Tag: 2008 (page 16)

What a great speech. The transcript is here.

We may get to the convention after all. From a newer version of the earlier AP article:

Asked if she now envisioned the race extending beyond June 3, Clinton replied: "It could, I hope it doesn't. I hope it's resolved to everyone's satisfaction by that date, because that's what people are expecting, but we'll have to see what happens."

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Via Real Clear Politics:

• Hillary won Florida by 294,772 votes.
• Hillary won Michigan by 328,309 votes
• Hillary won 150,000 more votes than Obama last night in Kentucky and Oregon. She won Kentucky by 249,224 votes while Obama won Oregon by 102,144 votes.

Let's add it all up:

• Popular Vote Totals (w/FL & MI)Hillary leads by 174,047 votes (.48%.)
• Popular Vote Totals (w/FL & MI and Estimate w/IA, NV, ME, WA): Hillary leads by 63,825 votes (.18%)

Regardless of what the DNC does on May 31 with FL and MI delegates, the popular votes were certified by the states. Their numbers are real and they must be added to her popular vote total. Obama removed himself from the ballot by choice, not requirement. This is a consequence of that decision. He needs to accept it. [More...]

The LA Times sent out a "breaking news" e-mail saying "Clinton money shocker! Posts at 6 A.M. Eastern 3 AM Pacific."

It published its scoop here. Then it sent out another e-mail saying:

Due to a mathematical error, Hillary Clinton's loans to herself were counted twice in this morning's item on her campaign debt, which is $20 million not $31 million. We will be publishing a corrected item asap, but wanted to alert you as quickly as possible.

Never mind....

Lois Romano of the Washington Post has an audio interview with Hillary Clinton taken yesterday in Kentucky. The topic: Hillary's views on the "sexist" treatment she has endured at the hands of pundits, media and others.

The Post sent me the transcript which appears below the fold.

The New York Times has an article on Hillary's outreach to blogs concentrating on her theory that it's the map not the math.

The “map/math” phrase quickly found its way to various blogs, including Talkleft and Riverdaughter. Some, like Jerome Armstrong on MyDD examined the “map/math” argument in detail.

Mrs. Clinton started her campaign as the candidate of the establishment. It may be a measure of how far she has come -- or fallen, in the eyes of her critics -- that she is now using the megaphone of insurgents.

Insurgents? I'm flattered, but I hardly think advocating for a mainstream candidate of one of the country's two major political parties qualifies as "insurgency."

On a lighter note, when checking the archives to see when I started focusing on Hillary as a presidential candidate, I found this post from October, 2006 speculating on a Hillary-Obama ticket. Seems I thought of Obama as the insurgent back then. More...

After her anticipated win in Kentucky tonight, despite the turning of some superdelegates in recent weeks and the media proclaiming her candidacy doomed, Hillary Clinton will have won four of the last six primaries. Her supporters are not accepting that the nomination has been decided and she insists she's going forward.

Whether she succeeds or not, it's clear her supporters are particularly upset about the sexist coverage of the campaign.

In Kentucky Sunday, Hillary Clinton was asked about sexism and racism in this year's presidential campaigns:

In an interview after church services in Bowling Green on Sunday, Clinton for the first time addressed what women have been talking about for months, what she refers to as the "sexist" treatment she has endured at the hands of the pundits, media and others. The lewd T-shirts. The man who shouted "Iron my shirt" at a campaign event. The references to her cleavage and her cackle.

[More...]

Hillary Clinton isn't falling for the media meme that Obama will have the nomination sewn up tomorrow night.

"You can declare yourself anything, but if you don't have the votes, it doesn't matter," Clinton said Monday in a satellite interview. "This is nowhere near over."

Hillary's campaign is right behind her:

"Senator Obama's plan to declare himself the Democratic nominee tomorrow night in Iowa is a slap in the face to the millions of voters in the remaining primary states and to Senator Clinton's 17 million supporters," said Clinton communications chief Howard Wolfson. "Premature victory laps and false declarations of victory are unwarranted."

More...

Now that the media has crowned Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, it finally wants to talk about the sexism Hillary Clinton has faced in this campaign.

