Live Blog of Clinton-Obama Campaign Event

11:25 EDT: We’ll be blogging the Clinton-Obama event today. MSNBC has been nice to point out the following critically important facts: 1) Obama’s tie matches Clinton’s pantsuit (both robust Democratic blue); 2) Obama and Clinton greeted each other warmly on the plane; and 3) Obama’s campaign plane used to be Clinton’s campaign plane. Is Obama just rubbing salt into the wound?

Last night Obama and Clinton met with Clinton donors. Reviews are mixed. Some Clinton supporters called the event a “dud”; others were more optimistic.

12:05: The New York Times has this picture:

This whole thing feels just ridiculous to me, like something out of a bad sitcom.

12:43: Former NH Gov. and current Sen. candidate Jeanne Shaheen is addressing the crowd. Streaming video with terrible, terrible audio quality available at cnn.com. Democrats are committed to health carem lower costs, a better economiy, independence from foreign oil, and ending the war in Iraq. Shocking, I know. Whatever would the world do without someone liveblogging this.

12:54: Brooks and Dunn’s Only in America is playing now. Apparently “Only in America” can a close election winner reconcile with a close election winner.

12:56: Oh my. Shades of Ghostbusters Two, as Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher is booming out. If they arrive at the rally in a walking Statue of Liberty, I’m going to have to abruptly cut off this live blog. On the bright side, that’s probably the only way that absolutely everyone is going to get on the same page. I can see it now - both Obamas and both Clintons riding high.

1:05: They’re fashionably late, like any star couple to any big party.

1:08: I’ve just spotted Huma Abedin on MSNBC, so clearly the candidates have arrived. The “honorary” Mayor of Unity, Ken Hall is introducing the candidates. Imagine Tom Carvel if he lived in rural New Hampshire. In introducing Clinton and Obama, Hall manages to not even say the word Obama, saying just “the next President of the United States, Senator Barack [mumbles].” Clinton and Obama work the rope line together.

1:20: Anne Kornblut points out that “the only person” who worked the crowd with Hillary like Obama just did was Bill Clinton. The whole point of working a crowd as a candidate is that no one but your spouse ever also does it unless someone is endorsing you. It seems that Kornblut is pointing out just a truism. Someone on MSNBC just tried to work the word pusillanimous into the discussion. Uhm, mute.

1:21: I can hear their microphone talk before the speech starts. Obama says he is not talking that long. Clinton speaks first. She starts by thanking the NH Dem pols, saying Obama will need Democratic Senators “when he is President.” She twice refers to the primary being “hard fought” but says that they now stand shoulder to shoulder, even though he’s sitting on a stool. (Cheap line, I know). Everyone’s goal is the same: to elected Obama. She comically refers to the primary as a “spirited dialogue” and admits its the nicest way she could think to put it. Calls the Democratic party “an unstoppable force.” I’m waiting for her to say “we’re the juggernaut, bitch!” She complements Obama’s life and campaign and goals. Talks at a lower tone about “old fashioned” values and listening to even the quiet Americans. Chants for both Obama and Clinton break out. Clinton says that it’s problematic that Democrats rarely have won the White House recently. Clinton leads up to the vote totals of the town, and talks about those votes signifying Democratic values. Key line “Sen. McCain and President Bush are like two side of the same coin that oesn’t add up to a whole lot of change.” Finishes with call to vote for Obama. Except she’s not finished - she talks about a number of people she spoke to on the trail, and that Obama will fight for those people in the White House. This is like Return of the King - it’s felt like it’s about to end about 5 times. She talks about a Medal of Honor recipient who gave her a medal encouraging her to keep fighting. She could really have made history by fighting if she turned around and punched Obama in the face. June surprise! She talks about how important this election is. She quotes Churchill on America doing the right thing after it tries everything else. He also regularly insulted women he thought were ugly. And she - I think - finally finishes by again praising Obama. And there it is.

