OBAMA DAILY NEWS Saturday day March-01-2008

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

WELCOME TO THE OBAMA DAILY NEWS THREAD

Saturday day March-01-2008



Esteemed DUer's, please consider taking a moment (or more)
to graciously participate by posting news and announcements about
the Obama campaign on this thread.


If you can:

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providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster,too.



3. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

4. Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page



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[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. Texas Populist Jim Hightower endorses Obama

The Nation: Texas Populist Jim Hightower endorses Obama.

HIGHTOWER: OBAMA "CAN" GOVERN AS A PROGRESSIVE

Jim Nichols, The Nation. Feb 28, 2008...Texas populist Jim Hightower's endorsement of Barack Obama is an important statement about the campaign for the Democratic nomination, the presidency and the future.

"I believe he can govern as a progressive president," the Texas populist says of the Illinois senator.

The key word is "can."

In endorsing Obama, Hightower has actually given his blessing -- no small gift in the March 4 primary state of Texas, where he served two terms as a statewide elected official, and among progressives nationally -- to what he describes as "the Obama phenomenon."

..I believe he will win the nomination and win in November, but most importantly, I believe he can govern as a progressive president.

This is because Obama will not be going into the White House alone or with the usual coterie of special interests and old party operatives; rather, the democratic force that he has excited at the grassroots (especially among energized young people) will go in with him, demanding progressive policies and providing a counterpunch to the lobbyists who will try to capture his presidency.

Senator Obama represents the bright future that is possible in America when ordinary people begin to take charge. Clinton and McCain certainly have a wealth of Washington experience, but Obama has tapped into our country's enormous democratic potential, and that¹s not merely exciting, it is invaluable to our future.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. The Real McCain Scandal

"He doesn't just take money from lobbyists--they're running his campaign."

The Real McCain Scandal

editorial | posted February 28, 2008 (March 17, 2008 issue)

There are few political commodities more lucrative than a reputation for integrity, which may explain why any lobbyist worth his salt would do well to court John McCain. The Arizona senator is considered so beyond the taint of corruption, he is free to engage all the more brazenly in the truck and barter of money and influence that ensures the functioning of the corporate welfare state.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee made a name for himself as a senator as one of the notorious Keating Five, legislators busy intervening in regulatory matters on behalf of crooked S&L baron Charles Keating. As McCain sells it (and the media tell it), this was the turning point in his career, a brush with ignominy that set him on his path as a maverick reformer.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. How should Michigan and Florida primaries dispute be settled?[/

Poll | posted February 19, 2008 (web only) The Nation

How should the dispute over the Michigan and Florida primaries be settled?

The Democratic Party and Clinton and Obama campaigns should stick to the original deal and bar the two states from seating delegates at the party convention in August.
(2222) 51%


A do-over is in order, with each state re-polling constituents in new, untainted primaries.
(1658) 38%


Follow the advice of the Clinton campaign and seat the delegates chosen in the renegade January primaries.
(419) 9%

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear

Naomi Klein suggests Obama use some political jujitsu and also stand up to islamophobia. This would put him
in a position of strength, rather than defense.

Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear

NAOMI KLEIN | He should denounce the attacks themselves as racist propaganda.

...The turban "scandal" is all part of what is being referred to as "the Muslim smear." It includes everything from exaggerated enunciations of Obama's middle name to the online whisper campaign that Obama attended a fundamentalist madrassa in Indonesia (a lie), was sworn in on a Koran (another lie) and if elected would attach RadioShack speakers to the White House to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer (I made that one up).

Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.

Substitute another faith or ethnicity, and you'd expect a very different response. Consider a report from the archives of this magazine. Thirteen years ago, Daniel Singer, The Nation's late, much-missed Europe correspondent, went to Poland to cover a hotly contested presidential election. He reported that the race had descended into an ugly debate over whether one of the candidates, Aleksander Kwasniewski, was a closet Jew. The press claimed his mother had been buried in a Jewish cemetery (she was still alive), and a popular TV show aired a skit featuring the Christian candidate dressed as a Hasidic Jew. "What perturbed me," Singer wryly observed, "was that Kwasniewski's lawyers threatened to sue for slander rather than press for an indictment under the law condemning racist propaganda."

...As the most visible target of this rising racism, Obama has the power to be more than its victim. He can use the attacks to begin the very process of global repair that is the most seductive promise of his campaign. The next time he's asked about his alleged Muslimness, Obama can respond not just by clarifying the facts but by turning the tables. He can state clearly that while a liaison with a pharmaceutical lobbyist may be worthy of scandalized exposure, being a Muslim is not. Changing the terms of the debate this way is not only morally just but tactically smart--it's the one response that could defuse these hateful attacks. The best part is this: unlike ending the Iraq War and closing Guantánamo, standing up to Islamophobia doesn't need to wait until after the election. Obama can use his campaign to start now. Let the repairing begin.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. Bill Clinton: The Bitter Half

But maybe what's really wrong with Hillary's campaign is something that is simply beyond even Bill Clinton's ability to fix. "It may be," says a friend, "their day has passed."

Bill Clinton: The Bitter Half

Time. Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008 By KAREN TUMULTY

With just over a week to go before the Ohio primary, Bill Clinton's arrival in Chillicothe was greeted as a homecoming of sorts. More than a few in the audience at the college gym could remember the first time he came to the city. It was 15 years before, almost to the day, and the new President was in town to sell his economic plan. The 46-year-old baby boomer had seemed the very embodiment of the freshness and change that the people of this downtrodden burg on the edge of Appalachia had been praying for. They were giddy when he jogged through Yoctangee Park with the mayor in 3�F (-16�C) weather and dropped by their new McDonald's for a decaf. But it was the hope in his words that thrilled them most of all. "None of us have all the answers," Clinton declared back then. "This is a new and uncharted time. And I want to encourage you to continue to believe in your country."

