March 2008 - Posts
From NBC's Mark MurrayThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno has just announced that
Clinton will appear on the show Thursday. Per the press release, it will be the third time she has been on Leno.
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
Does McCain really want troops in iraq for one hundred years? According to Obama the answer is yes.
In a back and forth at today's press conference, Obama insisted he was not taking out of context McCain's comments about keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years. Asked if his attack was disingenous, Obama had the following to say:
"I don’t think it’s unfair at all," Obama said. "John McCain, I mean, we can run the YouTube spot, has said that we will stay there as long as it takes. And if it takes another 100 years, he’s up for that commitment and that implies that there is some criteria by which we would understand how long it takes.
"John McCain has not been clear about what exactly would lead him to decide it's time to pull out. And so, you know, the problem that we’ve had both with John McCain and George Bush is that there’s no clear definition of success. There never was, and that’s why this has been such a profound strategic error. And you know, I think it is entirely fair to suggest that unless he’s got some criteria where by, at some point, we would be able to pull out our troops. For him to argue that, which he has repeatedly, that any suggestion that we withdraw troops is surrender. That implies that we will be there as long as he thinks it’s necessary for us to be there."
Obama was told that McCain had said the presence would be similar to what the United States had done with Germany and Japan in World War II. Obama seemed to agree with that notion but pointed to the costs of the war as a reason to avoid that type of engagement.
Here's McCain's response on this to Tim Russert on Meet the Press.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
HARRISBURG, PA -- The Treasury Department's plan to reform the way the financial system is regulated don't go far enough, Clinton said today.
The proposal announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would streamline regulations and give the Federal Reserve new powers to set rules for lending to and regulating a greater list of financial institutions.
The New York senator also continued to bash presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, accusing him of not having a plan for dealing with the economy. "Today, the Administration, through the Secretary of the Treasury, has announced that finally the Bush Administration is going to take some action to better regulate the financial markets," she said during a roundtable at a diner here Monday. "Well, after years of a wait-and-don't-see approach to the regulatory failures that led to the housing and the credit crisis, they've announced a plan that comes late and falls short. No amount of rearranging the deck chairs can hide the fact that our housing and credit markets are in crisis, and they're sinking deeper every day. Every day we fail to take aggressive action is a day lost. You know, Sen. McCain recently gave speech on the economy, and best I could determine his plan was not to have a plan. If he got the 3:00 am call on the economy, he would just let the phone ring and ring and ring."
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From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
We listed the Senate superdelegates endorsements earlier today. We've broken out the House backers as well, and Clinton leads 73-69. That means there are 92 House members who are undecided. Also of note among these House endorsers, 23 of Clinton's 72 are reps from New York (32%). By contrast, nine of Obama's House backers are from Illinois (13%).
Here's how Clinton's and Obama's superdelegate support breaks down:
Among senators: Obama 14-12
Among representatives: Clinton 73-69
Then, among party activists/former party leaders: Clinton leads 170-139
TOTAL: Clinton 255, Obama 222
[EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this post did not include Murtha for Clinton or Eddie Bernice Johnson for Obama. Also, we do not include Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has endorsed Obama. Though she sits on and votes in committee, her title is delegate, not Congresswoman. It's the old DC license plate joke: Taxation without representation.]
Here's the list of the House backers:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. BergerPHILADELPHIA -- While a final number may not be available for a few weeks, the Pennsylvania Department of State has released an update on the number of people registered to vote in the April 22 Democratic primary here. And it shows a massive registration effort on the final day of eligibility.
The state now has 4,119,213 registered Democrats. Since March 24, the last day of eligibility for the primary election, the state has received 33,281 new Democratic registrations and 45,977 party changes to the Democratic Party. The secretary of state’s office is still accepting new registrations and party switches that were postmarked by the deadline.
State officials said the activity on the final day was intense, and these new numbers likely include large swaths of registrations that were collected by both the Obama and Clinton campaigns and submitted just before the deadline.
Since the first of the year, the state has received 101,499 new Democratic applications and 132,688 switches to the Democratic Party.
By contrast, the Republican Party in Pennsylvania now stands at 3,197,586 people. Only 32,191 citizens have joined the Republican roles and 13,937 have switched to the GOP since January 1.
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy MERIDIAN, Miss. -- With a 20-minute long familial history here this morning, John McCain kicked off what his campaign is formally calling the “Service to America” tour meant to reintroduce McCain to voters. But if today was any indication, the tour could accurately be renamed "Faith of my Fathers on Stage."
This morning’s speech was a Cliffs Notes version of the McCain Family story found in the senator’s best-selling autobiography -- written with assistance from senior advisor Mark Salter. The message of the speech focused on how the military service of his ancestors inspired him to serve his country as well.
“The family I was born to, and the family I am blessed with now, made me the man I am, and instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society,” McCain said. “Government must be attentive to the impact of its policies on families so that it does not through inattention or arrogance make it harder for parents to have the resources to succeed in the greatest work of their lives -- raising their children.”
The several hundred people seated in the audience sat quietly for the first 15 minutes of McCain’s talk before applauding loudly when the candidate called for the federal government to be mindful of its effects on the American family.
Going forward, McCain visits his high school and college in the coming days when he is expected to outline how his education shaped his character and prepared him for the presidency.
*** UPDATE *** Howard Dean's response to the McCain tour, via the DNC: "John McCain deserves our respect for his service to our country, but no reinvention tour can change the fact that a vote for him is a vote for four more years of President Bush's failed policies. No matter how many times he tries to reintroduce himself, the voters already know that John McCain is out of touch with the challenges facing working families, admits he doesn't understand the economy, and is willing to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years. John McCain can talk about his past, but only a Democrat can bring the change the American people want for the future."
From NBC/NJ's Carrie DannSeveral Democratic sources familiar with North Carolina politics expressed surprise at today's
Wall Street Journal story, saying that -- although several members of the delegation are likely
Obama backers -- an en masse endorsement would include nods from several Dems who most expected to stay on the sidelines in the
Clinton-Obama race.
A staff member close to one of the superdelegates in question confirms there is no truth to the story.
Per Dan Leistikow, a spokesman for the Obama campaign in North Carolina, "Despite the Wall Street Journal’s optimism, none of them has said told our campaign that they are ready to announce their endorsement of Senator Obama -- so we’ll keep working on it."
One Democrat who supports Obama did say that some elected officials and candidates for office in the state have expressed concern about a prolonged nomination, saying that many believe that a popular election result overturned by superdelegates "would destroy the party.." A mass endorsement by the delegation would send a clear message of party unity, he said.
But as of today, added another source familiar with the story, the idea might have simply been born of one Obama supporter's wishful thinking.
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann and NBC's Mark Murray
Obama is heavily favored in the May 6 North Carolina primary. And not surprisingly, the Clinton campaign has downplayed expectations there (just like Team Obama has downplayed expectations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky).
But -- in a nod to the power of surrogates -- it's worth noting that the Clinton clan has visited the Tar Heel State more often than the Obama clan has since March 4.
Barack Obama -- 2 days, 3 total stops
Michelle Obama -- 0 days, 0 total stops
Hillary Clinton -- 1 day, 3 total stops
Bill Clinton -- 2 days, 9 total stops
Chelsea Clinton -- 2 days, 4 total stops
From NBC's Pete Williams
In something of a surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal involving the FBI's unprecedented search of the Capitol Hill offices of Congressman William Jefferson.
A federal appeals court ruled that the FBI wrongly used its own agents look through the material seized to determine what might be covered by congressional privilege. This is a considerable victory for Jefferson, largely validating his objections to the search and giving him certain bragging rights. But prosecutors claim they have sufficient evidence independent of the search. The cash in his freezer, for example, was found well before Jefferson's offices were searched.
The court today handed down just one decision, a victory for Delaware. The state hoped to stop construction of a proposed British Petroleum liquified natural gas port on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. The court, acting in its special role as the sole decider of disputes between the states, ruled Delaware has a say in what's built on the New Jersey side of the river involving projects that would extend into the river, where both states have joint authority.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
With the endorsement by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for Obama, we decided to take a look at who each Democratic senator is backing. Obama, it turns out, leads Clinton, 14-12. Twenty senators are uncommitted. A couple of notes... excluded from the list is the Florida-Michigan contingent of senators: Debbie Stabenow, of Michigan, who is backing Clinton; Carl Levin, of Michigan, who is uncommitted; and Bill Nelson, of Florida, who has endorsed Clinton. Also excluded are senators, who caucus with Democrats, but do not have a vote at convention: Bernie Sanders (I-VT-Uncommitted) and Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT-McCain). Lieberman was stripped of his superdelegate status when he endorsed McCain.
Here's the full list of the Senate superdelegate endorsements:
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Stay or go? To paraphrase that old Clash song, “Should she stay or should she go?” (“If I go there will be trouble; and if I stay it will be double…”) That was the question that continued to dominate the Beltway chatter over the weekend. The problem for Clinton is that she's busier trying to prove her relevance in the process rather than debating Obama about the economy, health care, or Iraq. Indeed, Clinton told the Washington Post that she’s in until the end. But it's simply not good for any campaign to have call up major national reporters to tell them that. A few questions we have about this interview: Did the need to do this come from financial duress, superdelegate duress, or both? Have more folks contacted the Clintons privately that the press hasn't heard about that's giving this pushback from the campaign more of a sense of urgency? Could some Clinton supporters (or even active campaigners, paid or unpaid) be ready to bolt? We in the media have been accused of creating this sense of urgency over whether she should stay in the race or not. But did Clinton herself need to add to the storyline with this interview? Apparently, she did. Nevertheless, more superdelegates are flocking to Obama. According to the Wall Street Journal, and confirmed by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) will endorse Obama today. And the Journal also reports that Obama will get the support of North Carolina’s entire Democratic congressional delegation before that state’s primary on May 6.
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VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd offers his first read on the big superdelegate add for Barack Obama while Hillary Clinton continues to fight calls to drop out of the race.
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“I’m reporting for duty,” part II: The comparisons between McCain's '08 bid and Kerry's in '04 have been unmistakable: Both men, early on, were their party's overwhelming favorites to win the nomination; then they encountered trouble and got overshadowed by other candidates; and then -- almost out of nowhere -- they locked up the nomination. Now, as McCain today embarks on his "Service to America" tour across the country, there's another comparison between the two men: the emphasis of their military experience. Today, McCain stumps in Meridian, MS, where he served as a flight instructor and where an airfield is named after his grandfather. Per excerpts of his speech, McCain will discuss his family’s lifetime of service, as well as his thoughts on how the government can support parents’ ability to raise their children. On Tuesday, he’s at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, where he graduated from high school. On Wednesday, it’s to Annapolis, MD, where he attended the US Naval Academy. On Thursday, he heads to Pensacola and Jacksonville, FL, where he served stateside. And on Saturday, he gives a speech in Arizona, which he now calls home.
*** But biography isn’t everything: McCain's military service -- including his five years as a POW in Vietnam -- is without a doubt one of the central narratives of his life and his political career. It is also something that clearly distinguishes him from both Obama and Clinton. But as Bill Kristol writes in today’s New York Times, you can’t win presidential on biography alone. “If voters had simply looked at the biographies of the major-party candidates, they would have chosen George H. W. Bush in 1992, Bob Dole in 1996, Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. Instead, they rejected four veterans who served in wartime (and who also had considerable experience in public life) for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who had lesser résumés, both civilian and military.” Kristol adds, “Campaign consultants like to say elections are about the present and the future more than the past.” Also, keep this in mind: If McCain fails to win the presidency, it will likely mean that no Vietnam War veteran will ever be president. That should keep historical psychologists busy for years.
*** The Texas three-step: Over the weekend, we finally got an idea of the complete Texas caucus results. But we still don't have final results. As for the change in the delegate count, NBC had already allocated all but nine of the 67 caucus delegates up for grabs. The Obama campaign is claiming they've secured seven of those nine; the Clinton campaign is not projecting their caucus delegate count but believes Obama may only net five of those nine, not seven. Still, the best case for Obama, based on our totals, is a net of five additional delegates -- so not a massive change in the numbers. He may be getting more superdelegate endorsements today than he'll net out of what's remaining in Texas.
*** The Goreacle speaketh: One person who doesn’t seem eager to step in and resolve the Clinton-Obama fight is Al Gore. "I'm not applying for the job of broker,” he said on 60 Minutes last night. But what Gore is doing is launching is “a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history," the Washington Post writes. Climate change advocates have been frustrated that the issue is not yet a voting issue; Gore et al have succeeded in creating awareness, but they have yet to create a sense of urgency on the issue. That's what this campaign is designed to create.
*** Opening Day: Today is Opening Day, and after last night's amazing Nationals ending (thank you, Ryan Zimmerman!), it's a reminder that the beauty of Opening Day is that fans of EVERY team have high hopes and can think, "Maybe this is the year..." Well, today is a new Opening Day for McCain as he tries to jumpstart his general election campaign. And then there's Clinton, who desperately needs an Opening Day; the campaign needs that hope again. And as for Obama, he's like the baseball team who has a seven-game lead going into the final month of the season but hasn't yet clinched. The pennant appears to be his for the taking, but for some reason the veteran team chasing him keeps hanging around and hanging around…
*** On the trail: Elsewhere today, both Clinton and Obama are in Pennsylvania: Clinton hosts a roundtable discussion in Harrisburg and an economic rally in Fairless Hills, while Obama has a town hall in Lancaster and a rally in (cue Billy Joel) Allentown. Also, Bill Clinton stumps in Oregon.
Countdown to Pennsylvania: 22 days
Countdown to North Carolina, Indiana: 36 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 218 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 295 days
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On Sunday, the Washington Post ran this front-page story, “In her most definitive comments to date on the subject, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sought … to put to rest any notion that she will drop out of the presidential race, pledging in an interview to not only compete in all the remaining primaries but also continue until there is a resolution of the disqualified results in Florida and Michigan… ‘I know there are some people who want to shut this down and I think they are wrong,’ Clinton said in an interview during a campaign stop here Saturday. ‘I have no intention of stopping until we finish what we started and until we see what happens in the next 10 contests and until we resolve Florida and Michigan. And if we don't resolve it, we'll resolve it at the convention -- that's what credentials committees are for.’”
“‘We cannot go forward until Florida and Michigan are taken care of, otherwise the eventual nominee will not have the legitimacy that I think will haunt us,’ said the senator from New York. ‘I can imagine the ads the Republican Party and John McCain will run if we don't figure out how we can count the votes in Michigan and Florida.’’
“As the smoke cleared from this weekend's regional Democratic conventions, Barack Obama emerged with a majority of the state's at-large presidential nominating delegates and possibly a majority of all Texas delegates,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “But Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters vowed Sunday to continue the fight for Texas delegates all the way to this summer's state party convention, promising to cut his lead in delegates.” More: "Clinton won the popular vote in the March 4 primaries and a majority of the primary-allotted delegates, giving her a 65-61 lead. Obama's campaign claimed he came out of this weekend's conventions with a 38-29 at-large delegate lead, giving him a five-pledged-delegate lead over Clinton... "Clinton state Chairman Garry Mauro conceded that Obama is likely to have a 37-30 advantage in the at-large delegates, which would give Obama a total lead of three pledged delegates over Clinton."
CONTINUED >>
The Washington Post goes back and examines the attempt Obama and McCain made to work together on ethics reform. "[W]hat began as a promising collaboration between two men bent on burnishing their reformist credentials collapsed after barely a week. The McCain-Obama relationship came undone amid charges and countercharges, all aired publicly two years ago in an exchange of stark and angry letters. Obama questioned whether McCain sided with GOP leaders rather than searching for a bipartisan solution; McCain accused Obama of ‘typical rhetorical gloss’ and ‘self interested partisan posturing’ by a newcomer seeking to ingratiate himself with party leaders.”
More: “More than two years later, with McCain and Obama potentially poised to go head to head in a presidential campaign with stakes far greater than regulating who picks up steakhouse tabs, the reform fight has emerged as a looking-glass moment of what a fall campaign could resemble. McCain's backers view it as emblematic of Obama's ability to talk grand ideas and aspirations, but also of his ultimate failure to produce substantive results. Obama's supporters contend that the moment was vintage Obama, with the newcomer defusing the feud with a cool demeanor that allowed him to claim the high ground while rolling up his sleeves to eventually help pass a broader ethics overhaul bill in August 2007."
PENNSYLVANIA: The Boston Globe front-pages how the Democrats have moved from talking about NAFTA to “expanding beyond their past populist appeals and using a broader language that can address different experiences of economic change. In Pennsylvania, which on April 22 will host the largest of the remaining contests, Clinton and Obama have turned their emphasis from industrial policy to household economics, such as subprime mortgages, the rising price of gas, supermarket costs, and the interest rates charged on student loans.
CONTINUED >>
So does Clinton have a money problem? Apparently, the campaign is slow at paying bills, particularly for events. And some of these local vendors are actually warning colleagues about getting Clinton money up front. Per the Politico, “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.”
Moving the goalposts ... again? In Saturday’s New York Times, anonymous Clinton aides said if Clinton didn't win the Indiana primary, they'd urge her to get out. But if she narrowly wins Indiana but loses North Carolina, she'll have a hard time making up ground in the delegate count or the popular vote. There was one other quote that jumped out at us in this NYT piece: Rendell's bizarre claim on if rolls were reversed. “‘Just flip it for a second,’ Mr. Rendell said. ‘Let’s say Senator Clinton was ahead by about 110 delegates and ahead by less than 1 percent of the vote cast, and she and her supporters started to call on Senator Obama to get out. Just picture what the media would be saying. They’d be saying you’re being racist, you’re being everything in the world. It’s nuts! It’s nuts!’”
Really, governor? Really? There wouldn't be TWICE the pressure on Obama to get out than there is right now on Clinton? Rendell has been throwing around the race card easier than most folks of late.
The Los Angeles Times' Finnegan and Z. Barabak point out a fact that has gotten lost with many folks in the media who seem to have amnesia about the Clintons' role leading the Democratic Party in the '90s. "A complication for Clinton, as she courts superdelegates, is the rocky history that she and Bill Clinton have with many in the Democratic establishment. Obama portrays her as a Washington fixture, and after 15 years inside the Beltway -- eight of them as first lady -- the New York senator is very much steeped in the capital and its culture. So, too, are Clinton's campaign team and many of her political allies.”
CONTINUED >>
Per excerpts of the speech he will give today in Meridian, MS, McCain will say: “As you might know, I was once a flight instructor here at the air field named for my grandfather during my long past and misspent youth. And it’s always good to be in Mississippi, which you could call my ancestral home. Generations of McCains were born and raised in Carroll County, on land that had been in our family since 1848… By all accounts, the McCains of Carroll County were devoted to one another and their traditions; a lively, proud and happy family on the Mississippi Delta. Yet, many McCains left here as young men to pursue careers in what has long been our family’s chosen profession -- the United States Armed Forces.”
More: “The family I was born to, and the family I am blessed with now, made me the man I am, and instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society.”
McCain’s campaign also has released a Web video highlighting his family’s military service.
The New York Times curtain-raises McCain's general election kickoff week with a fact that many folks have whispered about for some time. "With attention focused on the Democrats’ infighting for the presidential nomination, Senator John McCain is pressing ahead to the general election but has yet to sign up one critical constituency: the big-money people who powered the Bush fund-raising machine."
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Obama drew 20,000 to Penn State. Check out the photo of him with the Penn State football jersey. Wasn’t he doing that in Austin, too?
Another super for Obama. He picks up the endorsement of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar today, giving him another superdelegate supporter. The endorsement will occur in a conference call at 10:30 am ET. “In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Klobuchar said Obama ‘has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time.’” Also: "North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are poised to endorse Sen. Obama as a group -- just one has so far -- before that state's May 6 primary, several Democrats say." But Obama spokesman Bill Burton tells First Read that there will be no endorsements from North Carolina congressmen coming today. "That did not come from our campaign, we have not confirmed that," Burton adds.
The Washington Post caught Obama in an exaggeration about the Kennedy family role in getting his father to America. It turns out the Kennedys were not involved in any Kenyan airlifts until after Obama's father was safely in Hawaii. What is it about politicians trying too hard to be a part of history? Sometimes, there isn't a destiny; that's ok too.
The Los Angeles Times does something many Obama supporters have been asking the media to do for weeks: put Rev. Wright in some context. "Examining the full content of Wright's sermons and delivery style yields a far more complex message, though one that some will still find objectionable. For more than 30 years, Wright walked churchgoers every Sunday along a winding road from rage to reconciliation, employing a style that validated both. ‘He's voicing a reality that those people experience six days a week,’ said the Rev. Dwight Hopkins, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Trinity member. ‘In that sense, he's saying they're not insane. That helps them to function the other six days of the week.’”
CONTINUED >>
Last week, we alerted you to the possibility that Ebay CEO Meg Whitman was pondering a gov run in 2010 in California. Well, her opponent could very well be ... Jerry Brown. "Brown spoke at the state Democratic Party convention Saturday, and boy, did he sound an awful lot like a candidate for Golden State governor -- again. Eerie.”
“Brown, who served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983 before term limits took effect, reminded his Democratic audience assembled in San Jose of some of his ‘highlights,’ like getting rid of former Gov. Ronald Reagan's bulletproof limousine and using a blue Plymouth from the state motor pool. Brown said he kept the Plymouth for eight years and put 240,000 miles on it, adding: ‘Now that's sustainability.’”
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
STATE COLLEGE, PA -- Obama has launched a charm offensive in Pennsylvania, forgoing days packed with town halls and cheering crowds at rallies to make small unannounced stops that take the locals by surprise.
Case in point, trying not to strike out in Pennsylvania to Clinton, Obama went bowling Saturday night at Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona, five minutes from a hot dog shop that he had visited earlier in the day.
When Obama walked in with Sen. Bob Casey, who recently endorsed him, locals stopped munching mid-fry to stare. The presidential hopeful shook hands, posed for pictures and then joined local Roxanne Hart to bowl a few frames.
"I haven't bowled in 30 years," Obama declared before putting on size 13 1/2 shoes. Casey joined in, and the two rolled. Casey's ball went into the left gutter; Obama's rolled into the right. And so it went, though the locals didn't seem to mind the poor performance. Little kids offered advice and joined in the game. Casey managed to improved steadily, though the last time he bowled was in high school. Obama's balls on the on the other hand meandered their way into the gutter time and time again.
"My economic plan is better than my bowling!" Obama declared at one point to the crowd that had gathered around the lane, growing with each frame as patrons texted and called friends and family to see the political spectacle.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
DURHAM, NC -- Asked yesterday how her mother's stance on NAFTA would correct economic problems without "contradicting" her father's engineering of the policy, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton said that the trade deal is one area of disagreement between her parents.
"Well, we don't agree on everything as a family," she told the questioner at a Q&A session of North Carolina's Young Democrats in Durham yesterday. "My mother and father agree on most things, not everything," she added. "And what you're talking about is one example of that."
NAFTA is likely to be a major issue in the state for the presidential primary, as many residents blame the loss of textile and manufacturing jobs on the trade deal spearheaded by Bill Clinton's Administration.
Chelsea Clinton also delivered an impassioned defense of her mother's candidacy when a friendly questioner asked if she thought her mother has been mischaracterized by the press and the public during the prolonged nomination fight.
"I didn't really get how much sexism there was in this country," she said, citing examples of voters who had approached her with concerns about a woman's capacity to be commander in chief. She singled out gag gift figurines of her mother as a "nutcracker" ("not in anything that I'd consider a respectful posture," said Chelsea) as particularly offensive.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
WILLIAMSPORT, PA -- Calling Hillary Clinton “the most unconventional person I have ever seen to be running for president,” Bill Clinton yesterday highlighted his wife’s advocacy for children as a young woman as an example of her work as a change-maker.
Bill Clinton, still wearing a greenish suit after his visit to a St. Patrick’s Day parade earlier, told a crowd of several hundred about Hillary’s work after law school for the Children’s Defense Fund, saying that part of her efforts led to legislation guaranteeing all children the right to a public school education without regard for disabilities.
“It changed lives for millions and millions of families. And she was doing that when she was a young woman, making changes in other people’s lives,” he said.
He then referred to the three remaining candidates, saying all were “admirable people,” but that if one compared their records as an agent of change “it is not close.” But, he added, the coverage of the race hasn’t borne it out.
“She’s the most unconventional person I have ever seen to be running for president, because she did most of this before she had an elected office,” he said. “[But] you never read about any of stuff in the press, do you? Because the intermediaries of the campaign, these kinds of things don’t matter to them, because they don’t need a president, they need a story. They want a feeling. You gotta decide whether you need a president or not.”
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
JOHNSTOWN, PA -- Obama yesterday said that Sen. Patrick Leahy's call for Clinton to leave the race was premature, declaring that Clinton had a right to stay in the race as long as she wanted.
"Yeah. I hadn't talked to Pat about it," Obama said when asked about Leahy's comments and if it was a premature move on the part of his surrogates.
"My attitude is that Sen. Clinton can run as long as she wants. Her name is on the ballot. And she is a fierce and formidable competitor, and she obviously believes that she would make the best nominee and the best opponent," he said. "I think that you know she should be able to compete and her supporters should be able to support her for as long as they are willing or able."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann and NBC's Chuck ToddCheck out this line from today's Bill Clinton-signed fundraising email for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign: "We're facing a big deadline on Monday. Our opponents and the media will scrutinize our fundraising reports and look for any sign of weakness. By making a contribution today, you can help make sure we show nothing but strength."
Of course, the campaign could be playing an expectations game.
From NBC/NJ's Aswini AnburajanGREENBURG, PA -- Barack Obama promised that his foreign policy would be a return to what he says was the realist approach practiced by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.
"My foreign policy is actually a return to the traditional realistic policy of George Bush's father, of John F. Kennedy, of in some ways Ronald Reagan," he said Friday. A voter at the town hall in Greenburg had asked Obama to respond to charges that his foreign policy was naïve.
"It is George Bush who has been naïve and it's people like John McCain and unfortunately some democrats that have facilitated him acting in these naïve ways that have caused us so much damage in our reputation in the world," Obama said.
Drawing on the example of the first Gulf War, Obama said that the first President Bush had "conducted a Gulf War with allies that ended up costing twenty billion dollars and left us stronger because they were realistic."
"Remember, people were saying why didn't you go into Baghdad and overthrow Saddam Hussein? The realists understood that that would be a nightmare. And it wasn't worth our national interests," Obama added.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan
GREENBURG, Pa. -- The Clinton campaign today accused the Obama campaign of "false advertising," claiming that a recent ad Obama released in Pennsylvania was disngenous because Obama has been the recipient of more than $200,000 from the oil and gas industry.
In the ad, Obama says, "I'm Barack Obama, and I don't take money from oil companies or lobbyists, and I won't let them block change any more."
Obama has taken $213,884 from the oil and gas industry as of Feb. 29th, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Sen. Hillary Clinton has taken $306,813 in that same period.
Two of Obama's campaign bundlers are also CEOs for oil and gas companies, per a list released on his campaign Web site.
Robert Cavnar, listed as a bundler who has raised between $50,000 to $100,000 for the campaign, is the chairman and CEO of Mission Resources Corp., a Houston-based firm. George Kaiser, also listed in the same $50,000 to $100,000 category, is the CEO of Tulsa-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Company.
"It's unfortunate that Senator Obama is using false advertising to explain why he can be trusted to do something about energy prices," Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. "Senator Obama says he doesn't take campaign contributions from oil companies but the reality is that Exxon, Shell, and others are among his donors."
Obama routinely criticizes companies like Exxon-Mobil on the stump, but over the course of his presidential campaign he has taken more than $30,000 from individuals working for Exxon-Mobil. Clinton has taken more than $20,000 from Exxon-Mobil in the same period.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- Just in case you were wondering what Hillary Clinton's No. 1 fan thinks of recent calls for her to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, Bill Clinton has three words for you: "Bunch of Bull."
"All these people tell you, 'Aw, we oughta shut this thing down now; the Democrats are so divided,'" Clinton said at a campaign event here. "That’s a bunch of bull."
The former president went on to note that he did not earn enough delegates to clinch the 1992 nomination until June of that year, around the same time that the final primary votes will be cast this year.
He also argued, as he often does, against the "disenfranchisement" of voters in Michigan and Florida. "She wants you to have your say," he added.
Notably, Clinton described the remaining primaries as contests for the popular vote (not for delegates.) "Now we’re going to have to go all the way through to the end to see who has the most popular votes," he said. "And that’s good."
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The following is a fundraising appeal sent out today to Democratic supporters from Nancy Pelosi, wherein the speaker expresses concern about the tone of the Democratic presidential contest spilling over and harming House races.
Dear ,
Here's what you and I can't let happen. We can't allow the tension and pressures of a spirited Presidential contest to spill over and harm hard-working Democratic candidates running to strengthen our Democratic majority in the House.
I will do whatever it takes to protect our candidates and make sure their campaigns to drive change forward don't skip a beat. I need you to do the same. Please support our candidates now with a donation to the DCCC before the critical March 31st deadline hits by going to www.dccc.org/deadline.
Throughout the Presidential nominating process, I have been so proud to watch Democrats turn out in record numbers and demonstrate enormous grassroots energy. And soon we will have an exciting presidential nominee who will make our entire party proud.
She or he will lead our energized and united Democratic Party in the larger fight against John McCain, and his plan for 100 more years of war in Iraq. Now is the time to capitalize on the excitement that is sweeping the nation to ensure that our next President has a strong Democratic majority in the House to work with as we undo the damage from President Bush's failed economic policies.
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
Paul Tewes, Obama's state director in Iowa, will head to the Keystone State tomorrow to take over the campaign's GOTV operation.
"Now that the voter registraton deadline has passed, we have entered the GOTV phase of the campaign in Pennslyvania," Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said. "Tewes has joined the Pennsylvania campaign on the ground here to lead this effort."
Pfeiffer added that Jim DeMay, who had been the state director up until this point will "continue to play an advisory role our campaign." DeMay was Gore's Pennsylvania state director in 2000.
Added Pfieffer, "While we remain the underodog, we are working as hard as we can to get as many votes as possible."
Tewes has a strong track record. Under his leadership, the Obama campaign conducted an extensive grassroots effort in Iowa that helped the campaign win by 8 points.
From NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones
MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- Let the expectations game begin.
As Hillary Clinton kicked off a long day of campaigning in the Hoosier State Friday, her campaign painted the fight here as an uphill struggle.
State director Robby Mook cited a statewide Howey-Gauge poll, showing Clinton running behind Obama and said that was partly due to his being from a neighboring state. The most recent Howey-Gauge poll found, taken in mid-February, showed Obama leading by 15 points.
Still, Mook said the campaign was active in every congressional district and would be announcing new office openings in the coming days. Clinton is set to hold a press conference in Hammond, Ind., this afternoon to announce the endorsement of seven mayors from cities in the Western part of the state, bordering the Chicago media market, an area seen as favorable to Obama. None of the mayors are superdelegates.
Clinton, who trails Obama in pledged delegates, the popular vote and the number of states won, needs to do well in the remaining contests to bolster her argument that having won several of the biggest states and most recent states, she will be more electable. For at least the third time this week, the New York senator referred this morning to calls from some for her to drop out of the race, this time citing a poll by
Rasmussen, an organization that does not use the preferred telephone interview survey method.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan
PITTSBURGH -- Obama called Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey’s endorsement one of the most meaningful endorsements he's received on the campaign trail.
"You know, I did not press him on this endorsement, you know there were some people that I was nagging all the time," Obama said of reaching out to Casey. "Bob I thought to myself, there's great reason for me to press him; I told him I'd love to have his support, but I understood that you know we're behind in the Pennsylvania polls. I just want to say it would have been easy for Bob just to stay out of it, just to stay neutral. I think everybody would have accepted that.
"But when he called me and said, ‘I think this is the right thing to do,’ it meant as much to me as any endorsement that I've received on the campaign trail," Obama added.
Casey introduced Obama and spoke to the potential of his leadership.
VIDEO: Watch Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey’s remarks while endorsing Barack Obama.
"This campaign is a chance for America, a chance for America to chart a new course, to go down a different path," Casey said of his endorsement. "A path, first of all, of change, a path of a new kind of politics, a path -- and finally a path of hope and healing." CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Chelsea Clinton was asked whether her mother would be a better president than her father, and she said yes.
Speaking at Lehigh Valley Hospital Friday, she laughed when a man in the front row asked her to choose between her parents.
“His question is, ‘Do I think my mother will be a better president than my father,’” she said. “Well, again, I don’t take anything for granted, but hopefully with Pennsylvania’s help, she will be our next president, and yes, I do think she’ll be a better president.”
Clinton spoke for more than an hour at the hospital, taking mostly questions about healthcare issues.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Think this will make Jon Stewart?
Clinton supporter Joe Sestak was on with NBC's Andrea Mitchell during the 1 pm MSNBC hour, and slipped in one response. Mitchell asked him if he was concerned that if this fight goes to convention that it could tear apart the party.
Sestak replied that he's not, that he's confident that if Obama were to lose the nomination, he'd turn around and say, "Support her." And if Clinton were to lose the nomination, she would turn around and say, "Support me."
Whoops.
Shaking his head, Sestak quickly corrected: "Support him."
We know what he meant, but still funny.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Here's Obama's latest aworking-class appeal...
Here's the script:
OBAMA [with backdrop of factory]: I moved to chicago to help workers, whose lives were torn apart when steel plants like this one left town. For decades, politicians have talked about protecting jobs, but the power of Washington lobbyists stops anything from changing. I'm Barack Obama. I'm the only candidate who doesn't take their money, and they won't run my White HOuse.
We'll fix our trade laws [on screen: "Register to vote by April 7th], end tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas and give them to those who create jobs here in America [on screen: IN.BarackObama.com 866-675-2008]. That's why I approve this message.
*** UPDATE *** NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann adds that Obama is also up today with his first ad in North Carolina. *** UPDATE 2 *** Per NBC's Lauren Appelbaum, The ad, "Enough," originally started airing in Iowa Dec. 21, and it was also used in in Maine, Maryland and Virginia. It is also focused on working class, economic issues.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Hillary Clinton has a fundraising message: Don't count me out. And she sets the bar for the upcoming primaries, that this isn't just about Pennsylvania.
Here's the email:
Have you noticed the pattern?
Every time our campaign demonstrates its strength and resilience, people start to suggest we should end our pursuit of the Democratic nomination.
Those anxious to force us to the sidelines aren't doing it because they think we're going to lose the upcoming primaries. The fact is, they're reading the same polls we are, and they know we are in a position to win.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
High profile Obama backer, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), told Vermont Public Radio that he thinks Clinton should drop out and back Obama.
"There is no way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough
delegates to get the nomination," Leahy said. "She ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing Senator Obama. Now, obviously that's a decision that only she can make. Frankly I feel that she would have a tremendous career in the Senate."
VIDEO: Sen. Patrick Leahy explains his view that the ongoing political tussling between Obama and Clinton may be helping McCain’s candidacy. Here's the full transcript:<
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Clinton leads Obama 36-12 among the Jewish superdelegates, according to a survey by the Forward, a Jewish newspaper. Twenty-six Jewish supers are undecided.
Here's the Forward's list of who's fallen behind whom and who's undecided:
CONTINUED >>
