CLINTON: OBAMA ‘SECRET’ TEAMSTER DEAL EVIDENCE OF STEALTH CANDIDACY

A damaging story published in the Wall Street Journal today reports that Barack Obama, D-Illinois, the Teamsters-endorsed candidate, cut a secret deal with the union that if elected President Obama would end the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption.

According to the Times:

“It's an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union."

Moreover, according to the Times, the Obama campaign confirmed the position:

"Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed the candidate's position in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, saying that Sen. Obama believes that the board 'has run its course,' because 'organized crime influence in the union has drastically declined.' Mr. Vietor said Sen. Obama took that position last year."

But when asked about the secret deal by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America this morning, May 5, Obama’s response was far from clear:

SAWYER: Want to turn to the news of the day. Front page of "The Wall Street Journal" today, it says before you won the endorsement of the Teamsters, you indicated to them you would support ending strict federal oversight of the union, which was imposed back in the early '90s to deal with corruption. Was that commitment made to them?

OBAMA: "You know, I wouldn't make any blanket commitments. What I've said is that we should take a look at what's been happening over the Teamsters and at all unions to make sure that, in fact, you know, organized labor is able to represent its membership and engage in collective bargaining in accordance to what we've always believed."

Contrast that nondenial denial with what Obama told the Teamsters during his endorsement interview, when asked a similar question—implying that apart from a few legal technicalities, it would be a done deal in an Obama administration:

"Well look, this, under the president now with his leadership, I think the union has been transformed," Obama said. "I think that's the assessment, generally, and the problem is you have an administration that hasn't been particularly friendly to the union spirit and this union in particular. And I think that if you've got somebody in the White House that you know and you trust and you've got history with, then you are going to see a change in terms of how we evaluate these consent decrees. Now obviously, there is a legal aspect to it. It's got to run through the paces to make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. So, I don't want to talk as if I snap my fingers and it suddenly happens, but as president with the authority to appoint an attorney General who actually understands the law...".

Understandably, the Clinton campaign was all over this story in a conference call to the press.

As the TPM Election Central Blog reported today:

On a conference call with reporters just now, Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer pointed to a report this morning in The Wall Street Journal saying that Obama privately told the Teamsters he backed ending strict federal oversight over the union before winning its support.

“"One has to wonder what exactly Senator Obama's position is," Singer said on the call. "It would appear as though he's taking a position in private and not telling voters about that view."”