1:43: Obama thanks the NH pols as well, including the local Kiwanis Club (’the hot dog truck is right behind the massive sign that symbolizes america’s hopes and dreams’), then thanking Clinton at length for her commitment. He praises Clinton’s devotion to causes even in the face of attacks. (from whom remains nameless). Obama says that the country and the party need Bill and Hillary, and praises their long record. Obama uses the Jay-Z dust off the shoulder motion to describe Clinton’s “grace and aplomb.” He concludes an uplifting series about women being able to do anything with jokes about women doing it “in heels.” I’m not sure what to make of that - as someone describes it to me “an awkward throwback to the Ginger Rogers line about Fred Astaire” that’s actually a putdown to him. Obama segues into a juxtaposition of policies with McCain - essentially a staple stump speech. All of his rhetorical flourishes end up with Obama hunched over the podium. Obama pledges a unilateral invasion of school rooms with an army of new teachers. Not in such words, of course. But he is very angry today when talking about the issues. He’s much lighter talking about Clinton. It’s just a weird effect. Obama attacks cable news for “point scoring”- clearly learning some Republican tricks in attacking the press. Wraps up with a call for change.

And that’s it. In brief: He’s fired up, she’s ready to go offstage.

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2008Central.net Presidential Election Podcast (06/25/08)

Today, we discuss (1) McCain’s energy policy proposal to provide 30 billion for clean coal technologies over 15 years and its political implications; and, (2) Barack Obama’s moderating stance on FISA and the Supreme Court’s decision banning capital punishment for child rapists.

[Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast]

Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for our next podcast (you can also email an audio file of your question and we’ll include it in the podcast).

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Al Gore Endorses Barack Obama

This evening, Al Gore will be endorsing Barack Obama at a rally in Detroit, Michigan (read the full Obama press release here).  Now that the primary contest is over, the significance of Gore’s endorsement is different than it would have been had he offered it a few months ago; it’s mainly for the benefit of party unity at this point.

I don’t think Gore’s endorsement will sway undecideds or independents as much as some others do.  Rather, the impact of this endorsement is financial.  Gore has asked visitors to AlGore.com to donate to Barack Obama.  This new financial pool comes at the same time that Hillary Clinton prepares to push her top fundraisers into Obama’s quarter.  It’ll be interesting to see how Obama’s June fundraising figures before this endorsement and HRC’s help compare with rest of the month.

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Morning Briefing (April 9, 2008)

What’s news today…

• Mark Penn’s new role is clarified.  Despite all the hullabaloo, it’s clear that Penn will not play as influential a role as he was or what many still think he will.
• Sizzle: TNR scolds Obama for dismissing Clinton and McCain’s foreign policy experience as well as for  using his personal experience living abroad as a child to buttress his foreign policy credentials.
• An excellent look inside McCain’s campaign.  Is this what a McCain administration will look like?
• In our last podcast, we discussed Obama’s reversal on public financing and its political implications.  Coincidentally, it seems that Obama is preparing his justification for not opting into the public finance system should he become the nominee by contending, “We have created a parallel public financing system where the American people decide if they want to support a campaign they can get on the Internet and finance it, and they will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful.”
• Why?  Howard Dean criticizes McCain and calls him “not a strong candidate.”  Somewhat ironically, one of the reasons he suggested McCain is a weak candidate is because “he is out of touch with the American people.”  To me, it certainly seems out of touch to suggest that McCain is a weak candidate.  I recognize that as Chairman, Dean has to support his party, but it seems that recognizing reality is often the fastest way to earn credibility.  Recognizing McCain’s strength is not mutually exclusive with opposing him.
• Bill Clinton’s recent trip to Puerto Rico could have gone better.  A report: While Clinton was giving a speech, in English:Nobody interpreted, and only a handful of audience members seemed to understand him. The crowd — raucous and dancing a few minutes earlier — remained mostly silent during the 10-minute speech. Some people left. Others chatted on their cellphones. ‘What is he saying? Do we clap now?’ asked Jerry Nieves Rosario, a college student who speaks only Spanish.
• Inform yourself: This roundup of Iran nuclear related news is useful.
• Can we just stop with the ‘calls to Al Gore‘ for the time being?  Honestly, who throws a shoe?
• A Democratic debate on Science?  Maybe, it’s still very early in the planning stage.  I like the idea, that’s for sure.

 

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2008Central.net Presidential Election Podcast (04/05/08)

During this show, the gurus discuss the state of the race, the Clinton tax returns, Obama’s strategy in Penn., McCain strategy, a general election preview and much more….

[Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast]

Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for our next podcast (you can also email an audio file of your question and we’ll include it in the podcast). 

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The Bill Richardson Chronicles

In a word, boring. Michael Crowley gives the cliffnotes version:

Bill Richardson ran for president. He was nice to Hillary. Maybe he was angling for her veep? Then in Iowa he threw his non-viables to Obama. The Clintonites raged about a betrayal. Then he watched the Super Bowl with the other Bill and all was well. Then he was “genuinely torn” about who to endorse but didn’t like a phone call he got from a Clintonite. Then he endorsed Obama. Then Carville called him Judas. Then he blasted Carville for “character assassination.” Then they said he’d promised not to endorse Obama. Then he denied that. Then he said Hillary said Obama can’t win. Then Hillary’s people said he said Obama isn’t ready. Then he denied it. Then she seemed to deny saying what she supposedly said. Then her people said she didn’t deny saying that but won’t say if she did say it.

He’s going to make a really fun footnote in some historian’s book 50 years from now. Aside from that….

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Presidential Candidacies, Even Failed Ones, Offer Increased Influence To Candidates

This is hardly scientific, but it’s worth noting that presidential campaigns, even failed ones, have a tendency of increasing a candidate’s influence/power (as one would expect).

Below is a table indicating the candidate’s power ranking in their respective chamber for the years 2005 through 2008.  It’s worth noting that the sudden changes in some of the rankings between 2006 and 2007 is mostly the result in changeover from Republican to Democratic control.

[Table=7]

[Table=8]

[* = former candidate]
[Source: Congress.org]

In retrospect, some campaigns, which at the time made no sense at all, make at least a bit more sense now, while some continue to haunt my brain to this day.

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Bill Richardson Endorses Barack Obama

At … umm … 3:08 EDT am. Seriously.

Richardson’s just hilarious. I’m going to assume he’s an insomniac like me. Or maybe Obama wanted to prove he actually could answer a call at 3 in the morning.

To note, this is after the Clintons - both of them - worked him hard for the endorsement for a long time, even sending Bill out to watch the Super Bowl with him. And it’s rumored Madeline Albright made some sort of demand on Richardson that got him angry. But who knows.

The bottom line is Obama gets another superdelegate and voice to call for the Wright controversy to stop being the top story. The bad news for Obama is that Richardson is likely to make some sort of gaffe in doing so.

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Memo to Voters: None of the Candidates Will Lower Your Gas Prices; A Glance At Clinton’s “Plan”

One of the oddities of current elective politics is not who the media covers, or in what tone they cover them, but rather the insipid approach to issues most people find important. For instance, gas prices. Andrew Leonard wrote about gas prices and the presidential election at Salon earlier this week. To his credit, he states the obvious: Presidents cannot lower gas prices.

But Leonard’s piece is an exception. In the explosion of meta analysis of presidential politics, it’s become more chic to talk about what voters are voting for than to write about the reality on the ground. The role of the press and commentators has somehow transformed from what Thomas Jefferson called ” the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man” into a virtual Oracle at Delphi, working only on predictive functions rather than analytical ones. For instance, today Hillary Clinton is actually holding a campaign event at a Pittsburgh gas station. From her press release (which we will post shortly):

Hillary Clinton will visit a gas station in Pittsburgh to discuss her plan to offer relief from skyrocketing gas prices that are hurting the pocketbooks of families in Pennsylvania and across the country. At the Curran Gulf Gas Station, Hillary will be joined by the owner, Jay Curran, gas station employees, and Janice Hodge, a local resident who has been forced to cut back on other household expenses due to the high cost of gas.

Read more

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Mike Gravel Sues Pro-Clinton 527

Mike Gravel’s campaign announced today that he has filed suit against the American Leadership Project, which is an independent pro-Clinton 527. The American Leadership Project plans to about $10 million on television ads, like this one, in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The group has already received a complaint to the FEC filed by supporters of Barack Obama. An official from ALP, Roger Salazar describes the group as follows:

The American Leadership Project is a committee of Americans who have come together to shine a backlight on issues that matter most to our nation’s middle class and do it in a positive way. These are positive ads that serve to raise awareness about these issues at a critical time in our nation’s history and in places where they are paying the most attention. Right now that’s Ohio and Texas. Sen. Clinton is a champion of these issues. ALP supports her positions and we say so in the ads.

