From The Hotline Latest Edition for Thursday, May 1,2008

CLINTON

Bound And Determined

Thu. May 1, 2008


In a new 30-second spot airing in NC, "Determined," Gov. Mike Easley, who endorsed Hillary Clinton "for president earlier this week, says that during these tough times 'Hillary is the one we can count on to get the job done'" (release, 5/1).


Did The Ground Break Your Fall?

With Barack Obama's camp "stumbling in recent days," Clinton's backers have poured $1M into an independent ad campaign in IN "critical of Obama's economic recovery program." With $220K in ad buys 4/30 alone, American Leadership Project has spent more on ads in IN "than in the other, more populous states where it has been active" like TX, PA and OH.

The effort is funded mainly by unions backing Clinton. The American Federation of Teachers donated $300K 4/30. In recent days, "the effort has received a combined $600K from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and unions representing painters and sheet metal workers" (Morain, Los Angeles Times, 5/1).


Well, Since You Asked....

FNC's O'Reilly caught up with Clinton in South Bend, IN. The two-part interview marks Clinton's first-ever appearance on the "O'Reilly Factor." Here are some highlights from part one:

Clinton: "I'm happy to talk to you, Bill."

O'Reilly: "Are you really? So few people are."

O'Reilly: "Can you believe this Reverend Wright guy? Can you believe this guy?"

Clinton: "Well, I'm going to leave it up to voters to decide, you know."

O'Reilly: "No, but what do you think as an American? You're an American."

Clinton: "Well, what I said when I was asked directly is that I would not have stayed in that church."

O'Reilly: "No, no, no, no. But you're an American citizen. I'm an American citizen. He's an American citizen, Reverend Wright. What do you think when you hear a fellow American citizen say that stuff about America? What do you think?"

Clinton: "Well, I take offense at it. I think it's offensive and outrageous. And, you know, I'm going to express my opinion, others can express theirs. ... It is part of, you know, just an atmosphere that we're in today where all kinds of things are being said. And people have to, you know, decide what they believe. And I sure don't believe the United States government was behind AIDS."

More Clinton: "But what people are talking to me about is not that. ... For the presidential campaign, they want to know more about what I'm going to do about gas prices, to be blunt."

Clinton, asked if she feels sorry for Obama: "Well, I think that he made his views clear finally that he disagrees. And I think that's what he had to do."

O'Reilly: "You know you're going to bankrupt the country with health care, right?"

Clinton: "Oh, no, I'm not.

O'Reilly: "So you're going to tell me President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, is going to, A, run this efficiently and B, not bankrupt the country, when California and New York are already bankrupt? How are you going to do that? Moses going to come down?"

Clinton: "Well, he could help. ... If we don't get to universal health care, we will continue to bleed money. If we don't have more accountability, like through electronic medical records, we will never catch up to the fraud. If we don't make a decision right now that we're actually going to protect what is best about the American health care system, we won't recognize it in 10 or 20 years. ... It's a moral issue."

O'Reilly: "I mean, I don't want to be paying for someone who's taking heroin and drinking a bottle of gin a day."

Clinton, on the payroll tax: "I learned a lesson from Ronald Reagan. In 1980, when he was elected, our Social Security system was in a mess. The Democrats weren't agreeing and a lot of the Republicans were nervous. So Speaker Tip O'Neill, another great American politician, the two of them, the two Irishmen, got together and said, let's have a commission. Because the only way we're going to fix this is if everybody said, hey, we've got to make some changes. I am not going to raise the payroll tax on people who are already paying more than their share."

O'Reilly: "You're going to raise taxes on the wealthy, and that's income redistribution. ... And income redistribution is why some conservatives don't like you. All right? It's because you take from the wealthy and you give to the less affluent. That's socialism. That has a socialist component."

Clinton: "No it isn't. ... Teddy Roosevelt, was Teddy Roosevelt a socialist?"

O'Reilly: "Somewhat."

O'Reilly, on the difference between Clinton and Obama: "You're a more polarizing personality. You're like I am. And I hate to say that, with all due -- but you are. And Obama's such a nice guy. And that's what this is all about."

Clinton: "No. I happen to think if you want to take on the health insurance companies, the drug companies ... the oil companies, you've got to be tough. ... And we've got to have a president who's a fighter again."

O'Reilly: "Are you surprised that FOX News has been fairer to you than NBC News and a lot of the other liberal news networks? Are you surprised?"

Clinton: "I wouldn't expect anything less than a fair and balanced coverage of my campaign. ... I'm running for the toughest job in the world, and it goes with the territory" (FNC, 4/30).


What Say You, Peanut Gallery?

