From The Hotline Latest Edition for Friday, April 25,2008

CLINTON

His Uncommitment Is Admirable

Fri. Apr. 25, 2008


In an interview with the New York Times 4/24, "uncommitted" superdelegate/Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) slammed Bill Clinton for his "bizarre" conduct during the primary, adding: "Black people are incensed over all of this."

Clyburn said Clinton's "conduct in this campaign had caused what might be an irreparable breach between Clinton and an African-American constituency that once revered him." Clyburn: "When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar. I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation."

Clyburn "added that there appeared to be an almost unanimous view among African-Americans" that the Clinton's "were committed to doing everything they possibly could to damage" Barack Obama "to a point that he could never win in the general election."

At one point before the SC primary, Clyburn urged B. Clinton "to chill a little bit." Asked 4/24 whether Clinton had heeded his advice, Clyburn said: "Yeah, for three or four weeks or so. Or maybe three or four days" (Leibovich, New York Times, 4/25).


If Life Was Fair, You'd Be Writing An Op-ed About McCain

In a Washington Post op-ed, Hillary Clinton strategist Geoff Garin defends the camp's tactics in combating Obama, writing: "So let me get this straight. On the one hand, it's perfectly decent for Obama to argue that only he has the virtue to bring change to Washington and that Clinton lacks the character and the commitment to do so. On the other hand, we are somehow hitting below the belt when we say that Clinton is the candidate best able to withstand the pressures of the presidency and do what's right for the American people, while leaving the decisions about Obama's preparedness to the voters. Who made up those rules? And who would ever think they are fair?"

Garin, offering some back-story: "Our campaign runs a TV ad Monday saying that the presidency is the toughest job in the world and giving examples of challenges presidents have faced and challenges the next president will face -- including terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mounting economic dislocation, and soaring gas prices. The ad makes no reference -- verbal, visual or otherwise -- to our opponent; it simply asks voters to think about who they believe is best able to stand the heat. And we are accused, by some in the media, of running a fear-mongering, negative ad."

The "day before this ad went on the air," Obama strategist David Axelrod "appeared with me on 'Meet the Press.' He was asked whether Hillary Clinton would bring 'the changes necessary' to Washington, and his answer was 'no.' This was in keeping with the direct, personal character attacks that the Obama campaign has leveled against Clinton from the beginning of this race" -- including mailings in PA "that describe her as 'the master of a broken system.'"

"The bottom line is that one campaign really has engaged in a mean-spirited, unfair character attack on the other candidate -- but it has been Obama's campaign, not ours. You would be hard-pressed to find significant analogues from our candidate, our senior campaign officials or our advertising to the direct personal statements that the Obama campaign has made about Clinton" (4/25).


The Plan Of Attack

Clinton "and her surrogates are renewing their efforts to have the disputed" MI and FL convention delegates seated and "pushing the argument that she now leads in the total number of votes cast when the tallies in those two states are included" (Broder, Washington Post, 4/25). They are also renewing their efforts to "woo" supperdelegates. Making the rounds on Capitol Hill, sources say that Clinton "was pressing particularly hard" for the support of Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) (Saltonstall, New York Daily News, 4/25).


Please Make All Checks Payable To Mark Penn

Team Clinton "boasted" 4/24 of raking in $10M in the 24 hours after her PA win, "but the bottom line is that her stack of debts reaches even higher." Clinton reported $10.3M in debts at the end of March --- including a "whopping" $4.6M owed to the firm of demoted strategist Mark Penn (New York Daily News, 4/25).


So As To Avoid Her Tar Heels Getting Stuck In The Mud

Clinton advisers are "publicly playing down any chance of victory" in NC, but political observers "point to several signs of an aggressive effort" (Bacon, Washington Post, 4/25). Clinton "is widely expected to lose" in NC, "but that isn't stopping her campaign from spending millions of dollars on advertising and holding rallies in dozens of communities throughout the state." She "wants to avoid the kind of blowout loss" to Obama "she suffered" in SC (Chozick, Wall Street Journal, 4/25).

Clinton aides said their NC strategy, "as in other states, will be to try to dominate in rural areas and perform well among women in the state's three large urban areas, around Raleigh, Charlotte and Winston-Salem, which are likely to lean toward Obama" (Washington Post, 4/25).


Military, Methodism, Mountains, Oh My!

Clinton returned to NC on 4/24, reaching out to more moderate Dem voters "with a display of military brass, mentions of her Methodism and promises to end the Iraq war 'responsibly.'" Hoping to build on her victory this week in PA, Clinton "sought to connect with the traditional values of rural, working-class people. She was accompanied by eight retired generals" -- including ex-JCS chair Hugh Shelton-- "as she courted voters living near military bases in and in the mountains" (Christensen, Raleigh News & Observer, 4/25).

