Hillary Rodham Clinton has been waiting to get to Texas to begin her comeback against a surging Barack Obama. She might be more careful about what she wishes for. Clinton has been banking on the state's large Hispanic population — typically about a quarter of the turnout in Democratic primaries — to give her a victory on March 4. But the Democratic Party in President Bush's home state has a complicated, hybrid primary-caucus that might just be better suited for Obama.
'SHE'D NEED LANDSLIDES TO CATCH US': Hillary Rodham Clinton is lagging so far behind in the race for delegates that she would need to win overwhelming landslide victories of 20 points or more in both Ohio and Texas.
And even Bill is starting to admit that it looks bad for Hillary:
HILL MUST TAKE NEXT 2 TO AVOID DOOM: BILL: It's Texas or bust for Hillary Rodham Clinton, hubby Bill admitted yesterday. "If she wins Texas and Ohio, I think she will be the nominee. If you don't, then I don't think she can..."
Of course Obama says one thing but I think if you look at his efforts in Texas & the other states, it's obvious they don't feel it's a done deal. Good strategic spin on their part though.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
After playing footage of an angry Hillary waving allegedly misleading Obama campaign literature and then of a relaxed Obama laughing it off, ABC's Jake Tapper observed that "there's a difference between a winner's confident stride and the strained scurrying of the also-ran."
It's safe to say that Hillary is the underdog right now but she still can win this race. It goes without saying that Obama supporters & the the repuclicans that want him to win are doing their best to kill her chances of winning Texas & the other states she needs. We'll see.
I see from the gay newspaper the Washington Blade that, as the headline writer put it, "Clinton Leads Among Gay Super Delegates." Only in the Democratic Party. I don't know how many supergays it takes to outvote the nonsuper primary and caucus voters from Maine to Nevada to Hawaii. They may yet pull Sen. Clinton's chestnuts out of the fire, but they're looking pretty charred and indigestible right now
Superdelegates (gay or not) will only matter if neither candidate is able to become the clear winner of the states that were allowed to have their votes count. If a clear winner emerges they'll get the support from all the delegates & the 2nd placer. If it's basically a tie though, Obama with his unfinished senate term might be out of luck.
Barack Obama’s campaign is expressing outrage at a new photo attributed to Clinton campaign sources that depicts the Democratic presidential candidate dressed in Somali garb.
The picture, which appeared at the top of Monday’s Drudge Report, says Clinton staffers circulated the 2006 photo over the weekend. It shows the Illinois senator fitted as a Somali elder, during his visit to northeastern Kenya that was part of a five-country tour of Africa.
Actually, I kind of have to defend Hillary on this one. If Obama doesn't want us to think he's a closet Muslim (or overly sympathetic to the religion of peace), he probably shouldn't dress like one.
Drudge isn't the best source but it could have come from somebody that was Clinton friendly. It will probly hurt her more than Obama because I'm guessing the story won't be Obama dressed up for a visit but that Hillary is playing dirty.
Here's what Hillary's campaign is saying...
Quote:
But seeing an opportunity to refute the Obama camp’s outrage, Clinton campaign Manager Maggie Williams turned the perceived prejudice on its head.”If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely,” Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement.
“This is nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry. We will not be distracted,” she said.
Indeed, the New York senator, her husband, Bill Clinton, and other past presidents have all been photographed in traditional costume while visiting nations abroad.
FOX Obama really needs to get sent back so he can grow up a little & finish a senate term & maybe earn a bit of the greatness thats been heaped upon him.
Last edited by Matter-eater Man; 2008-02-255:10 PM.
As I mentioned before, I'm actually sort of in agreement with Hillary on this one.
If Obama is ashamed of his Muslim garb, he shouldn't have put it on the first place. Furthermore, how can an accurate picture consist of a smear? I don't see any claim from Obama that the picture is fake, just an argument that it's "unfair" for the photo to have been publicized.
So, yeah, MEM. I have to agree with you on this one. The truth is hardly a smear.
C'mon, MEM, for several months, various Clinton staffers and volunteers have been caught making allegations against Obama, including that he was a closet Muslim. How many times does it happen to happen, especially with her trailing in both delegates and polls, before you accept that she's playing hardball with him?
As noted these things always get blamed on Hillary & don't help her, so she doesn't have a motive really. That's why your working the usual blame Hillary angle.
That's why your working the usual blame Hillary angle.
This isn't something I made up, MEM. News organizations throughout the world are attributing this to her campaign.
Furthermore, you yourself noted that Obama was wrong to think that this sort of thing was out of bounds. Why are you defending Hillary on something that she doesn't need to be defended on?
On the way home just now, the network news feed on the radio said that Hillary's campaign is starting to play the old "well, MAYBE, someone affiliated with the campaign did it without our knowledge" line again.
This morning, the Drudge Report claimed that the Clinton campaign was supposedly circulating a photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional Somali clothing. Below is Q&A on this issue and an excerpt from an interview that Obama supporter, Gov. Janet Napolitano, gave to CNN this afternoon.
Q: In the campaign’s official statement today Maggie Williams does not directly respond to whether the Clinton campaign circulated this picture. Do you know whether anyone in your camp circulated this picture?