...In a campaign that has turned out to be all about change, however, Bill's presence has become a reminder of the past and of the style of politics that Barack Obama has promised to bring to an end. Even worse, say many Democrats, Bill has put his wife's political career in jeopardy by displaying the same character traits that almost ran his own presidency off the rails — a lack of self-control and an excess of self-absorption. It hasn't always been clear whether Bill Clinton sees Obama as a threat to his wife's prospects, or to his own legacy.

...Those close to the former President say that much of what is driving him is frustration and dismay. "In the past, when he was on the ropes, he could get himself off the ropes," says an adviser. But Clinton has begun to accept the fact that there are limits to what he can do when he is not the candidate. He correctly blames the media for uneven treatment — saying reporters have taken a tougher stance with him and his wife than with Obama. (After Saturday Night Live lampooned the media for their love affair with Obama, Bill telephoned guest host Tina Fey to thank her.)

But he is appalled, friends and aides say, by what he has privately described as "political malpractice" by Hillary's campaign. It spent money with abandon in the earliest primaries and assumed that the race would not last past Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5 — and failed to prepare for any of the states that followed. Two weeks before the Texas primary, Bill Clinton telephoned Waco insurance mogul and philanthropist Bernard Rapoport, a friend and backer since the 1970s. Rapoport told Clinton that this was the first contact he had had from anyone on the campaign. "He was madder than mad," Rapoport says. "He was right. There was so much we could have done, but we never heard from anyone at headquarters."

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. Olbermann on Obama Sen Foreign Relations Subcommittee Mtgs

'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Feb. 28
Read the transcript to the Thursday show

OLBERMANN: Vote for her, stem the tide, stop the momentum because Obama has yet to call his first oversight hearing in a year. He‘s chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee for European affairs and it oversees relations with NATO and NATO is ruling Afghanistan. Yes, except that it‘s actually another subcommittee that oversees U.S. relations with Afghanistan and except that the Republicans are today, now using this one too.
....

OLBERMANN: Obama‘s lack of hearings now picked in the RNC news release but none of his critics mentioning that while Obama‘s Foreign Relations Subcommittee deals with the U.S. relations with NATO, a different Foreign Relations Subcommittee chaired by John Kerry has jurisdiction over Afghanistan. And the full Foreign Relations Committee was the one that held several hearings on the military efforts there. The former chairman of that committee, Republican Dick Lugar, already on record saying, he wanted Obama on the committee after hearing him discuss nuclear proliferation.

OLBERMANN: All right. Well, but the flag that went up the flagpole today is about his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee for European affairs because of its impact on NATO and Afghanistan. Without a governor or former governor running, maybe, we‘ll have more of an approach to the Senate during the campaign, but, will things like Senate subcommittee hearings resonate with voters now or in the long march to November or is that just too heavy to stick against the wall?

...

And also, it‘s not like Hillary‘s chairmanship at various oversight hearings of subcommittees has led to cataclysmic changes in American policy. I mean, every time she mentioned the Senate, she brings up the topic of her own failure to realize that the war was a mistake in the eyes of Democratic voters. So, it doesn‘t help her at all.

At Wikipedia

The Subcommittee on European Affairs is responsible for United States relations with the countries on the continent of Europe, except the states of Central Asia that are within the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs. It also oversees U.S. involvement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, relations with the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Matters relating to Greenland and the northern polar region are also the responsibility of this subcommittee.

This subcommittee is also responsible for all matters within the region under its jurisdiction with respect to terrorism and non-proliferation, crime and illicit narcotics, U.S. foreign assistance programs, and the promotion of U.S. trade and exports.

Barack Obama Prefers Cooperation Abroad AP Tuesday February 26 2008

Obama's aides say it's not unusual for a Senate subcommittee to hold few hearings,
with the majority of work being done by the full committee.
They also defend Obama's work on the committee as extremely successful.

full article here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

7. Can Clinton Overcome Obamania?

Can Clinton Overcome Obamania?

By NANCY BENAC The Associated Press Saturday, March 1, 2008; 4:00 AM

WASHINGTON -- A year ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-Inevitable, was joshing about whether she could appoint her husband secretary of state when she became president, and Barack Obama was urging a throng to be realistic about his own chances. "Let's face it," he said. "The novelty's going to wear off."

...But a funny thing happened on the way to the Clinton coronation.

...The Democratic presidential race took so many twists that close observers might have needed a chiropractor to follow it. And now Clinton, once the instant favorite in a crowded field of candidates, is struggling to overcome a daunting wave of Obamania.

...With every victory, more voters have given Obama a closer look.

"The person who wins homecoming queen always looks a lot better the following week walking around campus," said Hart, the pollster.

"My cautionary note," he added, "is that it ain't over. You always think the surprise you've seen is the last surprise."

"If she wins Texas and Ohio, we'll be talking very differently on Wednesday."

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. Gay Clinton Backers Defect to Obama, Eroding Her Base

Gay Clinton Backers Defect to Obama, Eroding Her Base(Update3)

By Kim Chipman

Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton cemented years of goodwill with gays in 2000, when she walked in New York's Pride Parade.

``Having the first lady march was enormously powerful,'' said Representative Barney Frank, one of two openly gay members of Congress, both of whom are backing Clinton. ``I've never seen such a strong emotional outpouring.''
Now some gay voters, who have been among Clinton's most stalwart supporters and helped her defeat Barack Obama in Democratic presidential primaries earlier this month, may be drifting toward the Illinois senator, according to political activists and campaign officials.