Speaking 4/24 in Fayetteville, Clinton "told an audience of several hundred people, including many military families, about her plans to improve life for veterans and said she wants to bring troops home from Iraq 'as responsibly and quickly as we can. This will not be easy.'" Clinton: "There are no quick solutions to the dilemmas we face and the consequences that are likely to flow from whatever actions are taken." Clinton "tried again, as she has before, to link voting" for Pres. Bush in '00 "to the idea of backing an untested candidate in this election -- invoking" Obama "without mentioning his name" (AP, 4/25).

Meanwhile, Clinton's appearance in Asheville 4/24-- where she spoke "before a crowd of 2,500"-- was her first trip as a candidate to Western NC, "a region that may be the most welcoming to her" on 5/6. Clinton supporter/ex-NC AG Rufus Edmisten: "I think it'll be a very strong area for her. We mountaineers like spunk" (Schrader, Asheville Citizen-Times, 4/25).


Don't Stand Me Up, Obama!

Campaigning in Jacksonville, NC, today, Clinton "continued pressing" Obama for a debate, saying that each state has a unique set of issues that deserve discussion. She made a pitch for her camp's interactive "NC Ask Me" feature, where people can submit questions online and get an answer, some of which have been used in TV ads. Clinton: "It has been great, and we've gotten over 14,000 questions. We have answered every one of those questions. But the only question I can't answer is why Senator Obama won't debate me in North Carolina. And I'd sure like to give an answer."

She said that each upcoming state deserves their own debate, because "the issues in Pennsylvania are not the same as the issues in North Carolina," and "the issues in North Carolina aren't the same as the issues in Indiana." Clinton: "There's all kinds of issues that we should be debating about right here in North Carolina. So again I offer that I'll go anywhere at any time. And we'll have that debate as long as Senator Obama would agree to actually meet me. I think that would be good for the voters and it would be good for this important campaign" (Memoli, National Journal/NBC, 4/25).


Add Bill To Small Towns, Mix, Repeat

AP's Barnard writes, Clinton is bringing to OR "the small-town strategy that helped her win" in PA. Clinton OR steering cmte chair Josh Kardon: "Sen. Clinton has been performing extremely well with working-class union households and rural Democrats. We are going to take this campaign to places that most presidential candidates never venture."

Bill Clinton will appear in North Bend tonight and small cities in the Willamette Valley on 4/26. He will make just one brief stop in Portland, while spending the rest of his time in smaller towns like he did in PA (4/25).


Go Down Swinging In The Ninth

Clinton "tried to turn John McCain's trip to New Orleans against him" 4/24 "by stretching his comments about what to do with the Lower Ninth Ward," saying he "might want to tear down the Ninth Ward instead of rebuilding it." Clinton: "But I went to the Ninth Ward after Katrina and met with people there and saw the destruction and I saw the resilience in their eyes and they deserve our help to rebuild and regain their lives and their homes." Meanwhile, McCain adviser Steve Schmidt said called the attack "inaccurate" (Holmes, "Washington Wire," 4/25).


Puerto Rico Gets An Earmark, Validation

The "financially strapped Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has a new patron" in Hillary Clinton -- just weeks before the island's Dem primary. Since the Nat'l Science Foundation cut its budget, the observatory in the "northwestern part of the island risks being shut down if it doesn't find new sources of funding." A bill filed by Clinton last week seeks to reverse that decision by requiring the NSF to reinstate the funds.

Clinton's action was welcomed in Puerto Rico, "but island supporters of Barack Obama questioned the timing." Local Obama camp dir Andras Lopez: "Arecibo has been in peril for a while now. That she, by chance, finds about it now is an example of the type of old politics that Obama wants to change. The timing is more than suspect" (Rivera-lyles, Orlando Sentinel, 4/25).


The Good Pastor

Washington Times' Billups has a piece on Clinton's religious convictions, in which he notes she "is more devout than public perception has allowed, her Methodism carried close to her heart alongside her political interests, even if she is almost reluctant to talk about it." Ex-Clinton pastor Rev. Donald Jones: "Just in terms of her Christian commitment, I think she is one of the most authentically and deeply committed Christians I know" (4/25).


Deal Or No Deal?

WashingtonPost.com's Cillizza writes that Clinton "clearly" has a shot at the nomination. "First and foremost, Clinton needs to find a way to avoid being outspent by Obama "at anywhere near the volume with which he bombarded" her in OH and PA. Clinton must win in IN, "and must also win a surprising victory in one of the states that Obama is expected to win," and must find a way for the FL popular vote to be counted. Moreover, Clinton "has to hope that Obama slips again in some sort of public way," has to keep more superdelegates from endorsing Obama, "and has to focus more on her policy proposals than on arguments surrounding electoral process or electability" ("The Fix," 4/24).

National Journal's Cook takes an opposing view, writing, "the good news" for Clinton is that "she's winning a lot of battles. The bad news is that the war is pretty much lost... If this contest were still at the point where momentum, symbolism, and reading tea leaves mattered, Clinton would be in pretty good shape. Everything she has needed to happen is happening now." She "is winning in big, important places, but it's happening about three months too late" (4/25).