Falling On Geffen Ears
Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently didn't take too kindly to the harsh rhetoric from L.A. music mogul David Geffen, courtesy of today's Maureen Dowd. Geffen, who is backing Barack Obama, called Bill Clinton "reckless" and clearly is still upset that Clinton didn't grant a pardon to cause celeb native American Leonard Peltier. More Geffen: "Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?"
Clinton chief spokesperson Howard Wolfson, in a release this a.m., is "demanding that" Obama "disavow personal attacks" from Geffen. Wolfson: "While Senator Obama was denouncing slash and burn politics yesterday, his campaign's finance chair was viciously and personally attacking Senator Clinton and her husband. If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign and return his money. While Democrats should engage in a vigorous debate on the issues, there is no place in our party or our politics for the kind of personal insults made by Senator Obama's principal fundraiser."
We're waiting on a response from Obama's camp. And while we wait, we'd love to speculate as to why the Clinton folks chose pick this battle? It's not as if they are used to getting good Dowd columns. And considering that this may be the first serious back-n-forth between Clinton and Obama of the campaign, it could end up stepping on the NV Dem-AFSCME cattle call. Do the Clinton folks want to see how quickly Obama backs down (if he does)? Do they simply want to highlight Obama's Hollywood ties? Or are some Clinton folks simply mad at Geffen? Has he said harsher things that we don't know about?
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus