Posted on 04/28/2008 1:02:17 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton now leads John McCain by 9 points in a head-to-head presidential matchup, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that bolsters her argument that she is more electable than Democratic rival Barack Obama.
The survey released Monday gives the New York senator and former first lady a fresh talking point as she works to raise much-needed campaign cash and persuade pivotal undecided superdelegates to side with her in the drawn-out Democratic primary fight.
Helped by independents, young people and seniors, Clinton gained ground this month in a hypothetical match with Sen. McCain, the GOP nominee-in-waiting. She now leads McCain, 50 percent to 41 percent, while Obama remains virtually tied with McCain, 46 percent to 44 percent.
Both Democrats were roughly even with McCain in the previous poll about three weeks ago.
Since then, Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary, raising questions anew about whether Obama can attract broad swaths of voters needed to triumph in such big states come the fall when the Democratic nominee will go up against McCain.
Added Steve Lombardo, a GOP pollster: "This just reinforces the sentiment that a lot of Republican strategists are having right now -- that Clinton might actually be the more formidable fall candidate for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Obama can't seem to get his footing back."
(Excerpt) Read more at nv.clari.net ...
I’m a long time Ditto Head who thinks Rush has missed the boat big time on this issue. Hillary was on ropes a month ago, and with the help of Rush and others she is making a come back... Lord help us all!
so why was his mega millions contract signed during the Bush years and not the clinton years?
By that absurd logic, the Mario Cuomo show or Err Amerika should be booming because only the opposition is able to get ratings.
By that logic FNC should have ratings when a Demcrat is in office and CNN should have high ratings when a republican is in office.
Ratings are based on talent not your foils.
follow the money.
How much money did Obama have to spend to fight Hillary? How much did hillary collect to fight obama (and lend her campaign)?
Money that did not go to local candidates.
Newsflash, you have THREE democrat senators running for office. McCain the pro-amnesty, gang of 14 buffoon.
McCain insulted the NC GOP but we did not hear about teh GOP civil war. Why? because the DBM is too busy covering the DEMOCRAT CIVIL WAR.
Rush needs to do another civil war theme update.
What were the other 198 voters polled?
It's hard to take any polling numbers for the general election this far out from the election seriously, even if there weren't over-sampling going on.
"He's now basing this resumption in "operation chaos" on the flimsy premise that "a TV station in Indianapolis thinks they caused the operational pause in Operation Chaos.""
Really? That's not what your link says.
"I don't want to deflate them. I don't want to ruin their day out there in the newsroom at WISH-TV, but the operational pause in Operation Chaos was due strictly to the Obama press conference yesterday while we awaited what I knew was going to happen, media reaction, because we had to determine what course of action we would order next given the media reaction to Obama yesterday."
You are sounding hysterical. You might want to get a grip before you hurt something.
Well, so much for the age theory,I guess.
Based upon these updates to the delegate/superdelegate count and how the power is being shifted, etcetera...
One might be led to believe that Rush’s approach has been wisdom. The delegate count appears TOO close now for either one to gain the needed 2,025 in order to clinch the nomination outright, but although Hitlery (still) holds the leaad in the SuperDelegate count, buh-Rockstar Hussein Obamessiah is picking up ninnies (S-Ds) at a faster pace.
If this trend even so much as stagnates at this point, let alone continues, or accelerates - the count WILL BE TOO CLOSE to declare a clear-cut winner going into the Demo convention in Denver, neither having gained 2,025.
That represents one of two possibilities. My previously mentioned “Nightmare Scenario” {See Post #334} is one.
The other is a Demo convention in disarray and some level of political {and maybe real!} chaos, with both candidates still lobbying for delegates and Supers to pledge themselves...
Let them go right in the doors of their own convention with the nomination undecided, and a table spread with contentious issues to fight over. Like some have said - get out the popcorn!
For instance...
The black Democrat vote being what it is - do we really think Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson - the “Rev. Shakedown” twins - are NOT going to show up and grandstand jockeying with one another AND Obama for position in the limelight AND a place at the “Power Table”?
Also, do we HONESTLY believe that Hillary trying to forcibly usurp the delegate lead of the popular and likeable Obamessiah will play well with the black Demos on a national stage? Heck, even now, two formerly staunch Klinton supporters have chosen to back buh-Rockstar Obamessiah - Lois Capps, and Joe Andrew.
