Monday, June 16, 2008

David Weiner: Re-Heat Offender: Cindy Bakes Another Whopper Here we go again. Just two months after we broke Recipegate comes news that Cindy McCain is up to her old tricks. The July 2008 issue of Family Circle featured an article in which each (it went to press before Hillary conceded) of the presidential candidates' significant others submitted a cookie recipe. A tipster caught a whiff of something besides sugar after reviewing Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch cookies, and quickly found the original recipe at Hersheys.com (see image below). While McCain, or that same low-level staffer, managed to take the time to switch a few minor details in her version of the recipe this time around, there is no doubt that the recipes are the same. While Bill Clinton gives credit to the family cook, and Michelle Obama to the godmother of her daughters, Cindy McCain attributes her cookie recipe to "a good friend." Unless John McCain was a childhood friend of Milton S. Hershey or her beer baron family worked with him on a chocolate beer bar back in the day, it seems Cindy is a plagiarist of the most delicious kind. Again. Let's hope I don't get another unpaid intern fired this time around... See for yourself: (click to enlarge) Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies Hershey's.com Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies <img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=a2e8dcd490b192b3e6777cc8efa9b124"; height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=a2e8dcd490b192b3e6777cc8efa9b124"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - David Weiner [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 2:56:07 PM    comment []

Obama Hires Solis Doyle: A Bad Omen For VP Hillary The Obama campaign announced today what had long been suspected: Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was going to work for the Illinois Democrat. What came as a surprise was Solis Doyle's title, "chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate." The move was seen as shrewd but potentially controversial. Solis Doyle was let go by Clinton because of what was widely regarded as poor campaign and financial management. But she still is a prominent Hispanic figure with ties to the former first lady -- attributes that could endear Obama to a sought-after political constituency. One thing the move does suggest, insiders believe, is that Hillary Clinton's chances of being tapped for the vice presidency are now slim to nil. "This alone means that Hillary won't be the V.P. choice," wrote one. According to two close Clinton confidantes, the Senator and Solis Doyle have not spoken since her firing months ago. And there is a sense that bad blood lingers between the two. Some officials in Clinton's orbit were disappointed, if not angered, by the fact that Solis Doyle had been in touch with the Obama campaign about possibly coming on board. Solis Doyle, meanwhile, is rumored to have felt particularly scapegoated by her firing. Said one individual with knowledge of the Clinton campaign's political leanings: "It would be pretty awkward if Hillary Clinton were picked as vice president and Patti was there to be her chief of staff." Indeed, while on the surface it may seem that hiring Solis Doyle would provide a soft landing for Clinton to be brought in as V.P., others see her hiring as simply a logical political move. "Patti knows that world certainly and knows the kinds of things the vice president would do because she saw it so much in the White House," said a source. "She is from Chicago and she knows all those folks. I knew she had visited with them and she wants to get on with her life too." But time does heal wounds and in politics a shared objective like, say, the White House, could compel Obama to reunite Clinton and her former campaign manager. <img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=3b49d365ad4f0807652eae5bbea7c23b"; height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=3b49d365ad4f0807652eae5bbea7c23b"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - The Huffington Post News Editors [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 2:05:59 PM    comment []