In Interview with HuffPost, John Kerry blasts Clinton Camp's "Negative, Petty" Attacks

[TeamJordan23]

John Kerry blasts Clinton Camp's "Negative, Petty" Attacks

Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, took aim at Hillary Clinton on Monday, saying her criticism of Barack Obama's stance on the Iraq war was "not founded on accuracy." He also ripped into comments made by Clinton surrogates hinting at Obama's past drug use, calling the remarks "negative in the worst, petty way," especially in the light of Bill Clinton's admitted use of marijuana.

"That kind of discussion," Kerry said, "from a campaign where the former president made famous the words 'I did not inhale' is to make something an issue that they themselves acknowledged shouldn't be."

In an interview with the Huffington Post, the Massachusetts Democrat touted Obama as a unity leader with a deft political touch who could, if elected, lead a "transformational presidency." But he also warned that should Obama end up the Democratic nominee, he, like Kerry, would face a tidal wave of opposition. Obama has argued that, unlike in 2000 and 2004, he could enter an election without "half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats."

"He hasn't yet had 100 millions of dollars of negative advertising dumped on him," said Kerry. "So let's wait and see. But certainly you start out and hopefully the campaign will do well... I do think the Republicans and the Republican attack machine is very adept at branding and framing and we are going to have to be equally adept at taking lessons we've learned in the last years."

Kerry's spent much of the interview taking Clinton to task for her recent, more aggressive criticism of Obama. Asked to respond to Clinton's contention that Obama has been more rhetoric than substance on Iraq -- speaking out against the war before entering the Senate, but voting for funding resolutions while in office -- Kerry said the attack was baseless. Yet he would not go so far as to compare it, as Sen. Dick Durbin has, to the "swift-boating" of his Vietnam war record in 2004.

"If you're criticisms and/or your attacks are not founded on accuracy, that's an unfortunate tactic under any circumstance, whatever you call it," said Kerry. "The fact is Barack Obama - and I know this because I'm the one who invited him to speak at our convention in 2004 and I campaigned with him out in Illinois - was against the war. And in his answer to a question he diplomatically tried to avoid creating a confrontation with John Edwards and John Kerry, the two nominees of the party, when he came to Boston . But he did say in my judgment - this is a quote at that time - that the case was not made."

Continue Reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/15/kerry-blasts-clinton-camp_n_81518.html

[David Zephyr]

1. Saluting Senator and American Hero John Kerry!

:thumbsup:

[dailykoff]

2. Kerry is doing for Obama what nobody from camp Clinton did for him:

call the swiftboaters on their slime.

[jackson_dem]

7. It isn't the Clintons job to manage Kerry's campaign

Kerry and Kerry alone is to blame for making a wrong decision to "stay above" the fray.

[dailykoff]

9. Fine, then don't complain when Obama fights back.

Oh wait, Hilly's getting booed on her home turf, let's all be friends and just forget this little misunderstanding. Sorry, no sale.

[jackson_dem]

13. Obama can't fight back. This is why Kerry is doing it for him

One of the reasons I like Obama the least out of Edwards, Hillary, and him is that he is not a fighter. I don't trust him in an election against Rove and his thugs.

[dailykoff]

15. Then what the heck are you moaning about

other than the fact that hilly is drowning in her own slime? :shrug:

[jackson_dem]

19. The hypocrisy and the credit being given to them for this fake truce

[dailykoff]

21. I commend both Senators for their civility

and I commend Kerry for being the truth teller he's always been.

[MBS]

27. yup, you're right n/t

[grantcart]

3. Clinton's Prayers were answered with a Kerry defeat

Had Kerry won the Whitehouse with Edwards there was a very high liklihood that it would be 16 years before an outsider could have been considered for the presidency and Clinton would have been 76.

[elleng]

25. grantcart, Do you think

clintons had something to do with kerry's failure to challenge stolen election? Is this payback? Wondering.

