Clinton camp roots out a rogue element

A work week partly consumed by an uproar sparked by controversial remarks by one of Hillary Clinton's high-profile supporters -- Geraldine Ferraro -- ended, at least at the presidential candidate's Philadelphia field office, with a minor flap caused by an anonymous backer.

The Times' Peter Nicholas was observing Clinton's grassroots operation in the City of Brotherly Love when a man who had been making calls at a phone bank on her behalf walked over, unbidden, to explain what motivated him.

"I'm supporting Hillary because I love the Lord and I don't want a person named Al-Barack Hussein Obama to be our next president,'' he said.

Told that Barack Obama is a practicing member of the Christian faith, the man said he believed Clinton's rival to be Muslim.

He went on to say that Obama "would be detrimental to the church.''

Nicholas relates that word of the incident ...

quickly spread through the suite of offices. And in short order, another campaign worker came over as the man was about to make another call and grabbed the campaign-issued cellphone out of his hand. The worker then escorted the man, who said he was 55 years old, out of the room.

A spokesman for Clinton's Pennsylvania campaign, Mark Nevins, who was in another office at the time, told Nicholas afterward: "That guy's not going to be making phone calls for us anymore. Sometimes people have their own agenda. And that's not what our campaign is all about.''

The ill-informed worker, however, was not immediately drummed out of the corps. Asked a little later what became of the man, Nevins told Nicholas that he was assembling Clinton yard signs. He added that other campaign aides planned to talk to him.

"I don't think we want someone like that associated with the campaign,'' Nevins said.

Nicholas on Thursday night had visited Obama's campaign's field office in Doylestown, Pa., about an hour north of Philadelphia, and was allowed free access to roam without an escort. But he found the Clinton office more buttoned-down; a campaign volunteer shadowed him throughout his visit.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[GK]

Don, this is the most interesting thing of the campaign to report, isn't it? It is possible Nicholas had a personal agenda as was mentioned, I wonder though, what's yours?

Thank you.

[Marcos]

I'm voting for McCain because JFK was a Baptist. Just kidding.

[fanny funny]

Will it EVER end? first, barack is accused of being a muslim mole; now he's accused of being too close to a white-hating pastor. there will undoubtedly be quite a few who believe both simultaneously.

[GERI YROBEC]

iN THE BEGINNING I WAS CONVINCED THAT I COULD ACCEPT EITHER HILLARY OR OBAMA AS THEIR CAMPAIGNS DO NOT DIFFER THAT MUCH.THEN I WENT TO SEE AND LISTEN TO HILLARY SHE WILL HAVE MY VOTE.I AM SO SICK OF HEARING OBAMA'S NAME,IF I HAD A DIME FOR EVERY TIME HIS NAME HAS BEEN MENTIONED I COULD RETIRE IN PEACE.IF HE WINS YOU CAN THANK ALL OF CNN,WHAT A BIASED BUNCH,BUT AS LONG AS THEY KEEP HIS NAME OUT THERE ,THEY ARE DOING HIS DIRTY WORK FOR HIM AND HE COMES OUT SMELLING LIKE A ROSE.iF I HEAR THE LONG DEAD :WHITE RIVER: MORE TIME.THEY REACH DEEP AND DIIRTY,THEY SHOULD ALL LOSE THEIIR JOBS FOR NOT STAYING IMPARTIAL.hILLARY YOU GO GIRL

[Paul]

'"I don't think we want someone like that associated with the campaign,'' Nevins said.'
Clinton is just churning out McCain supporters, isn't she.

[Larry M]

Hey Geri Y, I see that they did take away your cellphone, but why did they place you on the blogging campaign? Would you prefer that his name not be spoken? Have you been to a Obama town hall? Are you just a little bit mixed up? Just a little? Be careful, for they will take away your internet privileges as well.

[Bon]

Geri, allow me to educate you. First a little etiquette: Using all CAPS online is the equivalent of yelling your message. It's rude

Second, and more importantly: A major difference between the Obama and Clinton campaigns is that Obama's campaign does not sling mud like Clinton's does. There is no dirty work -- by CNN or anyone else. He stays focused on the positive, on the possibilities ahead of us, not on what's bad and negative. Nothing productive comes of focusing on the negative. It's another indicator of his potential for bringing true change to a country that sorely needs it.