Read more

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Dodd Set To Endorse Obama

We have our first former Democratic candidate endorsement … and for those of you waiting on the edge of your seats for Edwards or Richardson, be prepared to be a bit disappointed. Chris Dodd is endorsing Barack Obama Tuesday in my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio before the Democratic Debate. This will be welcome news for Obama, who seems to be rolling out a big endorsement a week now.

Dodd will endorse his colleague, a senator from Illinois, in Cleveland on Tuesday, according to a Democratic official close to Dodd who requested anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.

Dodd’s support, coupled with his liberal credentials, could provide a boost for Obama as major contests near in big states such as Ohio and Texas on March 4. Obama has won some key Democratic endorsements in recent weeks, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, a close friend of Dodd.

Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had been vying for Dodd’s support since he exited the presidential race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucus last month. Dodd, who won his Senate seat in 1980 and chaired the Democratic National Committee from 1995-1996, has long-standing ties to the Clintons.

Dodd is a “superdelegate,” one of nearly 800 Democratic officeholders and party officials who automatically attend the national convention and can vote for whomever they choose. They have become an important force in the close race between Clinton and Obama, and both candidates are lobbying hard for their support.

Now, let’s be honest: Dodd does not have any significant popular support outside of Connecticut, where Obama already won. But he has a strong record with liberals, particularly on FISA at the moment. He also was endorsed previously by IAFF, the union that carried Kerry to victory in the 2004 primary, and he might have sway in getting them to join the other unions that have recently joined Obama. That would be a major get for Obama, since there currently is a divide between government oriented unions (AFSCME, NEA) that support Clinton and non-government ones (SEIU, UCW, Change to Win) that support Obama. Moreover, firefighters are just more inspiring and credible than any of the other unions I listed (no offense intended). Furthermore, IAFF president referred to Obama’s support in mid-January as “breathtaking.”

But with the strong Obama vibe at dailykos, it’s not that surprisng Dodd joined along, as he was their second favorite candidate and he had been hinting Obama might not be able to be stopped. With Edwards joining Obama endorsers SEIU and Moveon.org for an anti-war effort Monday, he may be next in line. But clearly that’s speculative at this point. I’m reasonably sure, though, that Richardson will not endorse until he can be 100% sure he is backing the winning candidate. He has everything to lose by endorsing wrong and little to gain from jumping in too early.

This does offer me one last chance to use my favorite Dodd picture of the cycle; I encourage everyone to read the caption for what will probably be one last time. (Dodd is in no way a VP candidate, let’s nip that in the bud; cabinet possibility, sure.)

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Gore Will NOT Endorse Before Super Tuesday…Did You Catch That Drudge?

Aided by the oft sensationalist Drudge Report, Josh Green’s recent piece in The Atlantic, which speculates that Al Gore will endorse Obama soon (read: before Super Tuesday) has gotten way more attention than it deserves. Green concludes:

Gore has already seen one presidency (his own) slip away over a handful of votes. He must have pondered how it would feel to play kingmaker and shore up someone else’s path to the White House.

A well-connected Tennesseean told me two things today that got me thinking about this. The first is that Obama and Gore have been speaking regularly, about every two weeks or so. The second is that, despite this, and despite Tennessee’s primary on Tuesday, Obama has not visited the state since June. It may be simply that he does not plan on competing there. Or it may be that he’s been waiting for a special occasion.

When I first read this, I didn’t really buy it. Why? Several reasons, among them was my awareness of the fact that John Edwards also stayed in contact with Gore throughout the primary. Accordingly, the fact that Obama and Gore speak doesn’t mean anything more than Obama and Gore speak. Ambinder aware of same Edwards/Gore chats clarifies Green’s position, but not before Andrew Sullivan advanced the needless speculation. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think there are plenty of reasons to support the notion that Gore would endorse Obama over Clinton; however, Green’s article is definitely not one of them.

Fortunately, TPM set the record straight:

I checked in with a source close to Gore for a response to the piece. Asked if there was any shot at a pre-Feb. 5th endorsement, the source said: “He has no plans to endorse in the near term.”

