Clinton: 'Let's stay together…'
Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:07 AM by Domenico Montanaro
In an ed board meeting with the Indy Star, Clinton said Dems shouldn't switch sides if their candidate doesn't win the Dem nod. "Clinton also said Tuesday that she thinks the primaries have been ‘energizing’ rather than divisive, resulting in many new voters being brought into the electoral process. She's committed, she said, to keeping those voters in the Democratic column, regardless of whether she or Obama ends up as the nominee."
More: "Clinton wouldn't address whether she'll stay in the race if she doesn't win Indiana, but said her upbringing near Chicago and her message of turning this from the ‘rust belt’ to the ‘opportunity belt’ helps her connect with Hoosier voters. ‘I'm going to try to do as well as I can in Indiana. I never make predictions because who knows,’ she said.”
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Clinton is playing on economic fears of voters to win them over. "By focusing on voter fears about globalization and job losses in troubled industries, Sen. Clinton has cultivated support among factory workers and others worried about U.S. competitiveness that has given her an edge over Barack Obama in several key races, including Pennsylvania and Ohio. ‘She's cultivated a message that focuses on industries that share commonality -- in terms of the pressures they're under and the impact on the working-class population,’ says Chris Lehane, a Democratic political consultant based in California. ‘That means metals in Pennsylvania, tires or rubber in Ohio, coal in West Virginia."
Staying on the econ message, a separate WSJ piece notes how Clinton's focus on the '90s economy also risks reminding voters of the '90s Clinton scandals.
Clinton stressed economic issues last night as she called the Hoosier state “the most important manufacturing state” in the country, NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli reports. “You’re the people of steel and of autos and of defense and of so much else that really makes America work,” she told nearly 2,000 supporters during a chilly, outdoor rally. “But the economy is not working for hard-working Americans right now. The jobs are not there, the incomes not rising, the cost of everything from filling up your tank to paying the health-care bills to the utility bills is getting way beyond what anybody dreamed. So we’ve gotta start playing both defense and offense again.”
Politico’s Martin looks at Republicans ignoring Clinton: “Clinton, it seems, has been erased from the picture, Soviet-style. Republicans mostly act like she doesn’t exist -- an unusual turn of events considering her run of big-state victories and the fact that not so long ago Republican campaign plans were predicated on the idea of Clinton as the Democratic nominee. Indeed, her recent success has only increased the volume and ferocity of the attacks -- not on her, but on Obama.”
Clinton “will appear in a two-part interview on The Fox News Channel's ‘The O'Reilly Factor’ starting Wednesday at 8. Part two will air Thursday at 8 p.m.”
