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Call Clinton a "Monster," Resign From Obama Campaign
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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It's a monster mess! Samantha Power, a Pulitzer prize-winning adviser to Barack Obama's campaign, has stepped down after telling a reporter for The Scotsman that Hillary Clinton is a monster. Power said, "Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign. And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months."
Clinton's supporters had been calling for Power's resignation. Representative Gregory Meeks said it's "a torrent of negative personal attacks." Here's what the Scotman had reported:
"We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win.
"She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark.
Ms Power said of the Clinton campaign: "Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.
"You just look at her and think, 'Ergh'. But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."
Power, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, won a Pulitzer for her non-fiction book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. She was also profiled in Men's Vogue last year.
Politico's Ben Smith notes, "This campaign was her first time acting as a surrogate for a candidate -- not a journalist and academic speaking her own mind -- and it doesn't seem to have been her calling." Slate's Trailhead points out the "hints about Obama's cocaine use" are more "offensive," but since Obama has claimed to rise above attacks, this incident makes thing difficult.
Tagged
barack obama
election 2008
hillary clinton
Samantha Power
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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