This time, Mixner is backing Obama. The Clintons have become ``a machine, and Obama's the young reformer,'' said Mixner, who joined Obama's campaign after initially supporting former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, 54, who dropped out of the Democratic race last month.

Musician Melissa Etheridge, who came out as a lesbian in 1993 at President Bill Clinton's Triangle Ball, the first ever inaugural event for gay men and lesbians, said earlier this month that she is backing Obama.

Hollywood mogul David Geffen, a one-time supporter of Bill Clinton, also is backing Obama. The openly gay Geffen, co- founder of the DreamWorks SKG movie studio, held a $1.3 million fundraiser for Obama last year.

more at the link

[writes3000]

9. New Super Delegate for Obama?

I saw this over at dailykos.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/1/111348/0503/978/466836

"(Wisconsin) State Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke today announced that he would cast his vote as a super delegate for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at the party's convention later this year."

[ebdarcy]

10. I don't have an article to add.

I just wanted to thank you for doing this. It's nice having one post that pulls together so many articles, especially with as fast as this place moves. Thank you for your dedication.

And that's a wonderful picture. It's going to feel so weird being able to like my president again. (knock on wood)

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. Rasmussen - Obama rapidly gaining ground in Ohio

Ohio Democratic Presidential Primary
Ohio: Clinton 47% Obama 45%
Friday, February 29, 2008

In Ohio, Hillary Clinton has maintained a constant level of support over the past week,
but Barack Obama is rapidly gaining ground in her rear view mirror.

...However, while Clinton’s support has remained stable, Barack Obama has been steadily inching up in the poll.
Obama now earns support from 45% of Ohio’s Likely Primary Voters.
That’s up from 43% last Sunday, 40% last week and 38% the week before.

....

[adoraz]

nm this is new

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

12. Zogby: Obama Up In Texas, Close Race In Ohio

Zogby: Obama Up In Texas, Close Race In Ohio

By Eric Kleefeld - February 29, 2008, 8:36AM

A new round of Zogby polls puts Barack Obama ahead in the Texas primary 48%-42% over Hillary Clinton.
Some analysis from John Zogby: "In Texas, Obama has big leads among independents, men, voters under 65,
African Americans, and voters who have decided within the last month. Clinton leads with Catholics and voters over 65."

Hillary has a narrow lead in Ohio, at 44% to Obama's 42%. Zogby:
"Clinton leads among Democrats, women, voters over 50, and everywhere outside the three big cities.
She also leads among Catholics, voters in union households, and moderates.
Obama leads among voters under 50, especially those under 30, and among liberals."

[adoraz]

13. WillYourVoteBCounted - both those polls are outdated, there are newer ones out

check pollster.com or realclearpolitics.com

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. thanks, could you please post them? n/t

[adoraz]

29. yes see below

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. thanks! we need all the help we can get!

:yourock:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. Bill Clinton Endorses Obama?

Bill Clinton Endorses Obama?

From: Cafe, Election Central By freaktown - February 29, 2008

"If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other one is try get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope." Bill Clinton

Now, if I were Obama I'd be running this quote in response to Hillary's new "positive" ad that, by the way was ripped off from Mondale in 1984. (I guess for all her fuss about "plagirism" Hillary really doesn't mind as long as its her campaign doing it, but that's besides the point)
...

Perhaps Senator Clinton knows its too late for her to win this time around. And maybe she's cynically trying to undermine Obama so that he won't win in the fall so that she can try again in 2012. If that's the case, shame on her.

But for all my speculation, I don't know Hillary's motivations. I do know this ad doesn't belong in the Democratic party. It's a republican ad using republican tactics of fear and smear.

...more at the link

[Barack_America]

39. Obama rejects and denounces Bill Clinton's endorsement?

Just playing. :evilgrin:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. Hillary's Hypocrisy

"She sets impossible standards that no candidate -- including herself -- can live up to."

A Double Standard on 'Reject and Denounce'

By Colbert I. King Saturday, March 1, 2008; Page A15

With the crucial Ohio and Texas Democratic primaries only three days away, this might not be the best time for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to slip away to ponder what he has gotten himself into. The temptation, though, would be understandable.

Coping with Hillary Clinton's special code of conduct is surely an unbelievable burden. Simply put, Clinton sets a standard for political opponents that she wouldn't think of applying to herself.

...Sadly, they aren't the only ones perpetuating falsehoods about Obama. The Internet is full of lies about the candidate, such as the accusation that Obama does not swear allegiance to America, that he took the oath of office with his hand on the Koran and that he is a Muslim. All untrue.

...Message to Obama: Do as I say, not as I do.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. 'It's a shootout in Texas!'

'It's a shootout in Texas!'

Allen Abel, National Post
Published: Saturday, March 01, 2008

...By chance--or sheer audacity --Ms. Clinton's opponent, Senator Barack Obama, has scheduled a rally for the same city, at the same hour, a few blocks from the Clinton gathering. The challenge is clear, but even my friend the canvasser and convicted killer does not suggest that, at this late stage of the campaign, more voters will come to see the lady than the gentleman.

more at the link

[grantcart]

18. Clinton Campaign: Let Rhode Island Decide

Must-win spin
Posted: Friday, February 29, 2008 12:57 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Clinton, Obama

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
So Clinton must win, right? Clinton Campaign Chief Strategist Mark Penn today released a memo to the media, though, with the subject, “Obama Must-Wins.”

