May 12, 2008

Obama shoots pool in WV

Barack Obama played some pool this afternoon in West Virginia and took some questions from reporters. Here are the highlights, as per the pool report from Schultzie’s Billiards in South Charleston, by Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times, and a transcript of the Q & A provided by the campaign.

Obama, asked about persistent false rumors he is Muslim or doesn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance: “This is something that has been systematically fed into the bloodstream. We notice these e-mails get sent out in each successive state that we were campaigning in, which indicates that it is not just a random sort of viral thing. I think, you know, this is a dirty trick that folks are playing on voters. . . . These are patently false allegations that I think have been repeatedly debunked. My assumption is—is that by the time we get through this primary should I be the nominee we will have more than ample opportunity to make sure the American people know exactly what is true.”

Asked about the latest proposal to count Michigan delegates 69-59 in Hillary Clinton’s favor, to end a party rules dispute that might otherwise give Michigan no say in the primary? “There haven’t been final negotiations on it, but what we have said is that we will strongly consider it and I think it is a legitimate approach to trying to resolve an issue. My bottom line is I want to get the Michigan delegation seated. I want to get the Florida delegation seated and I want them to be participating in the convention. I want to win those seats in November.”

The pool hall was mostly empty when Obama arrived around 3 p.m. but some Obama campaign volunteers, including veterans, awaited. He offered to buy drinks, but for himself chose a lemon-lime soda with a straw. Obama lost a game to Paul Scott, 24, who said he served two tours in Iraq with the 270th armored division, but apparently plays pool better than he bowls. He made several shots, although some of his success looked accidental, according to the pool report. And, Rutenberg noted: “No one said anything when, in the midst of breaking up a cluster of balls, he sank the eight ball.”

"Step up" Obama campaign mgr tells donors

The latest fund-raising hook from Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe: Give money now and get this over with faster. In a letter out today, Plouffe tells donors that Obama has now surpassed Hillary Clinton in the super delegate count, as well as in pledged delegates and the popular vote, and that no matter how much Clinton wins by tomorrow in West Virginia, Obama will keep "an insurmountable lead" in the Democrats' nominating fight. According to the Obama campaign's calculations, the freshman Illinois senator needed 150 more delegates to secure the 2,025 needed for the nomination. "We need to act quickly to encourage the remaining superdelegates to join us and close out this race," Plouffe's letter said. "And we need to start building now to beat Senator McCain this November."

Hardly Heaven for Obama

Looks like Barack Obama won't find West Virginia to be almost heaven. a new Suffolk University poll, conducted over the weekend, not only found Hillary Clinton ahead of Obama by 36 percentage points among likely Democratic voters but two-thirds of Democrats thought Clinton should stay in the Democratic race.

Obama is close to getting the 2,025 delegates needed to nominate, but Clinton is the clear favorite to win Tuesday's West Virginia primary.

Obama would not be a favorite to win West Virginia in a general election, either. Suffolk found 40 percent said they would stick with the Illinois senator in the fall, but 23 percent said they would prefer Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. The rest were undecided, refused a response, or liked independent Ralph Nader.

The complete poll: http://www.suffolk.edu/offices/20580.html#anchor28827

He's got his pin on

This morning, pollster and former Bill Clinton adviser Douglas Schoen wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that Barack Obama needs to better define his values heading into the general election. “First, and obviously symbolically, he must start wearing the flag lapel pin,” Schoen wrote. “He simply cannot afford to raise doubts about his patriotism.” Although Obama sometimes wears the pin, more often he doesn’t. And he’s long insisted on being a different kind of politician who doesn’t resort to gimmicks or give in to pressure to conform to the status quo. Sure enough, today, speaking in West Virginia, Obama had his pin on. Too soon to know if it’s a trend.

New Hampshire Republican jokes about Clinton assassination

New Hampshire Democrats are demanding that New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen be ousted for joking about an assassination of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

They cite a joke Cullen told in last week's Republican Party newsletter.

