I repeat, it was the words spoken. OK, since you seem to want to discuss this point, here is my full opinion:
"I read the statement from Barack Obama's campaign in response to their being challenged to defend the radio ad in suport of Barack Obama that was aired in Nevada by the Culinary Workers Union, and it disturbs me.
Let me be clear from the outset. I have never questioned the political free speech of ongoing membership based orgsnizations like Unions.
The Culinary Workers Union in Nevada is not an entity that sprang up solely to effect one political campaign in Nevada. It will remain after this election, and it will continue to have a membership which I assume has means through which to hold it's leadership accountable. It has a right to fight for things it believes serves it's members, and that right extends to attempting to influence political contests.
I also understand that the legal effort to declare casino workplace caucus sites invalid was a controversial one and I do not fault this union, which had a direct stake in the outcome of that lawsuit, for being vocal in their views regarding it, including their belief that Hillary Clinton attempted to make their members ability to caucus more difficult. I do not believe Obama needs to defend himself regarding a Union which supports him releasing an ad that attacks Hillary Clinton.
However I am profoundly disappointed in the statement made by Obama's campaign regarding the controversy over the ad broadcasat on his behalf because that statement pointedly makes zero reference to the aspect of that union ad which has many people like me most upset; the overt racial card that it injected into the Nevada caucus contest. Here again is the text of that ad:
(Translation from Spanish)
"Hillary Clinton does not respect our people. Hillary Clinton supporters went to court to prevent working people to vote this Saturday — that is an embarrassment.
Hillary Clinton supporters want to prevent people from voting in their workplace on Saturday. This is unforgivable. Hillary Clinton is shameless. Hillary Clinton should not allow her friends to attack our people’s right to vote this Saturday. This is unforgivable; there’s no respect
Sen. Obama is defending our right to vote. Sen. Obama wants our votes. He respects our votes, our community, and our people.
Sen. Obama’s campaign slogan is “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”). Vote for a president that respects us, and that respects our right to vote. Obama for president, “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”)."
John Edwards laid out the racial concern about that ad pointedly in his email sent out to tens of thousands of supporters. He also reminded all of us of the pledge made at the last Democratic debate by all Democratic candidates to steer their supporters away from engaging in those divisive tactics:
"Just a few days ago, on a stage where all three of us were participating in the debate, there was a discussion of putting behind us and stopping the race politics that had been going on for a few days before that between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. And everyone pledged that this kind of divisive politics that divides the Democratic Party and could divide America would come to an end.
Senator Obama made that pledge. I was sitting five feet from him when I heard him say it. And now it turns out that in the last 24 hours, there's a radio ad that's being run — a malicious radio ad attacking Senator Clinton. That is exactly that kind of divisive politics. It's being run right here in Las Vegas.
I denounce it. This kind of ad, I don't care who's doing it — in this case it's Senator Obama's supporters — but this sort of thing needs to stop."
John Edwards
The race issue is clearly on the table but Obama has totally ignored it, which makes the only reply I can find by his campaign to the controversy that ad stirred completely meaningless to me:
“Sen. Obama believes, and has said clearly, that campaigns should fund themselves and discourages supporters from spending outside the campaign,” said campaign spokesman Bill Burton. “But no one should be confused about the effort that was run on behalf of John Edwards in Iowa. In that case, it was not the independent speech of individual union members, each contributing small amounts to amplify their voices. It was a special project of outside donors funding a massive 527 effort run by one of Edwards’ top political lieutenants."
“It’s not our ad — the first we learned of its contents was from press reports. If the Clinton campaign has questions, they should contact the union that sponsored the ad whose support they sought throughout the course of this campaign. But coming from a campaign that is repeatedly launching absolutely false attacks against Sen. Obama, it takes some chutzpah. The facts is their camp clearly would like to have worker’s voices silences and they need to live with that unfortunate position.”
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2008/01/ad-war.html Rather than tackle the racial question head on Obama's spokesperson chose to attack Clinton instead. All I wanted from the Obama campaign was HIS reaction to that racial sub text in the ad. It was appropriate for Obama to remind people that he had no direct control over the content of that ad. It was fine for Obama to say that he can't answer for someone else what their literal intent was. It would have been fine with me if Obama offered his own opinion that the Union did not actually intend to make a racial slam against Hillary. But he still could have, and in my opinion should have, expressed discomfort with how that ad could, at minimim, be "misconstrued".
Instead his campaign punted. "Don't ask me, ask them". I wanted to know what Obama thought about that ad's wording. His campaign spokesperson was perfectly comfortable talking directly about other aspects of it's contents, the aspects regarding the lawsuit to deny casino caucus sites for example. But when it came to the race baiting element suddenly he had no words to say other than "If the Clinton campaign has questions, they should contact the union..."
For anyone who might cling to a fig leaf cover that there was no racial card played by the union in the text of that ad, I ask you to read that text again. The radio ad does not begin with any mention of a lawsuit, it begins with the statement "Hillary Clinton does not respect our people". And it ends with a false claim about the Obama campaign adopting a widely used latino pride slogan.
This was not an internal newsletter sent out to Union members. It was a public radio ad heard by the general public. Within internal union communications the phrase "our people" would be understood to refer to fellow Union members. But the vast majority of people who heard that ad were not union members. Still, perhaps it can be inferred from context that "our people" meant that specific union's members only - even though that concept was dangerously ambiguous in the context of the ad. But the ad did not stop there, one sentence pointedly noted that Clinton did not respect "our people" AND that she did not respect "our community" in sequential progression.
This was a community radio station. Listeners perhaps could deduce that "our people" was only a reference to the Union's members, even though confusion about that in many people's minds was completely predictable. I believe it was always inevitable that many who heard the ad would assume "our people" mean latinos. But the ad went even further in claiming it was "our community" that Hillary does not respect also. What percentage of listeners do you figure would conclude that both the phrases "our people" AND "our community" broadcast over a public radio station were both internal references to the Culinary workers union members only? Be honest.
At the very least it must be admitted that an unintentional racial message was broadcast in the text of that ad, if not an intentional one. THAT is what I wanted Obama to distant himself from. He chose not to and instead used his reply to land another blow on Clinton. I honestly expected better from him."
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