•New York Observer's Kornacki writes, the reason Clinton appeared on O'Reilly, "can be spelled out in two words: Reverend Wright." The "purpose of Clinton's visit wasn't to win over O'Reilly on health care or taxes or energy policy. Her goal is merely to make sure that O'Reilly audience -- which doesn't have a Republican primary to vote in these days -- feels like she's like them in a way that Obama isn't. It's funny what a common enemy can do to even the most entrenched antagonists" (5/1).

•Salon's Walsh: "Obama was on Fox this weekend, so she followed up, tit for tat. ... [O'Reilly] really goaded her quite a bit. She tried not to take bait. I'm sure she eventually intended to. I think once Obama himself has said it is outrageous, why should she be stopped from saying that? So I don't think she crossed the line" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 4/30).

•Sen. Richard Burr ex-comm. dir. Doug Heye writes, "By appearing on The O'Reilly Factor, the state's most-watched news program, Clinton is sending a message to voters throughout eastern North Carolina. She demonstrated a willingness to enter the 'lion's den' and not back down under aggressive questioning" (National Review, 5/1).

•New York Daily News's Saul writes, Clinton rubbed salt into Barack Obama's "wounds" with her comments on FOX (5/1).

•CNBC's Harwood: "Hillary Clinton can be very confident that Bill O'Reilly's viewers know about Jeremiah Wright, know plenty about Jeremiah Wright. ... She's talking to those voters on the terms that she wants to tonight. Probably a smart move by her to go on the show" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 4/30).

•Pat Buchanan: "You don't pile on Reverend Wright when other folks are doing the job for you" ("Race for the WH," MSNBC, 4/30).

•In a story headlined "HILL GIVES O WRIGHT CROSS," the New York Post's Earle reports that Clinton's "forceful condemnation of Wright and slap at Obama gave more life to the story, as new polling revealed it could deeply damage Obama's image as a popular, unifying figure" (5/1).

•Dem strategist Tanya Acker: "I thought it was a masterful interview. ... I thought that it was very clever and smart of the Clinton campaign to agree to this in the first instance. And I thought she did a fine job."

•More Acker: "One thing that I noted was she made a point of saying that she learned from Ronald Reagan. ... Just such a subtle, but yet really masterful stroke, because she knows that Reagan is somebody who is still quite a cult figure to even some of the Democratic voters ... who she's now trying to woo. ... A few months ago, she really beat up on Barack Obama when he said that Ronald Reagan was a visionary. So it's just interesting how she very cleverly but also very subtly weaved Ronald Reagan into the conversation."

•O'Reilly: "I think Tanya is correct that Hillary Clinton by doing this interview is reaching out to Independent voters, conservative Democrats who can vote, by the way, in Indiana. And she's saying to them listen, I am looking out for everybody. Barack Obama's not here. He's not going to do this. He is being weighed down. And I'm light and lively" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 4/30).

•Dem strategist Bob Beckel: "It gave her a softer image. Of course, being up against Bill you're going to get a softer image as a result of that. But the other thing was that she knew she was going to get a question about Wright, she knew that Wright was hurting Obama in the polls, and so it gave her an opening to say what she said. So from her standpoint, it was a twofer, and I think it is going to help her in the short run. And the short run is between now and next Tuesday" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 4/30).

•MSNBC's Scarborough: "She was impressive as hell" ("Morning Joe," MSNBC, 5/1).


The Gas Is Half Full

In a show of "political theater" Clinton commuted to work yesterday with sheet metal worker Jason Wifling in a white Ford F-250 truck. Clinton paid $64 for Wilfing to fill up half the truck's gas tank "and told reporters how voters like Wilfing badly need a respite from high fuel costs" (Wulfhorst, Reuters, 4/30).

Newsweek's Fineman, on Clinton's drive along: "You can't say it went very well. Some of the staged theatrics of it got out of hand for her. But talking to the Clinton people tonight, they're happy about it because they're relentlessly focused on this issue. They're doubling down on advertising in Indiana and North Carolina to the extent they can with the gas tax holiday thing. ... They think it symbolizes the kind of campaign that she wants to run and they've taken on such a note of 'us versus them,' of 'us versus the elites.' It sounded to me like when I talked to Clinton campaign headquarters that they're all sitting around in muscle t-shirts getting ready to drive off in their Harleys" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 4/30).

Clinton has seized on the gas tax issue in the final week before crucial primaries in IN and NC "as a way to separate herself from Obama and as a jumping off point 'to go right at the oil companies.'"

But Federico Pena, a former energy secretary under Bill Clinton and now an Obama supporter, called the gas tax holiday "another example of Washington politics at its worst." Pena: "The Clinton gas tax gimmick does little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and will actually increase oil prices, It is the kind of pandering that insults people's intelligence" (Mooney, Boston Globe, 5/1).


