Oh-eight (D): Elizabeth v. Hillary, again
Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 9:22 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
The New York Times’ David Brooks looks at the power of the netroots within the Democratic Party and concludes it may not be as powerful as they think.
After an eight-hour meeting in Chicago yesterday, the executive board of the Service Employees International Union decided not to endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary for now. The executive board will revisit the issue of an endorsement on October 8, after the third quarter fund-raising totals are in. The delay in choosing a candidate to endorse gives Obama the opportunity to meet with and persuade SEIU leaders that he is the best contender, and the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet reports that "there are elements within the leadership who want to stop Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is the front-runner…."
BIDEN: The candidate has an op-ed in the Columbia State today that outlines his partition plan for Iraq.
Yesterday, the campaign announced that Biden had picked up his ninth endorsement from an Iowa legislator: House Speaker Pro Tempore Polly Bukta (D-Clinton).
CLINTON: The Politico has this scoop: “Early this summer, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign for president learned that the men’s magazine GQ was working on a story [by Atlantic Monthly writer Joshua Green] the campaign was sure to hate: an account of infighting in Hillaryland. So Clinton’s aides pulled a page from the book of Hollywood publicists and offered GQ a stark choice: Kill the piece, or lose access to planned celebrity coverboy Bill Clinton.”
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“Despite internal protests, GQ editor Jim Nelson met the Clinton campaign’s demands, which had been delivered by Bill Clinton’s spokesman, Jay Carson, several sources familiar with the conversations said. GQ writer George Saunders traveled with Clinton to Africa in July, and Clinton is slated to appear on the cover of GQ’s December issue, in which it traditionally names a ‘Man of the Year,’ according magazine industry sources… The spiked GQ story also shows how the Clinton campaign has been able to use its access to the most important commodity in media - celebrity, and in fact two bona fide celebrities - to shape not just what gets written about the candidate, but also what doesn’t.”
The Atlantic has the script of the radio ad Clinton launched in South Carolina Monday, which targets black women -- many of whom recent polls show are undecided about who to support in the Jan. 20 primary. The ad says, in part: “Time and again, Hillary Clinton has stood up to President Bush…stood up FOR us. Hillary: And if you’re stuck on a rooftop or stranded in the Superdome during a hurricane you’re invisible to this president even when you’re on CNN. Well, you are not invisible to me, and you should never be invisible to the president of the United States.”
Evan Bayh's "endorsement helps the Clinton campaign make the case that she is electable despite distaste for her among some moderate and conservative-leaning voters."
EDWARDS: The AP on Edwards’ policy rollout yesterday on combating HIV/AIDS: “He called for spending $50 billion over five years on H.I.V./AIDS treatment and using World Health Organization, rather than Food and Drug Administration, standards to speed the availability of new AIDS drugs.”
Elizabeth Edwards is proving -- once again -- that she'll be her husband's attack dog on Clinton. Per an interview with the
N.Y. Daily News, "Hillary Clinton didn't just fail to get universal health care as First Lady, she and her husband, Bill, ditched it to stockpile political clout for other fights, Elizabeth Edwards told the Daily News. ‘It failed when the Clinton administration pulled this, when they said, “We're not going to use any more political capital on this, on the fight for universal health care.” And that's an important part that Sen. Clinton leaves out.’” More from Elizabeth Edwards: “‘They lost the fight in 1993, pulled it out because they wanted to use their political capital to get NAFTA passed as opposed to universal health care in '94.’”
OBAMA: The Los Angeles Times looks at an interesting campaign tactic being employed by the Obama camp in Nevada: It is recruiting supporters from surrounding states to canvass Nevada. “So far, California groups have traveled from the Bay Area to Reno, and from Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego to Las Vegas. Arizona volunteers -- 21 last weekend -- also target the Las Vegas area; volunteers from Utah and Idaho focus on Elko and other rural areas in the vast northeast part of the state.”
(The Obama campaign will hate this comparison, but this sounds awfully similar to what Dean’s campaign did in Iowa -- and it was something that eventually turned off Iowans. Then again, Nevada is made up of outsiders, so maybe residents will be more open to outsiders coming into the state to talk up Obama.)
It looks like the entire Dem field is shifting its criticism of Clinton by downplaying her electability. Per NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann, former Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Gordon Fischer yesterday used the E-word when he endorsed Obama, saying that Obama has "best chance" of winning the White House and helping "down-ballot" candidates in the process. Fischer's focus on electability emphasizes a point that's echoed over and over again by experts here in Iowa: caucus voters are pragmatists. If they're going to invest the time in sifting through all the candidates, they're darn well going to caucus for a winner.
Fischer wouldn't say as much, but journalists questioned whether his "down-ballot" remark might be aimed at Hillary Clinton, who some Democrats fear will be a drag on the rest of the party if she's the eventual nominee. Obama and Edwards certainly aren't arguing with that assessment. And yesterday, Dodd spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said in a press release, "I can understand why the President would want Senator Clinton to be the nominee."
The Boston Globe's Canellos calls the "political marriage" between Obama and Jesse Jackson "among the most freighted. The two men need each other's support, yet also need to keep their distance. Each serves as a standing critique of the other, yet they profess to share similar goals."
RICHARDSON: Keep an eye on the New Mexico governor at tomorrow night's debate. Based on this release, it looks like the governor is determined to prove that he's the only major candidate calling for an immediate withdrawal in Iraq. By lumping Edwards and Obama in with Clinton on Iraq, of course, probably ends up helping Clinton.
