Posted on 02/13/2008 12:56:53 PM PST by traumer
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Trying to overcome a string of losses and a staff shake-up, Hillary Rodham Clinton sought new energy Tuesday night from a boisterous crowd of about 12,000 in a state she hopes will provide a rebound in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton, whose rallies had been overshadowed by rival Barack Obama's huge crowds, arrived at the packed University of Texas at El Paso basketball arena as voters were giving Obama victories in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
But her sights were set on the March 4 Texas and Ohio primaries and on President Bush.
"I'm tested, I'm ready, let's make it happen," she yelled to cheering supporters.
She slipped into a "you all" and criticized Bush, the former Texas governor.
"There's a great saying in Texas," she said, "all hat and no cattle. Well after seven years of George Bush, we need a lot less hat and lot more cattle."
Clinton did not mention Tuesday's results, but there were lingering signs of the disquiet in her campaign.
Her deputy campaign manager resigned Tuesday, the latest departure in a staff shake-up follows string of losses to Barack Obama.
In an e-mail message to staffers, Mike Henry said he was stepping down to allow campaign manager Maggie Williams to build her own team. Williams replaced Patti Solis Doyle during the weekend. Solis Doyle had recruited Henry to join the campaign last year.
"Out of respect for Maggie and her new leadership team, I thought it was the best thing to do," Henry wrote. "As someone who has managed campaigns, I share the unique understanding of the challenges that the campaign will face over the next several weeks. Our campaign needs to move quickly to build a new leadership team, support them and their decisions and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the winning outcome for which we have all worked so hard for over a year now."
It was unclear whether Henry was forced out.
Obama continued to rack up wins Tuesday, beating Clinton by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in Virginia and also winning easily in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Henry was the campaign's main field architect and was best known for writing a memo in the spring urging Clinton not to compete in Iowa, "our consistently weakest state." The memo was leaked to the news media, which embarrassed Clinton as she was beginning to build an organization in Iowa.
Clinton placed third in Iowa, behind Obama and John Edwards, who has since left the race. Her campaign has struggled since then.
Guy Cecil, another top field strategist, was expected to succeed Henry.
Clinton did not spend much time or money in the Potomac River region. She canceled a tentative event in the Washington area as voting was under way Tuesday.
Instead, she spent about an hour in a makeshift television studio in her Arlington, Va., national headquarters conducting interviews via satellite with 10 television stations in Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin.
She made it clear that the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas were crucial milestones in her campaign.
"Ohio is really going to count in determining who our Democratic nominee is going to be," she told WCPO in Cincinnati. She reminded Texans that her first job in politics was for the Democratic Party in 1972 registering Hispanic voters in South Texas. "I still have friends from those experiences," she said.
Clinton also planned to campaign in Wisconsin, which holds its primary on Feb. 19. But she told one interviewer in Milwaukee that the race there was "an uphill challenge."
"I'm the underdog candidate in that race," she said.
She is airing television ads statewide in Ohio and Texas. She also is placing Spanish language ads in Texas. On Tuesday she also began airing ads in Wisconsin. She planned to go to Ohio late Wednesday and then to Wisconsin on Saturday.
Thunder Thigh's campaign managers should quit. Oops...they already did! Guess that didn't help. LOL
I didn't think there were enough Dems left in Texas to throw a good kegger in Austin.....
“it is stupid to campaign against Bush in Texas”...Bush won there over and over by large numbers” I went to see Jose Feliciano in Austin a couple of months ago. He started bad mouthing Bush and the audience booed him. Got to give the blind guy credit he stopped his bashing of Bush and just moved on. Someone should have told him he was in Texas.
In Shrillary's case; No engine and All caboose.
I agree, definitely. After all these years, to let some young upstart, done nothin' nobody, walk in and snatch it all away? No way Jose'. It will be ugly though, and the nomination may be a Pyrrhic victory in the end.
It looks like she’s wearing Kerry’s hair.
Billery is toast. Doesn't even matter if she wins Texas and Ohio, she still trails in delegates unless she buries Barry Hussain. His camp is now saying she must win 70% from now on. Ain't gonna happen.
Is GWB running for a third term?
She needs a lot less ass and a lot more brain.
“she always smiles big and points to people in the crowd”.
Very minor pet peeve of mine but why does she do that. It’s every time I see even a bit of one of her appearances. Walk to center of stage wave and smile at crowd, take a few steps to the right point and smile like she just recognized someone, back to center of stage smile and wave again, then step to left point and smile again. I know damn well she does not see someone she knows in crowd at each campaign stop. So very phony!!
Have you noticed the exaggerated nodding that Hillary has added to her speeches? Someone in her campaign should tell her that it makes her look like a bobble-head doll.
I thought her plan was to get the Michigan and Florida delegates seated. Both are areas where she broke the rules to get on the ballot (Michigan) and campaigned (Florida).
How many were BUSSED IN???
None, I’m guessing. There’s no place around for them to be bussed from. El Paso is pretty isolated. It’s also a very poor city and a Democrat stronghold. It’s just the sort of place that she’s promising to spend loads of your money. Is it any surprise that she fills a basketball arena with adoring fans there? There’s a good reason she picked El Paso to start her Texas campaign.
Why am I reminded of Quickdraw McGraw and Babalouey??
You’re headed for your Alamo, Hillarybaby, and you ain’t gonna survive.
I’ll tell you, watching the Clintons crash and burn is the only pleasure I’m getting from this campaign season. We’ve suffered the Fall of Fred and the Rise of McCain, two very painful things to watch.
But here is the consolation prize: the stake in the heart of the Clinton double-beastoid.
What a beautiful sight it will be!
No, Amarillo has. Here in Randall County, Texas Panhandle, we don’t even have a Democrat Party. Not to speak of. I think there may be 40 of them. Used to be all conservative Democrats like the rest of the state, but when Lyndon Johnson lost to Barry Goldwater in ‘64 here, Old Lyndon immediately closed down the air base, and threw the town into an economic disaster. We rebounded, but since that time the Democrat Party has lost almost all of it’s members. They all became “Conservative Republicans”.
Amen!
It looks that way to me, too, that it’s slipping away from Hillary. If it stays close, though, look for the mother of all battles over the Florida and Michigan delegates.
>Is GWB running for a third term?<
You’d think so!
They all seem to fall back on the BDS platform when they run out of their own steam.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.