Hillary’s Voice

I will be a guest on Head-On with Bob Kincaid today at 6:00 PM ET.  Listen to Bob from 6:00 to 9:00 PM ET every weekday on the Head-On Radio Network.

Clinton sheds tough image (Washington Times)
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Meet the softer side of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gone is the tough and all-business presidential candidate who regularly blared at rival Sen. Barack Obama, who lately is instead battling self-inflicted wounds. In her place is what most people who know her well say was there all along — a warm and engaging woman willing to laugh at herself. “I’m riding shotgun!” Mrs. Clinton exclaimed to local radio jocks while joining an Indiana commuter for his trek to work yesterday, explaining that because of her security she rarely gets to ride up front.
I think she’s finally having fun.

Electoral-Vote.com, April 30, 2008 (270 needed to win)
Clinton     291        McCain     247        Tie      0
Obama     243        McCain     269        Tie     26
Click through to see the maps.

Quinnipiac: Clinton Shows Strength in Swing States (Political Wire)
The new Quinnipiac Swing State Poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton riding strong support among white working class voters to beat Sen. John McCain in three key swing states — Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, if Obama is the Democratic nominee, he’s in a tight race with McCain in Florida and Ohio, but takes Pennsylvania. Said pollster Peter Brown: “If the super delegates are looking at electability, these results could be a shot in the arm for Sen. Clinton. No one has won the White House since 1960 without carrying two of these three swing states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And she clearly is running much better against Sen. McCain than is Sen. Obama, at least for now.”

Gallup Daily: Clinton 49%, Obama 45%
PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton has edged ahead of Barack Obama, 49% to 45%, in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.

 

The four percentage point Clinton advantage in the April 28-30 polling is not statistically significant, but suggests slight movement in her favor after she and Obama had been tied the previous six days. Obama had held a significant lead over Clinton throughout much of April. The current margin is the biggest in Clinton’s favor since March 17-19 polling.

Obama’s Image Slips, His Lead Over Clinton Disappears (Pew)
Democratic voters are not as positive about Barack Obama as they were a month ago. Somewhat smaller percentages of Democrats describe Obama in favorable terms, and he has lost his lead over Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. Nationally, Democratic voters are about evenly divided between Obama and Clinton; Obama holds a slight 47% to 45% edge. In late March, the Illinois senator held a 49% to 39% lead over his New York rival.

Loss and Furor Take Toll on Obama, Poll Finds (New York Times)
WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama’s aura of inevitability in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination has diminished after his loss in the Pennsylvania primary and amid the furor over his former pastor, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll… Fifty-one percent of Democratic primary voters say they expect Mr. Obama to win their party’s nomination, down from 69 percent a month ago… [A] month of upheaval — including a nearly 10-point loss to Mrs. Clinton in Pennsylvania — has taken a toll, and not just on Mr. Obama: 56 percent of Democrats described their party as divided… The survey suggests a very competitive race this November regardless of whom the Democrats nominate. The underlying political landscape continues to favor the Democrats, despite their divisions. Over all, 52 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, compared with 33 percent who said that about the Republican Party. [Emphasis added.]

Hillary is SO destroying the party: NBC/WSJ poll (thanks to Todd Beeton at MyDD)

Family Feud, Democratic style (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
It’s the Democratic presidential version of Family Feud. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared Thursday with Hillary Clinton in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and reminded the crowd that “there are some members of my family who have decided to do the wrong thing.” Translation: Folks like (Uncle) Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and (cousin) Caroline Kennedy are behind Barack Obama. Alas, said Robert, “my party is divided. My family is divided.” But listen to him, he insisted, because “I’ve known Hillary Clinton longer than they’ve known Barack Obama.” Twelve years, he said. But don’t despair, said Robert–”we’re all coming together after August,” family, party, etc.
If Obama’s people will apologize for and stop calling me a racist and white trash, and calling my candidate a whore, we can come together.  But not before.

Poll: Obama slips among Democrats (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Barack Obama has lost standing among Democrats in the last month, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center… The poll found Obama with a slight edge among Democrats, 47-45. In late March, he had a 49-39 lead. Kohut blamed the loss of Obama’s lead on white working class voters expressing more skeptical opinions about him. A recent McClatchy analysis showed that Obama has only won the white vote in seven of 30 caucuses and primaries where Democrats were polled after voting.