“If he cannot win all of these states with all this effort, there's a problem,” Penn writes. And not only does he have to win, they have to be “decisive,” according to the memo.

“Should Senator Obama fail to score decisive victories with all of the resources and effort he is bringing to bear, the message will be clear,” Penn continues, “Democrats, the majority of whom have favored Hillary in the primary contests held to date, have their doubts about Senator Obama and are having second thoughts about him as a prospective standard-bearer.”

Obama has won a majority of nominating contests, including caucuses, but note Penn’s use of “primary".

In a conference call surrogate Harold Ickes, a top aide, agreed with Penn saying that "while Ohio, Texas and Vermont were important states - it really comes down to Rhode Island as being the key to a victory for the nomination".

When surprised reporters pressed the pair on the importance of Rhode Island, Penn rebuked "Rhode Island has always been the key to Democratic victory. Rhode Island is one of the most reliably Democratic states during presidential elections, regularly giving the Democratic nominees one of their best showings. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only 6 states to vote against Ronald Reagan. In the 1984 Reagan landslide, Rhode Island provided Walter Mondale with his 3rd best performance. Rhode Island was the Democrats' best state in 1988 and 2000 and 2nd best in 1996 and 2004".

Please read the entire message here and kick and r if you get it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4830347&mesg_id=4830347

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

19. In R.I., Obama Makes Inroads

Obama Making Inroads In Yet Another Clinton Stronghold

In R.I., Obama Makes Inroads

Tiny State Seen as Clinton Stronghold

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 2, 2008; Page A01

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- While Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have spent most of the past two weeks focused on delegate-rich Texas and Ohio, tiny Rhode Island -- with 21 pledged delegates at stake Tuesday -- is reveling in its unaccustomed position of relevance in a Democratic presidential nominating contest.

...But Obama's supporters are calling Rhode Island a tough state for their candidate. "I think the Obama people are pretty apprehensive. They know what they're up against," said Chafee, now with Brown University. "The Clintons have really invested here. . . . They've been working Rhode Island through their contacts."

Weaver, the Obama communications director, said: "We certainly see it as a bit of an uphill struggle. But we're closing the gap, and it's going to get competitive."

..."I fall right into the Obama demographic," said Clara Schumacher, 23, an artist stopping to take a photograph of her friend next to the "Hope" sign outside Obama's headquarters. "My whole political memory has been a Bush or Clinton in office."

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. Clinton Accepts Donations From Firm Accused Of Widespread Sexual Harassment

Clinton Accepts Donations From Firm Accused Of Widespread Sexual Harassment

Sen. Clinton accepts donations from troubled firm

Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 By Lisa Myers and Jim Popkin, NBC News

Sen. Hillary Clinton has declined to return $170,000 in campaign contributions from individuals at a company accused of widespread sexual harassment, and whose CEO is a disbarred lawyer with a criminal record, federal campaign records show.

The federal government has accused the Illinois management consulting firm, International Profit Associates, or IPA, of a brazen pattern of sexual harassment including "sexual assaults,” “degrading anti-female language" and "obscene suggestions."

...In May 2006, the New York Times brought Burgess's criminal history, and the allegations against IPA, to Sen. Clinton's attention. The May 7, 2006, article was titled “Rubbing Shoulders with Trouble, and Presidents.” In the article, a spokeswoman for Sen. Clinton was quoted as saying the Senator was not aware of Burgess’s criminal past and "will be reviewing" the contributions.

Almost two years later, federal records indicate that Sen. Clinton still has not returned the IPA money. Howard Wolfson, her communications director, did not dispute the $170,000 figure in an email to NBC News. He said Senator Clinton was not aware of Burgess’s past legal problems when she first accepted the donations. "In 2000 and 2003 when Sen. Clinton's campaign accepted money from Burgess, it was not aware of his legal problems from the 1980s," he said.

....more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

21. We Don't Just Need A Democratic President. We Need a Movement ...

We Don't Just Need A Democratic President. We Need a Movement to Change Washington

Robert Creamer, 03.01.2008

Obama's campaign has demonstrated clearly his ability to lead a movement of millions of average Americans. Leading a movement is not what Clinton is cut out to do. Hillary Clinton would make a competent, solid, predictable, progressive president -- and would be a welcome contrast to the dark years of the Bush presidency.

But in 2008, America needs more than a competent, progressive chief executive. We need a movement to fundamentally change how things are done in Washington. That's why we need Barack Obama.

Barack Obama's campaign has demonstrated clearly his ability to inspire and lead a movement of millions of average Americans. The Clinton's eight years in the White House showed just as clearly that leading a movement is not what Hillary Clinton is cut out to do.

For almost four decades I have worked as an organizer and strategist in progressive battles aimed at changing policy in Washington. I believe that the history of the last 40 years has taught us one critical lesson: fundamental change in Washington happens only in response to mass movements made up of millions of mobilized Americans.

more at the link

[FrenchieCat]

22. Woke up and looked for this daily thread!

Thank you!

REC'd!

[grantcart]

23. Go here for delegate update

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4823996


please kick

[milkyway]

24. Is Obama going to be in Vermont? According to WaPo he is, but I can't find

any other info on it. The article is online now, and is to be published tomorrow.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/01/AR2008030100894.html?hpid=topnews

In a testament to the importance being placed on every state and delegate in the hard-fought Democratic contest, the candidate will take time away from Texas and Ohio to stump in this state as well as in Vermont, which will also hold a primary on Tuesday.

[grantcart]

25. If your near Ohio - they are having some fun there

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ohstaging

[grantcart]

26. Or call from your home

Select the State
You'd Like to Call
Phonebank from home and help get out the vote in key states.

Over the next few weeks, several states, including Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island will hold primaries and caucuses. Take a moment to encourage voters in those states to get out and support Barack Obama. You don't even have to leave your home to pick up the phone and reach out.

All you need is a few minutes, a phone line, and a desire to help change the country.

Speak Spanish?
Call Spanish speaking voters in Texas.

Women for Obama
Call women voters in Texas.
Call women voters in Ohio.
Call women voters in Rhode Island.

Students for Barack Obama
Call students in Ohio.
Call students in Texas.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

32. Rhode Island is only state where he is trailing

just thought I would mention that!

:hi:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. Obama ahead of Clinton in Natl, Texas, Tied in Ohio, Clinton ahead in RI

Election 2008 Latest Polls as shown on March 01 at 5:45 PM Eastern

Saturday, March 01

Race Poll Results Spread

Democratic Presidential Nomination Gallup Tracking Obama 49, Clinton 43 Obama +6
Democratic Presidential Nomination Rasmussen Tracking Obama 45, Clinton 43 Obama +2

Texas Democratic Primary Reuters/CSpan/Zogby Obama 45, Clinton 43 Obama +2
Texas Democratic Primary WFAA/Belo Tracking Obama 45, Clinton 46 Clinton +1

Ohio Democratic Primary Reuters/CSpan/Zogby Clinton 45, Obama 45 Tie

Rhode Island Democratic Primary Fleming Clinton 49, Obama 40 Clinton +9

more at Real Clear Politics

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

28. Why Hillary's Scary Phone Call Ad Probably Won't Pay Off

Tough Call

Will Clinton or Obama protect your children? By John Dickerson Friday, Feb. 29, 2008

Exit polls suggest that even in states Obama has won, voters who make up their mind on voting day pick Clinton. Her aides believe this suggests that last-minute voters make a gut-level call about their security and pick her. Those exit polls also show that voters who care about experience vote for Clinton by gargantuan margins. And yet, in the Democratic campaign's crude dichotomy of change vs. experience, more voters have gone for change. And then they pick Obama. The new Clinton ad tries to battle back by expanding the group of voters who care most about experience. Remember, it's a dangerous world.

,,,Obama's aides bring up his different judgments about Iraq in an effort to turn the drama of the sleeping-children ad back on Clinton. "She's already had her red-phone moment, said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, referring to Clinton's vote on Iraq. By the end of Friday, the Obama campaign had produced its own ad using the ringing phone and images of sleeping children from the top of the Clinton one. "When that call gets answered, shouldn't the president be the one—the only one—who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start … who understood the real threat to America was al-Qaida, in Afghanistan, not Iraq. Who led the effort to secure loose nuclear weapons around the globe. … In a dangerous world, it's judgment that matters."

...Clinton has said she would like to have her 2002 Iraq vote back, which suggests that even when she had time to think through her decision, she didn't make the right one. How is she going to make a better one when she has less time?

...
In the end, neither candidate has a strong answer to the questions raised by this stark ad, which means Clinton's gamble in running it probably won't pay off. (There's also a possible backlash from Democrats who think she's just giving John McCain ammunition for the general election.) The final effect of this ad may be felt not in the voting booth but at home, where all across Texas, parents will hug their children a little tighter.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. Clinton campaign chasing Kerry in Texas

Kerry campaigning for Obama in Texas, leads Clinton Campaign into frantic chase...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4833004&mesg_id=4833004

[adoraz]

31. zogby: +2 in Texas, Tie in Ohio

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/poll_zogby_texas_and_ohio_1.php

[Hope And Change]

34. Watch Live coverage tonight on C-Span of Obama's speech rally in Ohio.Tune it at 8:00pm Eastern Time

Saturday, March 1st
LIVE: Sen. Barack Obama Campaign Rally in Parma Heights, OH
On C-SPAN at 8pm (ET)

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

[pmbryant]

35. Some photos and a report from San Antonio rally last night

A few photos here: http://pmbryant.typepad.com/b_and_b/2008/03/three-photos-fr.html

My brief report here: http://pmbryant.typepad.com/b_and_b/2008/03/obama-and-clint.html

--Peter

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

36. A Nominee? Or a Debacle?[/

Op-Ed Columnist

A Nominee? Or a Debacle?
By BOB HERBERT March 1, 2008

When does a dandy fight become an ugly brawl?

For the Democrats, perhaps on Tuesday.

If Barack Obama wins in either Texas or Ohio, the race for the nomination will effectively be over. At that point the Clintons, if they have any regard for the fortunes of the party, will be duty-bound to graciously fold their tents and try to rally their supporters behind a candidate who will be stepping into a firestorm of hostility from the other side.

If Hillary Clinton wins both Texas and Ohio, the Democrats will need a trainload of aspirin and a shrink.

The superdelegates currently sprinting toward Obama would suddenly look over their shoulders and wonder what happened to his O-mentum. The Clintons would declare themselves (yet again) the Comeback Kids, although they would still be behind in delegates. They would continue their push to have the Michigan and Florida delegations seated. They would step up their attacks on the Obama forces with understandable glee. And they would use whatever persuasive powers they could muster to push the idea with party regulars that Senator Obama is unelectable.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

37. Clintons Don't Want Texas Causus Results Made Public

Release of Democratic caucus results is at issue

Dems debate whether nonbinding numbers should be announced
March 1, 2008 By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News

...The spin tussle about the Texas primary results are starting even before the voting has finished.

...The precinct conventions will be held after the polls for the primary close.

The conventions, essentially caucuses, will yield 42 at-large delegates.

