by Jill Zuckman
Manchester, N.H. – Sen. Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire co-chairman announced his resignation Thursday, one day after raising questions about Sen. Barack Obama's use of marijuana and cocaine when he was young.
In a statement released by the Clinton campaign, Shaheen said Clinton is running a positive campaign and he does not want to detract from her work on issues important to American families.
"I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the Co-Chair of the Hillary for President campaign," he said. "This election is too important and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country."
On Wednesday, Shaheen questioned Obama's ability to get elected in a general election, saying that Republicans would attack him for his admissions of past drug use.
"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" Shaheen told The Washington Post. "There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome."
Shaheen's salvo came on the same day that a new CNN/WMUR poll was released showing that Clinton's lead in New Hampshire had vanished and that she was virtually tied with Obama, 31-30. It also followed a new line of attack by the Clinton campaign portraying Obama as virtually unelectable because of his shifting positions and extreme liberal stances.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe described the Clinton campaign as "desperate."
Shaheen is a longtime political activist in the state, having led both John Kerry and Al Gore's primary campaigns here, as well as participating in many others, including Jimmy Carter's 1976 upset and Gary Hart's 1984 victory. He is married to Jeanne Shaheen, the former governor who is challenging Sen. John Sununu for his Senate seat.
Earlier Thursday, Obama's New Hampshire co-chairman expressed skepticism that Shaheen's salvo was not coordinated with the campaign since it followed several other incidents, including an email in Iowa saying that Obama is a Muslim. He is, in fact, a Christian.
"People can connect the dots. We're just saying, 'stop doing this,' " Helms said in an interview before Shaheen's resignation. "You can't continue to have events like this followed by 'this wasn't authorized.' The campaign has choices to make."
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Comments
Good riddance.
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | December 13, 2007 5:09 PM
I strongly believe, this campaign should be about how to salvage the USA, economically, socially, politically, religiously and otherwise.
Obama seems to be concerned about the American people, whereas, Clinton is most concern about Obama.Her exhibition of desperation and personal attack on Obama, is a thing of shame and should not be tolerated. Enough is enough. God bless USA
Posted by: Osquare12000 | December 13, 2007 5:33 PM
There's a saying for this: "The fox is the finder and the smell lies behind her." This is right out of the Clinton Dirty Tricks Play Book. They've done it before: A staffer puts the slander out in public; Hillary pretends she didn't know; the staffer "apologizes;" staffer resigns (but really ends up in another post later). And of course, the goal is achieved. The accusation is in the public discourse, the damage is done.
Posted by: J. Polk | December 13, 2007 5:38 PM
Good Move for Hillary. I am so glad she got rid of the tainted baggage and is free to address the issues of concern to the American people and just be herself. But here is a word of advice for Hillary - She needs to remember she's from the Midwest, and Midwesterners are straight shooters with true American values. They have not been jaded by the East Coast nor corrupted by the bling bling of the West Coast. Midwesterner are from the heartland, and even though Hillary has served the people of New York, she needs to remember her roots are the heart of America, and what's good for the heart is good for the entire body - the U.S. of A.
Posted by: the truth | December 13, 2007 5:54 PM
Mrs. Clinton's fingerprints are all over this one because she's done it before. Plant an accusation and then deny knowledge of it. That is fully contrary to the picture she presents that she is in control of everything. Either she knew and approved of this tactic or she was ignorant and
not in control of her campaign. Either way, she comes out looking foolish....a regular occurrence these days.
Posted by: Garnet | December 13, 2007 5:57 PM
Why apologize for saying the truth? I think that it's useful for the public to know if someone's a druggie; especially if he/she could potentially have a finger on the button.
Posted by: Bob | December 13, 2007 7:32 PM
I think the hysterical response to Shaheen's statement about Obama's drug use is ridiculous. He doesn't claim Obama's drug use is an important issue, but he is correct in saying that should Obama be nominated, this issue will surely be exploited by the GOP, to the extent that the campaign might easily be sidetracked by it, in the same way Kerry's campaign was hijacked by the Swiftwater veterans. And the main reason that Kerry was nominated was that he was supposedly electable. So I think Shaheen was perfectly correct in bringing this issue up, and the extremely smug people who are currently shouting him down are damaging the party's chances to win in November. A candidate's drug use -- particularly when the drug is cocaine -- is definitely baggage, and to try to embargo discussion of the subject is partisan, unproductive and foolish.
Posted by: elizabeth bauersox | December 13, 2007 8:02 PM
The wheels are falling off the bus.
Posted by: crafty b | December 13, 2007 9:21 PM