Did Ron Paul Campaign Smear Barack Obama?

Because that’s the word.

Here in Louisiana, both WeSawThat and CentralLaPolitics posted a YouTube video of a man who calls himself “Larry Sinclair.” Mr. “Sinclair,” who both sounds and appears to be reading from cue cards, alleges that he met Barack Obama somewhere in a span of five days back in November 1999 and convinced Obama to leave an upscale Chicago nightclub unattended and join him in his “limousine” for drugs and sex. Notwithstanding the obvious theatrical elements of Mr. Sinclair’s performance, I can’t believe that anyone would take this man seriously and lend credibility to (what are obviously) spurious and scripted charges.

Yes, this toothless, limousine-rider would like all of us to believe that when Barack Obama was an up-and-coming, politically-connected Illinois State Senator with a four-month-old baby at home, he had no problem with carousing with some random, drug-addled weirdo he met at an unnamed, “upscale” bar. Give me a break.

But that’s not the entire story, because someone is definitely responsible for this egregious smear.

And word has it that supporters of Ron Paul are disseminating this information to like-minded bloggers and journalists on their mailing lists in an attempt at eroding Obama’s independent support. Don’t blame me. That’s what national websites are implying. And there appears to be strong evidence to support that claim.

Beware of what you read and what you watch. If Mr. Sinclair’s allegations were true, then he wouldn’t have to resort to reading from a script in a generic Chicago hotel room for a YouTube video.

C’mon.

Responses

Scott M.

January 25, 2008

“And word has it that supporters of Ron Paul are disseminating this information ”

Umm. Nope. The first time I heard about this was on YOUR blog right here, right now, today.

And I have been organizing volunteers for Ron Paul for nearly 8 months now.

And if there are “supporters of Ron Paul” spreading this information, they are doing it all on their own. So your title about “the campaign” smearing Obama is misleading at best.

Oh, and I agree the story sounds pretty stupid.

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Scott M.

January 25, 2008

in fact the story sounds like it would come from an uncreative hack that wanted to quickly write up a blog about it in order to attack another candidate.

Nah, you’d never do anything like that, would you, Lamar?

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Lamar White, Jr

January 25, 2008

No, Scott. I wouldn’t.

And no one is blaming you for this. I’m not sure why you feel the need to deny this as if you’re an official spokesperson. Would that make you a campaign hack?

I’m just recapitulating information that is already being discussed. I am not, in any way, the originator of this question. And I am posing the question in order to field responses.

I have no need or desire to “attack” Ron Paul. But I understand he has a ton of decentralized online supporters who share information, news, and videos through mailing lists. Conveniently (perhaps as a mere coincidence), the video is being touted by Republican/Libertarian-leaning websites.

But I do agree with one thing you said, “If there are supporters of Ron Paul spreading this information, they are doing it all on their own.” I think this is probably the case. But again, that’s the problem with having two campaigns– the official campaign and the decentralized online campaign. You never know who is speaking on your behalf and what information they’re providing.

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Dobby

January 25, 2008

I saw this thing a few days ago on YouTube. I support Ron Paul, but I have to say, I was still highly skeptical of this video and certainly didn’t promote it…. unlike all the Obama supporters who were so quick to call Dr. Paul a “racist” and still go on saying it even though the Austin TX President of the NAACP has stood up in Dr. Paul’s defense. No, please don’t blame us… you know good and well that this is the work of Hillary Clinton. And just so ya know, none of this matters because the Dems have NO CHANCE of winning… it’s not their scandals that will be the end of them… the public has already show that “Dems can do no wrong”…. the thing that will screw them in the end is… their policies… the fact that they don’t really have any. Get over it kids… get out there clear your guy’s name… BUT DO NOT BRING MY GUY INTO IT!

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Lamar White, Jr

January 25, 2008

I don’t know whether or not Dr. Paul is a racist, but I think it’s important for people to take responsibility for their own words (yes, that includes words “ghost written” on their behalf).

