As planned, Hillary Clinton officially suspended her campaign today and endorsed Senator Barack Obama and telling her supporters to unite behind him as well.
"The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our energy and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.
Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary campaign he has won. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me"
As Clinton threw her support behind Barack Obama, for the sake of "party unity", the Republican National Committee sent out their own press release and posted the Clinton VS Obama page on the new MeetBarackObama.com website, which shows many statements made by Clinton against Obama in the last year.
So, as she says she will throw her full support behind him and asks her supporters to join her in working as hard for Barack Obama as they have for her, the RNC reminds everyone that Hillary Clinton was telling everyone that Barack Obama was an "elitist, just a little less than two months ago:
Sen. Clinton Called Obama’s “Bitter” Comments “Elitist,” “Out Of Touch” And “Not Reflective Of The Values And Beliefs Of Americans.” Sen. Clinton: “Now, like some of you may have been, I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small town America. Senator Obama’s remarks are elitist and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans.” (Hillary Clinton For President, “Gov. Tom Vilsack, PA Mayors Respond To Senator Obama’s Recent Characterizations Of Pennsylvanians,” Press Release, 4/12/08)
As Hillary asks her supporters to back a candidate she has called out of touch, she doesn't explain why he is now ready for the job when in March of 2008 she said:
“In this election we need a nominee who can pass the commander-in-chief test. Someone ready on day it defend our country and keep our families safe. We need a president who passes that test. The first and most solemn duty of the president of the United States is to protect and defend our nation. And when there is a crisis and when the phone rings whether it’s 3:00 p.m. or 3:00 a.m. In the White House, there is no time for speeches and on the job training. Senator McCain will bring a time of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience and Senator Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference. I think since we now know Senator McCain will be the nominee for the party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. I think it’s imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander in chief threshold. I believe that I have done that and certainly Senator McCain has done that. You will have to ask Senator Obama with respect to his candidacy.”
VIDEO:
While Hillary is asking her supporters to back Obama, she isn't explaining why all of a sudden he is ready when she previously said, "Now voters will judge whether living in a foreign country at the age of 10 prepares one to face the big, complex international challenges the next president will face. I think we need a president with more experience than that", on MSNBC's Hardball.
While she is telling her supporters that she will back a man she claims is not ready, nor capable, of keeping America safe, she neglects to mention why they should ignore her previous words and listen to her now when she is putting the "party" before the country.
She doesn't address her own comments when she said about Obama's policy stances, "And I disagree with his continuing to say that he would meet with some of the worst dictators in the world without preconditions and without the real, you know, understanding of what we would get from it."
Then the RNC points out the times that Barack Obama has attacked Hillary Clinton:
Obama Accused Sen. Clinton Of “Willing To Say Anything To Get A Political Or Tactical Advantage,” Eroding “People’s Trust In Government” And Being Part Of The “Perpetual Campaign That … Keeps Us From Solving Problems.” Obama: “If you get the kind of looseness with the facts that Senator Clinton’s displayed and you’re willing to say anything to get a political or tactical advantage – that erodes people’s trust in government. … It makes them cynical. It’s part of the perpetual campaign that is how Washington all too often operates these days and it keeps us from solving problems.” (Mike Dorning, “Obama: Clintons Will ‘Say Anything’ For Political Advantage,” Chicago Tribune’s“The Swamp” Blog, www.swamppolitics.com, 1/22/08)
Obama Accused Sen. Clinton Of “Changing Positions Whenever It’s Politically Convenient,” Including On Free Trade, Torture, And The War In Iraq. Obama: “I think it requires us to be honest about the challenges that we face. It does not mean, I think, changing positions whenever it’s politically convenient. And Senator Clinton, in her campaign, I think has been for NAFTA previously. Now she’s against it. She has taken one position on torture several months ago, and then most recently has taken a different position. She voted for a war, to authorize sending troops into Iraq, and then later said this was a war for diplomacy. I don’t think that it – now, that may be politically savvy, but I don’t think that it offers the clear contrast that we need. I think what we need right now is honesty with the American people about where we would take the country.” (Sen. Barack Obama, MSNBC Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07) VIEW VIDEO CLIP
Obama Attacked Sen. Clinton For Serving As “A Corporate Lawyer Sitting On The Board Of Wal-Mart.” Obama: “[W]hile I was working on those streets, watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart.” (Sen. Barack Obama, CNN Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/22/08) VIEW VIDEO CLIP
Obama Attacked Sen. Clinton’s Experience:
Obama Ridiculed Sen. Clinton’s Claims To Experience, Saying They Amount To “Osmosis, As A Consequence Of Having Been First Lady.” Obama: “Sen. Clinton keeps touting her experience, but has no management experience that I can see in her resume. It’s presumed through osmosis, as a consequence of having been first lady.” (Carla Marinucci, “Barack Obama, In S.F., Takes On The Clintons,” San Francisco Chronicle, 1/18/07) VIEW VIDEO CLIP
- Obama: “My Understanding Was That She Wasn’t Treasury Secretary In The Clinton Administration.” (CNN’s, “American Morning,” 11/20/07) VIEW VIDEO CLIP
Obama Attacked Sen. Clinton’s Secrecy:
Obama Attacked Sen. Clinton For Her Husband’s Failure To Release Records From His Presidential Library, Declaring “She Can Release These Papers. She Can Get Them Released Soon…” Obama: “When she suggested somehow she didn’t have control over whether or not these papers were being released—when what we’re talking about here is her husband’s presidential library. And when she is making a suggestion that part of the experience that she brings to this office is her experience as First Lady, then, I think, people have a right to ask some tough questions. She can release these papers. She can get them released soon, before the primary season is up. Certainly she doesn’t have to wait until 2012 to have them released.” (“‘What She Can’t Do Is Have It Both Ways,’” Newsweek.com, 11/12/07) VIEW VIDEO CLIP
Read the whole RNC press release and they provide videos to most of the comments. Hillary Clinton did not address any of this, which means she fell far short of providing the massive amount of her supporters that have stated publicly they refuse to vote for Barack Obama, with a reason to change their minds.
(NOTE: I will add a link to her entire speech when it becomes available, but until then, Hillary Clinton supporters have to be asking themselves right now....was Hillary telling lies about Barack Obama before or is she now asking them to willingly "suspend their disbelief", just because she didn't win the nomination.)--linked above
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