Kenya Photo Worth Several Sharp Words From Clinton, Obama Camps
The Drudge Report ran this photo of Barack Obama in Somali garb from a 2006 trip to Africa. The Web site claims Hillary Clinton's campaign provided the photo to it.
A two-year-old picture of Barack Obama dressed in traditional Somali garb has sparked a new war of words between the Democratic presidential front-runner and rival Hillary Clinton, whose aides say they can’t confirm or deny whether her camp is the source of the photo.
The photograph shows the Illinois senator outfitted as a Somali elder during his 2006 visit to northeastern Kenya, part of a five-country tour of Africa. It appeared at the top of Monday’s Drudge Report, and was said to have been provided by Clinton staffers over the weekend.
Now both campaigns are suggesting that the other should feel some sort of shame over the flap. According to Obama aides, the Clinton campaign is sinking to “shameful fear-mongering.” Clinton’s campaign chief retorted that she can’t figure out why Obama would be “ashamed” of having the photo out in the public.
While the source of the photo is unverified, Drudge claims it was sent to the site by a Clinton aide, who argued that had it been a costumed Clinton, it would have made the front pages.
“Wouldn’t we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC,” shorthand for the candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, wrote the unnamed Clinton campaign staffer, according to the Drudge Report.
Expressing outrage, Obama’s campaign suggested the purpose of the photo release was to invoke reminders of persistent rumors that Obama is secretly Muslim, and by extension, anti-American.
“On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said.
“This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it’s exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world,” Plouffe continued.
A longtime member of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama, who as a child lived for four years in Indonesia, has repeatedly denied that he is Muslim. Previous attacks have been decried by both candidates, and one Clinton campaign volunteer was asked to step down after forwarding an e-mail spreading the Muslim rumor.
But seeing an opportunity to refute the Obama camp’s outrage, Clinton campaign Manager Maggie Williams turned the perceived prejudice on its head.”If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely,” Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement.
“This is nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry. We will not be distracted,” she said.
Indeed, the New York senator, her husband, Bill Clinton, and other past presidents have all been photographed in traditional costume while visiting nations abroad.
President Bush and Russian President Vladimir
Putin wore traditional Vietnamese “ao dai” robes
during the 2006 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo)
Speaking on a conference call, Obama advisers rejected the suggestion that the candidate is shamed by the photo, but likened the incident to receipt of an unwanted Christmas present.
General Scott Gration, who was along on the trip to Africa, said Obama was given the outfit and encouraged to try it on during a visit with Somalis, Gabras and other ethnic groups.
“We all have pictures of us in hats and accepting other gifts. As was pointed out to me earlier, we try on Christmas gifts, sometimes that we may not want to keep, but we try them on as being a grateful recipient. Senator Obama did what any leader should do: accepted the gift, accepted the hospitality, accepted that token of friendship and he did it in a way that showed respect and helped build the bridges that he does so well,” Gration said.
“He’s a unifier in all atmospheres and certainly that day he was somebody who accepted a gift of friendship in a way that we would expect our president to do,” he continued.
Meanwhile, a senior Clinton staff member could not rule out the source of the photo, but suggested that had it been Clinton dressed in such gear, it would’ve been splashed across newspapers around the country.”There are 700 people in our organization. We can’t be sure that it didn’t come from us. It is not the intent of the campaign to release this picture to tarnish Senator Obama in any way. But if someone in the campaign thinks the Obama gets treated differently by the media, well they’re right,” the senior staffer said.
GOPAC head and FOX News contributor Michael Steele said he’d be surprised to find out the photo came from the Clinton campaign.”If there is a staffer who sort of in their own roguish way had gone out and put this out there, this will be their last day on the job,” Steele said.
“I think this is something that just kind of popped up on the ‘Net and they are attributing it to her. I’d be hard-pressed to find someone on the staff who is wasting their time in the heat of this battle to do something like that.”
First, does anyone have actual proof the Clinton camp actually posted this picture. Remember we live in a nation where people are innocent until proven guilty. Secondly, should Obama be ashamed of such a picture. Third, smear and more smear but why don’t you check with http://www.factcheck.org/ to see that Obama is just as guilty at smearing as Clinton and even initiated it before Clinton in recent weeks (in other words, Obama is far from being a sweet innocent candidate).
If you hadn’t notice Obama is a great performer and is good at marketing himself which does not equate to a good President. Personally I am not looking for a President who can be a good performer or start a movement but a President that can put our country back on the right track.
Please take a closer look at the issues, and what each candidate stands for and who might actually be able to accomplish the very basic issues that they stand for. Please don’t view candidates as performers but as a potential President.
Bill
“I see nothing wrong with him wearing the customary clothing of the country he is visiting. It is out of respect for the country they are visiting that all the presidents wear the native clothing outfit. STOP THE MUDSLING AND SCARE TACTICS— VOTE OBAMA !!!!!” -VIVIAN
OK. About a thousand responses and still I wonder:
…he was visiting Kenya, his father was from Kenya. The clothing is SOMALI! Not that there’s anything wrong with that, any more than there would be anything wrong with a German on a visit to the US dressing as a Mexican, but it wouldn’t be quite accurate, to explain it as dressing in the US native clothing. Just curious. Maybe that’s what’s so embarrassing about the oicture…that he wore the wrong costume??? Otherwise, what’s the harm? And why give Hillary grief for it?
