Hillary Campaign: Obama Made of Strong Words, Little Action

Chief Strategist Mark Penn and Communications Director Howard Wolfson held a conference call on behalf of the Clinton campaign to discuss the current state of the presidential race.

Penn and Wolfson said that although Obama has proclaimed he is front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, recent polling has gone against his declarations. Clinton’s campaign alleged that Senator Obama is a less worthy candidate to defeat republican candidate John McCain than Clinton is.

To back Senator Clinton, Penn and Wolfson emphasized polls have proven voters have a higher opinion about her economic plans and her chances to succeed as the next Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces than Obama. Also, the Clinton group noted that Hillary is more aggressively fighting for the voters of Florida and Michigan to have their still-being-debated votes counted than Obama.

Obama, said Penn and Wolfson, has made a “pattern of using words” without supporting them through “action.”

Obama Campaign Responds to Geraldine Ferraro in a Press Conference Call

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky hosted a press conference call to address recent comments made by Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY 9) that “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position … And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” Campaign representatives criticized the Clinton campaign for failing to distance itself from the comments and denounce such divisive sentiments. They claimed that campaign leadership comes from the very top, and hold Sen. Clinton responsible for accepting this kind of behavior asking “Is she serious about policing the tone of this campaign?” The whole affair was described as a continuation of the kind of detrimental “tear-each-other-down” politics against which they are striving, said Obama surrogates. Calls were also made for Ferraro to be censured and removed from her positions within the Clinton campaign.

Senator Clinton addresses supporters in Columbus, Ohio, after winning that state's primary election

Senator Clinton joined on stage by her daughter Chelsea, Governor Ted Strickland, Senator John Glenn, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher.

More photos on our Flickr page.

Clinton Campaign Conference Call

Ohio State Director Robby Mock and Howard Wolfson

Early this week United Food and Commercial Workers Union ad all over Ohio designed to influence the campaign. The Clinton campaign supports Union involvement. Senator Obama has flip flopped in outside political spending. Obama was critical of Edwards and outside groups that were spending on Edwards’s behalf and that they were getting around the outside groups. In Ohio he is completely silent. His campaign had a conference call of a group that may be of support to the Clinton campaign. Sen. Obama has a pattern of backing away from promises. He says one thing in one part of the country at one time and another at another time.

This is not about principal for Senator Obama it is about politics.

Robby--- He said Senator Edwards had to be consistent on 527 groups and he is not backing that up now.

Question: American Leadership Project has supported the Clinton campaign. Any difference?

Clinton campaign believes that organizations have the right to do this, but the issue is using the same standard. The standard he set for Senator Edwards was that in Iowa these ads should not have been run. We are asking that Senator Obama hold himself to the same standards. We do not know anything about the American Leadership Project.

Question: Is she positioning herself as having been a co-president?

Wolfson: Senator Clinton is clear about the areas that she was involved. She was a key and valued advisor of her husband.

Robby: We have an aggressive program on the ground. We have staff and volunteers in every Congressional district. We have been running an early vote program. We are not just running in the “three C’s” but also in rural areas.

Question: Senator Clinton discussed NAFTA. What does a time out on trade mean?

Senator Clinton has laid out a bold plan. She believes we need to fix NAFTA and that we need to review all of our trade agreements every five years. We believe that we have the best program to jump-start the economy. When he was running for Senate he said positive things about NAFTA and the WTO. Those are not consistent with how he is presenting himself to the voters of Ohio.

Question: What about District 11 in Ohio?

Robby: We are competing in every district. We have the support of Congresswoman Tubbs-Jones. She has been an integral part of the team. She is one of closest advisors.
Wolfson: Tubbs-Jones has really worked hard, and a wise guide through Ohio politics.

Question: Tuesday’s debate?

Wolfson: I will not preview strategy. We think the debates have benefited us. Senator Clinton shines when there is a good detailed discussion of issues.

Question: Clips of the mailers. Looked like she had not seen them before.

Wolfson: They had obviously not been mailed to her house. She felt when she was given to them on a rope line. She wanted to set the record straight. These pieces of mail have been discredited and debunked but the Obama campaign keeps putting them out.

Question: Where does Pennsylvania figure in?

Wolfson: We believe that we will be successful on March 4th. We have a great surrogate in Ed Rendell.

Question: What is Senator Clinton’s position on 527’s? Vote Hope group is getting four million dollars from one couple.

Wolfson: We believe that all candidates could opt in the system and not pay a financial penalty to do so. Currently they are allowed under the law. Candidates ought to be consistent on their views on this.

Question: Winning Ohio and Texas?

Wolfson: Less than two percent between the two. We believe the support and math will be there for Senator Clinton to win the nomination. This will give us a springboard to go into PA?

Question: If the ads don’t run to Tuesday, then is this enough time for the Obama campaign to respond?

Wolfson: Judging by the standards of what they said in Iowa they should try and get the ads not to run. Gloves off? He has taken then off on a daily basis via the email etc.

Obama Flip Flopping and other comments

Clinton Conference Call -Sunday February 17th

Howard Wolfson and Phil Singer and the Clinton people say that Obama
is flip flopping on taking public financing. He is backing away from
a specific promise. This is not the first time that he has done this
in his political life. In primaries he runs on promises and then does
not deliver on it. A reporter said that it was not a specific pledge
but the Clinton campaign quotes Bill Burton from the campaign as
saying he would. Clinton campaign quotes a Common Cause questionnaire.
They say he has broken a commitment. " here is a promise that he is
breaking right before our very eyes" Senator Clinton will assess the
situation on public financing when the situation comes. That would
have been fine for Senator Obama. He took a specific position and then
decided to renege on it. It is fair for voters to ask for someone does
not have a long history, it is fair for people to look at his
promises. Does oratory and promises deliver results?

Obama has taken money from people who work in special interests and
companies. If he is interested in not having special interests and he
still takes contributions from people that hire those lobbyists. Once
again you hear great speeches from Senator Obama that are not backed
up by the facts.

Impact on future contests-- they do not believe that momentum is the
driver of actual votes
Senator Obama had momentum and lost many of the big states. Among rank
and file Democrats people are enthusiastic. Senator Clinton would be
the nominee of a united party. We believe that we will have 2025
delegates and we will be the nominee.


Our expectation will achieve the result to put Senator Clinton on the
road to the nomination. We have asked our delegates to seat Michigan
and Florida. Over two million people voted in those elections.

Health care- facts are crystal clear- Obama has used Harriet and
Louise tactics to attack our health care plan when he leaves fifteen
million people out.