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."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart