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Clinton Campaign Cries Foul on

By Philip Klein on 3.7.08 @ 11:37AM

In a just completed conference call, Clinton's congressional supporters called for Samantha Power to be removed from Barack Obama's campaign as foreign policy adviser because she referred to Hillary Clinton as a "monster" in an interview.

"Personal attacks are not a way to convince voters that you are capable of being the President of the United States, we need to have a civil discussion of the issues," Rep. Nita Lowey said. "We don't need attacks on a person's character...So we're calling on Senator Obama to make it very clear that Samantha Power should not be part of his campaign."

Lowey said it was "a test of character" for Obama and said, "we can't have a below the belt campaign."

(Yes, this is coming from a Clinton supporter.)

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Obama has "talked about the politics of hope" but has "degenerated into negative personal attacks and name calling, which was clearly the result of frustration and anger over his losses on Tuesday."

Rep. Gregory Meeks said, "We understand that politics is a contact sport, but the contact should be on the issues between one another and what their differences are politically, not personally."

Later in the call, Howard Wolfson argued that it was a "question of leadership" as to whether Obama dismisses Power, as Bill Shaheen was forced to resign from the Clinton campaign following his comments on Obama's drug use.

This is all a textbook example of Clinton politics--run a dirty campaign intended to destroy your opponent's character and then try to assume the moral high ground when some of it comes back.

For Obama, it is another episode of him not being able to control what some of his advisers say.

If this controversy does anything, I hope it draws more attention to Power's history the horrific anti-Israel comments.

topics:
Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Israel, NATO