I don’t know where this will do any good or not, but people need to wake and think about what is taking place. God has been pushed to the background and man thinks he is in control. We do not have anyone running for President that is what we really need. They need to quite fussing and fighting and get back to praying and asking Gods forgiven and what He wants done. I don’t want Obama or Clinton!!!!!!!! We need to find a good man to run for President.
I AM GLAD THAT THE TRUTH IS FINALLY COMING OUT ABOUT OBAMA. AMERICA WOULD BE IN GRAVE DANGER IF HE WERE IN OFFICE. AS I HAVE STATED BEFORE. AMERICA NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TOGETHER, AS FAMILIES ARE HELD TOGETHER.
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT A WOMANS PLACE IS IN THE HOME, AND THAT IS WHY HILLARY CLINTON BELONGS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. SHE CAN OVERSEE ALL OF US, AS FAMILY, AND KEEP US TOGETHER, AND SAFE. SHE HAS DONE IT BEFORE, AND HAS PROVEN THAT SHE CAN DO IT AGAIN. OBAMA, ON THE OTHERHAND HAS ALOT OF GROWING UP TO DO. HE REMINDS ME OF A RAP SONG. HE HAS A GOOD BEAT, BUT YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND THE WORDS, AND SENDS THE WRONG MESSAGE. I FEEL AS THOUGH HE IS TRYING TO LEAD US INTO A DARK ALLEY. AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN DARK ALLY’S.
Thank you Fox TV for showing of the reality of obama. Oh my god. Obama body is black. His religious is Islam (muslim) terrorist. So Texas and Ohio and the rest states against obama and support Hillary.
http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/33678924/hillary?tab=summary <<<<<<<<< the Banned hillary Clinton Movie
If Obama gets to be President will he be wearing the uniform of the terrorists as he meets to talk with THEM??? Sometimes you just have to laugh…
I’m a black male and NO im NOT voting for OBAMA but I am voting for Hillary . I just wanna say that yes this all thanks to the media like CNN ONLY for giving OBAMA and NOBODY ELSE A FREE RIDE and people are getting very upset .
health care:
I like OBAMA but he does’nt go far enough in detail with the issues when asked a major Question . I dont like the fact that he didn’t say or make clear that he ALSO has a mandate in his health care plan for parents until the last debate when HILLARY said he did . BUT HE KNOCKS HILLARYS PLAN…
THE WAR :
Also he said he didn’t vote for the war (TRUE) BUT he did indeed voted to FUND the war that he is SOOOO much against from the start he claims , but also OBAMA was’nt in the senate to vote anything at the time HILLARY voted for our NATIONS SAFTEY from SADDAM who was trying to make BIO-CHEMICAL war heads that would reach THE UNITED STATES when Bill was in office ….. SO YES , I WONDER WHAT OBAMA WOULD HAVE DONE IN THAT CASE . I DONT blame Hillary for looking out for the SAFTEY our country from a SADDAM who was a THREAT TO THE U.S. IN THE PAST . HER VOTE WAS FOR TO GO IN IRAQ AND SHUT DOWN THE PROGRESS OF ANY THREAT THAT MIGHT BE IN THE WORKS. SHE DID”NT TRUST SADDAM AND THAT IS GOOD BECAUSE OF SADDAMS PAST REP….. WE THE PEOPLE WERE LIED TO BY BUSH NOT HILLARY whos vote was to protect us from harm… PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT>>>>>
THESE ARE THINGS I WANT TO COME UP IN A DEBATE . THE REAL ISSUES
HILLARY 2008 !!!
Considering how brutal the Clinton’s are in politics. This would not shock me one bit if it did come from the Clinton camp. They are a power hungry family.
I get scared reading some of the comments here. Unfortunately I can’t vote in this election since I am a foreigner and don’t live in the U.S., I live in Sweden. The thing is that the whole world follows this election with big interest, since the U.S. has been acting as “world police” for a long time, and especially after Bush became the president. He is one of the most unpopular people according to surveys in our country..
People in Sweden are not very religious. We are an old Christian nation, but we have a lot of Muslims here nowadays. Of course we have people here who are afraid of other religions and cultures. We do have racists like every other nation, but all in all it is quite peaceful here and we have a lot of refugees, especially from Iraq. I don’t see it as a problem, I am proud to be part of a nation that feels humane. We do have our own values here and we stick to them, but we are also adaptive to other ideas/views. We will never be a nation that is ruled under religious views, but humane views, so it will not be a problem here.
But as I said earlier, U.S.-actions effect us very much. We are not part of the U.S.-led alliance in the middle east, but we take a lot of refugees from Iraq, much more than the U.S. does! We are a country of 9 million people and took 9000 refugees from Iraq in 2006 compared with 200 for the U.S. (www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/02/10/0210iraqsweden.html).
I’m not saying that Sweden is Mother Teresa of nations. I’m just trying to say that do you think that fanatics (Muslim fanatics) will attack our country? Not a chance, since we don’t oppress people of other religions. I think most people in our country see the U.S. as a religious fanatic country. I know all people in the U.S. are not religious, but it seems like the president must be a good Christian, which we think is very strange. We for example have a working welfare system and are a “socialist” country, in the U.S. you have to purchase a health care insurance to be “safe” if something happens. How can someone with good morale be against a welfare system like we have? Too much taxes etc? Sure, but if you want a good and safe community you will need it.
Why care what religion your leader has? Obama says he is Christian and I believe him, but I also think that he will understand and will be able to discuss more openly with leaders that have another religious view. I really hope you Americans make the right choice in the upcoming elections. Please consider the foreign policies of the candidates. I am almost certain that most nations in the world, what ever religion they are of, wish for a democratic candidate..