BARACK'S BLAME GAME

From AZ GOP National Committeeman

BRUCE ASH:

Obama Campaign Blames Ultra Liberal Answers To Questionnaire On His Staff, Just Like Other Obama Rookie Missteps
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Today, Obama Campaign Blames Staff For Filling In Liberal Answers To Survey In 1996:

"The Obama Campaign Tells Politico That The Questionnaire Was Not Filled Out By Obama Himself, But Rather By His Campaign Manager At The Time ..." (Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence, "Will 'Liberal Views' Come Back To Haunt Obama?" USA Today's "On Politics" Blog, blogs.usatoday.com, 12/11/07)

Washington State Chairman For Sen. Obama, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) Claimed Answers To Questions Were Different Than Positions Obama Holds. Rep. Smith: "That was a questionnaire filled out in his first state senate campaign back 1996 not by Senator Obama but by somebody on his staff who didn't get it cleared. You look at his record and what he said about even those issues in that campaign in '96, on capital punishment, on health care, on gun issues and they are different than what was put down in that questionnaire." (MSNBC's "S uper Tuesday," 12/11/07)

Rep. Smith: "Those [survey answers] are not a reflection of Senator Obama's views now or ever for that matter." (MSNBC's "Super Tuesday," 12/11/07)
SURVEY SAYS: While Running For State Senate In 1996, Sen. Obama Took "Unabashedly Liberal Positions." "When Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was seeking state office a dozen years ago, he took unabashedly liberal positions: flatly opposed to capital punishment, in support of a federal single-payer health plan, against any restrictions on abortion, and in support of state laws to ban the manufacture, sale and even possession of handguns." (Mike Allen and Ben Smith, "Liberal Views Could Haunt Obama," The Politico, 12/11/07)

Sen. Obama Was Against The Death Penalty. "'Do you support ... capital punishment?' one question asked. 'No,' the 1996 Obama campaign typed, without explaining his answer in the space provided." (Mike Allen and Ben Smith, "Liberal Views Could Haunt Obama," The Politico, 12/11/07)
Sen. Obama Wanted To Ban The Manufacture, Sale, And Possession Of Handguns. "'Do you support state legislation to ... ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?' asked one of the three dozen questions. 'Yes,' was Obama's entire answer." (Mike Allen and Ben Smith, "Liberal Views Could Haunt Obama," The Politico, 12/11/07)
Not The First Time Sen. Obama Has Blamed Staff For His "Mistakes":

Sen. Obama Blamed His Research Team For Releasing The Memo Calling Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) A Senator From Punjab. "'It was a screw-up on the part of our research team,' Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, said during a meeting today with Des Moines Register editors and reporters. 'It wasn't anything I had seen or my senior staff had seen.'" (Thomas Beaumont, "Obama: Campaign's 'Punjab' Remark Was 'Stupid'," The Des Moines Register, 6/18/07)

Sen. Obama Thought The Memo Was "Stupid And Caustic." "Obama continued, 'I thought it was stupid and caustic and not only didn't reflect my view of the complicated issue of outsourcing ... it also didn't reflect the fact that I have longstanding support and friendships within the Indian-American community.'" (Thomas Beaumont, "Obama: Campaign's 'Punjab' Remark Was 'Stupid'," The Des Moines Register, 6/18/07)
Sen. Obama Blamed His Staff For Not Being Able To Attend The International Association Of Fire Fighters In New Hampshire. "Barack Obama threw his staff under the proverbial bus last Friday during his call-in with leaders of the International Association of Fire Fighters in Portsmouth. 'My staff had already scheduled some things and they couldn't wiggle out of it,' he said, according to CNN. 'They heard from me a little bit because I wasn't happy I couldn't be there personally.'" (John DiStaso, "Richardson Puts Together His NH Team," The [Manchester] Union Leader, 5/17/07)

Sen. Obama Blamed His Staff For Getting Into A Dispute With Hillary Clinton's Campaign Over David Geffen's Remarks. "'I told my staff that I don't want us to be a party to these kinds of distractions because I want to make sure that we're spending time talking about issues,' Mr. Obama said. 'My preference going forward is that we have to be careful not to slip into playing the game as it customarily is played.'" (Adam Nagourney, "In A Clinton-Obama Skirmish, A Detour From The High Road," The New York Times, 2/23/07)

Sen. Obama Claimed He Was Not Aware Of His Campaign's Statement Responding To Clinton Adviser Howard Wolfson's Demand That Obama Denounce Geffen. "In a telephone interview Thursday, Mr. Obama said he had not been aware beforehand of the statement his campaign had put out ... responding to the public demand by Howard Wolfson, Mrs. Clinton's hard-driving senior communications adviser, that Mr. Obama denounce Mr. Geffen and return the money he had raised." (Adam Nagourney, "In A Clinton-Obama Skirmish, A Detour From The High Road," The New York Times, 2/23/07)

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