Gas Attack: Hillary, Who Voted For War, Now Says Obama Supported Cheney's Energy Policies

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Throughout the Democratic presidential campaign season, Sen. Hillary Clinton has been on the defensive for voting to give the Bush Administration authority to invade Iraq. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has effectively questioned her judgment in backing President Bush and Vice President Cheney as they steered the nation toward war. Now, Clinton is lumping Obama with the administration's -- she says Cheney's -- energy policies that gave multi-billion dollar federal subsidies to the oil industry in 2005. Clinton says the oil companies are rolling in cash, and she's moved to blame Obama for their huge profits. With the war out of the headlines and $3.45-a-gallon gas prices in the headlines, she's trying to show that she had the wisdom to doubt the White House when Obama rolled over. Her attack comes as gasoline prices have hit records at the pumps:

"Sadly, when Senator Obama had the chance to stand up against Dick Cheney's energy policies, he instead voted yes and helped bring us these huge tax cuts for big oil."

Clinton, who visited a Pennsylvania gas station where she complained that oil men are running the White House, is painting Obama as their dupe. Her campaign contends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was filled with breaks for the industry, including an exemption from the Safe Water Drinking Act for a methane gas extraction technique that could contaminate water supplies. Obama voted "aye" on the 2005 Energy bill on July 29 of that year; Clinton voted "no." Her campaign says:

"Senator Obama voted for the 2005 energy bill, which provided billions in tax subsidies and giveaways to big oil. This bill was called 'The Best Energy Bill Coporations Could Buy,' by Public Citizen. It provided $6 billion in oil and gas subsidies; $9 billion in coal subsidies; $12 billion in nuclear subsidies; and a host of other oil and gas regulatory rollbacks, including exempting a coalbed methane drilling technique called 'hydraulic fracturing' from the Safe Drinking Water Act -- an action that could make our drinking water unsafe. Senator Clinton opposed this bill because she believed we ought to be investing in alternative and renewable energy, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Senator Obama supported this bill."

On Obama's Ohio NAFTA Mailer: Cincy Enquirer Omits Key Details Favoring Hillary

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Today's Cincinnati Enquirer carries a 31-paragraph story called "Clinton Rips Obama." It is the biggest story in the Sunday paper. It is long on political drama, but shallow on crucial detail. Nowhere does the Enquirer story mention that the Long Island tabloid Newsday admitted last week Hillary never used the word "boon" to describe NAFTA. Yet Obama cites Newsday as the source for the quoted "boon." You would not know that from reading today's Enquirer. The Cincinnati newspaper seems to have short-shrifted its readers about a major ongoing development in the Democratic presidential primary.

The Gannett Co. Inc.-owned Enquirer -- which covered Hillary's Cincinnati appearance where she publicly scored Obama for distorting her words -- totally failed to dig into or mention the running back story about 'boon.' But details have been widely reported by Ohio's political bloggers, including the Daily Bellwether, for more than a week, and are available here. The Enquirer's shallow journalism makes it appear Hillary has no evidence on which she can base her counter-punch against Obama. Just two paragraphs are given to the "boon" dispute, and neither specifically mentions that Newsday itself said it had mischaracterized her position. Here's the Enquirer:

"The second mail piece says that Clinton called NAFTA a 'boon' to the economy -- a statement that might hurt her with thousands of Ohio workers who believe their jobs disappeared because of the trade agreement.

"Clinton said she never used the word 'boon' in describing NAFTA, saying that a newspaper mischaracterized her position."

But Newsday had already admitted Obama was "misleading" voters by putting the boon in quotes. Here's what Newsday posted on its Web site:

"Obama's use of the citation in this way does strike us as misleading. The quote marks make it look as if Hillary said 'boon,' not us. It's an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try to win an office. That said, we should have been clearer."

The New York Times today went deeper than the Enquirer and reported:

"It was not the first time the Clinton campaign had seen the trade flier, which cites a Newsday article that says Mrs. Clinton believed the North American Free Trade Agreement was a 'boon' to the economy. Mrs. Clinton said the newspaper had since corrected the article. (Editors from Newsday responded on its Web site last week, stopping short of a correction but saying, 'Obama's use of the citation in this way strikes us as misleading.')

As the NYT and others noted, the Obama campaign still contends its use of the word 'boon' is proper. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail, "Everything in those mailers is completely accurate." Of course, that didn't appear in the Enquirer, either.

A Terse Summary Of The Candidates So Far: Courtesy Of Ohiosphere's Clark Street

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Clark Street's short guide to the 2008 candidates is wickedly satirical:

CLINTON: Is the applause meter on?
ROMNEY: Thanks to the Internet, my positions are now available in real time.
KUCINICH: We shall overcome, and we shall do it with drum circles.

There is wit aimed at all -- those still in and those now out this Super Tuesday morning. And Clark Street's Westender should be headed to Leno's side -- or perhaps get a grotto in the Will Rogers Hall of Fame -- as the creator of such pungently humorous prose.