01-28-2008, 03:38 AM
<b>Obama: "Punjab" Memo Was A "Dumb Mistake</b>"<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama labeled the memo and its headline â <b>"Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)" </b>â as "unnecessarily caustic." The memo had referred to Bill and Hillary Clintons' investments in India; her fundraising among Indian-Americans; and the former president's $300,000 in speech fees from Cisco, a company that has moved U.S. jobs to India.
"It was a dumb mistake on our campaign's part and I made it clear to my staff in no uncertain terms that it was a mistake," Obama told the AP in a brief interview.
The memo has created a furor in the Indian-American community and raised questions about Obama's claims that he is above attack politics epitomized by secretly distributing opposition research about a rival. Placing the blame on his staff is not new. Earlier this year, Obama faulted his staff for comments in a dispute with the Clinton camp over Hollywood donor David Geffen.
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"It was a dumb mistake on our campaign's part and I made it clear to my staff in no uncertain terms that it was a mistake," Obama told the AP in a brief interview.
The memo has created a furor in the Indian-American community and raised questions about Obama's claims that he is above attack politics epitomized by secretly distributing opposition research about a rival. Placing the blame on his staff is not new. Earlier this year, Obama faulted his staff for comments in a dispute with the Clinton camp over Hollywood donor David Geffen.
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