CHARLES R. BLACK Jr. knew very well what he was doing when he told a
Fortune magazine writer that a another terrorist attack on the U.S.
would benefit John McCain's weak and lame campaign for the presidency.

We heard the same thing out of the forked tongue of HILLARY CLINTON
this spring as she casually-but-cravenly dropped "what-ifs" on the
campaign trail.

Such "errors" are now a part of what former Bush press secretary Scott
McClellan terms the politics of the never-ending campaign.

But Obama had better beware of Hillary as she prepares to "campaign"
for Barack this week. Because in her and Bill's coldly calculating
manner, she's sure to utter something that could cost Obama millions
of votes.

You see, the Clinton's are already campaigning -- for Hillary -- for
2012 !

--------------------------------
"Terror Strike Would Help McCain, Top Adviser Says"

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 24, 2008; A04

A top adviser to Sen. John McCain said that a terrorist attack in the
United States would be a political benefit to the presumptive
Republican presidential nominee, a comment that was immediately
disputed by the candidate and denounced by his Democratic rival.

Charles R. Black Jr., one of McCain's most senior political advisers,
said in an interview with Fortune magazine that a fresh terrorist
attack "certainly would be a big advantage to him." He also said that
the December assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir
Bhutto, while "unfortunate," helped McCain win the Republican primary
by focusing attention on national security.

"His knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is
the guy who's ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us," Black
told the magazine in its upcoming issue.

The comment reinjected the fear of terrorism into the campaign as both
candidates had been shifting their conversation to the economy and $4-
per-gallon gasoline. It also vividly recalled the 2004 contest between
President Bush and Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry, in which Republicans
repeatedly questioned Kerry's ability to protect the country from
terrorists.

The comments also returned the political spotlight to McCain's
advisers and, in particular, to Black, who has drawn criticism for his
long lobbying career and his representation of controversial foreign
governments. McCain has been criticized for surrounding himself with
top advisers who were lobbyists.

Black earlier this year severed ties to the lobbying firm he founded.
Records show that his firm had represented the Pakistan People's
Party, which Bhutto led until her death.

Asked about the comments by reporters while campaigning in California,
McCain said: "I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true.
I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the
United States of America. My record is very clear."

He added: "I cannot imagine it, and so if he said that -- and I don't
know the context -- I strenuously disagree."

In a strongly worded statement issued yesterday afternoon, the
campaign of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama called Black's
comments a "complete disgrace."

"The fact that John McCain's top adviser says that a terrorist attack
on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for their political
campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics
that needs to change," spokesman Bill Burton said. "Barack Obama will
turn the page on these failed policies and this cynical and divisive
brand of politics so that we can unite this nation around a common
purpose to finish the fight against al-Qaeda."

In the Fortune article, Black is described as arguing that McCain's
experience in national security would help him in the race. But Black
and the campaign appeared to quickly understand yesterday that he had
gone too far in suggesting that a politician would benefit from the
devastation of terrorism.

Traveling with McCain, Black faced reporters in California to
acknowledge his mistake. "I deeply regret the comments. They were
inappropriate," he said. "I recognize that John McCain has devoted his
entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security
before every other consideration."

The campaign issued an almost identical statement within an hour.

A longtime political adviser, Black has been a fixture in Republican
circles for years, moving seamlessly between political consulting and
lobbying. He was a top aide to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and
he closely advised the current president during his campaigns.

He has emerged as McCain's leading political adviser and, until
recently, the most visible public face of the campaign on television.
When McCain announced a no-lobbyist policy, however, Democrats
immediately took aim at Black's long career, especially his
representation of foreign governments in the United States.

Black and his lobbying partners were at times registered foreign
agents for a collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human
rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as American
conservatives embraced their opposition to communism. They included
Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi, Philippine President Ferdinand
Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and
Equatorial Guinea, among others.

Black is not the first political figure to be tripped up by a
conversation about the political realities of another terrorist
strike.

In August, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that an attack would
benefit Republicans, drawing similar rebukes for appearing to be
seeking political advantage from a possible disaster. She said her
experience made her the stronger candidate in that situation.

"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' "
Clinton said. "But, if certain things happen between now and the
election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will
automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how
badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they
have made the world."

[Staff writer Karl Vick and research editor Alice Crites contributed
to this report.]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301979....

---------------------- moreover --------------------------

Clinton to Join Obama As He Courts Female Vote

By Shailagh Murray and Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 24, 2008; A04

ALBUQUERQUE, June 23 -- As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to return
to life in the Senate and announced that she will campaign with Sen.
Barack Obama in New Hampshire on Friday, the presumptive Democratic
presidential nominee began reaching out to female voters who had
formed the backbone of Clinton's support in the primary season.

The Obama-Clinton event will take place in the town of Unity, in the
southwest corner of a swing state that Obama hopes to carry in
November. The symbolism goes beyond the town's name, as Clinton and
Obama each won 107 votes there in the January primary.

But New Hampshire is also the state in which Clinton first
demonstrated her strong connection with older, working-class women, a
group that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, is now
working hard to attract by lauding Clinton and depicting Obama as
inexperienced.

At a town hall meeting here on Monday, Obama praised the women
responsible for his upbringing and outlined his record of pushing to
address issues important to women. The only men in the room were
reporters, campaign aides and Secret Service agents.

"I would not be standing before you today as a candidate for president
of the United States if it weren't for working women," Obama told the
group. "I'm here because of my mother, a single mom who put herself
through school. . . . I am here because of my grandmother, who helped
raise me. . . . And I am here because of my wife, Michelle, the rock
of the Obama family."

As the working-class women in the audience nodded, Obama continued:
"Too many of America's daughters grow up facing barriers to their
dreams, and that has consequences for all American families. It's
harder for working parents to make a living while raising their kids.
And we know that the system is especially stacked against women."

He told the group that McCain had opposed the Fair Pay Restoration
Act, a bill sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in response
to a Supreme Court decision requiring women to seek back wages for pay
discrimination within six months of the first discrepancy.

"Senator McCain thinks the Supreme Court got it right," Obama said, as
the crowd groaned. "He suggested that the reason women don't have
equal pay isn't discrimination on the job -- it's because they need
more education and training."

The McCain campaign countered with a memo outlining the Republican's
support for legislation that would allow parents to work more flexible
schedules, and would offer more tax relief, especially for small-
business owners.

The memo also notes that McCain and his siblings "were often cared for
solely by his mother while his father was away on long military
deployments" and adds: "He has said that this experience has often
taught him of the struggles many women face in raising families."

A day before returning to vote in the Senate, Clinton sent her
supporters an e-mail on Monday with a videotaped statement soliciting
contributions to help her retire more than $22 million in campaign
debt, but she did not make a similar appeal on behalf of Obama.

Saying it was the beginning of the "next chapter of this historic
journey," she recapped recent events. "We've blazed new trails, broken
old barriers and transformed the political process forever," a smiling
Clinton said, speaking directly into the camera with a vase of yellow
roses in the background. "Together we made history, and I will
continue to work toward our common goal of building an America that
respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us. This goal
is shared by our Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama, and I
look forward to campaigning with him across this great country of
ours."

She concluded: "I hope you will continue to stand with me and support
me by going back to HillaryClinton.com. We still have so much to do
together. We've made history. Let's make some more."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062302038....