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Clinton aides now insist losses in Texas and Ohio tomorrow will not force her to quit race
thisislondon.co.uk ^ | 03.03.08

Posted on 03/03/2008 8:09:36 AM PST by bahblahbah

Desperate Hillary Clinton will stay in the White House race even if she loses tomorrow's pivotal primaries in Texas and Ohio, top aides claimed today.

The former First Lady had staked her political future on wins – with even her husband, former President Bill Clinton, saying she would drop out if she lost the make-or-break contests.

But, as rival Barack Obama closed in on Mrs Clinton's once formidable leads in the two states, her spin machine has changed their tune and insisted she would not give up.

Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, said: "There are 16 remaining contests after Tuesday.

"There's nothing wrong with letting the people in the remaining jurisdictions have their say."

And Mrs Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson, insised "onus" was on Obama to win Texas and Ohio as well as the tiny states of Vermont and Rhode Island which are also holding primaries.

The latest polls show Clinton retains a small lead in Ohio of just four per cent – but the margin has been continually narrowing.

And In Texas, where the New York senator once enjoyed a double-digit lead, her advantage has all but vanished and the race is now seen as a dead heat.

Some polls claim Mr Obama, the Illinois senator who currently holds a 112-delegate lead following an impressive 11 wins in a row, is even ahead by four points in the Lone Star state.

Victories in Texas and Ohio – with 228 and 161 delegates respectively on offer – would give him an unstoppable advantage in his bid to become the Democrat candidate and America's first black president.

And it was previously thought that if Mrs Clinton lost she would then step down in a bid to heal rifts within the party and allow her rival to battle head-to-head with likely Republican candidate John McCain.

Mr Clinton himself had suggested his wife would drop out after a loss, saying last month: “If she wins Texas and Ohio, I think she will be the nominee. “If you don't deliver for her then I don't think she can be."

It has been feared that staying in the race would spark a donor revolt and defections by exhausted aides, culminating with superdelegates asking her to quit for the good of the party.

"They are going to have a very hard choice to make after Tuesday if she loses Texas or Ohio," Mr Obama's top adviser David Axelrod said. "There are people in the party who are very concerned about this turning into some kind of a Bataan Death March."

But the don't-quit camp is also taking solace from a rejuvenated fundraising operation that is now competitive with Obama's.

The campaign broke its one-month cash record in February, raising more than $30 million in small online donations after Clinton announced she loaned her campaign $5 million.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: clinton; txprimary
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Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, said: "There are 16 remaining contests after Tuesday.

"There's nothing wrong with letting the people in the remaining jurisdictions have their say."

1 posted on 03/03/2008 8:09:40 AM PST by bahblahbah
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To: bahblahbah
"Clinton aides now insist losses in Texas and Ohio tomorrow will not force her to quit race"

Translation: Our internal poling sez Dandy Don and the Fat Lady is singing in Ohio and Texas for Hilly.

2 posted on 03/03/2008 8:12:02 AM PST by Mad Dawgg ("`Eddies,' said Ford, `in the space-time continuum.' `Ah,' nodded Arthur, `is he? Is he?'")
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To: bahblahbah

Besides don’t you know that with the advent of law suits and shameless ploys for delegates the Clinton can turn any loss into a victory


3 posted on 03/03/2008 8:12:34 AM PST by IMissPresidentReagan ("Don't give up your ideals, don't compromise, don't turn to expediency..."Ronald Reagan, 1976)
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To: bahblahbah
Amazing how many delegates this will buy.


4 posted on 03/03/2008 8:13:48 AM PST by ladtx ( "Never miss a good chance to shut up." - - Will Rogers)
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To: Mad Dawgg
Run Hillary Run.....

(My mirror image bumber sticker on the front of my truck.)

5 posted on 03/03/2008 8:14:43 AM PST by spokeshave (Hey GOP...NO money till border closed and criminal illegals deported)
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To: bahblahbah
"There are people in the party who are very concerned about this turning into some kind of a Bataan Death March."

Earth to Obama: You or Hillary might pass for General Yamashita in your lust for power, but John McCain ain't no Doug McArthur.

6 posted on 03/03/2008 8:17:44 AM PST by Vigilanteman
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To: IMissPresidentReagan

Oh, I sincerely hope so.
This scenario HAS to occur:

Obama goes into the convention with both a delegate and popular lead.
The Clintons pull out every trick in the book to get the nomination.
The base dhimmicrat electorate is so ticked off that they refuse to vote for her, while the conservative base shows up to vote AGAINST her.
We keep a dhimmicrat out of office and more importantly, keep the Clintons out of office.


7 posted on 03/03/2008 8:18:14 AM PST by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: bahblahbah


Eggggg-cellent.