Sen. Clinton on Fox (by eriposte at The Left Coaster)
Following Sen. Obama’s recent appearance on Chris Wallace’s show on Fox News… Sen. Clinton appeared [Wednesday] on Bill O’Reilly’s show (insert string of rants by some of the people who have shown an unstinting and aggressive commitment to truthiness during this campaign). The section that aired [Wednesday] was one of the most impressive performances I have seen by any Democrat on Fox News and specifically on O’Reilly’s show. Sen. Clinton was funny but assertive, unabashedly progressive on income tax and healthcare and demolished many of the standard right-wing talking points and straw-men advanced by O’Reilly, leaving him a bit at loss for words…

For instance, note how she responded on “income redistribution”, on O’Reilly’s lie about low taxes during his youth, his claim that she will “bankrupt the country” with her healthcare plan and that he did not want to fund the healthcare of drug addicts or alcoholics. She was marvelous and did not let the loudmouth get the last word. I also loved how she turned almost every mention of a perceived “negative” about her (”Hillarycare”, tax-raiser, “polarizing”, etc.) into something that was neutral or positive - by tying it to broader policy issues and goals and to being a fighter. She even got in a funny dig about Fox’s fake “Fair and Balanced” motto. In essence, she “took on” Fox in a genial but assertive way and I don’t think O’Reilly knew what hit him. More Democrats like this, please!
Videos of Wednesday night’s appearance available at Taylor Marsh.

Hillary schools Bill O’Reilly on Universal healthcare (by SilentPatriot at Crooks and Liars)
Hillary Clinton doesn’t bite when BillO tries to bully her into admitting that her health care plan would “bankrupt the country.”  In fact, she quickly shuts down his straw man argument and schools him on why providing quality health care to all Americans is a moral issue while explaining clearly how she intends to pay for it.
Not to mention an economic issue and a competitiveness issue.  Click through to watch the video.

Hillary, Iraq and Iran (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
During tonight’s (Thursday) interview with Bill O’Reilly, Hillary was challenged regarding her plan to withdraw US forces from Iraq with Bill insisting that this would “show weakness” to Iran. I disagree with Hillary on one minor point–she said “we cannot win a military victory” in Iraq. We can, but. . .and it is a gargantuan but. We can achieve a military victory if we deploy over 450,000 troops and institute a draft. Well, that ain’t going to happen. And Hillary understands this. I would have said, “Unless we institute a draft and deploy close to half a million of our troops to Iraq, we cannot achieve a military victory.” Having briefed Senator Clinton I know she understands this nuance. Bill O’Reilly is wrong that a withdrawal of US forces will be seen as “weakness” by Iran. Iran actually welcomes the U.S. presence in Iraq and the actions of U.S. troops targeted against Sunni extremists and Al Qaeda. Why? Because Sunni extremists and Al Qaeda also represent a threat to Iran. Iran also is riding our coat tails in Afghanistan. Iran fears the Taliban as much as we do. The more Taliban we kill in Afghanistan the safer Iran feels.
Click here to watch the videos of last night’s appearance.

O’Reilly’s Torturers Bozo Parade (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Bill O’Reilly also challenged Hillary Clinton on the issue of torture. Hillary correctly noted that real experts with real experience in conducting interrogations recognize that torture is counterproductive and ineffective. “Not so” exclaimed Bill O’Reilly. He’s talked to two experts himself–George Tenet and Michael Scheuer. Unfortunately, I had chosen that moment to take a sip of coffee. I’ve spent the last hour cleaning said coffee off of my screen because I spewed when I heard O’Reilly front those two clowns as “experts.” George Tenet is an expert at ass kissing and torture voyeurism. He never got his hands dirty but sure enjoyed talking tough. And Michael Scheuer?
Click through for more.

THE APEX AND ZEBULON OF IT: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
What does it mean, then, to be an elitist? At the start of [Thursday’s] column, [Gail] Collins shows us, quite capably. Rolling her eyes, she chuckles at Bill Clinton’s recent schedule—and at his general outlook. What does “liberal” elitism look like? Here—let Collins show you…  “The man is perfectly happy to go anywhere as long as he gets to talk,” Collins purrs—and she lists the ghastly places where Clinton has recently spoken. Why, the man is even happy to speak at McSwain Extension Center! “Just sit him next to a human being…and he’s good to go,” Collins says…

Collins’ headline [Thursday] morning is this: “How Will It Play in Apex?” No doubt, we’re all supposed to enjoy a good laugh at the comedy provided by the no-name town’s name. (Luckily, Clinton didn’t appear at Zebulon, another suburb of high-tech Raleigh. We were thereby spared the word-play we’ve placed in our own deathless head.) Is something comic about life in Apex?… Decent people live in all the towns at which Collins rolls her eyes in amusement. Why, decent people might even be found taking classes at McSwain Extension! If they become aware of Collins’ column, they’ll hear its mockery, loud and clear. Dems and “liberals” have lost elections this way for many years.
Collins is a highly paid NYT columnist, so she probably doesn’t know that the rural counties Bill Clinton visited in Pennsylvania went overwhelmingly for Hillary.  He was so effective that he asked the campaign staff to double his appearances for the upcoming races.

