Tag: Hillary Clinton (page 21)

Hillary Clinton gave Greta Van Susteren an extended interview tonight. She was very insistent that this race is going to be continuing for a long time. She said voters want it to go on, as indicated by the poll today saying 22% want each to drop out and the rest want the race to continue.

She said it's a very close race and we have ten states who haven't voted yet. As to Florida and Michigan, she said they will be seated at the convention in Denver -- the credentials committee will do it. Otherwise, the Dems will face trouble in November.

My question is, will they be seated and allowed to vote? Or will they be excluded from voting and then seated and merely allowed to participate in other party business?

Seating isn't enough. Their votes have to count. If you agree, go on over to Seat the Delegates and sign the petition.

The new NBC/WSJ poll (pdf) out today has Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tied at 45%. The margin of error is 3.7%. The poll was of all registered voters, not just Democrats. Both Hillary and Obama's unfavorability ratings increased somewhat from two weeks ago. Combining the "somehat "and "very negative" categories, Obama was at 28% unfavorable two weeks ago and is at 32% now. Hillary was at 43% and is now at 48%.

Given that these numbers include Republicans, I'm not surprised. What did surprise me is that the poll says it oversampled African Americans.

In addition, we oversampled African-Americans in order to get a more reliable cross-tab on many of the questions we asked in this poll regarding Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race and overall response to last week's Rev. Jeremiah Wright dustup.

I don't get it. Does anyone have an explanation or think the results are more reliable or less because of the oversampling?

The latest Gallup poll shows Hillary and Obama in a statistical tie.

The results confirm Gallup's March 22 report showing that Clinton's recent lead in the race -- apparently fueled by controversy dogging the Obama campaign over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- had evaporated.

At the same time, thus far Obama has not been able to reestablish the clear frontrunner position he enjoyed in late February, and again in mid-March. As has happened so often over the past six weeks, the race among national Democratic voters has become "too close to call."

As to the popular vote, pledged delegates, super delegates, electability and electoral votes, here's some things to think about:

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will appear with Barack Obama in Oregon Friday and provide his endorsement to him.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore America's international leadership.

"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."

Richardson could be angling for the V.P. Spot. He could also take Hispanic votes from Hillary. [More...]

A new Rasmussen poll out today on West Virginia, which has its primary on May 13.

Senator Hillary Clinton holds a huge lead over Senator Barack Obama in the West Virginia Presidential Primary. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows that Clinton attracts 55% of the Likely Democratic Primary Voters while Obama is supported by 27%. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure.

Clinton is viewed favorably by 72% of West Virginia’s Primary Voters, Obama by 53%. By a 48% to 31% margin, the West Virginia voters believe Clinton will be the stronger general election candidate against John McCain.

More...

SUSA had three polls out yesterday:

• Ohio:

If there were an election for President of the United States today, and the only two names on the ballot were Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would you vote for?

Clinton leads McCain, 50% to 44%

What if it was John McCain against Democrat Barack Obama?

McCain leads Obama, 50% to 43%

• Missouri, same questions:

McCain leads Hillary, 48% to 46%
McCain leads Obama, 53% to 39%.

• Kentucky, same questions:

McCain leads Hillary, 53% to 43%
McCain leads Obama, 64% to 28%

The AP reports that Gallup daily tracking polls shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama 49% to 42% on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Will Obama's race speech turn the tide for him?

The New York Times says Hillary has to win Pennsylvania and lead in the popular vote (which doesn't include caucuses ) by the time the primaries end in June. [More...]

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...]

Via the Washington Post:

Rep. John P. Murtha has announced his endorsement of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, bringing his clout as a 17-term member of the House and a prominent anti-war Democrat to bear with more than a month until the primary here in his home state.

“Sen. Clinton is the candidate that will forge a consensus on health care, education, the economy, and the war in Iraq,” Murtha wrote in a statement about his decision.

As to what convinced him:

“Her experience and careful consideration of these issues convinced me that she is best qualified to lead our nation and to bring credibility back to the White House,” Murtha said. He said he “whole-heartedly” recommends Clinton to all voters in his state.

Via TPM and Oliver Willis, Hillary Clinton was just on CNN and provided this statement about Barack Obama's race speech.

"I did not have a chance to see or to read yet Sen. Obama's speech. But I'm very glad that he gave it. It's an important topic. Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history, and they are complicated in this primary campaign.

"There have been detours and pitfalls along the way. But we should remember that this is an historic moment for the Democratic Party, and for our country. We will be nominating the first African-American or woman for the Presidency of the United States, and that is something that all Americans can and should celebrate."

Oliver, a staunch Obama supporter, says "Good on her." If you have more to say on the speech or Hillary's reaction, you can do so here.

Update: A reader writes in that Obama's speech today is similar to one given by Bill Clinton in 1995 commemorating the Million Man March.

In a new CNN poll, it's a statistical dead heat between McCain-Hillary and McCain-Obama.

• Hillary 49, McCain 47
• Obama 47, McCain 46

According to CNN Polling Director Keating Holland:

"Clinton appears to do a little bit better than Obama among older voters, women, and self-identified Democrats against McCain; Obama's numbers may be slightly better among younger voters and those who describe themselves as Republicans and Independents."

Update: Gallup's daily tracking has Hillary ahead of Obama today.

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.