February 2008 - Posts
From NBC's Lisa Myers and Jim Popkin Sen. Hillary Clinton has declined to return $170,000 in campaign contributions from individuals at a company accused of widespread sexual harassment, and whose CEO is a disbarred lawyer with a criminal record, federal campaign records show.
CONTINUE READING ON NBC NEWS' INVESTIGATIVE BLOG DEEP BACKGROUND
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger Huckabee tried his hand at roping cattle Friday, but didn't get very far.
With two bails of hay with cow heads taking the place of the real thing, Huckabee received a quick lesson at the Fort Yards Stockyard and then had a try. He seemed to have an issue snapping his wrist, although he was better at the lassooing.
As he tried unsuccessfully, he put things in perspective.
"Ok, you're laughing at me," he said. "You think John McCain could do this better."
His wife, Janet, took aim at the other bail of hay, and lassoed the cow the first time. The governor never got it right.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Here's the Obama response to the Clinton "Children" ad...
Here's the Clinton ad again for reference...
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Rockefeller has thrown his support behind Obama . Rockefeller is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
SUPERDELEGATE COUNT (as of 3:40 pm ET, Feb. 29)
NOTE: Obama has picked up 38 delegates since Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. Clinton has lost a net of 6.
Super delegate numbers reflect totals gathered by the NBC News Political Unit from the campaigns and public endorsements.
The NBC News Hard Count stands at Obama leading Clinton 1,194-1,037.GRAND TOTAL
From NBC's Mark Murray Clinton and Obama campaigns have traded numerous charges -- over national security, NAFTA, expectations for March 4, and the delegate math.
The Obama camp now has added yet another topic to the discussion: Clinton's tax returns.
"Senator Clinton’s refusal to make this very basic disclosure has raised a number of eyebrows among advocates for increased transparency," the Obama campaign says in a memo. "As her top Ohio supporter Governor Ted Strickland said in his 2006 campaign, if a candidate is not releasing his or her “tax return, what is he hiding? We should question what’s going on.”
Click below for the full memo...
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli Bill Clinton said this morning that, despite the some hard feelings among the candidates' most "severe partisans," he's confident that most Democratic voters are still happy with both candidates, and will support whoever the nominee is.
"We know that an overwhelming majority of the American people believe the country has to change course," Clinton told nearly 1,000 people here at the University of Findlay. "The other thing we know is that most voters who will participate in the Democratic primary like both these candidates. Some of their severe partisans have developed hard feelings about the other -- that always happens. But the truth is, most people like them both."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy Obama for his answer at Tuesday's debate about a hypothetical reinvasion of Iraq if Al Qaeda seized control, McCain today found a new line of attack in what is increasingly looking like a general election campaign: NAFTA.
Earlier at the debate on Tuesday, both Clinton and Obama said that they would use the threat of withdrawing from NAFTA to compel Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the terms of the trade agreement. But today, McCain called that irresponsible, especially in light of Canada's military support for the war in Afghanistan.
"One of our greatest assets we have in Afghanistan today, frankly, are our Canadian friends," he said. "It's very controversial in Canada, their commitment and the suffering and the losses they have faced. And we need, we need our Canadian friends and we need their continued support in Afghanistan.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray and NBC/NJ's Athena Jones Clinton's new ad in Texas continues... In an hour-plus conference call with reporters, the Clinton campaign rebutted Obama's criticism that Clinton had her red-phone moment -- the 2002 Iraq war authorization -- and failed.
"The question is not about who will be picking up the phone. The question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you answer the phone," Obama said today. "We've had a red phone moment -- it was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer."
VIDEO: Sen. Hillary Clinton's most recent political ad portrays her as the leader voters want on the phone when crisis occurs. In the conference call, referring to the remarks Obama gave in 2002 opposing the Iraq war, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said, "Sen. Clinton understands there is a big difference between giving a speech and picking up a phone call at 3:00 am in the White House."
Citing Obama's remarks during the 2004 Democratic convention defending John Kerry's vote for the war authorization, as well as Obama's Senate votes in 2005-6 to fund the war, Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn added, "Time and time again, you have heard talk from Sen. Obama that's quite different from action."
During the call, however, reporters twice asked Wolfson and Penn when Clinton had ever been tested on foreign policy -- or had to pick up the phone at 3:00 am. "She has been tested throughout her life on so many matters," Penn answered, citing her "strength," her service on the Armed Services Committee, and when she went to China as first lady and said that human rights and women's rights.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan Clinton campaign went on air with today, former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, an Obama supporter, gave a terse response when asked if Clinton should drop out after March 4th.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro Who is Texas and Ohio “must win” for again? Hillary Clinton’s chief surrogate, former President Bill Clinton, has said she has to win both Texas and Ohio. Harold Ickes, a top aide, said, "If we lose in Texas and Ohio, Mrs. Clinton will have to make her decision as to whether she goes forward or not.” Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, said in order to win Pennsylvania, she’s got to win Tuesday.
So Clinton must win, right? Clinton Campaign Chief Strategist Mark Penn today released a memo to the media, though, with the subject, “Obama Must-Wins.”
“If he cannot win all of these states with all this effort, there's a problem,” Penn writes. And not only does he have to win, they have to be “decisive,” according to the memo.
Obama has won a majority of nominating contests, including caucuses, but note Penn’s use of “primary.”
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe says, by their estimate, his candidate is ahead by 162 pledged delegates. (NBC News’ hard count shows Obama ahead 157 pledged delegates, but there are 13 delegates still unallocated, including nine in Colorado, two in Maryland and one each in Hawaii, Democrats Abroad, New York and Tennessee. Of those states, Obama won Colorado, Maryland, Hawaii and Abroad.)
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro Obama picked up three new super delegates today, bringing our Super Delegate tracking total to Clinton 254, Obama 207. Notably, this puts Obama over 1,400 total delegates (Obama 1,401, Clinton 1,291) -- combining supers with the NBC News Hard Count, which stands at Obama 1,194, Clinton 1,037. Obama has picked up 37 superdelegates since Super Tuesday; Clinton has lost a net of six.
NOTE: The Obama campaign sent out a release showing four superdelegate pick ups, but one of those was already on a list provided to us by the campaign prior to Feb. 5, which is why we add in only three as new.
*** UPDATE ***
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro New York Observer's Politicker blog ...
A rotating red phone is shown as a an announcer ominously pronounces, "The most awesome, powerful responsibility in the world lies in the hand that picks up this phone. The idea of an unsure, unsteady, untested hand is something to really think about. This is the issues of our times. On March 20, vote as if the future of the world is at stake. Mondale. This president will know what he's doing, and that's the difference between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale."
*** UPDATE *** NBC's Andrea Mitchell notes that Obama responded on camera to Clinton's ad. "We've seen these ads before, trying to play on people's fears, trying to scare up votes," Obama said. "But I don't think they'll work this time. The question is not about who will be picking up the phone. The question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you answer the phone.
"We've had a red-phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer."
*** UPDATE 2 *** NBC's Lauren Appelbaum points out, Roy Spence, who has been advising the Clinton campaign, was also the media advisor for the 1984 Mondale campaign, and helped to create the red-phone ad.Politico's Ben Smith writes, "Indeed, a GOP media consultant who's made his share of red phone spots over the years e-mails that he found Clinton's a bit soft -- long on children, short on direct contrast."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Obama campaign pushed back against Clinton's newest ad
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said, "She had her red-phone moment; she had it in 2002," when she and President Bush voted for the war.
The red phone reference is to an ad run by Walter Mondale in the Democratic primary against Gary Hart .
"We don't think the ad's going to be effective at all," Plouffe also said, continuing, "she's already had her red-phone moment… she answered affirmatively" on her vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. "She did not read the NIE, so she did not do her homework either."
When asked repeatedly about the ad on the call, Plouffe focused on "judgment."
"Sen. Clinton's red-phone moment in her career was in 2002," he said again. "And she supported the Iraq war, supported president Bush. ... Ultimately an ad like this is going to make people focus on judgment."
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee emails First Read, "The Clinton campaign has not made any threat 'direct or veiled' to engage in litigation and no legal action is being taken. The campaigns have been discussing primary night procedures and we asked for those procedures to be put in writing before we agree to them. It is standard operating procedure for our campaign -- and we presume any campaign -- to see what we are agreeing to in writing before we agree to it."
From NBC's Mark Murray Clinton campaign is running in Texas -- "It’s 3am and your children are safe and asleep, but there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing" -- the Obama folks are re-releasing this ad from October featuring retired General Tony McPeak.
"As a combat pilot and Air Force chief during Desert Storm, lives depended on the judgments I made. And judgment is what we need from our next commander-in-chief," McPeak says in it.
"Barack Obama opposed this war in Iraq from the start, showing insight and courage others did not. And he's our best hope to restore our security and standing in today's world.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro New York Times’ Nagourney does a smart preview piece of how Republicans are likely to go after Obama in a general election, and are already doing so (on national security, taxes, his voting record, and even his middle name). But what the piece doesn’t mention is that the Republican Party is facing HUGE problems -- bigger than any candidate they could face. Indeed, just a look at other articles out there today should have the folks at the RNC reaching for the Tums: the Dem turnout in Texas, Obama and Clinton’s fundraising haul in just one month, and the youthfulness and diversity of the Dem electorate. And then there’s the Iraq war, Bush’s approval rating, and the fact -- as NBC political analyst Charlie Cook points out today -- that it’s difficult for one political party to hold onto the White House for three-straight elections.
*** Nevada redux? The Texas papers are reporting today that the Clinton campaign is apparently raising the specter of a lawsuit to challenge the Dem-sanctioned caucuses in the state that will occur on top of the regular primary voting. The motivation here by the Clinton camp is to discount the delegates Obama potentially wins during the caucus portion. Obviously, they are worried that narrow victories in Ohio and Texas will get overshadowed if Obama ends up with more delegates for the night, which is very possible because of his likely landslide win in Vermont and the caucus portion of the Texas prima-caucus. Is the state’s delegate-selection process screwy? Definitely. But how does Team Clinton overturn a process that had been approved for quite some time? This would be the third time -- the Nevada caucus sites on the Vegas strip, and Michigan/Florida being the others -- that the campaign has questioned rules that had already been established.
*** Goin’ negative : We were about to write this morning about our surprise that Clinton hasn’t run a negative ad against Obama in either Ohio or Texas. But then we saw the new Clinton ad in Texas that appeared on TODAY. It goes: “It's 3am and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders…knows the military…someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3am and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?” Does it remind anyone of that LBJ Daisy ad? Ok, that's a little extreme… But it sure does raise the specter of fear. Of course, remember, primary voters are more likely to vote their heart than head, which may mean an ad like this won't be as effective as it would, say, in a general election. Meanwhile, Obama, who has outspent Clinton in Texas and Ohio considerably, has bought two-minute TV ad blocks in those states. No word on the content of the ads yet, but sounds like it could be another closing argument-type.
*** Blame Canada! CTV , the Canadian TV channel, isn’t letting the story die that an Obama staffer warned Canadian officials to ignore the campaign’s criticism of NAFTA. In fact, it even names an Obama official. (*** CORRECTION ***
*** Delegate update : Obama leads Clinton 1,398-1,291. The NBC News Hard Count is now Obama 1,194, Clinton 1,037 (with 13 delegates still unallocated). Obama picked up another superdelegate yesterday to bring that total to: Clinton 254, Obama 204.
*** Money trouble : We’ve noticed today the McCain/FEC stories -- that McCain very well might have to abide by spending limits before the GOP convention -- are starting to roll in. But why is this only now starting to get more traction, compared with all the stories about Obama waffling on his pledge to accept public funds in the general? For one thing, the McCain story is much more complicated; certainly the Obama pledge hedge was an easier one to tell. But is this starting to become a problem for McCain? At the very least, it makes it MUCH more difficult to criticize Obama for waffling on public funds…On the trail : Clinton, in Texas, holds rallies in Waco and San Antonio; Huckabee has five events across the Lone Star State; McCain tours Dell in Round Rock, TX and then raises money at the Four Seasons in Austin before heading to Arizona; and Obama, also in Texas, stumps in Houston, Brownsville, and Selma.
Countdown to Ohio and Texas: 4 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails. Text FIRST to 622639 to sign up for First Read alerts to your mobile phone.
The AP : “More than doubling her January fund-raising total, Hillary Clinton raised $35 million in February, her biggest month yet, her advisers said. But Barack Obama's campaign said it will surpass that figure, with some reports that it could exceed $50 million. Clinton has been struggling to recover from weak fund-raising in January, when she had to loan her campaign $5 million. She raised $14 million in January to Obama's $36 million.”
The New York Post : “[S]everal Democratic sources said Obama was on target for a $50 million February. One source said Obama will have raised ‘between 50 million and 60 million this month.’” Washington Post notes the really scary fact for the Republicans about Clinton and Obama raising more than a combined $80 million in month. It is unprecedented territory.
TEXAS: The state Democratic Party said the Clinton campaign is threatening a lawsuit over the caucus portion of the prim-caucus. "In a letter sent out late Thursday to both the Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns, Texas Democratic Party lawyer Chad Dunn warned a lawsuit could ruin the Democrats' effort to re-energize voters just as they are turning out in record numbers. Spokesmen for both campaigns said there were no plans to sue ahead of the March 4 election. ‘It has been brought to my attention that one or both of your campaigns may already be planning or intending to pursue litigation against the Texas Democratic Party,’ Dunn wrote in the letter, obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. ‘Such action could prove to be a tragedy for a reinvigorated Democratic process.’
“Democratic sources said both campaigns have made it clear that they might consider legal options over the complicated delegate selection process, which includes both a popular vote and evening caucuses. But the sources made it clear that the Clinton campaign in particular had warned of an impending lawsuit. ‘Both campaigns have made it clear that they would go there if they had to, but I think the imminent threat is coming from one campaign,’ said one top Democratic official, referring to the Clinton campaign. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity."
More : "The source, who asked not to identified by name because he did not have authorization to speak about the matter, said Clinton 's political director, Guy Cecil, had forcefully raised the possibility of a courtroom battle. But Adrienne Elrod, Clinton's top Texas spokeswoman, said campaign and party officials had merely discussed election night procedures and that the campaign was merely seeking a written agreement in advance. She could not elaborate on the details of the agreement the Clinton campaign is seeking. ‘It is our campaign's standard operating procedure that we need to see what we are agreeing to in writing before we agree to it,' Elrod said. ‘No legal action is being taken. We have no reason to take any legal action.' Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama campaign had no plans to sue."
CONTINUED >>
NBC political analyst Charlie Cook writes in his latest National Journal column about the advantages the Democrats have going into the general election -- once their nominee becomes obvious. “My hunch is that the general election will be a very competitive race. However, it’s important not to minimize the Democrats’ inherent advantages. First, it’s extremely difficult for a party to win the White House three elections in a row. Indeed, consider the past 60 years: In four of the five elections in which one party had held the White House for two consecutive terms, that party failed to win a third one. This ‘time for a change’ dynamic has predominated each time. The only exception was in 1988, when Vice President George H.W. Bush was elected at the end of President Reagan’s eight years in office.”
More: “Going into 2008, George W. Bush’s approval ratings hover around 30 percent, 25 percentage points below Reagan’s 20 years ago. Bush’s presidency has been marred by scandals, an unpopular war, and an economy that is just barely skating above recession—hardly ideal for any party wanting to hold onto the White House.”
Also, National Journal's Ron Brownstein looks inside the exit poll numbers and finds, "From New Hampshire to California, and from Arizona to Wisconsin, exit polls from this year’s contests show the Democratic coalition evolving in clear and consistent ways since the 2004 primaries that nominated John Kerry. The party is growing younger, more affluent, more liberal, and more heavily tilted toward women, Latinos, and African-Americans. In the 18 states for which exit polls are available from both 2004 and 2008, the share of the Democratic vote cast by young people has risen, often by substantial margins.”
CONTINUED >>
HUCKABEE : NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger writes in National Journal : “Few people believe that Huckabee will be the Republican nominee for president, but he continues to win rave reviews for his oratory and his talent for connecting with voters. With the race all but sewn up, however, many political analysts are wondering why Huckabee is still in. Earlier, some thought that he was setting himself up to be John McCain's running mate, but that likelihood has faded as Huckabee continues to challenge the front-runner. Now the take is that he is priming himself for a career -- perhaps in television, but definitely in the limelight.”
MCCAIN : The Boston Globe front pages, “Last year, when his campaign was floundering and nearly broke, McCain applied for public financing. Candidates who opt into the system get portions of their privately raised donations matched with taxpayer dollars, but agree to abide by an overall campaign spending limit. This year, the cap for the presidential primaries is about $54 million. But earlier this month, after he became the GOP front-runner and donations began pouring into his campaign, McCain decided to withdraw from the public financing system, even though he had not yet received any public money and his campaign has already spent nearly $50 million. Staying in the system would be crippling. His campaign would not be able to pay for ads, mailings, polls, or travel until September, when the primary campaign officially ends with the party convention.”
“Critics pounced on the announcement, saying it was too late for McCain to back out. And David Mason, the Republican chairman of the FEC, told the candidate that only the commission can decide whether McCain can be released from the federal funding system. But the commission is unable to vote because an impasse in Congress has left it with too few members for a quorum. As a result, McCain is in a bind. His campaign says that he has a right to declare himself out of the system without an FEC ruling and that he will feel free to spend more than the cap allows in coming months. But the dispute has cast a cloud over the self-styled election-finance reformer.”
CONTINUED >>
The New York Times : “Senator Barack Obama has made significant inroads over the last month among the Democratic elected officials and party leaders known as superdelegates who will cast a fifth of the votes at the party’s convention, cutting into Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s long-held advantage with the group.”
For every John Lewis, there are some black superdelegates who are fighting back against the pressure to switch from Clinton to Obama.
From NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger Huckabee accused the Rev. John Hagee of playing politics over principle by endorsing McCain , and criticized the Republican front-runner for not accepting a debate.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Andy Merten McCain versus Obama storyline has now veered back toward the topic of al Qaeda in Iraq, the likely GOP nominee last week previewed what could be a general-election talking point. Trying to cast doubt on the foreign policy credibility of the junior senator from Illinois, McCain told a crowd of supporters last Tuesday that he did not trust Obama’s policy toward Pakistan and his willingness to strike at known terror targets without permission from Islamabad, if necessary.
But just how far from the status quo is Obama’s position toward the nuclear-armed state, which is a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda terror cells? It turns out that Obama, whose platform of change has become the cornerstone of his campaign, may actually be more in line with the Bush administration than either McCain or Hillary Clinton . Still, both have been citing a foreign policy speech he gave last summer to criticize him.
CONTINUED
From NBC's Lindsey Pritzlaff and Lauren Appelbaum McCain was elaborating on the "stark differences" between his Democratic opponents' positions and his own, he slipped up.
"I'm a proud conservative liberal republic -- conservative Republican," he said.
After joining with the Richardson, Texas, crowd in hearty laughter, McCain went on to say what he initially meant.
"Hello, easy there," he said. "Let me say this. I am a proud conservative Republican and both of my possible or likely opponents are liberal Democrats."
From MSNBC's Adam Verdugo What does Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) think of his longtime friend and colleague Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) switching his support from Sen. Clinton to Sen. Obama? "I've know him for a long time and I know how much he agonized over this because he felt that so much of what he fought for back in the 60s and 70s was beginning to be realized in a way that he did not anticipate, at a much faster rate that both of us had anticipated," Clyburn said. "And so I think that he felt compelled to be a part of that movement."
He continued: "I can recall as a child things my parents told me would come to pass are now coming to pass. And so you always wish for it, and you lay the foundation for it, but the question is 'When will it happen?' I think this has come upon us in a way that was a little bit unexpected at this particular juncture."
As to whether he will follow suit and declare his support publicly: "I will make clear what I am going to do before the convention. Will I do it this week or next? No. Simply because I do believe that as an unpledged delegate I have a very, very important role to play."
And as the third most powerful member in the House of Representatives and a longtime serving member of the Democratic Party, Clyburn sees utility in remaining neutral. "If it comes to a point where the other unpledged delegates will be looking for some guidance as to what ought to be done," he said. "I'll see if I can help with that as a neutral party much better than as a committed party."
From NBC's Chuck Todd
*** UPDATE ***
From NBC's Lindsey Pritzlaff
As the perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader announced that former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez would be his running mate, there was not a Nader supporter with a sign in sight. With no were cheers or applause, the room was so quiet you could hear the photographers’ shutters click.
More than a dozen TV cameras rolled as Gonzalez said that he is not disillusioned and he “understands what stands before us,” but he added that he has “never entered a political campaign without the idea that it could be won.”
Nader said he hopes that his bid for the White House will change the current political discourse. “We’re both honored to be running together and looking forward to addressing issues, conditions, and solutions ignored by the other major party candidates,” Nader said to approximately 60 reporters in attendance.
From NBC’s Robert Windrem
Al Hesbah is one of al Qaeda’s main cyber mouthpieces. It has been cited numerous times by name in official communiqués issued by bin Laden’s terror network, been featured in propaganda films produced on behalf of mujahideen organizations, including al Qaeda.
Its message boards offer key insights into the mindset of al Qaeda supporters and its collective knowledge base.
So those who follow al Qaeda took notice this week when members of the mujahideen took notice of the image of Barack Obama dressed as a Somali elder on the Drudge Report. Evan Kohlmann of Global Terror Alert, and an NBC News terrorism analyst, was among those who watched as the Al Hesbah message board lit up. Al Qaeda sympathizers cited the image as evidence that American political leaders, particularly Hillary Clinton, want to portray Islam as a political negative.
“In this case,” Kohlmann said, “it would appear that the publication of the Obama photo, along with the insinuation of an intended negative political impact from being classified as ‘Muslim,’ has only served to antagonize the ranks of those who admire and support al Qaeda.”
This discussion has been viewed several hundred times on the Al-Hesbah network, Kohlmann adds, and it has been among the top 40 most popular discussions on Al-Hesbah the past three days. Most of the discussions are about events in the Islamic world, particularly the conflict between the West and Islamic militants.
The discussion began with a post from a user apparently from Lebanon or Palestinian territories. He cited a news article (and accompanying photo) with the title, "Hillary Clinton's campaign distributes photos of Obama in Kenyan dress and accuses him of being Muslim." The author then immediately comments afterwards, "May Allah's curse be on all of them."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum and Mark Murray Clinton campaign is up with a new TV ad in Ohio, in which Gov. Ted Strickland -- Clinton's top surrogate in the Buckeye State -- vouches for the New York senator. "We need a president who first of all is going to be a fighter. That's the way I see Hillary Clinton," he says.
"Hillary's always been an advocate for the middle class. She's got great plans to create new jobs in every part of Ohio. I think she's a person of deep faith. I think she's a person who has devoted her life to caring about other people making sure that America works for everyone, not just the privileged few."
From NBC's Mark Murray Clinton campaign will hold a conference call with reporters, during which it will announce having raised $35 million in the month of February, according to news reports. That amount is more than double what it raised in January -- and it comes after surge in online fundraising in the wake of Clinton announcing that she had to loan her campaign $5 million.
The Obama campaign has yet to announce the size of its February haul, but spokesman Bill Burton tells First Read: "We have raised considerably more."
Obama raised $36 million in January.
From NBC's Joel Seidman Senator McCain fully meets the Constitution's qualifications to be President of the United States. In my view, the plain meaning of 'natural born citizen' includes persons who become citizens of this nation 'naturally,' that is by virtue of their birth to parents who are citizens, particularly when the birth takes place on territory occupied and controlled by the United States, in Senator McCain's case, a U. S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone. Indeed, the very First Congress, containing many Members who were the actual Framers of the Constitution, explicitly declared that children of United States citizens, born outside the limits of the United States, were 'natural born' citizens. I am confident that the United States Supreme Court, should it ever address the issue, would agree."
*** UPDATE ***
Here's what she wrote in full: "While I agree with Mr. Olson's conclusion, what I said in my article 20 years ago remains true today: 'Whether a person born abroad of American parents ... qualifies as natural born has never been resolved,' and that 'Eligibility for ... children born on American military bases ... is also uncertain.' Some have taken the view that 'natural born' means native born, that is, born in the United States, and there is no authority expressly to the contrary. The 'natural born' language in the naturalization statute passed by the first Congress, to which Mr. Olson refers, was deleted from a later version of the statute for unknown reasons. The early common law did not always provide that the children of citizens born abroad were citizens themselves, see for example dicta in Weedin v. Chin Bow, 274 U.S. 657, 663 (1927), and the automatic citizenship of persons born in United States territories or on military bases is of much more recent origin."
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
McCain leads Obama 47%-37% and Clinton 49%-40%. The Arizona senator leads the Democrats across the board. About 80% of Republicans are behind McCain. Only 66% of Democrats are behind Obama and 72% are backing Clinton in one-one-one match-ups with McCain. Currently, 17% of Democrats indicate that in a match up with Obama, they'd support McCain; 16% say so in a match up with Clinton. Seventeen percent of Dems also say they are undecided in a match up with Obama; 13% say so with regard to McCain-Clinton. Those numbers though could be a reflection of McCain being the presumptive nominee and Obama and Clinton still engaged in a fight for the nomination.
Floridian Democrats also weighed in on whether and/or how their delegation should be seated at the national convention -- 28% said the state party should hold another Democratic primary or caucus; 24% believe the delegation should be seated, according to the Jan. 29th primary; 15% say “the Florida Democratic Party knowingly violated the national party rules, so it should accept the penalty”; 13% favor a delegation that is split evenly between Clinton and Obama; and 20% say they aren’t sure.
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy McCain spoke at the James Baker Institute at Rice University and jumped back into his back-and-forth with Obama . After McCain criticized Obama for his statements at Tuesday's debate, Obama's comeback involved McCain's support for the war from the outset. And today McCain called that kind of thinking counterproductive to moving forward.
"So yesterday, Senator Obama said, 'Well we shouldn't have gone in in the first place, and if we hadn't gone in in the first place we wouldn't be facing this problem,'" the Arizona senator said. "Well, that's history. That's the past. That's talking about what happened before. What we should be talking about is what we're going to do now.
"And what we're going to do now is continue this strategy, which is succeeding in Iraq and we are carrying out the goals of the surge. The Iraqi military are taking over more and more responsibilities, the casualties are down, and we will be able to withdraw and come home. But we will come home with honor."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli Michelle Obama often refers to what she calls the "fear bomb" that was used against her husband in his Senate race, as rivals questioned whether someone with his name could be elected.
Today she acknowledged that it is happening again in his presidential race, and said it's an example of why America can't wait for a leader like him to be elected.
"They threw in the obvious, ultimate fear bomb," Obama said of her husband's 2004 Senate race. "We're even hearing [that] now. … 'When all else fails, be afraid of his name, and what that could stand for, because it's different.'" She said rivals use innuendo to play on fears. "Just as they're saying it now," she said.
But, she told about 200 supporters this morning at a restored theater in Canton, Obama won despite that "climate of negativity and doubt" in 2004, and even after standing up against the Iraq war. "We learned, number one, that when power is threatened by real change they will say anything to stop it," she said. "But we also learned that the American people can handle the truth."