Long-Lasting Relief For Long-Lasting Pain

Campaigning in Kokomo, IN, Clinton slighted the opinions of "talking heads" who criticize her plan for a gas tax holiday, saying she won't sit "idly by" as people are suffering from the impact of high gas prices. Clinton, speaking to a largely supportive crowd in the city, "touched on a wide range of issues. But as she concluded, she seemed to answer the claims of her opponent, other partisans and independent observers who have said her plan to waive the federal gas tax would not provide significant and lasting relief for consumers."

Clinton: "You're gonna hear from my opponent and you're gonna hear from columnists, and you're gonna hear from talking heads about how there's nothing we can do about these gas prices except to have a long term plan. Well of course we need along term plan. But I'm not going to sit idly by and see people go out of business who are independent truckers not able to continue to choose between food and gas because they can't afford either" (Memoli, National Journal/NBC, 5/1).


Anecdote Check!

McClatchy's Thomma reports Clinton "loves to tell the story about how the Chinese government bought a good American company in Indiana, laid off all its workers and moved its critical defense technology work to China. It's a story with a dramatic, political ending." Pres. Bush "could have stopped it, but he didn't."

If she were president, Clinton says, "she'd fight to protect those jobs. It's just the kind of talk that's helping her win support from working-class" Dems "worried about their jobs and paychecks, not to mention their country's security."

What Clinton "never includes in the oft-repeated tale is the role that prominent" Dems played in selling the company and its technology to the Chinese. She never mentions that big-time Dem contributor George Soros helped "put together the deal to sell the company or that the sale was approved" by her husband's admin. In response, the Clinton camp said that Bill Clinton's admin "had gotten assurances at the time it approved the deal that production would remain inside" the US, and that the shift of jobs to China didn't occur until under the Bush admin (5/1).


Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers

Bill Clinton was courting Wal-Mart Dems 4/30, telling about 400 people at an Apex community center: "If you vote for her, you'll make her the next president." Clinton said he planned to stop in 40 smaller communities in NC before the 5/6 primary. At each stop, Clinton "said one unnamed pundit had belittled his campaign visits in small towns, saying his next step would be hauling Wal-Mart shoppers to the polls." Clinton: "He thought he was insulting me. I thought it was a great idea" (Christensen, Raleigh News & Observer, 5/1).


Latte-Drinking, Clearly Not Performance Enhancing

At an event in IN, Clinton "got a ballsy introduction" by the president of the local steelworkers union who said it's "going to take an individual with testicular fortitude" to deal with solving the nation's problems.
While "Clinton cracked a smile and then burst into laughter behind him, union leader Paul Gibson called for a president" who would take a "strong, hard look" at trade and continued: "I'm tired of these Gucci wearing, latte-drinking, self-centered egotistical people that have damaged our lifestyle." He backed Clinton saying "I know the entire executive board has not made a move yet to endorse whoever in this primary, Paul Gibson is going to do it right here tonight, she's standing right behind me."

For her part, Clinton responded: "I do think I have fortitude. Women can have it, as well as men" (Harper, "Political Radar," 4/30).


The Motion Of The Ocean

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) was on "Morning Joe" this a.m.

Bayh, on Clinton's "fortitude" comment: "We're big on fortitude in Indiana. That kind and other kinds. It reminds me of a sign I saw at one of her rallies, a big burly fellow holding up a sign saying, 'Real Men Support Hillary.'"

Asked if Clinton will win IN: "I honestly don't know. It's very close. He started off ahead. I think she's had a little momentum recently."

On Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) saying many of the superdelegates have made up their mind and they're leaning towards Obama: "Claire must be talking to more people than I am. I've been out in Indiana talking to
real people, and they're anxious to make up their minds about who the next president ought to be. ... We kinda would like to have our say before the superdelegates weigh in and cut the process off. I know our neighbors across the river in Kentucky feel the same way."

MSNBC's Scarborough: "Why do you not take a shot in Crown Point, Indiana, with Hillary Clinton?"

Bayh: "Joe, are you saying I'm deficient in the fortitude category? Is that what you're trying to
imply here?" (MSNBC, 5/1).

Some more fortitude reaction:

•CNN's Dobbs, on HRC's reaction to the head of the steelworkers in IN telling her the presidency is going to take an "individual with testicular fortitude": "Well, her reaction I thought was pretty classic."

•GOP strategist Ed Rollins: "That was the head of the steelworkers. He was saying she had steel fortitude" ("Lou Dobbs," CNN, 4/30).