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South Asian Flak for Obama

A Obama campaign hit on Hillary boomerangs.

By LIFS July 2, 2007 at 12:22 PM

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Senator Barak Obama is apologizing for an opposition research memo distributed by his campaign attacking Hillary Clinton's ties to Indian American donors and her support for outsourcing.

Saying that "the memo did not hreflect my own views on the importance of America's relationship with India" and outsourcing, Obama admitted: "The memo's caustic tone, and its focus on contributions by Indian-Americans to the Clinton campaign, was potentially hurtful, and as such, unacceptable. The memo also ignored my own long-standing relationship to - and support from - the Indian-American community."

The anonymous document had attacked Bill Clinton's stock investments and fees from outsourcing companies and ridiculed Hillary's closeness to Indian Americans by identifying her political affiliation as (D-Punjab).

The memo noted: "The Clintons have reaped significant financial rewards from their relationship with the Indian community, both in their personal finances and Hillary's campaign fundraising. Hillary Clinton, who is the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, has drawn criticism from anti-offshoring groups for her vocal support of Indian business and unwillingness to protect American jobs. Bill Clinton has invested tens of thousands of dollars in an Indian bill payment company, while Hillary Clinton has taken tens of thousands from companies that outsource jobs to India. Workers who have been laid off in upstate New York might not think that her recent joke that she could be elected to the Senate seat in Punjab is that funny."

The document ripped into major Clinton donor, hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, who has pledged to raise $5 million for Clinton's presidential campaign. It cites various media reports that Chatwal owed New York City $2.4 million in back property taxes, secured $14 million in improper loans from a New York Bank he once headed and subsequently bankrupted, and that he was arrested in India in 2001 on charges of defrauding $9 million from the New York City branch of the Bank of India.

Disclosure of the memo unleashed a firestorm of protest from Indian American groups, including denunciations from South Asians for Obama. In his statement, Obama acknowledged: "In sum, our campaign made a mistake. Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign - and in particular myself - responsible for the mistake."

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