Pubdate: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 Source: Concord Monitor (NH) Copyright: 2007 Monitor Publishing Company Contact: http://www.concordmonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/767 Author: Sarah Liebowitz, Monitor staff Campaign 2008 CLINTON BACKER RAISES OBAMA'S DRUG HISTORY Shaheen: Admission Ripe For 'Dirty Tricks' A senior Hillary Clinton supporter drew Barack Obama's admissions of past illegal drug use into the Democratic presidential race yesterday, saying that Obama's honesty would expose him to Republican attacks in a general election. "It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?' " Bill Shaheen, a co-chairman of Clinton's national and New Hampshire campaigns, told the Washington Post. "There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome." After news of Shaheen's remarks broke, he said in a statement that his comments weren't authorized by the campaign "in any way," and that he regretted making them. But Obama's camp used Shaheen's remarks as evidence that Clinton's campaign is floundering in the run-up to the nation's first primaries and caucuses. The statements are part of "an increasingly desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement. The Democratic contest has become increasingly heated in recent weeks, as opinion polls show a tightening race in New Hampshire and other key nominating states. For months, Clinton held a double-digit lead over her rivals in many New Hampshire polls. Yesterday, however, a University of New Hampshire poll showed Clinton leading Obama by just one percentage point, well within the margin of error. Last month, Clinton led Obama in a UNH poll by 14 points. Yesterday apparently marked the first time someone associated with an opposing campaign has made such pointed comments about Obama's past drug use. Shaheen, the husband of former governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen, is widely considered a Democratic powerbroker in New Hampshire. Clinton officials quickly distanced themselves from Shaheen's comments. "Sen. Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to the American people," said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. "These comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way." Obama has been candid about his past drug use for years. In his 1995 memoir Dreams From My Father, Obama wrote about using cocaine and marijuana as a young man. "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man," Obama wrote. "I got high . . . (to) push questions of who I was out of my mind." Speaking to high school students in Manchester last month, Obama raised the issue of his past drug use. "It wasn't until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, 'Man, I wasted a lot of time,' " he said. In response to a question about whether Obama's comments in Manchester were appropriate, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said at the time that, "I respect his honesty." According to the Associated Press, Giuliani added that "one of the things that we need from our people that are running for office is not this pretense of perfection." But Shaheen said yesterday that Obama's admissions would "open the door" to more questions, making him an easy target for Republicans, according to the Post. He seemed careful not to criticize Obama directly, saying instead that Republicans would seize on the Illinois senator's past. Shaheen contrasted Obama's approach to that of George W. Bush in the run-up to the 2000 election. Bush refused to answer questions about whether he used illegal drugs. "When I get asked pointed questions," he told the Boston Globe in 1999, "I'm going to remind people that I made mistakes in the past, and the question is, 'Have I learned from those mistakes?'" Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, accused Clinton's campaign of "recycling old news." Obama, Plouffe said, "has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago, and he's talked about the lessons he's learned from these mistakes with young people all over the country." Plouffe pointed to another recent attack as evidence of the Clinton campaign's tactics. Earlier this month, Clinton's campaign called into question Obama's statement that "I have not been planning to run for president for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for." In a memo, the Clinton campaign highlighted several occasions when Obama mentioned presidential ambitions, including a quote from Obama's kindergarten teacher, who recalled that he wrote an essay titled "I want to become president." It's unclear whether Obama's past drug use would be fodder for Republicans. Tom Rath, a New Hampshire attorney and adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was happy to stay out of the debate yesterday. "I'm going to let the Democrats sort their own problems out," he said. But GOP strategist David Carney sees no room for a Republican attack and said that Shaheen's comments are "just indicative of how desperate the Clintons are." "In this day and age, the fact that he was so honest and open about his drug use . . . that would be such a negative attack that we would get pummeled," said Carney, who worked in the White House under George H.W. Bush. And Obama doesn't worry about his admissions hurting his candidacy. In an interview with Monitor editors and reporters in October, he was asked about the possibility of being attacked in a general election for his past cocaine use. "The answer is to react quickly, forcefully and truthfully," Obama said. "Truth has great power as long as it gets out there quick." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart