Spin wars

Posted: Monday, March 03, 2008 2:33 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
In conference calls with reporters this morning, the Clinton and Obama campaigns sought to frame Wednesday's story lines.

The Clinton camp said it was confident of success in tomorrow's pivotal contests in Ohio and Texas. "I think it will be very clear Wednesday morning which campaign had the better day and which campaign had the worst of it," declared communications director Howard Wolfson. "I think there will be no question that we will be the successful campaign on Tuesday."

Wolfson added that with the advantages Obama has going into tomorrow -- in TV ad spending and momentum from previous contests -- that Obama losing would suggest a "serious case of buyer's remorse" among Democratic voters. (That said, Clinton had substantial leads in Ohio and Texas as of the middle of February.)

In the Q&A, a reporter asked Wolfson what happens if Clinton doesn't win both Ohio and Texas. He replied, "We are very optimistic about our chances of success" in those two states. "If the outcome is otherwise, we can discuss it then."

What about Obama's large lead in pledged delegates and whether Clinton can make that up? "We believe this race will continue, and we will be the nominee... There are a lot of states yet to weigh in here." He added, "We wake up on Wednesday; Clinton wins Ohio and Texas; we have a whole new ball game here."

Regarding the Rhode Island and Vermont races -- which also occur tomorrow -- Wolfson said: "I think we are going to do better in Rhode Island than Vermont."

The Obama campaign, for their part, re-emphasized that this should be about delegates not “any kind of creative spin” by the Clinton campaign. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe reminded reporters that that was actually a Clinton campaign line.

If Obama can “maintain or even build” on his pledged delegate lead, that “would be a win for us," Plouffe contended. He went further, calling March 4th “the last big window of opportunity for them to erase a serious delegate deficit.”

Plouffe added, “They were sitting on enormous leads two weeks ago in Ohio and Texas.... We’ve made huge strides in these states." More: "They like to present alternative, underhanded paths to the nominations…. They need to demonstrate how they are going to state by state to retake the delegate lead. The candidate who wins the pledged delegates at the end of this, will be the nominee. There’s the cold, hard reality of the math. They suggested a couple of weeks ago that they were going to erase the delegate lead” as a result of March 4.

“They keep trying to move the goal posts," Plouffe said, "but at some point you run out of field."

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Comments

Hillary Clinton is going to destroy the Democratic Party, she will fracture Democratic support mark my words America! McCain may win in November and our country is going to face some of the worse financial times in American history. Further we are about to embark on a new world war with McCain at the helm. God help us all. We are going to need someone with Obama’s talents to help us all pull together to get thru what I see coming. God Bless You All!

Walter Mase salt Lake City, Utah (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:33 PM)

You are so right, Texan. Why can't the democrats ever get it right. Why does it have to always come down to someone with so many questions attached to them. Why can't it be a safe, boring, qualified candidate. It's always candidates with multiple weak spots. Now we have two such candidates that are tearing each other down and the democratic party apart. Once again, it is going to come down to the republicans winning. Pretty amazing when you think about it - McCain will be the winner, is he really the "best" America can come up with? The dems need to come up with a better process - there were some great candidates at the start, now we've whittled ourselves down to the two with the most negatives. How does this happen every friggin time? It's almost like the democratic party wants to lose - that way they can just sit back and attack the republicans for making their lives and America so miserable. And yes, I am a democrat, a very frustrated one.

Julie (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:34 PM)

Why do the pollsters only ask voters who they rate higher on experience?

Why don't the pollsters ask the voters who they rate higher on judgment?

Bud, Texas (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:35 PM)

I'd like to add my opinion about Hillary - I live in a small down south of Austin and I will tell you that we all think she is in complete desperation! My home phone gets literally a voice mail message every single day from someone in her campaign begging for our support. I have called their campaign offices 5 times asking to be removed from their call lists, and each time I get an apology and an assurance that we'll be removed, and lo and behold the very next day ANOTHER call comes in. I have explained that we voted early and that we are Obama supporters, but they just don't get the message. GObama!!!!!!!

cat_woman2008 (San Marcos) (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:37 PM)

OK TEXAN, Change could just mean hope and positiveness, reaching across the aisle...change is no more Whitewater, Paula, Monica, Jennifer, Travelgate, failed universal health care, "missing files", Vince Foster....and the beat goes on and on

John, The Villages, Florida (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:37 PM)

Some bloggers suggest that if Hillary wins both Texas and Ohio she should stay in this race. I suppose it depends on how one defines winning. Spin it all you want but if Hillary wins both Texas and Ohio tomorrow but gains little if any ground on Obama as to the number of delegates they have (which most likely will happen), what is the point of Hillary continuing although having won both Texas and Ohio. Look at the upcoming races. With the exception of PA which Obama is already gaining ground on Hillary you have N. Carolina, Indiana, Mississippi Oregon, Kentucky, Montana and a few others where Obama has commanding leads in all of them. Add to this the superdelegates Obama is picking up while Hillary is losing some, this race will be over on the morining of Wednesday, March 5.

C A, Tuscaloosa, AL (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:38 PM)

Obama has won in more states than Hillary; Obama has collected more votes than Hillary; and Obama has more pledged (i.e., elected) delegates than Hillary. What exactly do the Clinton supporters expect? By some trick or manipulation, if Hillary manages to steal away the nomination, does she think supporters of Senator Obama will just go away quietly? How would you explain away any injustice to democracy that equals or surpasses the tragic general election of 2000?

KRK in Illinois (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:38 PM)

The Clinton campaign has done an amazing job of bullying the press lately. (Boo-hoo - you always ask me the first question. Etc.) That's the only reason I can think of that the press isn't calling them relentlessly on moving the goal posts every five minutes.

Hillary was up 15 points in Ohio and 10 points in Texas a few weeks ago, remember? They were her fire wall. Now her only hope of perservering in either state is for time to run out before she's overwhelmed by Obama's momentum. That can't be lost on the superdelegates.

Check out the polls in Pennsylvania. The gap between Hillary and Obama has narrowed along with Ohio. That's time for Obama to pass her and win North Carolina dnd Mississippi along the way.

Is it in the Democratic party's best interests to endure another seven weeks of Hillary threattening to steal the nomination by hook or crook?

Drew Rocker (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:39 PM)

Obama is likely to win the nomination regardless, but, the bottom line is that Obama (and his supporters) just need to put this thing away. A win in either TX or OH does that. Running close will just keep it going to PA. If he takes away one of those big states, it's really over. The claims that he can't win a big state, that his big MO is fading, that the negative ads will work...etc. None of those arguments will hold up IF he can win TX or OH and put it away. Any other result on Tuesday and we just go on. That's just the reality.

Al, KS (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:41 PM)

Sometimes you have to be a high-riding bitch to survive. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold onto.
-Dolores Claiborne (1995)

Dave, Chicago, IL (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:46 PM)

Here we go again...chosing a man as the dem nominee destined to lose a general election that was ours to win! How did we do this? Oh yes....the republicans gave us Obama when they voted for him in all those open primaries.

Pat Huntington NY (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:46 PM)

Waiting for her boat to come in, she said swiftly.

I fear that is the plan, I hope I am wrong.

nuanced (Sent Monday, March 03, 2008 3:46 PM)

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