Bill Clinton fired up over Nevada's strip caucuses

SFGate.com ^ | 1/16/08 | Carla Marinucci

[NormsRevenge]

Former President Bill Clinton got positively riled -- as in steely-eyed -- today when pressed by a local TV reporter on the issue of lawsuits filed by Sen. Hillary Clinton's Nevada supporters to challenge the Jan. 19 Democratic "at large'' caucus locations that will serve workers on the Las Vegas strip. Many of those workers are members of the 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union -- which has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama.

Clinton was in Oakland to talk up the home mortgage crisis on behalf of his wife's presidential campaign. ...

But it got fiery indeed when San Francisco's ABC 7 News bulldog politics reporter Mark Matthews grabbed him afterwards and pressed him on the Nevada lawsuits.

Matthews asked politely why the ''at-large'' caucus locations have been challenged by members of the teachers union -- many of them Hillary supporters. (The critics say the Strip location caucuses will give culinary union members an unfair advantage, one other workers don't have, to participate in the Nevada caucuses during their work hours.)

Matthews asked Clinton about the perception that the challenges were filed only after the culinary union's recent Obama endorsement.

Clinton, just inches from his face, fired back.

''There were teachers who filed the lawsuit. You have asked the question in an accusatory way, so I will ask you back,'' the former president said. ''Do you really believe that all the Democrats understood that they had agreed to give people who worked in the casino a vote worth five times as much as people who voted in their own precinct?''

''Did you know that? Their votes will be counted five times more powerfully, in terms of delegates to the state convention, compared to delegates to the antional convention.''

Matthews noted the state party approved the set up.

[enough_idiocy]

Tammy Bruce noticed he does this each week on the night before the primary. She theorizes that he does it to remind voters of him before they vote and to show the clintons have a backbone. it’s happened back to back primaries, and she’s “won” both (not as measured by delegates however).

[Lee'sGhost]

Here in the South we would call BJ’s “snaky temper” a hissyfit.

[NormsRevenge]

the morning talk shows, at least the nbc ones re-inforced the idea that the clintons are a package deal, he is her running mate and woe to any one who accepts the Veep slot..

if that isn’t enough to give folks the willies or the willards , I don’t know what will.

[enough_idiocy]

They’ve been caught up in so many scandals and have had to explain remarks so many times in the last year alone that it amazes me she’s even in the race at this point. What it tells me is that people simply are not paying attention and/or don’t care. It’s frustrating to see these two still in the game.