Along with the usual post-mortems about strategy, message and money, Mrs. Clinton’s all-but-certain defeat brings with it a reckoning about what her run represents for women: a historic if incomplete triumph or a depressing reminder of why few pursue high political office in the first place.

....Decades after the dissolution of movement feminism, Mrs. Clinton’s events and donor lists filled with women who had experienced insult or isolation on the job....

These women watched in disbelief as the media repeatedly provided sexist coverage of her campaign: [More...]

The Chicago Tribune reports Barack Obama is returning his attention to Jewish voters:

Jewish voters are near the top of the list of voting blocs Obama will have to reach out to as he turns to the general election. From appearances in synagogues to meetings with Jewish groups and even an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Obama's courtship shows some signs of paying off, with a recent Gallup Poll suggesting Obama leading Sen. John McCain 61 percent to 32 percent among Jewish voters.

...Still, Obama's lead among Jewish voters is a smaller margin than other Democratic nominees have enjoyed. And doubts about Obama's stands on Jewish issues and Israel stubbornly persist in segments of the community, in part due to methodical campaigns against him by his conservative critics.

The article barely mentions Hillary Clinton's greater support among Jewish voters even though it reports that while only 2% of the population is Jewish, the Jewish vote is important in "classic swing states" like Florida and New Jersey, both of which Hillary won. [More...]

Immigration policy has not been front and center in the campaign so far. Except for the issue of drivers' licenses, the candidates are getting a free pass. They use the mantra "we need immigration reform" and everyone moves on to the next topic.

The Washington Post reports on an Iowa town that is very upset about immigration raids in the workplace.

Monday's raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was the Bush administration's largest crackdown on illegal workers at a single site. It has upended this tree-lined community, which calls itself "Hometown to the World." Half of the school system's 600 students were absent Tuesday, including 90 percent of Hispanic children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding.

Current and former officials of the Department of Homeland Security say its raid on the largest employer in northeast Iowa reflects the administration's decision to put pressure on companies with large numbers of illegal immigrant workers, particularly in the meat industry. But its disruptive impact on the nation's largest supplier of kosher beef and on the surrounding community has provoked renewed criticism that the administration is disproportionately targeting workers instead of employers, and that the resulting turmoil is worse than the underlying crimes.

Since Barack Obama will be in Iowa Tuesday night touting his inevitablility as the nominee, how about pinning him down so voters can draw some real distinctions, if there are any, between him, Hillary and John McCain?

CNN is repeating the interview from earlier this week with Wolf Blitzer that got sidelined due to John Edwards simulutaneous endorsement of Obama which reduced her interview to a split screen.

She still hopes to be the nominee. She says it would be a big mistake to vote for John McCain over the Democratic nominee. And, it's premature to talk about vice-presidential nominees

As to why she won't drop out: We have a close race, people have gone to conventions with far fewer delegates, and we're going to keep going until one of us reaches 2,210.

This interview was taped the day Obama announced Edwards would make the endorsement. I'm not sure if she knew about Edwards endorsement at the time of the taping, or learned afterwards.

Twelve Montana prosecutors have endorsed Barack Obama:

These leaders from across Montana cited Senator Obama’s strong record of supporting law enforcement as well as his commitment to protecting individual rights that are important to the lives of all Montanans.

The Mayor of Kalispell, MT endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday:

"Hillary Clinton has been standing up for women and families throughout her long career in public service," Kennedy said. "She is the candidate who best understands the issues facing Montana families."

Previously, Hillary was endorsed by State Sen. Ken Hansen, Harlem; Rep. Norma Bixby, Lame Deer; Rep. Julie French, Scobey; Rep. Veronica Smalls Eastman, Lodge Grass; Julia Doney, Democratic Activist, Fort Belknap; Former Rep. Angela Russell, Lodge Grass; Former Rep. Bob Gervais, Browning; State Senator Vicki Cocchiarella (Missoula) and Rep. Franke Wilmer (Bozeman).

As a defense lawyer, I'm not impressed, and if anything, put off by the prosecutors' endorsement of Obama. It's not the first time Obama has been endorsed by law enforcement groups. When he was running for office in Illinois: [More...]