It's the first step of a process where the at-large delegates and 25 other party delegates are selected at the party's state convention in June.

The Clinton campaign has raised questions about whether the party should release the results from the caucuses, because they would be nonbinding.

"They do not want the caucus results reported on Tuesday night," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Friday. "They don't want the people participating in those caucuses to have the results reported. That's a very self-serving position."

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

38. Throw Out the Maps in 2008 (Red State vs Blue State No More)

Throw Out the Maps in 2008

By Michael Barone March 01, 2008

It's time to throw out that old map with the red states and blue states. The map that implies that all but a handful of states will definitely vote Republican or Democratic and that the real contest will be decided in Florida or Ohio or whatever.

For a time, the map served its purpose. Only three states changed parties between the 2000 and the 2004 presidential elections, and the average change in percentage margin in those states was only 1.5 percent. But such hugely static political patterns are the exception rather than the rule in our history.

...Voters have a clear generic preference for the Democratic Party, but recent polls show a McCain-Obama race to be close. And don't be surprised if those numbers move around in the course of the campaign

...
If I were running the McCain or Obama campaign, I would be doing in-depth polling and focus groups in 30 to 40 states and nationally, as well, trying to determine which voting groups are moving or moveable toward my candidate and which are moving or moveable the other way. I would certainly not be writing off states that were lost by my party's 2000 and 2004 nominees by 5 percent or more, and I would not assume that states they carried by that much were in the bag. It's time to throw out the old map and search for clues to what the new map will look like.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

40. Salon: Obama''s Got Ground Game (brings out voters who haven't been turning out)

Obama's got ground game

Salon Magazine 2/29/08

Shrewd grass-roots organizing has helped the candidate grab primary victories nationwide, and could prove key to vanquishing Hillary Clinton in Texas.

By Mike Madden

Feb. 29, 2008 | AUSTIN, Texas -- Walk into Barack Obama's Texas headquarters down the street from the state Capitol, and you're immediately reminded of the complicated rules of the weird primary/caucus hybrid coming up here next week. "Ask us about the Texas Two-Step," says a huge sign painted to look like the state flag, with a giant Obama smiling down from the blue stripe on the left. Running phone banks, volunteers remind early voters to save the receipt showing they've
already cast a ballot if they want to caucus on March 4 after the polls in the primary close.
(Texas Democratic Party rules allow for participation in both.) Obama's staff here calls preparation for the Texas election "the Olympics" of field organizing, but they seem more than ready for it.

The emphasis on organizing -- which has helped the campaign harness enthusiasm about Obama and propel a nationwide political movement -- has been one of the keys to Obama's success so far. Beginning with the 23 caucuses and primaries on Feb. 5, Obama has steadily built a delegate lead by simply playing to win just about everywhere the calendar took the campaign. Hillary Clinton's wins have been blunted by Democratic Party rules that award delegates proportionately -- and Obama racked up blowout wins in states where Clinton never gave him a serious run.

...From the start, Obama's campaign devoted more resources to field work in far more states than Clinton's did. One of the first advisors to sign up with Obama was deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, one of the Democratic Party's top grass-roots organizers.
Obama won the Iowa caucuses in part by drawing out new voters who hadn't shown up in previous elections. His campaign built subsequent wins in similar fashion in states that followed. Months before Super Tuesday, Obama had paid staffers operating in every state -- including nine employees working out of four offices in North Dakota, where a Democrat hasn't won the general election since 1964.

more at the link

[grantcart]

41. Added another delegate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4823996&mesg_id=4837908

[grantcart]

42. 40,000 volunteers now working in Texas

Ground game
Mr. Obama's under-appreciated strength is his organization.

He opened 20 offices statewide and began Friday to step up get-out-the vote efforts with block walking, phone banks and TV commercials.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/030108dnpolstrategy.392ccd4.html
The Obama forces have help, too: Organized labor, most notably the Service Employees International Union, is contacting voters on his behalf. And the liberal activist group MoveOn.Org will host house parties for him Sunday in Dallas and elsewhere in which 400,000 Texans will be contacted by phone.

Mr. Obama started here from scratch but had 100,000 volunteers already working in Texas. Some estimate his number of volunteers has more than doubled since his staff arrived in the state.

"A lot of this is volunteer-driven," said Obama spokesman Josh Earnest. "Those are the folks applying the elbow grease."

The Clinton operation has 18 storefront offices across the state and has recruited 41,000 volunteers. They are bringing in thousands more from other states, all to knock on doors this weekend and encourage supporters to vote.

Mrs. Clinton held a San Antonio rally in Hemsiphere Plaza, which drew about 6,000 on Friday.

In the last two weeks, it aimed at early voting, particularly among Latinos who could make up 40 percent of the Democratic vote. Mrs. Clinton has dominated among that group and appears poised to do so in Texas, too. The campaign has even offered supporters choice spots at rallies if they could show they had voted.

More articles here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4840806

[grantcart]

43. On board with Barack Obama — as his campaign scents victory

Times of London

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3419912.ece
The morning after his landslide victories over Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin and Hawaii this week, Barack Obama’s campaign jet touched down at Love Field airport in Dallas, Texas, on time at 11.15am, and pulled to within 10ft of a waiting mo-torcade.

Inside the plane’s business section, the Illinois senator – sniffing with a heavy head cold – donned his dark suit jacket, checked his BlackBerry for the final time and prepared to descend the front steps. A Secret Service detail of six muscular agents, handguns on their left hips, radio transmitters in chest holsters, earpieces activated, exited on to the warm tarmac before him.

