Posted on 10/03/2012 7:54:43 AM PDT by Qbert
The Obama campaign called a video touted by conservative news aggregator Drudge Report as a potentially explosive development in the election a "transparent attempt to change the subject" from Mitt Romney's comments, made by his "allies."
“In a transparent attempt to change the subject from his comments attacking half of the American people, Mitt Romney’s allies recirculated video of a 2007 event that was open to and extensively covered by the press at the time. The only thing shocking about this is that they apparently think it’s wrong to suggest that we should help returning veterans, children leaving foster care and other members of Mitt Romney’s 47 percent get training that will allow them to find the best available jobs," said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt in an e-mail to The Hill.
The video was teased on conservative aggregator Matt Drudge's website for much of Tuesday afternoon, but various other news outlets unearthed it prior to the 9 p.m. time Drudge had promised it would go live.
The video in question was a speech President Obama made in 2007 to a primarily black crowd at Hampton University in Virginia. In the speech, then-Senator Obama addressed what he called a "quiet riot" among blacks that was bubbling after the Bush Administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, much the same as it had in Los Angeles 15 years before. A number of news outlets -- including the Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson, who broke the story Tuesday night -- reported on it in 2007.
But Carlson said on Fox News' "Sean Hannity Show" that in 2007, most reporters were working off of prepared remarks. He cited Obama's numerous diversions from the transcript as evidence that he had unearthed a new story.
“This is not a dog whistle, this is a dog siren. These are appeals to racial solidarity,” Carlson said. “He is making a very clear case on again on the basis of his racial solidarity to this audience that they are getting shafted by a racist federal government."
Though the video was released on the eve of the first, and likely pivotal, presidential debate, LaBolt indicated the video wouldn't derail the conversation on Wednesday night.
"If the Romney campaign believes that Americans will accept these desperate attacks tomorrow night in place of specific plans for the middle class, it’s they who are in for a surprise," he said.
Race became enough of an issue during the 2008 campaign -- after controversial comments by Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- that candidate Obama addressed racial tensions and inequality in America with an address in March of 2008, during the Democratic primaries. The moment was widely regarded as a boost to his candidacy. But the Obama campaign seemed to believe that the resurfacing of the video was evidence of another effort to make Wright and race an issue in the race.
Former GOP presidential nominee Newt Gingrich weighed in on the speech on Fox's "On the Record," saying that he does believe it will have some impact because of what it indicates about Obama's party.
"It's a reminder of the depth of dishonesty, the appeals to racism, the factual falsehoods that are at the heart of the modern Left," he said.
He said that the speech was "clearly divisive."
"There is no way you can listen to the speech and not hear it as a deliberately divisive speech that pits Americans against each other, and does so largely with racial innuendos that are very, very clear when you hear the speech," he said.
But Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who is black, dismissed the speech, saying that not much politically will come of it since there are much more pressing issues on the national agenda.
“The only thing that comes out of this is, I believe, what everyone knows is when the president gets off of script, gets off of his teleprompter, you see a different type of president,” he said. “We saw that just recently in Virginia when he got off script…and started talking about small business owners ‘didn’t build that’ and he had to retract that and make better hay of it."
--Mario Trujillo contributed to this report.
"The only thing shocking about this is that they apparently think it’s wrong to suggest that we should help returning veterans, children leaving foster care and other members of Mitt Romney’s 47 percent get training that will allow them to find the best available jobs," said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt in an e-mail to The Hill."
So, according to the Obama campaign, there is "nothing shocking" about calling a shout out to an anti-Semitic pastor, and peddling divisive, racist conspiracy theories about Bush and New Orleans that are easily disproved . Interesting...
The obama campaign response is a DESPERATE RESPONSE TO THE TRUTH!
LLS
Obama represents the party of integrity. /sarc.
Showing an entire film of me being an anti-American race baiter is an attack!
This is a real video of the real obama. What’s desperate about that? The lying video saying Romney caused the death of a woman — now that’s desperate.
Which one?
This video is a diversion that the Obama team loves. Hannity/Carlson couldn’t have picked a worse time to release this.
There are too many issues to beat him on, right now.
If they could ever get a hold of video of Obama together with Ayres (”just a guy in my neighborhood”) and Dohrn that would be a potential bombshell for independent voters.
I want to see parts of it as a Romney Ad prim time every where.
It disgusting the way our jive-ass presidents dialect changes with the crowd, what a POS!
I might agree with you except for the fact that the obama people released a video of Romney’s garbage collector trying to portray Romney as a racist. Turn about is fair play. And if Romney is asked about this he should cite the release of the garbage collector video.
Funny how Obama’s own words are a ‘desperate attack.’
And apparently peeved off Pastor's who have been shunned by their former brethren do what they have to do... Pay back is a ____!
That’s why instead of having laughed at and ridiculed Obama’s experience as a community organizer in 2008, McCain and the GOP had a duty to expose what community organizing was really all about.
Obama is nothing more than a clean, articulate version of Al Sharpton, and the media has promoted a false image of him as a healer and uniter.
To the question: “which is the real Obama?” The race baiter or the erudite POTUS? My guess is neither. I believe this is an empty shell of a man who can and will be whatever the occasion calls for. That’s why he’s such a remarkable orator.
Excellent statement. I am particularly angry with Peggy Noonan, for her attack on Mitt Romney, when he spoke up about the attack in Libya. Peggy called Mitt's remarks thin and tinny. Now, she is the one who sounds thin and tinny, by covering for Obama's failure, she made the failure her own.
"This video is a diversion that the Obama team loves. Hannity/Carlson couldn’t have picked a worse time to release this. There are too many issues to beat him on, right now."
I've seen a few people make that argument- I don't know. I think the intention was more to rattle the most paranoid POTUS in history the night before the first debate.
It’s only representative of what racist, divisive, pandering, community organizers do.
It’s reflected directly in his stint as president. Community organizers don’t do any real work, they just talk, firing up others to do the heavy lifting in support of their agenda. This has been evident in most of his speeches, and his reluctantance to do any real “work” since he was selected.
The only thing Obama hasn’t done in this rabble rouser genre, is adopt the bogus title of “reverend”, as most organizer, race-batters do (I.e. Jessie, al, Farrakhan, et al).
Enough firewater, some free crack, and pass-around greenbacks complete the war dance and elevate the hatred into attack mode.
Most of the old-line media cover their eyes and ears to this kind of expose’, pretending it doesn’t exist.
But, it does exist, and even though it’s nothing new to most of us, it’s been spotlighted, and that distresses the Obama left.
But the two-headed snake is an expert in switching from a Harvard elite, to a jive turkey - depending on his audience.
But we really don’t even need to know that about him, all that is needed is to look at what he’s done to America. For that, he should be tried for treason, but I’ll settle for just voting him out of power.
Prepare for Jim Lehrer’s question to Romney tonight:
“Mr. Romney, will you condemn the release of the racist video that conservatives at Fox News played on the air last night?”
That’s Hussein’s standard reply to everything-that someone is “changing the subject”. The only thing anyone’s supposed to talk about is how great he is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.