Bill Clinton trumpets folksy message (Boston Globe)
DUNN, N.C. - Sporting a well-tailored suit and arriving in a chauffeured black car, Bill Clinton is quietly working to win over small-town crowds with a populist message: Don’t diss Wal-Mart shoppers. At one of a dizzying series of appearances this week on his wife’s behalf in rural North Carolina, the former president scoffed at an unnamed “snooty” columnist who had poked fun at his wooing of ordinary working folk. “They think we’re dumber than we are,” Clinton said from the front porch of a local museum, drawing hoots from the crowd. “I grew up in a place like this. I know people here are as smart as anywhere else. They haven’t figured that out yet,” Clinton said of the political and media establishment.

Give the Girl a Home Run (by izarradar at MyDD)
[Click through to read the very inspiring story of a college woman softball player who hit a home run and then was injured while running the bases.  One member of the other team, and then another, pick her up and carried her around the bases.] I thought of Hillary when I heard this story. She’s had her share of hecklers in the stands. The bias in the media has been relentless. She’s fallen several times rounding first. But she’s managed to get up, to work impossibly hard, filled each time with a renewed sense of dedication to doing her job, to working hard for the American people. She’s hit the ball hard, and it’s heading for the fence.  She deserves the home run.  But she needs that one special player to stand up for her, to give her a hand.  To acknowledge what she’s done, and how far she’s come, and how much more she can do to make us all a better people.  A nation defined in greatness again. One special player needs to reach out to her. And the voters will help carry her the rest of the way home.
The New York Times also reported this amazing sports story.  See, if women were in charge of the world and didn’t think they had to be more like men than men to get there, that we could use the good traits nature has given us, things would be very, very different.  Winning wouldn’t be the only thing, I assure you.

 

Instead, AP NewsBreak: Former Democratic leader switches to Obama
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 guy looks pretty stupid, considering the poll numbers above.  I guess he was blinded by the light and couldn’t see what’s happening.

Elevating the Discourse? (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
The person who kidnapped Josh Marshall is at it again: “So why is it that when Howard Wolfson gets asked about Andrew’s switching his endorsement from Clinton to Obama on MSNBC, he questions whether Andrews [sic] is really from Indiana. Why go there?” Are you freaking kidding me? This is the scandal of the day for Josh Marshall? Joe Andrew compares the Clintons to Rove and Lee Atwater and Marshall has the vapors because Wolfson mentioned in passing that Joe Andrew is a DC lawyer/lobbyist? Marshall has jumped the shark. Again.

Indianapolis Star Endorses Clinton (by NewHampster at MyDD)
“Experience makes Clinton better choice in primary”

North Carolina governor stars in new Clinton ad (On Politics, USA Today)
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new ad starring her most influential backer in North Carolina: Gov. Mike Easley. Easley says Americans can count on “Hillary” to turn the economy around and get tax cuts for the middle class.

It’s 32.1 degrees in Hell (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
I watched the second part of the Bill O’Reilly interview with Hillary tonight, and again she came through flawlessly. What was surprising was the commentary just after the last segment. Laura Ingraham actually paid Hillary Clinton a compliment. She described Hillary as “having fun”, “warm”, and that she “came across pretty strong”… As I was slowly picking my jaw off the floor, My partner turned to me and said, “you know, I don’t think Hell freezes over all at once. I think it’s more of a gradual process”. I don’t think I could have said it better myself. We have been watching the world gradually turn upside down over the last few months. Things and people we once trusted and believed in have turned on us. People we once were suspicious of seem reasonable. Every day brings a new level of surreality and sometimes it is hard to keep your bearings.

Joe Scarborough (on Morning Joe today, per a member of the HillarysVoice message group):
“A political athlete at the top of  her game”

Joe Klein (on Campbell Brown last night, per Taylor Marsh’s Hot Topics):
“Only an Improvised Explosive Device will take out Senator Clinton.”