This is a daily ritual for Mr Obama. Only 24 hours earlier, he appeared in a Mexican-American enclave of western San Antonio and drew a crowd as big as that which greeted Pope John Paul II when he visited the same area in September 1987. Three, sometimes four times a day, his Secret Service detail surrounding him, he is greeted by massive crowds, never before seen during a presidential primary campaign, filled with young and old, black and white, men and women, steelworkers and fund managers, nurses and accountants. No wonder he believes the White House is now within his reach.

Mr Obama was once wary of the press, but seems willing to engage us more now. On a brief walk to the back of the plane, he shakes hands, address-es reporters by their first names and asks how families are. When I first met him in Iowa last September, he responded to my introduction with his trademark hand on shoulder and a laconic: “Hello, London Times.” He is a man clearly comfortable in his own skin – there is a hint of cockiness – with an easy charm that has been one of the reasons for his success.

[Hope And Change]

44. Max Kennedy - son of Robert Kennedy - endorses Obama

Max endorses Barack Obama


March 1, 2008

By Sommer Ingram
Staff Writer

Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, spoke at the Waco field headquarters of Sen. Barack Obama Saturday night. Standing on a chair, he addressed the crowd of about 50 Obama supporters, delivering a short, but powerful, message of hope and the need for change.

"I've never felt this good about a candidate in my life," Kennedy said. "I've never seen a person generate the kind of energy that's in this very room tonight."

Kennedy said he was fully convinced that Obama will win Texas, and that the small organizations like the very field office the group stood in that night would make the difference.

"This election is similar to the election of 1960," Kennedy said. "In 1960, there was a huge shift. It was the first time the grassroots organizations had altered the hands of the president. What you guys are doing here is amazing; it's just what we need to win the state of Texas."

He encouraged the group to continue their efforts by manning the phone banks, making sure their friends were signed up to vote, and that every person they knew was informed about the great change that Obama could create.

"The hard work comes in the next three days," he said. "We need to create a fundamental shift, and we have a man who will lead us in doing so; a man who says we are all empowered."

more...

http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=49588

[grantcart]

45. kick

[grantcart]

46. Obama will return to Texas on Monday joint rally with Michelle

On the eve of Tuesday's primary, Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, will host a "Stand for Change" rally Monday night at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

The free event is open to the public, but tickets are required. They can be obtained at www.texas.barackobama.com.

Doors open at 8 p.m. for the event, which will be held in hall B3.

This is the Democratic candidate's second major event in Houston in the last month. On Feb. 19, he packed the Toyota Center with about 19,000 supporters.

He plans to await primary results Tuesday night in San Antonio, according to his campaign.

[grantcart]

47. El Paso experts say Obama should win in Texas

El Paso experts say Obama should win in Texas
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 03/02/2008 12:00:00 AM MST


-- There's a political spark on the UTEP campus this year that Professor Kathleen Staudt said she has never seen before.
"It's amazing, the excitement," the political science professor said Wednesday, her ears still ringing from a raucous political rally at Magoffin Auditorium featuring comedian George Lopez stumping for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

That newfound political energy, she said, is effervescing from supporters of both Democratic presidential hopefuls, Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But it's Obama's message of change and hope that Staudt and other experts say has captured the imaginations of younger voters of all ethnicities and seems to be pushing the candidate toward victory in Texas.

"This race is about personalities as much as policies," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.

Staudt and Jillson both say they expect Obama to claim victory Tuesday in the Texas Democratic Party primary, which could be a death knell for the Clinton campaign, already down in the all-important national delegate count.

Because of the Clinton campaign's multiple stops in El Paso and the former first lady's deep support in the Democratic Party establishment, Staudt said, she expects Clinton to win locally, but only by a small margin.

Obama, she said, seems to have connected more with young, independent and infrequent El Paso voters.

[grantcart]

48. Ohio polls Tied

http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1458
In Ohio, the two Democrats have drawn dead-even to the tenth of a percent (44.8% each), as Clinton continued to show strength in northern Ohio outside Cleveland, but trailed Obama badly in northeast Ohio and in burgeoning central Ohio, where the capital city of Columbus is home to many state government workers. Clinton leads in the more sparsely-populated, less affluent southern Ohio region. She also retains a small lead among Catholics, an important voting bloc in this Rust Belt state.

snip
Ohio Democratic voters are nearly split over their choice for president, according to new Plain Dealer poll that shows Hillary Clinton clinging to a 4 percentage point lead over Barack Obama in Ohio, 47 percent to 43 percent.

Trailing in national polls and in the all-important delegate count, Clinton has been looking to Ohio as a firewall to campaign of Obama, whose 11-straight presidential contest victories has propelled him to front-runner status.

But a small Clinton win in the Buckeye State would only marginally help her since she and Obama would split the state's 141 pledged delegates, the bulk of which are awarded as a proportion of the popular vote in each of the state's 18 Congressional districts.

Clinton's lead among Democratic voters is from women, who favor her over Obama, 53 percentage to 38 percent. Men favor Obama by nearly the same margin.

Obama, who is the first black presidential front-runner in history, is crushing Clinton among black voters, 83 percent to 8 percent, according the survey.

Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., conducted the poll February 27-29. It is based on phone interviews with 625 registered Democratic voters who said they plan to vote in the March 4 primary. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, meaning that either candidate's support could be 4 percentage points higher or lower.

Voters surveyed said they see little difference between the candidates position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many Democratic voters blame for the loss of jobs in Ohio and which has been a central them of both campaigns.

Democratic voters support Clinton's health care plan over Obama's, 33 percent to 18 percent. Forty-one percent said they were unsure. The candidates commercials and mailers have featured their health care plans.

The poll also suggests there's not much either candidate can do to peel away voters from the other side. More than 90 percent of Clinton and Obama supporters said they are sticking with their choice.

[grantcart]

49. Ohioans like Clinton but see Obama as president

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/02/POLL02.ART_ART_03-02-08_A1_599GNRO.html?adsec=politics&sid=101


if Tuesday's election were a traditional Democratic primary in Ohio, Hillary Clinton likely would be on her way to a double-digit victory.

But as pundits, prognosticators and pollsters have discovered, 2008 is far from a normal election year.

A new Dispatch Poll shows that the New York senator would lead in Ohio by as much as 16 percentage points under the usual turnout scenario dominated by loyal, older party voters -- especially if women show up in force, as they have in earlier primary states.

Even if you presume an unusual influx of young and black poll-goers, Clinton still would hold a healthy single-digit lead, the poll indicates.

So Tuesday's election likely comes down to how many independent voters decide to grab a Democratic ballot and vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's prediction of a record 52 percent turnout means that well more than a quarter of Ohio's 5 million-plus nonpartisan voters will vote.

But there's one undeniable fact among Democrats: They overwhelmingly think that Obama will win the November election, regardless of whom they support in the primary. Even nearly a third of Clinton supporters in the poll expect Obama to be the next president.


Ohio is generally considered a must-win "firewall" for Clinton, although her supporters are now saying she has to win only two of the remaining three major states. Texas also votes Tuesday, while Pennsylvania's primary isn't until April 22.

But because of complicated rules for selecting Democratic delegates, modest Clinton victories provide little help in narrowing
The Dispatch Poll shows that 16 percent of the 2,308 Democratic respondents to the mail survey, conducted Feb. 21 through Friday, were at least "somewhat likely" to change their mind.

Eric Rademacher, University of Cincinnati political scientist who now conducts the Ohio Poll, says surveys in the Buckeye State involve at least as much risk as those in other states. He noted that the Ohio ballot still lists candidates who have dropped out of the race, and he wondered whether someone popular with Ohio Democrats such as Edwards could affect the outcome by pulling a "meaningful" percentage of the vote.

"In an election that basically comes down to two weeks of actual on-the-ground campaigning, the timing of polls may be critical," Rademacher said. "Estimating the actual composition of turnout, both in terms of geography and in terms of ratio of Democratic to Republican turnout, also will be important."

The biggest challenge for pollsters is making sure they are sampling the all-important "likely voter." The Ohio Poll asks a series of questions to determine respondents' interest in the upcoming election and their intent to vote; those responses are plugged into a scale rating their probability of voting.

Quinnipiac University in Connecticut has been conducting polls in Ohio for a few years, but its exact method of determining likely voters is regarded as so important that it is kept secret. In general, respondents are asked a series of questions on their interest not only in the election but in politics in general, as well as their voting history, a spokeswoman said.

The Dispatch Poll's historical accuracy has relied on a simple correlation: Mail poll ballots are distributed randomly to thousands of registered voters across the state; those who fill out and return the ballot usually are highly representative of actual voters. The poll only goes to registered Democrats and Republicans for a primary election.

Dispatch reporters Catherine Candisky, Alan Johnson, James Nash, Jonathan Riskind and Jim Siegel contributed to this story

[grantcart]

50. Delegate math tough for Clinton

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080302/NEWS01/303020032/

As much as Hillary Clinton wants to win Ohio on Tuesday, a two-percentage point win won’t do her much good.

Under the complex mathematical formula the Ohio Democratic Party will use to divvy up the 141 delegates at stake in the Ohio primary, a candidate has to win big –really big – to win the lion’s share of the delegates.

And not all areas of the state are created equal. Southwest Ohio’s congressional districts can provide candidates only four delegates each; the more Democratic-rich congressional districts in Northeast Ohio get more.


In districts with four delegates each, a candidate could win 60 percent of the vote and split those delegates right down the middle with the candidate who had only 40 percent.

“It’s a very complex system, and very hard to understand,” said John C. Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron. “But the bottom line of it is that if you are going to win a lot of delegates, you’d better win big.”

Obama and Clinton are competing on two levels – statewide and at the congressional district level. The 18 congressional districts have 92 delegates to be chosen, while another 49 delegates will be chosen at large throughout the state.

Another 21 superdelegates from Ohio can do as they like, regardless of how Ohio Democrats vote.

The Democrats distribute their delegates by based on proportional representation.

[grantcart]

51. Courting the women's vote

Courting the women's vote
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/NEWS01/803020311/1009
Published: Sunday, March 2, 2008
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer

Burlington businesswoman Melinda Moulton regards former Gov. Madeleine Kunin as a good friend.

"We're old buds," she said.

So when Kunin, co-chairwoman for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton's campaign in Vermont, called recently to ask about renting office space in Moulton's Main Street Landing Co. building for the Clinton campaign, Moulton had bad news for her.

"I took a deep breath and said, 'Oh, Madeleine, I'm supporting Barack Obama,'" Moulton said. "There was this long pause on the phone and she said, 'You're not.' And I said, 'I am.'"
Moulton's story, which drew chuckles when she told it to a small gathering of mostly pro-Obama voters at her waterfront building complex last week, underlines the dilemma facing women planning to vote in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary.

Obama has been winning the support of an increasing number of female voters nationally who say they like his positive message of change. Polls in Vermont show that Obama could win a majority of the female vote in the Democratic primary.


"He brings people together," she said. "Obama, from Day 1, has been on message. It's been the same clear message of honesty and hope. And she's been all over the map. As a woman, I do feel badly ... but I want to take the full measure of the person, and there are too many things about her that are lacking."