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Obama photo spurs firestorm with Clinton

BY GLENN THRUSH | glenn.thrush@newsday.com; Craig Gordon contributed to this story.

February 26, 2008

WASHINGTON--Barack Obama is accusing Hillary Rodham Clinton's staff of leaking to The Drudge Report a photo showing Obama in Somali tribal garb--saying the image reinforces false perceptions the Illinois senator is Muslim and a foreigner.

The picture sparked a firestorm between the rivals--and prompted Clinton aides to claim there was a larger pattern of pro-Obama bias in the press.

The photograph, taken during a 2006 visit to Kenya, shows the slightly awkward senator in a white turban and a tunic over a red T-shirt. He holds what appears to be a walking stick given to him by a Somali tribal leader. It appeared with an unsubstantiated allegation a bitter Clinton staffer had e-mailed it, complaining of a pro-Obama media bias. "The notion that they would try to use this to imply in some way that I'm foreign, I think is, you know, unfortunate," Obama told a San Antonio radio station yesterday. "These are the kinds of political tricks and silliness you start seeing at the end of campaigns."

Earlier, his campaign manager David Plouffe, citing no evidence beyond the Drudge account, charged that the Clinton campaign "has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."

Senior Clinton staffers said they didn't provide the picture to Drudge--but didn't rule out the possibility one of the campaign's 700 workers might have been behind the leak.

"I know nothing about it," Clinton told a Dallas TV station. "This is in the public domain. But let's just stop and ask yourself: 'Why are you--why is anybody concerned about this?' ...You can find dozens of pictures of me in different parts of the world. You can find me wearing African outfits, Latin American outfits, Asian outfits...when you travel to foreign countries, it's a sign of respect. What does that have to do with anything?"

The sparring came a day before a crucial debate in Cleveland with polls showing the critical March 4 contests in Texas and Ohio tightening.

At a $25-a-head fundraiser last night at George Washington University, Clinton got a raucous welcome from an audience of 1,500, mostly students.

Obama, whose mother was from Kansas and whose father was Kenyan, has been the subject of an e-mail campaign pointing out that his middle name is "Hussein" and falsely identifying him as Muslim.

He is a member of the United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination.

His aides say such claims are meant to alienate Christian evangelicals and play to anti-Islamic sentiment.

Plouffe tied the photo to "a disturbing pattern" of attacks that included references to Obama's youthful drug use by some Clinton backers.

"Enough," said Clinton chief of staff Maggie Williams, in response.

"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer, reflecting growing anger within the Clinton campaign over what they see as unbalanced coverage, accused journalists of letting Matt Drudge serve as "assignment editor" after he was asked about the photo.

He then referred to a skit recently on "Saturday Night Live," portraying journalists as pro-Obama toadies.

"I would encourage all to continue the vetting process of Sen. Obama which has been woefully inadequate, in my view," he said at a breakfast with reporters in Washington. "That is a point that has certainly been backed up by the 'Saturday Night Live' skit...I would refer you all to that."

Clinton, speaking in Washington earlier yesterday, stepped up attacks on Obama's record, saying he would need a beginner's guide to come up to speed on the demands of the presidency.

"We have seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy," she said. "America has already taken that chance one time too many."

- Craig Gordon contributed to this story.