[MBS]

28. there was that anecdote in (?)Woodward's book

about Carville election-night pillow talk with Mary Matalin,telling her about Kerry's intention to put the lawyers onto Ohio irregularities.. then she got in touch with Kenneth Blackwell... . and the rest, as they say, is history (and tragedy).

[elleng]

29. MBS, right.

I only heard about that recently, and it filled in a blank for me.

Maybe more, I guess; 'professional' Dems were/are SO quiet!

[grantcart]

30. I think that a kerry election would have ended Hillary's

hopes for the presidency and that the Clinton's were smart enough to see that and did not exert their influence to help the campaign and win the general election. I think that people were relunctant to take the legal road on Kerry's behalf because it seemed conclusive that despite what might have happened in Ohio and the electoral college he lost the popular vote.

[jackson_dem]

4. Obama declares a "truce" and then has his surrogate attack Hillary

This "truce" is a farce and media ploy. Both campaigns sent high-profile surrogates to make vicious attacks the same day of their "truce."

[dailykoff]

6. I thought you guys dug Hilly's dirty politics?

:shrug:

[jackson_dem]

10. I don't dig Obama and Hillary playing the media with a fake truce right before the Nevada caucus

[dailykoff]

12. Make up your mind.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, even if hilly's cooked her own but good.

[jackson_dem]

14. I said the same thing about both Obama and Hillary's media playing game

[dailykoff]

16. What Kerry said has NOTHING to do with Obama, nothing in the world.

Haven't we established that with Cuomo, Kerrey, and all those other free spirits?

[jackson_dem]

18. I've been saying the opposite for a week. There is a pattern of these two using surrogates

[dailykoff]

20. Remember Pandora? Opened that box and couldn't get is shut?

Maybe the playing race card against Obama wasn't the smartest idea but she did and now it's out there.

[sandnsea]

8. This was earlier today, for one

and I guarantee you they will not stop attacking on Iraq and other issues anyway.

[jackson_dem]

11. Obama didn't decide for a "truce" spontaneously today

And surely Kerry was kept in the loop. In order to believe he wasn't you would have to believe the same about Rangel.

I haven't seen Obama ever attack Hillary on the issues. He makes oblique references to her voting for the war resolution but that is about it. Maybe I missed them. Are there any examples? The attacks I have seen are smears like the Jesse Jackson Jr. one and the whole race debacle.

[sandnsea]

23. I think it was very sudden

and came from external sources, Rev Clyburn or Howard Dean.

And I think you don't care about anything except being disruptive so I'm going to waste as little of my time on you as possible.

[DURHAM D]

24. What I don't understand is why his older white Daddy's

have to do his work for him - they defend Obama and attack for him. This is just odd.

As for Jesse - it received almost no coverage. Obviously Clinton decided not to push his sexist crap it into the dialog (unlike Obama's constant pushing of race) or maybe it is because the media is almost entirely male and just failed to notice a problem. I think the media is afraid to deal honestly with the race card playing and simply can't comprehend the sexism.

[sandnsea]

5. "the case was not made"

That's exactly what he said and this is the truth of the matter. Bill was giving Bush a pass on the yellowcake, Hillary was saying we should "stay the course", and Obama made one kind gesture and this is what the two of them want to attack him over.

[DURHAM D]

17. How weird.

Is John trying to make himself relevant again?

Sometimes I get the impression that the national players come out and say things when they only have a portion of the story. Is this bad staffing? I think most of the the people that post regularly at DU have more actual facts at their disposal than pundits and elected officials. This was a careless interview. Obama needs to pull him back - seems like he is grinding a personal ax and it is a distraction from Obama's campaign.

[AtomicKitten]

22. Thank you, John Kerry, for your eloquent, vigorous defense of a good man. nt

[FrenchieCat]

26. Very good.

Gotta harverst these quotes for the truth. With Hillary, one has to repeat it over and over again.