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First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Political Reporter



Exit polls: Economy No. 1 issue again

Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 7:00 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
Tonight, the economy is the No. 1 issue in each of the four states voting today. One of the key concerns is jobs, particularly in Ohio and Texas, where there has been a lot of talk about NAFTA with Canada and Mexico.

Both candidates have said they would use the threat of opting out of NAFTA if they become president and based on these numbers you can see why.

First in Ohio, a whopping eight in 10 Democratic primary voters feel international trade agreements take more jobs away than they create. Buckeye state Democrats are even more negative about NAFTA than they were four years ago when seven in 10 thought this. Also in Ohio, union voters, non-union voters, the young and the old are all down on NAFTA. An identical 81% of Clinton voters and Obama voters see trade agreements taking away jobs. 

What about in Texas? One would expect voters to be much more positive about NAFTA compared to Ohio; however, even in Texas, those critical of trade agreements significantly outnumber those who see the pacts providing a net job gain. Six out of 10 say it hurts jobs, while only a quarter see job creation as the bigger net effect.

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Please stay in the race Hillary, we need to make sure you thoroughly destroy the Democratic party. Nothing will make the GOP happier than Hurricane Hillary tearing through the party state-by-state all the way into Colorado. Then, in one final hoorah, seal the tomb on the Democrats by finding a way to covince the super delegates to coronate your well 'earned' victory. I'm sure all of the bodies you leave in your wake will not keep you up at night - so you'll be well rested for that 3 am phone call.
HILLARY WINS ! HILLARY WINS ! HILLARY WINS !  : > )
"Enterence" polls Hillary the clear "favorite". Come visit today hillaryclinton.com .
Call it by name or number - a bill that takes away our industry can't go.  We aren't quite ready for complete globalization.  Look for Made in USA!
So...what does all this mean? Will Hillary pull it out, or does the general election begin tomorrow? How sad, with so much time to go before meaningless conventions! Maybe the parties can donate the money to charity...
''Feelings''and perception,usually trump reality. NAFTA was always less of a threat to the Rust Belt states than their own inability to realize that old-guard unionist policies,and an eschewing of the development of new technologies,rather than the world markets alone,led to the decline of states such as Ohio. Steel and the automotive industry became dinosaurs held by small minded CEOs and unions bosses without vision. Environmentalists castigated both the steel and coal industries,reducing these to American ruin. So it goes. Steel made in Korea remains cheap,processed by up to date machinery,and is quickly fashioned for world markets. While automobiles,especially American,continue to have the highest recall percentage of any autos made in the world today,that continue more of the same gas guzzling technology that we saw actually during the 1960s-early 70s,the end of American innovation in that sector. Tragically,using NAFTA as only useful bogieman,will solve nothing,and actually create more problems than it solves. Then too,asking how one garners world ''respect''by reneging on treaties already entered into[unlike KYOTO],is yet another matter. The old adages apply. Adapt,[and innovate],or wither.
ANYONE LEND ME $20 BUCKS,SO THAT I CAN BUY GAS TO GO TO WORK TO EARN MONEY TO PAY YOU BACK $10 BUCKS ?
During the debate in OHIO, Hillary was nailed on how she said NAFTA was good for NY, would creat LOTS of jobs, and how she has changed her talking points since running for President!    She used an excuse for why she has FAILED as a senator in NY on NOT bringing jobs in as she PROMISED.  It wasn't her fault, it was b/c she "thought" their would be a democrat in the White House, and senate.  So, what SOLUTIONS will she bring in the WHite House when all the stars aren't lined up, the sun is shining in her eyes, and the earthed spun faster than she "thought" it should??
She has more excuses.... than SOLUTIIONS!
She says she is a fighter....BUT feel sorry for her b/c the press is sooooo tough on her.  Bull!  
Hillary Clinton has been given more passes by the media....
than a kid to a FREE circus!
RELEASE YOUR 2006 TAX RETURNS!!!  You already FILED them, you have to KEEP COPIES FOR your records.  How hard is it to tell your secretary to fax them to the press??????  ten minutes???  You don't have time your too busy campaigning??  That might fly with the MEDIA, but it doesn't fly with the VOTERS!!  
Be HONEST.
SHOW YOUR CHARACTER...
SHOW YOUR 35 years of EXPERIENCE you talk about all the time....and RELEASE YOUR 2006 TAX FORMS!!
call your tax man...
your accountant...
your secretary...
and tell them to FAX IT NOW!!!!

and tell them to

  Now she lies, again, about what Sen. Obama or his campaign supposedly said to Canada.
  Makes a speech about her experience, Sen. McCain's experience, but Sen. Obama had a speech in 2002. If you examine the content of that speech, he was right on all counts, and the old-timers were WRONG, big-time.
Not just a speech, not just words, not just an intelligence report!
Desperate.
It is the same morons who voted for Carter, the greateset failed Presidency in modern times, who are voting for B. Hussein Obama today!  Oh, and why is it that the mainstream media are failing to mention B. Hussein Obama's clear link to Muslim terrorists??
Hey Headhonoco -

Pull thy head, outta' thy b*tt . . . and maybe you'll understand.  Until then, baaaaaaaa like a good little sheep!
For all the Obama supporters, whether you like it or not, the Democratic Party requires the nominee of the party to get 2024 (since the death of Rep. Tom Lantos) delegates or more.  It doesn’t matter how many states a particular candidate has won prior to reaching the 2024 number, or by what percent, or how many states a particular candidate has won in a row.

2024 is the REQUIRED number to secure the Democratic nomination, not 2023 or 1194 (the number of Pledged delegates Obama currently has according to MSNBC).  I’m not counting the Unpledged (Super) delegates since they ARE NOT AWARDED UNTIL THE CONVENTION IN AUGUST.

So far, Obama has 1194 Pledged delegates which means he still needs 830 delegates to secure the nomination.

While Senator Clinton still needs 987 delegates to secure the nomination (157 more than Obama), Obama still needs 830.  Even if Obama was awarded every delegate from Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island (370)(which is not going to happen, he would still need 460 delegates to secure the nomination.

Even if Obama received 100% of the delegates moving forward, it would still take him until May 20th with Kentucky to have the 2024 or more delegates required to secure the nomination.  Obama is not going to get 100% of the delegates moving forward.

Even if Obama received 70% of all the remaining delegates in the Primaries and Caucuses, he STILL WOULN’T HAVE THE 2024 DELEGATES REQUIRED TO SECURE THE NOMINATION prior to the convention.

While Hillary Clinton does currently have fewer delegates (157) than Barack Obama, and despite what the Obama supporters think, would like to think, or claim, she is not so far behind that it is mathematically impossible for her to catch up or even get ahead as so many of the Obama supporters keep insisting just because they don’t like Hillary Clinton.

To date, there has not been one person, not one, who has said that it is mathematically impossible at this point for Hillary Clinton to win the nomination, because it is not mathematically impossible.  

Sure there are quite a few people like the Obama supporters that suggest that Hillary Clinton should get out of the race for the good of the Party.  The problem with people who have suggested that Hillary Clinton should get out of the race is that they don’t speak for everyone in the Democratic Party or the ENTIRE country.  They speak for themselves even though they claim that they’re speaking for other people besides themselves using words and phrases like, “everyone I know,” “everyone in the Party,” “everyone in the country,” “all of my friends and family,” and so on.

There are 17 contest left including Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island which is 33% of the total Primaries and Caucuses remaining in this process.  One third of all the states in this country, 1/3, have not had a chance to vote or have THEIR VOICES HEARD and Obama supporters want to talk about what’s fair.  EVERYONE in this country should have the right to decide who the nominees for President of the United States are going to be, not just half of the country or two thirds of the country.

Everyone should have the right to decide.  The Primaries and Caucuses don’t end on March 4th or March 31st or April 15th.  The People in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, Puerto Rico, and Guam have not yet voted and they should have just as much of a right to vote and have a say in who the nominee is going to be, as the people who have already voted and so selfishly think that now that their voices have been heard, the other people in this country don’t or shouldn’t matter.

Obama and his supporters keep preaching about change.  If the kind of change that Obama and his supporters want to see in this country involves some voices in this country being heard (more like the voices that support their position), but not ALL the voices being heard, that’s VERY, VERY SAD!

If you don’t like Hillary Clinton, that’s your right.  If you want to whine and cry about how Obama should be handed the Democratic nomination on a silver platter and not have to WORK for it or EARN EVERY VOTE, that is also your right.

NO ONE, I SAY AGAIN, NO ONE, has the right to prevent registered voters of this country from having the ability to vote and have their voices heard.  

Even if you believe that Barack Obama is the most qualified person to be the next President of the United States, he has to EARN the required number of delegates to secure the nomination (which he has not done) and he has to get the required number of Electors to win the Presidency.  

Having the Democratic nomination and the Presidency handed to anyone on a silver platter just because their supporters want it that way, is not how the process works in our country, maybe in Communist China or some other dictatorship, but not in the United States of America.


The economy in general is the central election issue, what the media have failed on the up take of is the particular, NEW central organizing principle now needed, which is the NEW economic paradigm the "Integration of Labor-sm" the candidate that delivers this as his central policy platform to lead the nation and the G-9 to develop and implement creating 10s of million of sustainable jobs WINS...
And this is a reporter who knows who is its author and where he lives and who he endorses>
Canada for Obama

Middle East for Obama

Limo drivers for Obama
Hillary was on the board of American business' largest importer of goods made in China!
Hillary's husband signed the NAFTA agreement as written.
Hillary voted to authorize Bush to go into Iraq.
Billary has used the race card to drive a wedge between blacks and latinos.
Hillary is dreaming if she thinks she can reopen or opt out of NAFTA, wave her magic wand and deliver the rust belt to the promised land.
Hillary keeps bringing up Rezko even though any chance of improper or illegal action on her opponent's part is remote.
Hillary is employing the Canadian government's assistance to smear her opponent with supposed evidence cooked up by that very Republican-friendly government.
Hillary is more than willing to expose the party to seven more weeks of dirty politics just so she can come up mathematically short in Pennsylvania.
Hillary is still a Goldwater girl.
NAFTA is just the tip of the iceberg.

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the invasion and occupation of Iraq will ultimately cost US over $3 Trillion - and since most of the expenditures have been allocated through "emergency" supplemental funding rather than through the normal Congressional budget process, very little of this spending has received any public scrutiny. By the war's end, more than Two Million troops will have served, with untold thousands of veterans requiring expensive medical, rehabilitation and disability care. Oil that was less than $30/barrel before 2001 is now over $100. As US infrastructure crumbles and terror threats to the homeland remain, we will spend billions to rebuild Iraq. While uninsured and underinsured Americans are given free medical treatment by the likes of charity Remote Area Medical, we will be building hospitals and clinics for Iraqi families. While millions of kids go to dilapidated schools without adequate books, library and technology facilities, and families will struggle to afford college tuition and care for aging parents, we will be  sending billions to Iraq to build schools, housing and community centers. Yes, "it's the economy, stupid," which might not be in such precarious condition today were it not for the totally unnecessary, disastrously ill-conceived, poorly planned, exorbitantly costly invasion of Iraq. The Republican answer to this scenario? More military spending, more borrowing from the Chinese and rich oil states and promises of continued tax cuts for corporations, the well-connected and the very wealthy.

Let's hope America wakes up and turns course before she strikes the berg and sinks.
   

If this is true then this should be GREAT NEWS FOR HILLIARY :)

We need the economy of the 90's back. The Clinton's did that NOT OBAMA. Maybe they could hire him to give a speech once the Clinton's get America back on track.

Maybe not as Obama likes to only talk about himself.
If Hillary wins Ohio, I would have to say that it clearly explains why Ohio is in the poor economic state that it is. Obviously, the people who are voting don't know what's good for them and are easily duped. Yep, make the most corporate friendly Senator the next President and see what you get Ohio. That is MOST corporate friendly, Republican or Democrat. When she finally shows those tax returns, if ever, you'll see where your jobs went or will be heading. Hello Depression.
I read in the paper yesterday that backstage before a speech OBama was overheard telling one of his people "Watch me make these white people swoon" Has anyone heard on read this anywhere?


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