A: No. I was not aware of it, the campaign didn’t sanction it and did not know anything about it.
Q: Have you asked all of the campaign staff about this?
A: We have over 700 people on this campaign and I’m not in a position to know what each one of them may or may not have done.
Have you actually seen the email the campaign is supposedly circulating? If you do see it, let me know.
For now, all we know is that the Drudge Report mentions an e-mail, but you haven’t seen it and to date, it’s not clear whether this e-mail even exists.
Q: Are you going to make any effort to question the staff about whether anybody actually sent out an e-mail like that?
A: I’m not in the position to ask 700 people to come in and answer questions about it. To put this as clearly and simply as I can: I was not aware of it, the campaign didn’t sanction it and did not know anything about it.
So Hillary's campaign says they didn't do it yet you title your post as if they were behind it? That doesn't make sense. How do you feel about that NYTime's story based on anymous campaign aids? I just may have to give the McCain thread a visit.
In a new poll conducted for CBS 11 News and 1080 KRLD, Barack Obama has moved ahead of Hillary Clinton among Texas Democrats.
The new figures show Obama with 49% and Clinton with 45%. SurveyUSA polled 704 Texans who have already voted or said they are likely to vote. The margin of error is +/-3.8%, so the poll very nearly shows a statistical dead heat.
Still, voters in North Texas seem to be pouring into the Obama camp. Since our last poll one week ago, Obama has gained 4 points and Clinton has lost 5. Clinton held a two-point lead among locals, and Obama leads 57% to 38%.
"We were just overwhelmed by the level of support and the amount of people from Dallas that came to see him," said Debbie Mesloh, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign. "He's going to come back. Dallas is a crucial area for us and is incredibly important."
The biggest change comes with Hispanic voters. A week ago, Senator Clinton had a 30 point lead, but now that lead is down to 13 points.
Even among females in Texas, Clinton is losing her grip. She was up 27 points last week. her lead has now dwindled to 11 points among women voters.
Polls also had Hillary behind in CA by double digits & she won that one easily. Once again there is a large latino population at play that has so far favored Hillary.
A day after lecturing her presidential rival for not rejecting a controversial minister's support, Hillary Rodham Clinton declined Wednesday to reject one of her Texas backers who commented on Barack Obama's race.
During a series of satellite television interviews, Clinton was questioned by Dallas station KTVT about comments by Adelfa Callejo, a local activist who supports Clinton candidacy. The interviewer quoted Callejo as saying "Obama's problem is he happens to be black" and asked Clinton to respond.
"Well obviously I want all of us judged on our merits," Clinton said. "I believe strongly that the fact we have an African American and a woman running for the Democratic nomination is historical and I'm very, very proud of that."
"I want people though to look beyond, look beyond race and gender, look at our records, look at what we stand for, look at what we've done and I think that's what most voters are looking for," she said.
The interviewer asked Clinton whether she rejected or denounced Callejo's comment.
"People have every reason to express their opinions, I just don't agree with that," she said, adding "You know, this is a free country. People get to express their opinions."
During a nationally televised debate Tuesday in Cleveland, Clinton criticized Obama for refusing to reject an endorsement from National of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has made numerous anti-Semitic comments. Obama said he had been clear in his denunciations of Farrakhan's comments. Clinton suggested that was not enough.
Asked in the interview about her debate comments, Clinton said: "I don't see any comparison at all with what you're referring to and I don't know the facts of what you're telling me over the TV. So I'm just going to repeat that I want people to judge us on the merits."
A day after lecturing her presidential rival for not rejecting a controversial minister's support, Hillary Rodham Clinton declined Wednesday to reject one of her Texas backers who commented on Barack Obama's race.
During a series of satellite television interviews, Clinton was questioned by Dallas station KTVT about comments by Adelfa Callejo, a local activist who supports Clinton candidacy. The interviewer quoted Callejo as saying "Obama's problem is he happens to be black" and asked Clinton to respond.
"Well obviously I want all of us judged on our merits," Clinton said. "I believe strongly that the fact we have an African American and a woman running for the Democratic nomination is historical and I'm very, very proud of that."
"I want people though to look beyond, look beyond race and gender, look at our records, look at what we stand for, look at what we've done and I think that's what most voters are looking for," she said.
The interviewer asked Clinton whether she rejected or denounced Callejo's comment.
"People have every reason to express their opinions, I just don't agree with that," she said, adding "You know, this is a free country. People get to express their opinions."
During a nationally televised debate Tuesday in Cleveland, Clinton criticized Obama for refusing to reject an endorsement from National of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has made numerous anti-Semitic comments. Obama said he had been clear in his denunciations of Farrakhan's comments. Clinton suggested that was not enough.
Asked in the interview about her debate comments, Clinton said: "I don't see any comparison at all with what you're referring to and I don't know the facts of what you're telling me over the TV. So I'm just going to repeat that I want people to judge us on the merits."
This is not vengeance. This is pun-ishment.
"The goodness of the true pun is in the direct ratio of its intolerability." — Edgar Allan Poe
Is a comment from somebody who nobody knows comparable to an endorsement? BTW she dissagreed (rejected) this person's opinion. I doubt Obama would be willing to go much further for just an interview. He hedged when it came to last night's debate & only caved because Hillary forced him to.
