Campaign 2008

CLINTON BACKER RAISES OBAMA'S DRUG HISTORY

Shaheen: Admission Ripe For 'Dirty Tricks'

A senior Hillary Clinton supporter drew Barack Obama's admissions of
past illegal drug use into the Democratic presidential race
yesterday, saying that Obama's honesty would expose him to
Republican attacks in a general election.

"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to
anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?' " Bill Shaheen, a co-chairman
of Clinton's national and New Hampshire campaigns, told the
Washington Post. "There are so many openings for Republican dirty
tricks. It's hard to overcome."

After news of Shaheen's remarks broke, he said in a statement that
his comments weren't authorized by the campaign "in any way," and
that he regretted making them.

But Obama's camp used Shaheen's remarks as evidence that Clinton's
campaign is floundering in the run-up to the nation's first
primaries and caucuses. The statements are part of "an increasingly
desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls," Obama
campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement.

The Democratic contest has become increasingly heated in recent
weeks, as opinion polls show a tightening race in New Hampshire and
other key nominating states. For months, Clinton held a double-digit
lead over her rivals in many New Hampshire polls. Yesterday,
however, a University of New Hampshire poll showed Clinton leading
Obama by just one percentage point, well within the margin of error.
Last month, Clinton led Obama in a UNH poll by 14 points.

Yesterday apparently marked the first time someone associated with
an opposing campaign has made such pointed comments about Obama's
past drug use. Shaheen, the husband of former governor and current
U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen, is widely considered
a Democratic powerbroker in New Hampshire.

Clinton officials quickly distanced themselves from Shaheen's
comments. "Sen. Clinton is out every day talking about the issues
that matter to the American people," said Clinton spokeswoman
Kathleen Strand. "These comments were not authorized or condoned by
the campaign in any way."

Obama has been candid about his past drug use for years. In his 1995
memoir Dreams From My Father, Obama wrote about using cocaine and
marijuana as a young man. "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been
headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man,"
Obama wrote. "I got high . . . (to) push questions of who I was out
of my mind."

Speaking to high school students in Manchester last month, Obama
raised the issue of his past drug use. "It wasn't until I got out of
high school and went to college that I started realizing, 'Man, I
wasted a lot of time,' " he said.

In response to a question about whether Obama's comments in
Manchester were appropriate, Republican presidential candidate Rudy
Giuliani said at the time that, "I respect his honesty." According
to the Associated Press, Giuliani added that "one of the things
that we need from our people that are running for office is not this
pretense of perfection."

But Shaheen said yesterday that Obama's admissions would "open the
door" to more questions, making him an easy target for Republicans,
according to the Post. He seemed careful not to criticize Obama
directly, saying instead that Republicans would seize on the
Illinois senator's past.

Shaheen contrasted Obama's approach to that of George W. Bush in the
run-up to the 2000 election. Bush refused to answer questions about
whether he used illegal drugs. "When I get asked pointed questions,"
he told the Boston Globe in 1999, "I'm going to remind people that
I made mistakes in the past, and the question is, 'Have I learned
from those mistakes?'"

Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, accused Clinton's campaign of
"recycling old news." Obama, Plouffe said, "has been candid about in
a book he wrote years ago, and he's talked about the lessons he's
learned from these mistakes with young people all over the country."

Plouffe pointed to another recent attack as evidence of the Clinton
campaign's tactics. Earlier this month, Clinton's campaign called
into question Obama's statement that "I have not been planning to
run for president for however number of years some of the other
candidates have been planning for." In a memo, the Clinton campaign
highlighted several occasions when Obama mentioned presidential
ambitions, including a quote from Obama's kindergarten teacher, who
recalled that he wrote an essay titled "I want to become president."

It's unclear whether Obama's past drug use would be fodder for Republicans.

Tom Rath, a New Hampshire attorney and adviser to Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was happy to stay out of the
debate yesterday. "I'm going to let the Democrats sort their own
problems out," he said.

But GOP strategist David Carney sees no room for a Republican attack
and said that Shaheen's comments are "just indicative of how
desperate the Clintons are."

"In this day and age, the fact that he was so honest and open about
his drug use . . . that would be such a negative attack that we
would get pummeled," said Carney, who worked in the White House
under George H.W. Bush.

And Obama doesn't worry about his admissions hurting his candidacy.

In an interview with Monitor editors and reporters in October, he
was asked about the possibility of being attacked in a general
election for his past cocaine use. "The answer is to react quickly,
forcefully and truthfully," Obama said. "Truth has great power as
long as it gets out there quick."