Both of these pretenders to the Oval Office are dangerous to America. Both must be defeated. Like it or not (and I don’t) McCain and his Veep-to-be-named ARE the alternative.
Let’s just cut to the chase and start tossing out Veep contender suggestions.
I’ll make my case for Marc Racicot (though there are others I would readily accept).
I have personally always liked former Montana Gov., Marc Racicot. I have met him personally on at least three different occasions, and he possesses a youthful vigor, and energy, and a quiet sort of charisma.
Racicot is a staunchly PRO-LIFE, Catholic Christian, loves America and served his country honorably in the US Army (he was a Capt. at discharge) later served as a deputy DA, then a State AG, and two successful terms as Governor. He proved himself a capable leader, and administrator, well able to work with others. He has since been a leading presence as a GOP fundraiser.
Racicot is a husband, father, and principled family man to his very core. Above all else, he is a thoroughly decent human being, and while not so egotistical that he has to hold the first seat at the table, he is service-minded enough to respond when he knows he is needed.
We need him - or someone very much like him on the GOP ticket!
AP Newsbreak...
______________________________________________________
“Party leaders are encouraging superdelegates to pick a side by late June to prevent the fight from going to the national convention in August, and it seems some are listening as the race enters its final five weeks of voting.
Chelsea Clinton got a superdelegate for her mom while campaigning in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, just as Obama press secretary Bill Burton sent out a statement announcing the support of Rep. Lois Capps. The statement didn’t mention the personal connection — Capps is Burton’s mother-in-law.
Clinton had a big jump start among superdelegates, many of whom have ties to the Clintons and backed her candidacy early on. But most of the superdelegates taking sides recently have gone for Obama, who has won more state contests.
Obama trails Clinton by just 21 superdelegates, 243-264, cutting her lead in half in less than two months. This week, he picked up seven delegates to her four.
The superdelegate chase is a key piece of good news for Obama in what has been a bad week. The Illinois senator is coming off a big loss in Pennsylvania, steeped in controversy surrounding his outspoken former pastor while Clinton fares better against Republican likely nominee John McCain in the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll.
But the problems aren’t stopping his ability to win support from superdelegates who are likely to cast the deciding votes in the Democratic race.
Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa said he decided to endorse Obama even though his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has been creating waves by making controversial statements and suggesting that Obama secretly agrees with him. Obama denounced Wright in a news conference Tuesday and said the pastor does not speak for him.
“That’s been one of the most frustrating things about this prolonged campaign, is we seemed to have gotten away from the critical issues that started this campaign during the Iowa caucuses and now it’s more about the side spectacle than the issues that voters really care about,” Braley said. “I’m confident that he has taken this issue head-on. He has addressed it in a thoughtful and enlightened way.”
Superdelegates are nearly 800 elected leaders and Democratic party officials who aren’t bound by the outcome of state contests and can cast their ballot for any candidate at the national convention. They are especially valuable in this race since neither Clinton nor Obama can get enough delegates to win the nomination through the primaries and caucuses held across the country.
Obama now leads in the delegate count overall 1731.5 to 1598.5 for Clinton. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win the nomination. About 230 superdelegates remain undecided, and about 60 more will be selected at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring.
Clinton had stalled in drawing their support as Obama won more states than she, but Clinton won Pennsylvania last week and has been able to announce a new supporter every day this week — two on Wednesday.
The Clinton campaign said Luisette Cabanas, vice chair of the Democratic Committee in Puerto Rico, came on board while the candidate’s daughter Chelsea was campaigning on the island. Cabanas cited Clinton’s policies, especially on health care, as “the best by far of any candidate in history.”
“Today I endorse Hillary Clinton for president because of her strong win in Pennsylvania,” Cabanas said in a statement. “She has shown a firm conviction and the character needed to lead the nation.”
Capps said it wasn’t an easy decision to pick between Obama and Clinton. She has family ties to both candidates — Obama’s spokesman is married to her daughter, Laura Burton Capps, who also worked in the Clinton White House.
Lois Capps filled the congressional seat held by her late husband, Walter Capps, when he died suddenly 10 years ago. Bill Clinton had campaigned for Walter Capps and presided over his congressional memorial service.
Capps said Hillary Clinton would be a great president and fill a dream for those who have fought for women’s rights. But she said Obama’s call for a change in Washington was the most important factor in winning her support.
“Walter once said that ‘we are strongest as people when we are directed by that which unites us, rather than giving into the fears, suspicions, innuendoes and paranoias that divide,’” she said in a statement. “For years I have been waiting for a president that speaks to that vision. I believe Barack Obama may very well be that rare leader.”
Two of the most important superdelegates to sign on this week come from the states that vote next — North Carolina and Indiana, which hold primaries on May 6 and are the largest states left to vote. Obama got the support of Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana, while Clinton won the backing of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley even though Obama is expected to win the state.
___________________________________________________________
AP NewsBreak: Former Democratic leader switches to Obama
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton switched his allegiance to Barack Obama on Thursday and urged fellow Democrats to end the bruising nomination fight.
“This has got to come to an end,” former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew told reporters in his hometown of Indianapolis just days before Tuesday’s crucial state primary. He said he planned to call all the other superdelegates he knows and encourage them to back Obama.
Bill Clinton appointed Andrew chairman of the DNC in 1999, and he led the party through the disputed 2000 presidential race before stepping down in 2001. Andrew endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton last year on the day she declared her candidacy for the White House.
In a lengthy letter explaining his decision, Andrew said he is switching his support because “a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists (Republican) John McCain.”
“The ship is taking on water right now,” Andrew said at the news conference. “We need to patch those holes, heal the rift and go forward to beat John McCain.”
Asked for a response to Andrew’s decision, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said, “We support that Democratic process and think that every American should be able to weigh in and support the candidate of his or her own choosing.”
Andrew said the Obama campaign never asked him to switch his support, but he decided to do so after watching Obama’s handling of two issues in recent days. He said Obama took the principled stand in opposing a summer gas tax holiday that both Clinton and McCain supported, even though it would have been easier politically to back it. And he said he was impressed with Obama’s handling of the controversy surrounding his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Wright’s outspoken criticisms of the United States have threatened Obama’s candidacy. Obama initially refused to denounce his former pastor, but he did so this week after Wright suggested that Obama secretly agrees with him.
“He has shown such mettle under fire,” Andrew said in the interview. “The Jeremiah Wright controversy just reconfirmed for me, just as the gas tax controversy confirmed for me, that he is the right candidate for our party.”
Andrew’s decision puts Obama closer to closing Clinton’s superdelegate lead. Clinton had a big advantage among superdelegates, many of whom like Andrew have ties to the Clintons and backed her candidacy early on. But most of the superdelegates taking sides recently have gone for Obama, who has won more state contests.
Obama now trails her by just 16 superdelegates, 247-263. This week, he picked up 11 superdelegates, including three add-on delegates named by the Illinois Democratic Party, while she netted three.
Superdelegates are nearly 800 elected leaders and Democratic Party officials who aren’t bound by the outcome of state contests and can cast their ballot for any candidate at the national convention. They are especially valuable in this race since neither Clinton nor Obama can win enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination through state-by-state elections.
Obama now leads in the delegate count overall 1735.5 to 1597.5 for Clinton. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win the nomination. About 230 superdelegates remain undecided, and about 60 more will be selected at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring.
Other party leaders are encouraging superdelegates to pick a side by late June to prevent the fight from going to the national convention in August. Andrews wrote in his letter that he is calling for “fellow superdelegates across the nation to heal the rift in our party and unite behind Barack Obama.”
It’s the second endorsement for Obama this week that could be influential in Indiana. Rep. Baron Hill, who represents a crucial swing district in the state, endorsed Obama on Wednesday. Clinton has the backing of Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who has a vast organization in the state and has been campaigning aggressively with the former first lady.
Obama and Clinton are running close in Indiana and both need a victory there — Obama to help rebound from a loss to Clinton in Pennsylvania and to prove he can win Midwestern voters, and Clinton so she can overcome Obama’s lead in the race overall
"Let them go right in the doors of their own convention with the nomination undecided, and a table spread with contentious issues to fight over. Like some have said - get out the popcorn!"
That's what OC is all about.
Hopefully, there won't be a popcorn shortage at convention time! ;o)
Too, Howard switching to Obama is terrible for Hillary.
Throw in Recreate 68 and the FL delegation if they aren't seated, and we have the makings of must see tee vee 24/7 during the convention.
I like your idea of Marc Racicot as VP. I've always admired him.
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.