Tag: 2008 (page 25)

CBS has released a new poll on how Barack Obama's recent speech on Jeremiah Wright and race affected voters' views of him. Full poll results are here (pdf.)

69% said the speech favorably addressed race relations, 71% said it adequately expressed his relationship with Rev. Wright and 63% agreed with him. But,

When registered voters were asked if Obama would unite the country, however, 52 percent said yes - down from 67 percent last month.

Maybe he needs to stick to change and give up the unity theme. Someone should tell Bill Richardson, who seems to be a day late and a dollar short on unity as being a major reason for his endorsement.

His favorability rating: 43%. As to who was polled,

For this poll, CBS News re-interviewed voters who were first surveyed between March 15th and 18th, 2008, in the midst of the Wright controversy and mostly before Obama’s speech on race. The goal was to gauge their reactions to Tuesday’s speech and the continuing controversy over Wright’s comments. The poll was conducted on the night of March 20th.

Barack Obama is on Larry King Live. He says he's always agreed to abide by whatever the DNC decides. Didn't the DNC approve the Michigan revote plan and didn't he refuse to agree to it? The legislature would have considered it and likely passed it had he agreed. So is that even a true statement?

He says he's confident the Michigan delegation will be seated at the convention. I wonder if he's saying that after he gets declared the nominee -- which he likely will be if FL & MI votes don't count -- then he'll agree to recommend to the Credentials committee that they be seated so they can take place in party business.

I don't trust a word he says about this. He's playing politics, stalling, so he can keep Hillary's totals from including the bulk of 2 million votes from Florida and Michigan. That's not unity. That's not change. That's politics as usual. And ignoring one of the most fundamental principles of our democracy: one person one vote.

Tim Hames of the TimesOnLine examines Obama's speech and assesses its impact. He thought the speech was outstanding and moving. He thinks it will be remembered in a positive, ground-breaking way for years to come.

That said, what effect will it have on the presidential race?

Was the speech a turning point? No. Will the issue of the Rev Jeremiah Wright and his views on race be a burden to Barack Obama all the way to election day? Yes.

The Illinois senator demonstrated yet again his eloquence in his address in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The fundamental question about his candidacy, however, is whether a man who would be the least experienced president of the United States since Jimmy Carter has the judgment to serve in the Oval Office. That is the doubt that Hillary Clinton exploited in the Ohio and Texas primaries and it is the theme that SenatorJohn McCain will hammer home if Obama is his opponent for the White House.

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On this 5th anniversary of the vote to authorize an invasion of Iraq, who is the candidate most likely to get us out? As the Clinton campaign suggests in this video, Barack Obama has been anything but clear and consistent.

I'd put it another way. Obama, even today, wants to focus on who did what five years ago. That is so not the issue and so last year. Voters want to know who has the best plan for an exit and who is best going to be able to execute that plan.

Here's Hillary's plan. Here are 34 Admirals and Generals explaining why Hillary is better equipped to be commander in chief and why her plan to exit Iraq is both the best and most achievable: [More...]

Right now, I'm on the Hillary Clinton press conference call today with Howard Wolfson and Mark Penn. They choose the topic and start with a little speech but then reporters can ask questions on any topic.

Here's a rough live blog (because it's a live blog it's not in complete sentences, and it's not a transcript, I can't type quite that fast.)

Their topic today: recent polling data.

Their points: There are changes happening with voters. While Obama was declaring himself the frontrunner, the polls show his lead with Democrats nationally is evaporating.

Cites the Gallup daily tracking poll and Zogby/Reuters polls. Obama's lead is down from 14 points to 3 points, suggesting a strong swing of momentum for Hillary after Ohio and TX.

As Obama is finally going through the vetting and testing process, his ability to beat McCain is dropping. Some new polls show Hillary is better able to beat McCain. Cites USA Today/ Gallup, PPP poll. [More...]

The National Archives tomorrow will release more than 11,000 pages of Hillary Clinton's travel schedules from her years as First Lady.