Third: It's Whitewater, not White River. If you are going to claim a position, you should not build it on the sands of ignorance.

[Bill Clinton]

Hey, I bet once Peter Nicholas left, they returned the cell phone to that guy.

[Chad]

I have no CONTROL over my CAPItal LoCk KEYS like GERI YROBEC... SOMEone HELP me - for I also NEVER went to that there schoooool ... (yes i have placed extra o's in the word school, however, i am not sure GERI will notice) ... I HOPE I donT lose my "DIIRTY" job (not that GERI has ONE) ... GO hILLIARY!!! ... Thank god the only thing of importance you have EVER done is marry bill CLINTON (who slept around on you ... because honestly, who wouldnt! - well at least i wont want to sleep with that manily woman)

[RR]

Yeah, Geri Y... you were neutral, then you heard Hillary... did you bother to hear Barack? Nice objectivity.

[Foo]

When someone brags about money, he probably doesn't have much - Bill Gates wouldn't need to show off. When a guy yells and acts tough, he's probably scared - world's best fighters like Chuck Liddell are actually very laid back because they have nothing to prove.

Likewise, when people attack others just because of their unusual name or skin color, that's due to insecurity. It takes a secure person to embrace positive differences and diversity. It takes a confident person to know that certain unfamiliarities are harmless. It's when you are insecure and uninformed, that you start to feel only comfortable with things/ people exactly like you, and react to anything different with anger and attacks. That's how our lowest uncivil instincts react when scared.

If you dislike Obama as a candidate because he doesn't have a longer resume, I respect that although disagree. But if you are discussed at him only because his name sounds a little different, or that his skin color looks a little different, please think again why you feel that why and who's really the petty one here.

[Jim]

I don't think that Clinton's campaign can be faulted for a volunteer making those comments, as long as they did something about stopping this person from saying offensive comments while representing the campaign once it was brought to their attention.
While I don't fault the Clinton campaign for this, I still think that they have gone too far in several attacks they have made against the Obama camapaign. I hope the attacks don't work. Go Obama!

[James K]

I am going to vote for Obama because of his name. Ever heard the phrase, if you can't beat them - join them. Well, we've been in Iraq what 5 years?!? Obviously the greatest military power the world has ever seen isn't a match for a bunch of rag-tag desert dwellers. Remember, we were seeing the last throes of the insurgency a couple years ago. Maybe if we join them, they won't attack us.

[Edwin Herdman]

Even though Geri put it in all-caps, it's still worth noting that Obama has done very well to deflect criticism while in fact having pulled some political pranks of his own, like "accidental" campaigning in places (and his ads in southern Florida before the primary).

What troubles me more than that is the disconnect between Obama and much of his support base (not to mention the disconnect between some states that have voted for him but who will turn out Republican in the fall); young people and bloggers who just like his message of change and are fanatical about it.

Obama does not read blogs (he's said so); so it's hard to believe he cares what his vaunted youth core of supporters think. He probably doesn't condone supporters going out and trashing Clinton, but nobody feels the need to go out onto the 'net and try to correct the distortions going on out there. That's true of both candidates, but he benefits from it in a way that Clinton doesn't due to the fact that the nation hasn't had a history with him (unlike Clinton).

[Bruce Stewart]

Where there is smoke there is fire. Since Senator Obama took the lead in this campaign the Clinton campaign has stooped to all sorts of nasty tricks to discredit him. This is just one more way of spreading their venom. The Clinton have a well established record of dirty tricks and amoral activity.

God forbid if Clinton wins this primary campaign. The Gop will tear her to shreds!!

A vote for Obama is a vote for decency and honesty. Come on America, you have just lived through almost 8 years of lies and deception, do you want more of the same??

jbs

[fred]

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH USING ALL CAPS. JUST B/C ITS ALL IN CAPS DOESNT MEAN I AM YELLING. I'M ACTUALLY THINKING THIS VERY CALM AND POLITE. JUST LIKE SOME PEOPLE WRITE IN ALL CAPS... BUT ANYWAY OBAMA IS RACISIT. ALONG WITH A LOT OF OTHER BLACKS.