Barack Milhous Obama
Barack was positively Nixonian.  He never heard of Reverend Wright!!!
He’s gay, liberal, and Catholic.
He’s straight, conservative and Jewish.
Can these two find middleground?
Tune in Saturdays at 4 – 5 PM ET to find out on WWNN (The Middle Ground)
Call in number is 888-565-1470

Party of Denial (by Paul Krugman)
During Barack Obama’s Sunday appearance on Fox News, … [he] attributed to Republicans the idea that regulation can be flexible rather than a matter of “top-down command and control,” and in particular for the idea of controlling pollution with a system of tradable emission permits rather than rigid regulations. Well, that’s not at all what actually happened — and the tale of what really did happen has a lot of relevance to current events… I think Mr. Obama is doing much more harm to the Democratic cause by echoing Republican attack lines on such issues as insurance mandates and Social Security. And now he’s demonstrating his post-partisanship by giving Republicans credit for good ideas they never had.

Elitist to Truck Drivers: Eat It!!! (by MKyleM at MyDD)
I’m sorry if this has been addressed, specifically in relation to truck drivers. One of my best friends is about to marry a man who for years drove those big rigs for a living, full-time.  He owned his own truck; essentially, he worked for himself.  A few months ago, he decided to sell his truck and go back to school, because the price of gas made his line of work impossible. I asked him, on average, how many miles a week he averaged.  His best guess was about 2,100. I just went to a website where you could calculate your savings if the federal tax were suspended for the summer.  Figuring in diesel (which has a tax rate of 0.292), my friend would have saved $1,439.15 over the summer. So, Senator Obama, even though you voted for such relief 3 times for the state of Illinois, why are you so disconnected from the pain and suffering of ordinary people?
Calculate your savings at Jabberwonk.com

Obama admits voting for gas-tax break (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Maybe Barack Obama saw the Republican National Committee video released today entitled “Barack Obama’s Gas Tax Hypocrisy.” While visiting a family farm in Union Mills, Ind., the notion of suspending the federal gas tax for the summer came up, as did why Obama opposes the idea while rival Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain have versions of such a plan. Then Obama volunteered to the owners and their neighbors gathered around a picnic table that “I actually voted for a version of this” while in the Illinois state legislature several years ago. But Obama didn’t see that as hypocrisy; instead, he said, he learned from the experience. In Illinois, he said, “There was no way to tell” whether the tax relief was passed on to consumers or whether prices went up as a result.

The Price of Ambition (video by Flineo)

DISPUTE DIVIDES CHURCH’S CONGREGANTS (New York Post, a Rupert Murdoch-owned paper that endorsed Obama)
May 1, 2008 — CHICAGO - Some parishioners at the United Church of  Christ are so steamed by Barack Obama’s condemnation of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that they say the presidential hopeful might want to find another place to worship. “I don’t think Obama will still be welcomed here,” said Odean Lathan, 80, who was attending a bible study session. Lathan was referring to Obama’s repudiation at a Tuesday press conference of some of Wright’s statements against the US government. But she wasn’t putting all the blame on Obama, as she gave the back of her hand to the longtime pastor for first going public with his claims on Monday. “I don’t think Rev. Wright did the right thing. I think he should have waited until the election is over,” Lathan said. “I hope Obama stays strong. He’s looking weak.”

The GOP Dog is Tossed a Big Bone (by Pat Racimora at No Quarter)
I watched clips of “Crazy Uncle Jeremiah” doing his same old tricks at the National Press Club. Soon enough, Senator Obama tossed him into the cold after pledging not long ago that he could no more renounce Rev. Wright than he could turn his back on the Black community. An image popped right into my head. I just had to let this dog out!

Do the right thing and shut up, Lee urges pastor (The Guardian, U.K.)
Director Spike Lee has waded into the ongoing controversy surrounding Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago pastor whose provocative statements have proved a thorn in the side of Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama. Lee advises the preacher to do the right thing and keep quiet. “The more he opens his mouth, the more damage he does,” he told the Guardian [Wednesday]. For good measure, Lee hinted at a political conspiracy behind Wright’s recent, contentious attempts to justify his remarks. “It looks like he’s being paid to keep talking,” he said.

Obama says public tired of hearing about his former pastor
WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama and his wife said Thursday the public is tired of hearing about incendiary remarks by their former pastor, as they sought to put the controversy that has rocked his presidential campaign to rest.
Take your lumps, my man, and quit complaining.

