Tag: Hillary Clinton (page 9)

Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake today asks whether John McCain will make a pitch for Hillary's female supporters if Obama is the nominee.

I spoke with a well-known pollster recently who said that if women think the country would be safer with McCain over Obama by 10 points on election day, she predicts that McCain will win. While it's absurd to think that McCain would be better than Obama on women's issues, these kinds of decisions are -- as Krugman says -- highly emotional. A pitch to "security moms," combined with an appeal about "elitists in the Democratic party" looking down their noses on working class women just might work.

I hope McCain fails in his bid for women voters, should Obama be the nominee. It's the last thing Hillary would want. And, Democrats who switch sides out of spite or revenge will get far more than they bargained for, including anti-choice Supreme Court Justices and right-wing ideologue federal judges.

Any Democrat is better than what John McCain is offering. Given McCain's age, his selection of a VP candidate will be very telling. I suspect it will be someone that can bring him evangelical and ultra-conservative votes. That makes his candidacy twice as dangerous.

Yet, Jane's post is correct that Obama's nomination poses big electability challenges for Democrats in November.

The answer, to me, is simple: The nomination is still a two way race. Superdelegates can still pick the more electable Democrat among not only women voters but older, rural and blue collar voters as well. That candidate is Hillary Clinton. [More...]

Real Clear Politics calculates the popular vote six ways. I've reprinted all six below.

Not surprisingly, my view is that only the first two are valid because whatever happens with delegates, the Florida and Michigan elections were certified by the states and people pulled a lever or touched a screen or dropped off or sent in a ballot choosing a candidate and those votes must be counted.

The DNC and both candidates agree at least some FL and MI delegates will be seated at the convention. The delegate selection is based in large part on who their voters selected in their state's certified primaries -- the popular vote for the counties/districts in the two states. How can their votes not be counted in the popular vote total?

However you calculate the popular vote total today, here's the ultimate question: Between 1 and 2 million people may vote in Puerto Rico's open primary on June 1 (2 million voted in 2004.) If Hillary wins convincingly, not W. VA or KY numbers but convincingly, won't she clearly be ahead in the popular vote by any rational standard?

More...

Hillary Clinton has an op-ed today in the NY Daily News. She is staying in the race because she believes she is the best candidate and can win in November against John McCain.

I am running because I still believe I can win on the merits. Because, with our economy in crisis, our nation at war, the stakes have never been higher - and the need for real leadership has never been greater - and I believe I can provide that leadership.

I am not unaware of the challenges or the odds of my securing the nomination - but this race remains extraordinarily close, and hundreds of thousands of people in upcoming primaries are still waiting to vote. As I have said so many times over the course of this primary, if Sen. Obama wins the nomination, I will support him and work my heart out for him against John McCain. But that has not happened yet.

I am running because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Sen. Obama and I both make our case - and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard - in the end, everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.

Barack Obama won the Guam caucuses by 7 votes. Pilar Lujan won the caucuses for chair of Guam's Democratic party. She had been uncommitted.

Friday, she announced she is supporting Hillary. That means Guam's delegates are split 4-4. There is one superdelegate left, Guam Senator Ben Pangelinan , who hasn't yet declared.

Obama's Guam campaign complained about Lujan's endorsement, saying she had promised to go with the popular vote and while 7 votes isn't much, she still should have honored it. Thay asked her to reconsider.

I thought Obama's camp thought the popular vote didn't matter. They didn't complain when John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and several others endorsed him despite the preferences of the majority of their states' voters for Hillary.

In endorsing Hillary, Lujan said: [More..]

A Quinnipiac Poll shows Hillary leading and Obama trailing McCain in two of the three critical swing states, and Hillary leading Obama as to McCain in all three:

May 22, 2008 - McCain Leads Obama In Two Of Three Key Swing States, Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Clinton Has Big Leads In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania --- FLORIDA: Clinton 48 - McCain 41; McCain 45 - Obama 41; OHIO: Clinton 48 - McCain 41; McCain 44 - Obama 40: PENNSYLVANIA: Clinton 50 - McCain 37; Obama 46 - McCain 40

..."The numbers for Florida and Ohio are good news for Sen. John McCain and should be worrisome for Sen. Barack Obama. That is especially true about Ohio, which decided the 2004 election. Ohio's economy is worse than the rest of the country and the Republican brand there is in disrepute. McCain's Buckeye lead may be a sign that nationally this may not be the easy Democratic walk to the White House that many expected," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In the popular vote, Jonathan Last of the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board comes up with much the same numbers that I did a few days ago, using Real Clear Politics and the most expansive number of voters available, one that includes Florida, Michigan and the caucus states. [More...]

Barack Obama has hired John Kerry's vice-presidential vetter. Here's my questions:

• Does Hillary want the vice-presidential spot on the ticket? Does she just want him to offer it to her so she can have the satisfaction of turning him down? Or, does she figure since she's promised to campaign for him if he's the nominee that she might as well still be campaigning for herself as well, even if it's just as the VP candidate?

• Can Obama win without Hillary on the ticket?

• Is serving as VP in Hillary's best interest -- or just Obama's?

• Last, if Obama, who we know doesn't want Hillary on the ticket, offers it to her due to pressure from Democratic party leaders, what does that say about his message of bringing change to Washington? [More...]

If you are curious about who is on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee that will be deciding on Florida and Michigan, here's the list with their affiliations. (Don't laugh, it lists Donna Brazile as "uncommitted")

The tally: Hillary has 13 supporters, Obama 8 and 7, in addition to the 2 co-chairs have not yet endorsed. The member from Florida is an Obama supporter. One of the co-chairs, Alexis Herman, was one of Bill Clinton's cabinet members.

Co-Chairs - no endorsement
Alexis Herman (co-chair, Washington , D.C. )
James Roosevelt, Jr. (co-chair, Massachusetts )

Members - Clinton supporters (13)

Hartina Flournay (DC)
Donald Fowler (SC)
Harold Ickes, Jr. (DC)
Alice Huffman (CA)
Ben Johnson (DC)
Elaine Kamarck (MA)
Eric Kleinfeld (DC)
Mona Pasquil (CA)
Mame Reiley (VA)
Garry Shay (CA)
Elizabeth Smith (DC)
Michael Steed (MD)
Jaime Gonzalez, Jr. (TX)

Members - Obama supporters (8) [More...]

Hillary Clinton raised $21 million in April, her second best month ever. Barack Obama raised $31 million. And for the first time, Obama spent more money than he raised. He spent $36 million in April.

For a candidate the media has written off, that's an incredible achievement.

The amount includes the $10 million she raised in one night, but not the $5 million she loaned the campaign. In other words, it's all contributions. The full report is here.

Hillary also picked up two superdelegates yesterday, one in Ohio and one in Massachussetts.

What a great speech. The transcript is here.

We may get to the convention after all. From a newer version of the earlier AP article:

Asked if she now envisioned the race extending beyond June 3, Clinton replied: "It could, I hope it doesn't. I hope it's resolved to everyone's satisfaction by that date, because that's what people are expecting, but we'll have to see what happens."

Comments closed

Via Real Clear Politics:

• Hillary won Florida by 294,772 votes.
• Hillary won Michigan by 328,309 votes
• Hillary won 150,000 more votes than Obama last night in Kentucky and Oregon. She won Kentucky by 249,224 votes while Obama won Oregon by 102,144 votes.

Let's add it all up:

• Popular Vote Totals (w/FL & MI)Hillary leads by 174,047 votes (.48%.)
• Popular Vote Totals (w/FL & MI and Estimate w/IA, NV, ME, WA): Hillary leads by 63,825 votes (.18%)

Regardless of what the DNC does on May 31 with FL and MI delegates, the popular votes were certified by the states. Their numbers are real and they must be added to her popular vote total. Obama removed himself from the ballot by choice, not requirement. This is a consequence of that decision. He needs to accept it. [More...]

The LA Times sent out a "breaking news" e-mail saying "Clinton money shocker! Posts at 6 A.M. Eastern 3 AM Pacific."

It published its scoop here. Then it sent out another e-mail saying:

Due to a mathematical error, Hillary Clinton's loans to herself were counted twice in this morning's item on her campaign debt, which is $20 million not $31 million. We will be publishing a corrected item asap, but wanted to alert you as quickly as possible.

Never mind....

Lois Romano of the Washington Post has an audio interview with Hillary Clinton taken yesterday in Kentucky. The topic: Hillary's views on the "sexist" treatment she has endured at the hands of pundits, media and others.

The Post sent me the transcript which appears below the fold.