8 posted on 03/03/2008 8:20:22 AM PST by Petronski (Nice job, Hillary. Now go home and get your shine box.)
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To: MrB

I’m so enjoying the in fighting right now that I’ve almost forgotten to be depressed about McCain. :) I swear this has been the most enjoyable election just to watch the Clintons self destruct, and the potential of Hillary swiping the nomination from Obama is just too good to imagine.


9 posted on 03/03/2008 8:20:33 AM PST by IMissPresidentReagan ("Don't give up your ideals, don't compromise, don't turn to expediency..."Ronald Reagan, 1976)
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To: bahblahbah
She shouldn’t quit. There’s 241 possible delegates out of Florida that didn’t get their vote counted even though their vote was overwhelmingly Clinton. She should take this all the way to the convention and make Obama work for the win. This isn’t even counting the 156 out of Michigan that didn’t get counted. There is determined to be a split in the Party and Screamin Dean knows it but he’s trying to put the happy face on it.
10 posted on 03/03/2008 8:21:37 AM PST by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: bahblahbah

Now some are saying that Obama is NOT eligible to even run for President of the United States because he was born in Hawaii FOUR YEARS BEFORE HAWAII BECAME A STATE.


11 posted on 03/03/2008 8:23:36 AM PST by LetsRok
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To: bahblahbah

With Hillary playing the fear factor in her red phone commercial I wonder how she feels about Bill’s comments in 2004.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe0BPwWAxnk


12 posted on 03/03/2008 8:23:59 AM PST by vietvet67
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To: bahblahbah

I have a feeling Mrs. Clinton will win tomorrow. Not sure why. It could be that I see a little more attention being paid to BHO’s positions on some things and he is being revealed for the rather typical leftist that he is. And the experience thing may sway a few voters - it certainly should if they have any regard for the nation at all. These enthusiams tend to rise every so often in politics and they tend to subside almost as quickly. BHO may have peaked and at least one poll this morning shows Mrs. Clinton’s numbers in Texas improving a little.


13 posted on 03/03/2008 8:26:13 AM PST by scory
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To: MrB

Since the next POTUS will be a Democrat, it is important for the Clinton’s to be defeated early, instead of it going to the Convention to decide.

America is poised to get a lesson in economics that will rival and perhaps surpass 1929. The generations who were born with everything handed to them will soon learn what the concept of “Appreciation” truly means.


14 posted on 03/03/2008 8:27:02 AM PST by PSYCHO-FREEP (Juan McCain....Viva El Presidente! "I'm not prejudice, I hate everybody the same.")
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To: LetsRok
Now some are saying that Obama is NOT eligible to even run for President of the United States because he was born in Hawaii FOUR YEARS BEFORE HAWAII BECAME A STATE.

That won't fly. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona in 1909 when it was still a territory. Arizona became the 48th state in 1912. Goldwater was considered eligible to be president.

15 posted on 03/03/2008 8:29:50 AM PST by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: scory
Mrs. Clinton

?

Aretha Franklin on Free Republic singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T ?
16 posted on 03/03/2008 8:30:09 AM PST by Revolting cat! (We all need someone we can bleed on...)
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To: spokeshave
Run Hillary Run.....

(My mirror image bumber sticker on the front of my truck.)

Hillaryous!

Run Hillaryous Run!

17 posted on 03/03/2008 8:30:46 AM PST by PGalt
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To: scory
I have a feeling Mrs. Clinton will win tomorrow. Not sure why. It could be that I see a little more attention being paid to BHO’s positions on some things and he is being revealed for the rather typical leftist that he is.

These are primaries - being a leftist isn't a problem, it's a requirement.

Run as hard as you can to the extreme in the primaries, then run as hard as you can back to the center for the general.

18 posted on 03/03/2008 8:32:25 AM PST by highball ("I never should have switched from scotch to martinis." -- the last words of Humphrey Bogart)
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To: bahblahbah

Mary Matalin’s talking point on Sunday was, “Obama hasn’t closed the deal.” As if Clinton has! Although Matalin is obviously for the GOP, she is highlighting the double standard between the two Dems. If anyone was ever obliged to make the sale or close the deal, it was Hillary Clinton. Obama has won twice as many contests, and it’s Clinton who hasn’t delivered, but nobody seems to expect her to do so. It’s as if all she must do is hang in there until Obama runs out of air. She’s the nominee unless Obama can prove otherwise. Well, nobody calls the Democrats logical.


19 posted on 03/03/2008 8:32:51 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
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To: LetsRok

That’s an odd claim, since Hawaii became a state in 1959 and he was born in 1961. Are they questioning his birth date?


20 posted on 03/03/2008 8:33:00 AM PST by Petronski (Nice job, Hillary. Now go home and get your shine box.)
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