Bill Clinton Tried To Stop Kennedy's Obama Endorsement

Former president Bill Clinton tried hard to convince Ted Kennedy not to endorse Obama over Hillary.

The Washington Post calls the Kennedy stamp of approval "one of the most sought-after prizes of the Democratic nomination battle." Both the Hillary and the Obama campaigns sought the Kennedy prize:

Obama had cultiBill Clinton Tried To Stop Kennedy's Obama Endorsementvated Kennedy's support for months. So had Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who along with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had pressed Kennedy in recent days to at least remain neutral.

In the end Bill Clinton's failure to listen to warnings that his attacks against Obama had gone too far cost Hillary:

Kennedy's decision came after weeks of his rising frustration with the Clintons over campaign tactics, particularly comments by the couple and their surrogates in South Carolina that seemed to carry racial overtones. Kennedy expressed his frustrations directly to the former president, but to no avail. He came to his endorsement decision over the past week, after speaking to numerous family members, especially younger ones, and gave Obama the word on Thursday, people familiar with the endorsement said.

The New York Times reports that the "discussions " between the Clintons and Kennedy became "heated:"

Both the Clintons and their allies had pressed Mr. Kennedy for weeks to remain neutral in the Democratic race, but Mr. Kennedy had become increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the Clinton campaign, aides said. He and former President Bill Clinton had a heated telephone exchange earlier this month over what Mr. Kennedy considered misleading statements by Mr. Clinton about Mr. Obama, as well as his injection of race into the campaign.

The Kennedy endorsement is further evidence that Bill Clinton’s over the top attacks on Obama have gone too far and have hurt Hillary's candidacy. That's a fact the Hillary campaign subtly acknowledges:

Campaign officials, without acknowledging any faults on Mr. Clinton’s part, have said they will change tactics and try to shift Mr. Clinton back into the role he played before her loss in the Iowa caucuses, emphasizing her record and experience.

At Politico, Mike Allen and Carrie Budoff Brown also write about the Clinton's efforts to prevent the Kennedy Obama endorsement and call the rejection of Hillary as least as embarrassing as her 28-point loss in the South Carolina primary on Saturday.

Has the Clinton's race baiting boomeranged? We won't know the answer to that question until after the twenty-odd February 5, contests. We do know that Bill Clinton should learn to listen when party leaders tell him to shut up.

More On Obama's Kennedy Prize

NBC Nightly News reports on Obama's huge Win in South Carolina, and the Kennedy endorsements of Barack Obama:



I agree with Andrea Mitchell that the Ted Kennedy endorsement is huge. She makes the point that Kennedy and other Democratic Party leaders are very unhappy with Bill Clinton's negative campaign against Obama.

Bill should have paid attention when Kennedy told the former president to shut up.

Hillary's Fugitive Fundraiser

The Los Angeles Times reports California authorities have been trying Norman Hsu for 15 years. Hsu "pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish:

"He is a fugitive," Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview. "Do you know where he is?"

According to the Times, Hsu has been hiding in plain sight:

Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Hsu earned a place in the Clinton campaign's "HillRaiser" group by pledging to raise more than $100,000 for her presidential bid.

Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reported Clinton campaign spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said in an email:

Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic party and its candidates, including Senator Clinton. During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question.

But Kent Cooper, a former disclosure official with the Federal Election Commission, sees it differently. According to Cooper, the two-year pattern of donations justifies a probe of possible violations of campaign-finance law, which forbid one person from reimbursing another to make contributions:

"There are red lights all over this one," Mr. Cooper said

.The Times makes it clear that this isn't a case of mistaken identity:

On Tuesday, E. Lawrence Barcella Jr. -- a Washington lawyer who represents the Democratic fundraiser -- confirmed that Hsu was the same man who was involved in the California case. Barcella said his client did not remember pleading to a criminal charge and facing the prospect of jail time.

I'm sorry, does anyone truly believe Hsu would forget the possibility of going to jail? Nor am I impressed with attorney Barcella implication that Hsu is being picked on because of his "name." Yesterday's Wall Street Journal quoted Barcella:

You are barking up the wrong tree. There is no factual support for this story and if Mr. Hsu's name was Smith or Jones, I don't believe it would be a story.

Attorney Barcella doth protest too much. Hsu's attorney acknoewledged Hsu's California legal troubles. I'm inclined to think where there is smoke there is fire.

It's not just Hillary who is connected to Hsu. He is also coonected to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell; New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine; Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy; California Sen. Dianne Feinstein; Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, California Rep. Mike Honda; and Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island

Hillary and the rest of the money hungry Democrats should be distancing themselves from such questionable folks, not singing Hsu's praises as Hillary campaign spokesman Wolfson did yesterday.