[Frank]

Whether Barack Obama is a true Christian or a closet Muslim is a question that no one can answer with certainty except Obama himself or the Lord. It is okay for anyone who has any doubt to say his/her mind as long as he/she cites facts instead of falsehood. Frankly, there simply were no records of Obama involved with any Church activities until he was politically active. And let’s just look at normal statistics of one’s religious faith versus one’s childhood upbringing. If you were raised in a Catholic family and went to a Catholic school as a child, you have a 92% chance of being a Catholic as an adult. Obama was raised in a Muslim family and was sent to an Indonesia Muslim school. He wasn’t in Indonesia because his parents were US diplomats stationed in Indonesia; he was there because his parents wanted him to be educated as a good Muslim. Granted, Obama could be part of the 8% of population that took up a different religion in spite of his family’s upbringing and his childhood religious schooling. If any voter has any doubt on Obama’s faith, I think such a doubt is legitimate and that person should not be automatically looked upon as a racist or an intolerant person.

[Michael L]

my stab at sarcasm here, but comes from my truth; Too bad politics is such a dirty game; Iʻm not young, but how ironic does it have to be that persons running for president of the USA, or even any political office, to make decisions and rule/lead "the people" will STOOP so low, toss most shreds of decency allowable to the winds, and create such stink... and still keep and even increase their support in some cases... (shakes head; over and over). At least I can understand the "crazy" guy....
wtf.
Hillary, never.

[Fred]

Edwin - Obama purchased time for a nationwide cable ad that the cable company told him they could not keep out of just Florida. So he went to the DNC to ask if that violated the rules and got an official ruling that it did NOT. I expect you heard it from Clinton supporters the way you phrased it, but please stop spreading the falsehood about him violating the rules in Florida.

[Fred]

This latest instance, combined with first hand reports of Clinton campaign workers calling voters and "accidentally" calling Obama, "Osama" instead, makes it clear that SOMEONE in the Clinton hierarchy thinks this is a good idea. (link to one report below)

If it's not already Clinton herself telling people to do this, she needs to straighten them out immediately or she is condoning their behavior.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/did_i_say_osama_i_meant_obama.html

[mike k]

So the question is, was he kicked out because you were there or because they don't want falsehoods about Obama spread around? Hard to tell, 'as far as I know.'

[Tahler]

OBAMA'S RACIST PREACHER HATES AMERICA!

[whataplace]

I don't believe that Senator Obama is a Muslim, but if he were--why would that matter? I still can't figure out what all these intolerant rednecks (yes, attitude-wise, you could even be from Manhattan and be a "redneck") are so afraid of (?)

Most Muslims are about as close to radical Muslims in their religious outlook as most American Christians are to radical Evangelicals (yup, equally dangerous in my book).

It's really pathetic that such a large portion of the popluation in the "world's greatest country" is apparently living out their lives cowering in fear and distrust.

I think we can thank the Shrub for that.

And to "Frank" @ 2:45--highly suspect numbers you are quoting--got any sources for your "facts"?

[Glen]

Does anyone remember the name BUSH. That is evil. That is injustice. That is contempt of law. That is the name to fear. Mcain = Bush. Clinton = Clinton. Enough.
So, there are no white churchs that hate blacks, or non christians. Oh, and all white people subscribe to that prejudice, I forgot. And a church in Chicago, is going to do less harm to this country than BalckwaterUSA and Halliburton trust me, so get over it. Oh and the war idea, suuuper. Spend billions of my money, illegally, and then have Hillary tell me that I have to buy health insurance. Tell it to the dead GI's, their families and the ones that have been denied coverage. Great fiscal and responsible planning all round.

[stuck in the ME]

lets just all be honest- i almost dont care what either one of them runs on. i just want to change the party in office right now. i am voting for whichever one makes it through the nomination process. Look on the bright-side, whoever wins it will usher in a monumental period of time in american politics. so why bother to bicker about it?