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Here comes the general? The day after Tuesday’s final debate before the March 4 contests, a funny thing happened: The post-debate spat was between Obama and McCain, not Obama and Clinton. If you think about it, it's an extraordinary development. Although Clinton is still leading on Ohio (yet that contest is narrowing every single day) and is about tied in Texas (yet Obama has the Mo here, too), everyone seems to be slowly moving on to the general election; political inertia is taking over. Of course, Clinton hopes that wins in Ohio and Texas will stop that storyline -- and they very well might. Does anyone else have a feeling that one more game-changer is coming from the Clinton campaign, that they must have one more thing up their sleeve? They must, right? Maybe it's Edwards (this poverty tour seems like a big clue). Maybe it's one more televised town hall (although its one in Texas is bizarrely being broadcast on a sports channel). Something, right?
*** Too late? Overshadowed by the McCain-vs.-Obama storyline, Clinton and her campaign spent the day blasting Obama over a point she raised at the debate: that Obama hasn’t held any hearings at the subcommittee he chairs. "My opponent likes to talk about what he will do, but there was a perfect example last night about the difference between talk and action,” she said yesterday, per NBC/NJ's Athena Jones. “He was given the responsibility of chairing what's called a subcommittee in the Congress responsible for the European countries and our alliance with them and as part of that responsibility was NATO… [W]hat you learned last night is he's never held a substantive hearing or meeting to look at what is going on in NATO, to take a hard look at what's happening in Europe and in fact the reason he hasn't as he said is because he got the assignment when he started running for president. Well, I don't think that's an adequate excuse.” For Clinton, this is a good line of attack. But is it too late? Shouldn’t she have been making this point several weeks ago? The talk-vs.-action hit needs seasoning; it takes weeks for a storyline like this to take hold. By the way, it’s worth noting that the RNC used this very line of attack on Obama yesterday as well…
*** The delegate count : The NBC News Hard Count is Obama 1,192, Clinton 1,036. Obama picked up two more superdelegates last night and this morning bringing the superdelegate total to Clinton 254, Obama 203. (Since Feb. 5, Obama has picked up 33; Clinton has lost a net of six.) That’s a grand total of Obama 1,395, Clinton 1,290. So when you include superdelegates into the mix, Obama has a 105-delegate lead.
*** Natural-born citizen? The New York Times today has a piece that hadn’t crossed our mind: Because McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, does that disqualify him for being president? It doesn’t look like it, but constitutional scholars say it’s an interesting case. “‘There are powerful arguments that Senator McCain or anyone else in this position is constitutionally qualified, but there is certainly no precedent,’ said Sarah H. Duggin, an associate professor of law at Catholic University who has studied the issue extensively. ‘It is not a slam-dunk situation.’” And it looks like the McCain campaign isn't taking any chances by making sure Ted Olson puts together a legal opinion. Speaking of legalities, though, this matching fund and ballot qualification issue is perhaps a bigger headache than questions about his citizenship.
*** The moment we’ve all been waiting for : At noon today, from the National Press Club in DC, Ralph Nader will announce his veep pick. Question: After today, will Nader -- making yet another White House bid -- be able to draw TV cameras and reporters to any other event?
*** On the trail : Clinton holds a town hall at a child development center in Hanging Rock, OH before holding two events in Houston; Huckabee is in Texas; as is McCain, who makes seven stops in the state, including two fundraisers; Obama, in Texas, stumps in Austin, Beaumont, and Fort Worth; and Bill Clinton campaigns in Rhode Island and Dayton, OH.
Countdown to Ohio and Texas: 5 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
The Dem front-runner and the presumptive GOP nominee sparred over Iraq yesterday. The Washington Post front-pages, “For McCain, the decision to pick a fight with Obama helps keep the presumptive GOP nominee from being overshadowed by the battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) for the Democratic presidential nomination. It also gives him a chance to undermine confidence in Obama's foreign policy experience before the Democrat can turn full attention to the general election. But even as he focuses on a potentially decisive showdown with Clinton in four contests next Tuesday, Obama has made it clear he won't ignore the attacks from McCain. Generating headlines about an Obama-McCain showdown could also benefit Obama by creating the sense among Democratic primary voters that he is on the verge of becoming their party's nominee and also that he can hold his own against the Republicans.”
The New York Times : “In the exchange of charges between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, both essentially ignored Mr. Obama’s Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was campaigning in Ohio on economic and trade issues.”
The
