Obama: Stay Tuned

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This went up last night on the South Asians for Obama website:

After reading the story, SAFO immediately went to work drafting a response to the campaign. As we were finalizing this response — but before we could send it — we received a call from the campaign in Chicago. We learned, as we had already suspected, that the memo did not reflect Senator Obama’s views regarding the Indian American community, and he was deeply disturbed by its content. (Indeed, the memo even appears to contradict some the Senator’s own statements regarding outsourcing.) We expressed our severe disappointment with the incident, and offered our constructive thoughts as to how the campaign should respond — both internally and outwardly — to rectify the situation.

On Friday evening, Senator Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe issued the following statement: “Barack Obama has been a longtime friend of the Indian-American community and our campaign is fortunate to have strong support from Indian-Americans across the country. The intent of the document was to discuss the issue of outsourcing, but we regret the tone that parts of the document took.”

The response prompted a variety of reactions from our community. As organizers of an effort committed to building a relationship between the campaign and the South Asian American community, we were less than satisfied. However, we have new reason for optimism. We have been in contact with the campaign over the weekend and are confident that this issue is now receiving the attention of those at the highest level. The Senator himself is cognizant of our concerns (not just with the memo, but also the initial response) and has made clear his intention to address the situation personally. The campaign has already begun reaching out to individual members of the community, and a more public gesture will be forthcoming. Over the next several days, we will continue to communicate with the campaign to convey the sentiments of the community regarding this incident and work toward a positive resolution.

UPDATE: Terrapin brings up a good point:

The one side that I would like to see answer some questions about this is the media. I want to know why they feel granting a political campaign the same status as ‘whistleblowers’ by allowing them to distribute things on a ‘NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION’ basis elevates the debate? The protection provided by anonymity only serves to produce the type of cheap, mudslinging campaigns that the media claims to dislike, but which also increases their ratings. If the media truly wants a campaign about the issues then they will cease this practice.

The answer to this is, campaigns should not be allowed to distribute things on a NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION basis. Both NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION and OFF THE RECORD (and their cousins, BACKGROUND and DEEP BACKGROUND) are understandings that are agreed to mutually by a source and a reporter. What I’ve noticed about this cycle is that campaigns (and not just Obama’s) are falling into a bad and sloppy habit of sending out mass hit pieces by e-mail and demanding anonymity. As far as I am concerned, unless I have agreed in advance to accept a specific piece of material from a source on a limited or not for attribution basis, these unilateral declarations of anonymity mean nothing.

Under what circumstances is it justifiable for a reporter to agree to give a campaign anonymity in return for a tip? That’s a harder question to answer, and one in which there are no hard and fast rules, particularly when the information is the kind of “in case you missed it” stuff that is otherwise available in the public sphere. However, if the source of information about a candidate comes from a rival campaign, it puts additional responsibility on the reporter to verify through other sources (1) that the material is accurate, (2) that it is portrayed in the proper context and (3) that it is fair. And of course, the subject should always be given a chance to respond.

UPDATE2: Via commenters Alex and Dag. Obama apologizes and blames it on his staff.