Obama Conference Call, 3/21/08

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Plugged as “Obama Campaign Conference Call to Discuss Clinton Campaign’s Pattern of Misleading Voters,” participants included David Plouffe and Greg Craig and, as per usual with Obamanians, it was short, tight, and sweet. Notes after the jump, audio ASAP.

Quote of the call:

Plouffe: Essential assertions of her candidacy have proven to be false… another issue on vetting is financial information… there’s been a hesitancy… what are they afraid of? … Certainly the Rs are not going to take it easy on them on this…

Plouffe: HRC’s only strategy is to argue that Obama has not been fully vetted… truth is that HRC has not been fully vetted… latest Gallup poll, 53% think that she is not fully trustworthy. We think this is going to be an important issue… weight on that scale has only increased b/c of skeds… she strongly misled the voters of Ohio… Clinton likes to talk about do over elections, the only do-over election we’re interested in is in Ohio, where she misled the voters…pushing Rev. Wright to superdelegates… pressed as to whether O is a muslim, rather than saying, “no,” she said, “not as far as i know.” if she wants to have a conversations about vetting we’re happy to have it..

Greg Craig: I have been disappointed that the American press has not been sufficiently motivated to compare her claims on foreign policy with her records… her records, fairly looked and examined … look at Daily Telegraph or the Guardian… she was largely absent and her trips abroad were largely ceremonial. [Repeats memo allegations]

[Q about labor and trade in Pennsylvania]

Plouffe: Most of you were there or reported ad nasume on her “shame on you” event in Ohio…. it’s a fundamental issue of trustworthiness… we’re certainly going to make that case today… when she talks about her position on trade, we hope the voters of Pennsylvania push her on that.

Dickerson, Slate: [to Craig, re: trustworthiness, you’ve know her for a long time]in your personal interactions… can you tell us anything that would illuminate your opinion of her?

Craig: sticking to her claims on foreign policy… she has argued that she is ready to be the commander in chief… if you examine her claims… I think the evidence does not support her claims… I’m not going to make a blanket condemnation of her character… [something about authorizing Iraq war then claiming she would have done differently? sorry, missed it] perhaps the most egregious example of her mis representing what’s going on is that example…

Plouffe: Essential assertions of her candidacy have proven to be false… another issue on vetting is financial information… there’s been a hesitancy… what are they afraid of? … Certainly the Rs are not going to take it easy on them on this…

Ben Smith, Politico: you said it’d be impossible to win the election if more than half the voters think you’re untrustworthy, does that mean that she cannot win the general election?]

Plouffe: Well, obviously she’s going to have to work on it… if she improved her standing on that issue, perhaps… but if you head into the general election with over half the electorate not agreeing with you that’s a real danger signs… to tell the voters of Ohio that you opposed NAFTA all the way through, when YOU KNEW, YOU KNEW you had spoken out in favor of it in 1993…[not helping herself]

Weisman of Post: Richardson endorsement?

Plouffe: That’s been in the works for awhile now… obviously been a real leader on the Iraq war… education… his point is that we need to be prepared for a general election and that Sen. O would be our strongest nominee…

Someone from Det News: On the issue of trustworthiness: Mi/Fl, Mi tried a solution that the DNC had signed off on and Sen O’s supporters killed it this week… effect the voter’s of MI feelings about Obama?

Plouffe: DNC had not formally accepted that proposal… and I do not accept the premise that we killed it… First of all, we do not believe that you should disenfranchise people that voted on Jan 15… Clinton’s donors were funding these things… should split 50-50… we’d accept that right now…

[Q about NAFTA?] Plouffe: Obama is in favor of trade… but he believes NAFTA was deeply flawed, and that we shouldn’t have done China.