The Archives said in a statement on Tuesday that the schedules are from the staff files of Patti Solis Doyle, Mrs. Clinton’s former campaign manager who was her chief scheduler in the White House.

“Arranged chronologically, these records document in detail the activities of the First Lady, including meetings, trips, speaking engagements and social activities for the eight years of the Clinton Administration,” the statement said.

Of the more than 11,000 pages to be released, 4,746 pages have redactions, mostly relating to “the privacy interests of third parties,” including Social Security numbers, telephone numbers and home addresses, the Archives said.

I'm not sure why her social activities are relevant, but I suspect in total, the documents will substantiate her experience argument.

There will be yet another presidential debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- in Pennsylvania before the primary.

There may even be one more, in North Carolina. Obama has agreed and Hillary has not yet responded.

The AP has released new delegate totals. As a result of New York and Colorado releasing final numbers, Obama's delegate lead is the same now as it was before Mississippi. Here's what happened:

Obama won 19 of the 33 delegates at stake Tuesday, according to the Associated Press tally, which gives him an overall lead, including superdelegates, of 111.

Clinton, however, eliminated Obama's gain from Mississippi when she picked up five delegates yesterday based on final results from the New York primary and the Colorado caucuses, both held Feb. 5.

Thus, Obama's gain from Mississippi is no more.

Update: Comments Over 200, thread now closed

Bonnie Erbe, writing in her Scrips-Howard column today, quotes from a copy of a memo forwarded to her that was written by a professor in North Carolina who volunteered for Hillary at the Washington State Caucuses. The prof is a volunteer and was writing to warn other Clinton volunteers of tactics the Obama campaign reportedly used in other states.

First, the background from Bonnie:

I have obtained a copy of a memo written by a Clinton campaign volunteer in Washington state intended only for other Clinton volunteers in subsequent caucus states (specifically for Texas campaign volunteers). It warns them of "caucus disruption strategies" by supporters of Sen. Barack Obama.

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Four not to miss, and I'm just getting started:

• The New York Times: Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role. I've read another article like this in the past few days but didn't write about it because the person critical of Obama was a Republican. This one has some meat from Democrats on page 3.

• The Washington Post: Influential Democrats Waiting to Choose Sides. The Post does a survey of undeclared superdelegates, finding most will wait until the primaries are over. And 100 votes or so difference is no big deal. They'll exercise their independent function not just vote the way the voters do. Why have them if that's their only purpose? Some, like Sen. Salazar of Colorado, say the decision will based on which candidate can better bring it home for the Dems in their state in November.

• The Washington Post: Philadelphia Mayor's Endorsement Suddenly Matters: Philly's African American Mayor explains why he's staying with Hillary. When asked about Philly being 45% African American, after noting he won both the black and white vote, he said:

  "We feel a certain sense of freedom and progressiveness here," Nutter said of the City of Brotherly Love. "The notion that all black people vote one way has to be destroyed."

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Rasmussen has updated its electoral college map of how each of the 50 states should go in November.

It moves Tennessee into the "safely Republican" category but says that has no effect on the total. Including the "leaning states,"

Democrats [are]leading in states with 284 Electoral College Votes. Republicans are favored in states with 229 Votes.

Here are the toss-up states:

Eight states with 97 Electoral Votes are either a pure Toss-Up or just slightly leaning to one party or the other. These are likely to be the early battleground states of Election 2008: Florida (27), Ohio (20), Virginia (13), Missouri (11), Colorado (9), Iowa (7), Nevada (5), and New Mexico (5).

Anyone want to weigh in on the significance or lack of significance of Rasmussen's new map?

Sen. Barack Obama likes to say he intends to rely on the people around him in making presidential decisions.

We've seen how that would play out with Samantha Power. Now there's John Brennan, one of his advisers on intelligence and foreign policy.

Think Progress reports:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has consistently spoken out and voted against granting retroactive immunity for telecoms that participated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. This stance was part of the reason he won the support of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a leader on civil liberties issues.

One of Obama’s advisers on intelligence and foreign policy advisers, however, is someone who “strongly” supports telecomm immunity.

What Brennan told the National Journal is below the fold: