For the last six weeks Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack
Obama, D-Ill., have battled and bickered and both have unleashed a
barrage of negativity in television ads that have aired thousands of
times in the state.
That barrage of ads will come to an end today as the Democrats of
Pennsylvania head to the polls in what could be a make-or-break day
for Clinton, or prolong the Democratic primary season into at least
another month.
Clinton Ad Features Osama bin Laden
In an ad that began airing in Pennsylvania Monday morning, Clinton
implies she is tougher than Obama.
"Who do you think has what it takes?" the narrator asks in an ad
depicting historical images of crises that presidents have had to deal
with: Osama bin Laden, headlines about the stock market crash of 1929,
long gas lines from the 1970s oil-shocks, images of the Cold War,
Hurricane Katrina and soldiers. It features the first image of Osama
bin Laden to be used in a TV ad this political season.
"It's the toughest job in the world," says the ad's narrator. "You
need to be ready for anything especially now, with two wars, oil
prices skyrocketing and an economy in crisis."
The ad quotes President Harry Truman's famous line: "If you can't
stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," to cast Obama as
complaining about last week's ABC News presidential debate.
Responding to the ad, Obama spokesman Bill Burton accused the New York
senator of engaging in scare tactics.
Clinton on an Iran Attack: 'Obliterate Them'
Clinton further displayed tough talk in an interview airing on "Good
Morning America" Tuesday. ABC News' Chris Cuomo asked Clinton what she
would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.
"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack
Iran," Clinton said. "In the next 10 years, during which they might
foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to
totally obliterate them."
Watch the full interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton on "GMA" Tuesday.
Obama, for his part, has to be worried about obliterating his repeated
promise of a "new kind of politics." But he told ABC News' Robin
Roberts on "Good Morning America" his attacks are necessary.
"You've always got to measure if somebody throws an elbow at you, and
after three or four times of gettin' elbows in the ribs, you know, at
what point do you sort of say, 'OK, you know, we, we, we've gotta put
a stop to that'?" Obama said.
Washington a 'Miserable Place'
In Obama's latest ad airing Monday in Pennsylvania, the ad accuses,
"Sen. Clinton has internalized a lot of the strategies, the tactics
that have made Washington such a miserable place."
Campaigning in Bethlehem, Pa., Monday, Clinton fired back, accusing
Obama of running a campaign that is just as negative.
"He has consistently, and including in Pennsylvania, he has sent out
mailers, he has run ads misrepresenting what I have proposed," Clinton
said.
The negativity continued this week with Pennsylvania voters receiving
automated phone calls.
"Why would Barack Obama vote for a Bush-Cheney energy bill?" said a
robotic call for the Clinton campaign.
"I don't trust Sen. Clinton as much on issues that are important to
sportsmen," said a call for the Obama campaign.
Going Negative, Going to the Mat
Fittingly, both candidates recorded messages Monday night for WWE pro
wrestling.
"This election is starting to feel a lot like 'king of the ring.'"
Clinton said in the message. "The only difference? The last man
standing may just be a woman."
"To all the forces of division and distraction that has stopped us
from making progress for the American people, I've got one question:
Do you smell what Barack is cooking?" Obama said in his message.
In a sign of how much party officials are worried about the damage
this intense fight is doing to the Democrats, the North Carolina
Democratic Party has canceled a proposed debate, and one of the
reasons for the cancelation is a reluctance to further highlight the
fighting between the two candidates.
ABC News' Richard Coolidge, Eloise Harper, and Sunlen Miller
contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
Rothschilds & NWO choose Hillary Clinton to be the Next U.S.President
The American entrepreneur —and friend of the Clintons and the Blairs —
talks about India, telecom, Conrad Black, and her marriage to Sir
Evelyn Rothschild.
World According to ...Lynn Forester de Rothschild
by Lloyd Grove
When 67-year-old British banking scion Sir Evelyn Rothschild first set
eyes on 44-year-old Lynn Forester at the 1998 Bilderberg conference—
the matchmaker was none other than Henry Kissinger—she was already a
woman of major means.
A corporate lawyer and telecommunications entrepreneur, the sparkly
blond ex-wife of former New York politician Andrew Stein had made more
than $100 million from the sale of cleverly acquired wireless
broadband licenses. She was also sexy, charming, and dazzlingly well
connected. Two years later, after the smitten Sir Evelyn divorced his
second wife, Victoria Schott, the mother of his three children,
Forester became the third Lady Rothschild. After marrying in November
2000 at a London synagogue, they honeymooned at the White House,
guests of Lynn's good friends Bill and Hillary Clinton.
[segment snipped for brevity]
L.G.: Let me ask you, when your fellow capitalists come to you and
express worries and fears about what Hillary Clinton will do in terms
of raising taxes on capital gains and hedge fund operators, and income
taxes, what do you tell them to reassure them that Hillary will be
good for business?
L.R.: First of all, Hillary will be good for America. And so if we
care about our country —which all of my fellow capitalists do —we'll
be very pleased that she's president. And second of all, if we look at
what is best for the economy, remember, she is a Clinton, and our
economy under Clinton was strong, dynamic, productive, exciting. And
the same kinds of people who advised Bill Clinton will be around
Hillary Clinton. And she understands the importance of the business
community, and it's not going to be about raising taxes or doing any
one specific thing. It's going to be, What is in the best interest of
all Americans? And I think if history is our guide, we've had stronger
economies, more wealth creation, under Democratic presidents than we
have under Republican presidents. So I don't understand why all my
capitalist friends aren't Democrats.
L.G.: Really? Are they buying this argument, Lynn?
L.R.: Well, you know, it's funny. As people are getting a better and
better look at Hillary, they're understanding that Hillary is talking
in a way that is so positive for America. We can think we live in
elite circles, but we don't. I mean, America is about Main Street, and
Main Street is coming around to Hillary. And Wall Street and the
C.E.O.'s can't buck that tide, and if they think they have some vested
interest in their tax rate, those are a very limited number of people
who think only about that.
L.G.: By the way, you may also have seen that Hillary reported an eye-
popping $27 million raised in the third quarter, which was beyond
expectations and far and away the most of anybody. How much of that
can we credit you with?
L.R.: [Laughs.] I am—full disclosure—I'm always doing everything I
possibly can for Hillary Clinton.
L.G.: Have you made a dollar commitment to the campaign? Have you
said, "I'll raise a million bucks" or something like that?
L.R.: I don't really do that. I do everything that I can, and I have
been waiting for this since Bill Clinton left office, frankly.
L.G.: It'll be nice to come to Washington and save on hotel expenses
again, won't it?
L.R.: Well, I don't know if that'll be the case. I assume I'll still
be at the Four Seasons. It'll be nice to know America is in the hands
of someone with her character and her experience and her vision for
where we're going to take the country. It's going to be a very
exciting time. Even Europeans are excited.
L.G.: There's a big fundraiser on October 17 in Washington, and you're
listed as one of the hosts-the National Women's Finance Summit. Will
you be there for that?
L.R.: Yes, yes, I will definitely be there for that.
L.G.: And I noticed that all the thousand-dollar seats are sold, but
you can still get some $2,300 V.I.P. seats. Do you want to try to sell
any to our readers now?
L.R.: [Laughs.] I would strongly advise your readers to snatch up
whatever is there. It's going to be a spectacular day. That event is
quintessentially Hillary Clinton. Look at what she's doing. She is,
first of all, empowering women in a way that we could have only
dreamed about when we graduated from college. But that's secondary to
bringing her foreign-policy team, her economics team, her political
team, herself to educate everyone about what she believes. They're all
going to take whatever questions we have. She's going to listen;
they're going to listen. She can't be there the whole day, but it's so
quintessentially Hillary. Politics is so boring, where they ask for
your money, you get a glass of cheap wine and a biscuit, and then when
you say, "You know, I have an idea about health care or I have an idea
about inheritance tax," nobody wants to listen to you, because what
they really want is your money. Hillary is the opposite. Obviously
there aren't enough hours in the day to listen to every idea, but she
is listening, and she is responding.
L.G.: Well you also, for $2,300, get V.I.P. seating and a grip-and-
grin photo with Hillary.
L.R.: Doesn't she have a beautiful smile?
[more crap snipped]
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