Obama says he grew up less privileged than rivals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday said he had grown up in less privileged circumstances than his rivals as he fought a perception among some voters that he is “elitist.”
Nonsense.  All three remaining candidates grew up in the middle class.

The company Obama keeps (The Denver Post)
Just six weeks ago, Sen. Barack Obama said he could no more disown his former pastor than he could disown his own white grandmother. Until, of course, he did. Obama finally (and firmly) disavowed the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week. But the moment came only after sensing his presidential bid could be undone by the simmering controversy. In March, in his eloquent speech on race in America, Obama defended his pastor as a man of otherwise good deeds. While poignant, his original defense of a man he’s known for two decades made Tuesday’s
political stiff- arm reek of desperation politics. Obama’s handling of this mess not only calls into question his judgment, but eventually could strike at the core of whether he’s fit to be president.

A comment to the article above: I Chose My Friends Carefully - Barack Obama
“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist Professors and the structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.” - Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father, pages 100-101.

Rev. Wright’s honorary degree canceled by Northwestern
May 1 (Bloomberg) — Northwestern University withdrew an invitation for the Reverend Jeremiah Wright to receive an honorary degree at this year’s commencement. Wright, former pastor to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, was selected to be honored at the June ceremony in Evanston, Illinois, on the recommendation of faculty committees, Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations, said in a statement. “In light of the controversy around Dr. Wright and to ensure the celebratory character of commencement not be affected, the university has withdrawn its invitation to Dr. Wright,” Cubbage said.

Indiana black voters feeling ignored
The state’s African-American constituency remains strongly in Obama’s camp. But is the candidate taking them for granted? Even before the major distraction this week caused by the remarks of former Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright, black voters in Indiana have been feeling ignored.

Rove: Saying ‘McCain Is George Bush’ ‘Lacks Credibility With A Wide Number Of Americans’ (Think Progress)
Appearing on Fox News today, former Bush adviser Karl Rove was asked about Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) similarities to President Bush. Rove said the argument that McCain somehow represents a third term of President Bush in fact “lacks credibility with a wide number of Americans”.
Click through to watch the video.  Rove has still not admitted on Fox News that he’s an advisor to the McCain campaign.

McCain promises billions in spending
McCain is handing around a campaign grab bag of goodies. There are little treats like a summer gas-tax holiday and new mortgages for struggling homeowners, and there are big plums like tax breaks for corporations and families with children… The expected GOP presidential nominee has nothing on the Democrats. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama would spend billions of dollars themselves on things like paid family leave, universal health insurance and preschool for kids. The difference? Unlike the Democrats, McCain has made a career of trying to cut spending.
That’s not the only difference.  Hillary Clinton has plans for funding her spending proposals.

McCain Says He No Longer Objects To Earmarks, Just The ‘Process’ (Think Progress)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly pledged that if elected president, he “will veto every bill with earmarks.” But in recent months, McCain has slipped further and further away from that promise… [Wednesday], McCain held a health care event at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA. While there he met Mary, a woman with ovarian cancer who was treated “in a $80 million clinical trial program funded by an earmark.” Confronted with this “human face of earmark spending,” McCain again backed away from his campaign rhetoric:

McCain’s Health-Care Muddle (by Trudy Lieberman, Columbia Journalism Review)
John McCain finally came forth this week with what his campaign dubbed a major policy speech, laying out his To Do list for health care reform. We at CJR have been asking a lot about his plans lately, which up to this point had raised more questions than answers. Tuesday’s address wasn’t much more illuminating. In fact, in some respects, it was utterly confusing. The Straight Talk Express took a circuitous route, and the press did not clear things up.

What’s McCain thinking when he says boot Russia from G-8?
WASHINGTON — John McCain dropped a little-noticed bombshell into his March foreign-policy address: Boot Russia from the G-8, the elite club of leading industrial democracies whose leaders try to coordinate economic policies.

In 2003, McCain Claimed ‘Mission Accomplished’ In Iraq, Now Claims ‘I Thought It Was Wrong At The Time’
Speaking in Cleveland [Thursday], Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) defended President Bush, saying he should not be held responsible for the “Mission Accomplished” banner that was visible aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln when Bush declared that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” on May 1, 2003… McCain then said of the banner: “I thought it was wrong at the time.” But while the White House has actually acknowledged making an error, McCain himself used the term “mission accomplished” when talking about the Iraq war on at least two occasions in 2003.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com