Ignore the naysayers, Clinton urges West Virginians
Posted on Friday, May 9, 2008
CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Her voice raspy, her tone determined, Hillary Rodham Clinton urged her supporters on Thursday to ignore the political pundits who have declared her toast.
The former first lady raced into a long West Virginia-to-the-West Coast campaign day, declaring she would move forward with her presidential effort and insisting anew that she, not rival Barack Obama, would be the stronger Democratic candidate to face Republican John McCain in November.
At a rally under the dome of the West Virginia Capitol, Clinton dismissed calls for her to drop out as “deja vu all over again.” She said she had faced similar pressure before going on to win in New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
She made her case for pressing on, even as she thanked her supporters for doing the same.
“A lot of you have stuck with me; you’ve been through all the ups and downs in this campaign, the biggest victories and toughest moments,” Clinton said. “I think it is because you understand that you’ve got to have a president who gets up every day and fights for you, who never gives up on you.” Said Clinton as her audience cheered: “I’m running to be president of all 50 states. I think we ought to keep this going so the people of West Virginia’s voices are heard.” Republican campaign underdog and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Thursday that Clinton should ignore critics pressuring her to end her presidential run, telling CNN’s John Roberts that “she entered this thing to play to the finish line.” “It’s easy to play horse race with this and say, ‘Gosh, she ought to drop out, ’” he said on CNN’s American Morning. “She’s playing by the rules that the party set, just as I played by the rules that the Republican Party set.
“ You know it’s frustrating to those of us who spend all of this time, effort and money — we get our supporters out there, we play by the rules that we’re handed and then somebody says, ‘ It looks like the way this is gonna end is different than we want, so why don’t you go ahead and quit ?’ “ I got to give Hillary some credit that: Yeah, it doesn’t look like she’s gonna get the nomination. But she entered this thing to play to the finish line — and I think that’s what she’s attempting to do.” FLORIDA REQUEST Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation called on the national party Thursday to seat the state’s delegation based on its January primary, and the state party is growing more hopeful that the campaigns will agree on a plan by the end of the month. The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of their convention delegates for holding their primaries too early in violation of party rules. Clinton won Florida with 50 percent of the vote to Obama’s 33 percent.
“These are clear indications that — just like in other places throughout the country — Florida voters are tired of Republicans and are demanding a new direction in our country,” Florida’s nine Democratic members of Congress said in a letter to national party chief Howard Dean. “All of this will be lost, however, if we do not find a solution to this ongoing controversy that fully seats all of Florida’s 211 delegates.” Florida party spokesman Mark Bubriski told The Associated Press that Florida officials have been talking with Obama and Clinton campaign representatives about recognizing all, or part, of Florida’s 211 delegates. Michigan Democrats also approved a plan to divide the state’s delegates between Clinton and Obama. The state party’s executive committee would give Clinton 69 delegates and Obama 59. It will ask the Democratic National Committee to approve the plan at its May 31 meeting, said Elizabeth Kerr, state party spokesman.
While Michigan’s plan would give Clinton 10 more delegates than Obama, that won’t be enough to overcome Obama’s lead in delegates. Clinton was lobbying for the result to be counted as 73 delegates for her and 55 for Obama, and Obama argued the delegates should be divided equally. The state party proposes splitting the difference between the two, Kerr said.
Clinton campaign officials were critical of the idea.
“This proposal does not honor the 600, 000 votes that were cast in Michigan’s January primary. Those votes must be counted,” said Isaac Baker, a Clinton spokesman.
Obama’s spokesman said the campaign was still talking with Michigan officials. “It is clear results in January won’t be used to allocate delegates, and we agree with that decision,” said the Obama campaign’s Bill Burton. “We have been talking with Michigan leaders about this proposal and continue to do so.” ‘LOSING HIS BEARINGS’ Obama said Thursday that McCain tried to smear him and was “losing his bearings” with the suggestion that Hamas preferred Obama for president. “This is offensive and I think it’s disappointing, because John McCain always says, well, I’m not going to run that kind of politics and that engages in that kind of smear I think is unfortunate, particularly since my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his,” Obama said Thursday in an interview with CNN. “For him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination,” Obama said. “We don’t need name-calling in this debate.” McCain made his comment about the Palestinian organization that the United States has labeled a terrorist group during a conference call last month.
MCCAIN TAX RETURNS Cindy McCain said Thursday that she will never make her tax returns public. “You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate,” Cindy McCain said in an interview aired on NBC’s Today.
Asked if she would release her tax returns if she were first lady, Cindy McCain said: “No.” The Arizona senator released his tax return last month, reporting he had a total income of $ 405, 409 in 2007 and paid $ 84, 460 in federal income taxes. He files his return separately from his wife, an heiress to a Phoenix-based beer distributing company whose fortune is in the $ 100 million range. Sen. McCain is routinely is ranked among the richest lawmakers in Congress, but he and his wife have kept their finances separate throughout their marriage. A prenuptial agreement left much of the family’s assets in Cindy McCain’s name. Democratic chief Dean said Cindy McCain’s refusal to release her tax returns gives the appearance of a double standard on the part of her husband.
OBAMA ENDORSED David Bonior, a former congressman who ran John Edwards ’ campaign, endorsed Obama on Thursday.
Bonior said Obama is the best candidate to address the issues that were at the center of Edwards’ unsuccessful bid for the party’s nomination.
“I’m confident that we’re going to have a real champion for workers in Sen. Obama when he’s president of the United States,” Bonior said on a conference call with reporters.
Edwards, a former North Carolina senator with strong ties to labor unions, has stayed neutral in the race between Obama and Clinton since dropping out in January. Bonior said he spoke with Edwards last weekend, though he wouldn’t provide any details or say who Edwards may support.
“He’ll make up his decision when he’s ready,” Bonior said.
Bonior, 62, said he was impressed by Obama’s ability to handle controversy, including the furor over his relationship with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
“It’s going to be a difficult fight against Sen. McCain,” Bonior said. Obama has “shown great skill, great poise, and great determination of spirit, and I was looking for that fighting spirit.” Information for this article was contributed by Beth Fouhy and Brent Kallestad of The Associated Press and Christopher Stern, Kristin Jensen and Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg News.
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