to say that doing drugs at 20 wasn't a youthful indescretion. And he's been plenty open about it. There is no legitimate reason for you to demand more information from him.

[Evergreen Emerald]

62. I was going to say something

snarky about your lack of reading comprehension, but I remembered a post-pact I made a couple of days ago.

I will attempt one more time, and then I am done with you Ms. Cali: I was not "trying to say" anything more than: we have no idea what the parameters of his cocaine use is. And any attempt is met with crys of foul. So, he can use it in his campain without even addressing what "it" is. What we do know is that his OWN AID said he ended "around 20."

Your attempts to put words and deeds in my mouth is reprehensible. Bye.

[cali]

68. passive aggressive is not a positive attribute.

you did say something snarky, cupcake. You snarked about my "reading comprehension" while pretending you weren't. Classic passive agressive behavior, pumpkin. With this focus on Obama's drug experimentation, you're painting the picture of the "ugly" Clinton supporter, and I'm sorry to see that, because as you damned well know, I've taken a lot of heat around here for defending Clinton and her DU supporters from a lot of the bullshit thrown out here.

[tammywammy]

44. That was on the national and local news here in the DFW area too

It was all over DU that day as well. And I heard about Rudy's reaction on a local radio station during their news broadcast.

[Evergreen Emerald]

51. DU is not mainstream

We are a small group of political junkies who know more than most.

[tammywammy]

53. Agreed, but someone who's a member of DU

should/could have easily known about him speaking to the high school students weeks ago.

[Evergreen Emerald]

54. Again--he keeps bringing it up in vague references

making it an issue in his campaign--yet cries foul when people want to know more about it.

[tammywammy]

59. Wait, he brought it up once a few weeks ago

It's not again and again. And it was in a perfect setting with high school students. Rudy even said he admired Obama for his honesty.

And Obama wrote about it years ago in a book. Right around the time Obama announced his exploratory committee there were news articles about his first book and references to drugs.

It was a youthful indiscretion decades ago.

Edited to add: If you care to look at NYCgirl's links, the news articles even say it was the first time for Obama to talk about his past with drugs. The only reason it was brought up again was because of Hillary's campaign worker.

[NYCGirl]

60. These are hardly vague references:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/11/21/2007-11-21_barack_obama_tells_nh_kids_of_his_alcoho.html

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_I_tried_drugs_as_a_teen_11202007.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/20/obama-tells-students-he-drank-took-drugs-in-high-school/

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/20/475471.aspx


Here's a film of his talk to students:

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2007/11/20/obama-visits-nh-high-school/

[acmavm]

12. He was a KID. We all do stuff when we're kids that we wouldn't do as

adults. Anyway, most of us are that way.

LET IT GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Franc_Lee]

13. A few years ago this may have made a difference. Ask the boomers about drugs...(Woodstock crowd)

[bluestateguy]

14. I wasn't aware that ObamaCo said that it should be exempt

He admitted it in his own book, so I hardly think that he was trying to hide anything.

Candidates who own up to this stuff early and cleanly (no, "I didn't inhale" remarks) can put it behind them. Dan Quayle, Al Gore and John Kerry all admitted to pot smoking, and that was that. Gary Johnson, the two term governor of New Mexico, admitted to using cocaine as well, and this was not an issue.

[annie1]

16. imo it was how it was brought up that was the problem...

The person could have put on the table what he felt were problems, he didn't need to go where he went with all the expanded drug problems. He should have said "things in the past could be a problem, like w, x, y z. and stated that will be brought up, if indeed that was what he wanted to say' but he didn't, he got nasty. and with all the previous "flubs" (i guess, or at least that's how they came off) it seems like yet another personal attack. It is the HRC camp that made the incident untouchable.

[MethuenProgressive]

Only Hillary's past should be attackable. Obama deserves a free pass.

Any mention of Obama's past should be blamed on Hillary Clinton, and she should be immediately attacked in the most Rovian manner possible.

[R_M]

17. Because he's Barack Obama. He's the "chosen" one.

Any questionable behavior by him past, present, or future is "exempt" from any criticism.
:sarcasm:

[Franc_Lee]

18. Barack Obama the people's choice, it's only a mateer of time...sheeeesh!!!

[Bobbieo]

27. More than once, I have seen the 'people's choice'

go down in flames in November. That was in the 70's!!!!!

[elizm]

21. Who said it was exempt? He has addressed it. It's those who want to beat it to death...

...that need to get over it.

[Cha]

25. I wouldn't think

you would get the difference. Obama's past has been brought up from kindergarten on..how's that workin' out for the hillary operatives?

[Zueda]

26. So we should discourage our pols from telling the truth?

That's the problem with the Clinton's and so many politicians...They fell they have to LIE and cover-up their misdeeds to save face with the people.

[antiimperialist]

42. How is cocaine use that stopped decades ago relevant to the ability to govern?

It is irrelevant, if you ask me. If he had used cocaine 6 months ago, it would be a different story.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

55. quinnox, you are unfairly making all Hillary supporters look bad with your pursuit of this.

[sniffa]

58. shhh

he might stop

[quinnox]

61. No, many Hillary supporters happen to agree with me

they are in this thread, check it out. Regardless, I don't speak for all Hillary supporters and never claimed to so that isn't an issue.

[sniffa]

56. exactly

if we don't have this discussion, some DUers won't be able to insinuate that he was heavy cocaine user, and was also a major cocaine dealer (7 keys i read somewhere). it's not democracy if we can't make up slanderous shit with a tint of racism.

[DeepBlueC]

63. The Rethugs will not let Obama's drug use pass

Come the general election it will be the subject of push polls, ads featuring clips of him saying to an audience of high schoolers "I've done pot...and coke." There will be a FLEET of Swift boats launched in key districts. Quotes by him, clips of him. That's the ugly truth.

[quinnox]

64. I agree with you

This could prove fatal to Obama in a general election.

[madrchsod]

70. the rethugs are not going to vote for him.

by the way the swift boating did`t stop kerry from winning, it was the machines,the whitehouse,and the governor of ohio.

[JackintheGreen]

66. I'm so glad to see that our candidates are not allowed any mistakes

If we want to be lead by someone who is without fault, then perhaps we should become a theocracy. Then at least our ultimate leader would be the faultless GOD ABOVE. I've done some dumb s*** in the past, but I've learned from most of it. Obama has admitted to his mistakes (well...some of them) and seems to have taken something valuable from them.

Which is more than any of us can say for Commander "I can't think of any" cuckoo-bananas.

[jakem]

67. what was HRC doing

while bill was.. um.. not inhaling...

[madrchsod]

69. how are we to do to force him to "face the music"?

have him arrested? flog him in the square? make crawl across broken glass and beg our forgiveness? i think he`s admitted to his use and said that others should not follow what he did. the press is on him so i think he`s "faced the music".

[ClarkUSA]

71. See video of former Clinton IA precinct captain who quit in disgust over Hillary's attacks on Obama

Hillaryworlders, judge for yourself whether Hillary's ridiculous negative attacks on Obama have been worth it.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXPnMflGkvI&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CBmX