By the way, I think you may want to review some of the policy documents on Clinton’s, Obama’s, and Edwards’s websites. They definitely have policy ideas. You may not agree with these ideas, but to suggest the Democrats don’t “really have any” policies is absurd.

On another note, it’s coincidental that you saw this video a few days ago and that you’re also a Paul supporter, because, a few days ago, when the video was first uploaded and disseminated, it had only received around 20,000 views. But then again, maybe you’re right; maybe this is some vast conspiracy by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. I, for one, find that to be completely unlikely– just based on the way this thing was leaked. I’m sure a lot of Republicans would wonder how the Clinton campaign received their private e-mail addresses.

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murray

January 29, 2008

All evidence points to Ron Paul supporters.

http://dearmurray.com/why-are-ron-paul-supporters-working-so-hard-to-defame-obama/

Any further evidence would be appreciated.

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murray

January 29, 2008

Every one of them seems to also suggest that Clinton is the one behind it.

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Anonymous

February 1, 2008

Lamar White, Jr. wrote: “I don’t know whether or not Dr. Paul is a racist, but I think it’s important for people to take responsibility for their own words (yes, that includes words “ghost written” on their behalf).”

This statement is what I find very odd about the supporters of Obama who are so quick to dismiss Larry Sinclair’s claims. Why does Barack Obama get some kind of “free pass” when it comes to assessing his character and why are they holding Ron Paul to a higher standard? The claims by Sinclair certainly merit investigation, and Barack Obama is even more responsible for his actions, if Ron Paul is being held accountable for words written in his name. Because the bottom line is that if Obama is lying about his drug use and his fidelity to his family, then that affects his credibility as a Presidential candidate.

We already have a liar in the White House, we don’t need another one.

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Michelle Jorgensen

February 2, 2008

Sorry- I’m not going to believe a crack head. Even if he’s running for President and has convinced the world that he’s the next Lord God. To me, he’s just another Crackhead that will do anything and say anything to get his next fix.

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Lamar White, Jr

February 2, 2008

Riiiiiiight…

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Diana

February 6, 2008

Just watched the video. The guy isn’t toothless.. how weird that people have to throw that in. I have yet to see a case like this in which it turned out to be false. Unless the guy is completely insane, why would you put yourself out there like that for ridicule and intimidation. C’mon folks, how many public officials in the past few years have been outted this way.. and you’re shocked that this could be real? Just because you like a candidate does not make it not true… I’m sure folks were pretty shocked about Larry Craig, and Hugh Grant, and others.

I don’t know if it’s real, only Larry Sinclair knows it. He is quite specific, even mentioning a hotel room a few days later. WHere is the driver of the limo? Does he have anything to offer? And he seems quite willing to take a lie detector test. The media and GOP is sitting on this allegation, because it would mean utter collapse of the Democratic candidate should Obama get the nod and this comes out… even a hint of this comes out. The Democratic Party needs to deal with this immediately, because if he gets the nod, their candidate would be a lost cause against the republicans.

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Lamar White, Jr

February 6, 2008

On a full screen, the man does appear to be missing some teeth. But that’s not the point.

There are some logical problems with the way this was disseminated:

1. If his story was true, why are we hearing about it only now, nearly nine years later? You’d think it would’ve come up earlier; he ran for Senate in the interim, after all, and this “Larry Sinclair” never came forward.

2. He wasn’t able to name a specific date.

3. He wasn’t able to name a specific location.

4. He did not assert his occupation or qualifications. He did not explain who he was or why, exactly, he was compelled to make this video.

5. The video was primarily disseminated through a network of Ron Paul supporters.

Larry Sinclair has a lot more explaining to do before any reasonable human being would take him seriously.

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Carl

February 9, 2008

Barack Hussain Obama will not get my vote!!!!
check out his church. at tucc.org

tucc.org

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