"Almost seven years ago I sat, as did millions of other Americans, and watched as our government underwent a peaceful transition of power," Cullen said in the newsletter, according to the Democrats.

"At first, I felt a swell of pride and patriotism as I watched George W. Bush take his oath of office. However, all that pride quickly vanished as I later watched the

Clintons

board Air Force One for the last time. I saw 21 Marines, in full dress uniform with rifles, fire a 21-gun salute to the outgoing President and first lady. It was then that I realized how far

America

's military had deteriorated under the

Clinton

administration. Every last one of them missed."

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley called it grossly inappropriate.

"There is nothing funny, or family friendly, about the assassinationof a president," Buckley said. "No matter the political affiliation of the president, promoting that type of violence is outrageous and unpatriotic. John McCain, John Sununu, Judd Gregg and the leaders of New Hampshire's Republican Party must take a stand and tell Fergus Cullen it's time to go."

Cullen could not be reached immediately for comment.

May 10, 2008

Obama: "No interest" in challenging Oregon's marijuana or Death with Dignity laws

Barack Obama, campaigning in Oregon, was asked at a press conference how an Obama administration would respond to the state's medicinal marijuana and Death with Dignity laws. He said he would be "respectful" of the state's initiative and referendum process and that he thought the Justice Department had "better things to than to raid folks that are trying to provide medical marijuana" but that he thinks it should be "carefully regulated and controlled."

As for physician-assisted death for terminally ill patients, Obama said "it should be done by a doctor and not something that people would casually say 'Hey this might help,'" but that again he was not interested in having the Justice Department intervene or challenge such a law.

Big hat, no cattle?

Remember that oversized helmet Michael Dukakis wore while riding in a tank? It made him look, well, wimpish, and played into the Republican attack theme that year. Might Barack Obama have a similar concern? This photo at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Politex blog suggests the answer is yes.

May 07, 2008

Was CBS as nervous as Clinton on Tuesday?

For those of us watching several TV channels on Tuesday night, it didn't go unnoticed that CBS called Indiana for Clinton early — and then was the only network that had done so for hours. CBS, however, never had any doubts, even as Clinton's lead dwindled.

McCain talks up human rights

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke of the importance of human rights in a Michigan speech Wednesday.

Promoting religious freedom and combating human trafficking and online sexual exploitation of children were the major themes of McCain's speech. On the latter two, he talked up tactics to fight both.

On the first, religious freedom, there was this eye-popper:  "As President, I intend to make religious freedom a subject of great importance for the United States in our relations with other nations. I will work in close concert with democratic allies to raise the prominence of religious freedom in every available forum. Whether in bilateral negotiations, or in various multi-national o organizations to which America belongs, I will make respect for the basic principle of religious freedom a priority in international relations."

Wonder if the Saudis or the Chinese were listening.

Clinton: results allow us to go on

Hillary Clinton is staying in, aides say this morning. They say the results Tuesday were actually good news for them - despite losing ground in both delegates and popular vote.

"It allows us to go on," says chief strategist Geoff Garin in a conference call with reporters.

He says the narrow Indiana win was the first time Clinton has come from behind, and that she did it despite being outspent by Obama on TV.

"Over the sweep of things, it represents significant progress for Sen. Clinton and it is a good victory under challenging cicumstances," Garin says.

He says Obama made a last minute, $300,000 ad buy in Chicago to boost trnout in northwest Indiana. Campaign aides also acknowledge that Clinton lent her campaign another $6.4 million - $5 million on April 11, $1 million on May 1, and $400,000 on May 5. She's also willing to lend more if necessary, aide Howard Wolfson says.

They said they had no idea how they were doing with fund raising since Tuesday night - a stark contrast to the hours after she won Pennsylvania, when they issued several statements about money pouring in.

The camp also spins that they did well in North Carolina despite a double digit loss there. "North Carolina also... represents progress for us," Garin says.

That's because Clinton carried the white working class vote by a large margin, he says, calling them a key voting bloc for the fall campaign. He says that's key to the argument Clinton is making to superdelegates, that she can do better carrying those votes in November.