So yea, don’t expect Gore’s endorsement before Super Tuesday. And if you were tricked into believing this by a Drudge headline, then you should be aware that I have a time machine, bridge and magic beans for sale.

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Edwards “Suspension” Speech

Whoops, not that suspension. This one:

Incidentally, I think Chris Beam has the best analysis of why Edwards failed. The whole ‘blame the media’ thing is, to paraphrase someone else, one of the biggest fairytales I’ve ever heard.

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Kos Pains Me…

Kos writing on who Bill Richardson should endorse:

Endorse no one, Bill! Except he’s one of my two top choices for the veep slot (the other is Gov. Kathleen Sebelius), and I doubt that slot will go to someone who sits out the primary.

This is the kind of silly talk that makes me realize that if I started this website 8 years ago instead of 1 year ago, that it’d be just as big (probably bigger) than Daily Kos. My point being that people can’t really be flocking to him for brilliant political analysis, right? It must be because he’s just been around a while. I mean my goodness…

I’ve already touched on the subject of a Richardson VP possibility before, but with all the new talk out there, I’ll probably update this analysis in the next couple of days. What I said in early December about why a Hillary/Richardson ticket will not happen (not all, but some of the same arguments apply to why an Obama/Richardson ticket is also unlikely): Read more

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John Edwads Drops Bid For White House

John Edwards exits the Democratic nominating contest today. He will deliver a speech at 1pm est in New Orleans. It makes sense, since he’s been dropping hints about it the past couple of days. I really don’t have anything else to say at this point, other than tomorrow’s Democratic debate just got a lot more interesting…

Oh, and he won’t be endorsing anyone anytime soon.

[Photo Credit: Indecision 2008]

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On Political Coverage This Weekend

The Clinton campaign pushed hard for free media coverage in primetime this week, and was rebuffed:

Insiders tell TVNewser the Hillary Clinton campaign was prepared to give exclusive access for the next 48 hours to ABC’s 20/20, but because of a scheduling conflict, ABC News passed on the offer. Sources tell us the campaign had wanted ABC to accompany Sen. Clinton for a 48 hour period beginning today, with the report airing Friday night on 20/20.

With the Super Bowl airing Sunday, and thus presumably lower than normal viewership for 60 Minutes, an appearance on 20/20 would have been the Clinton campaign’s best shot at getting a prime time network audience before Super Tuesday. Nightline’s Cynthia McFadden will spend tomorrow with the candidate for a “day in the life” story which will air tomorrow night.

Candidates are not going to get much of a chance after the CNN debates to change the perception of them before Feb. 5, with the Super Bowl this weekend. Unless someone does something dramatic on Saturday, I suppose, but even then…

The debates tomorrow (for Republicans) and Thursday are looming especially large.

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John Edwards Admits He’s Going to Lose … Sort of

Hat tip: TPM Election Central

His campaign manager elicited a desire to the NYT to be involved heavily in a brokered convention today:

But they have also floated other rationales for a continued Edwards candidacy, suggesting that his delegates could be used to promote his platform or to help him act as a power broker at the Democratic convention.

“We’re still hoping that John is the nominee,” said David Bonior, the national campaign manager. “But with a chunk of delegates, you can leverage what you’ve been fighting for and standing for. You can raise these issues to where they should be on the Democratic agenda. We’re running for those two reasons: to get the nomination and to have his voice heard on his issues.”

t’s
This is essentially the only reason Edwards can run anymore, and makes him the 2008 version of what Dennis Kucinich famously did in 2004. Will Edwards get in trouble with the FEC if it becomes clear mathematically that he will not get delegates, as Kucinich did?

As for who this helps, it’s hard to say. You can make reasonable arguments for Edwards prescence drawing away from either Clinton or Obama, although Edwards would more than likely lean towards Obama should it actually get to the convention, which still is highly unlikely. We’ll discuss this more in upcoming podcasts.

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Yes, Bill Richardson Was That Crazy

The definitive proof comes in:

Richardson’s torn. He served in the Clinton White House, first as ambassador to the United Nations, then as Clinton’s Secretary of Energy. “I have a history with the Clintons,” Richardson said. “And I’ve always liked her. She always seems very genuine.” But Richardson considers Kennedy, who’s long been respected by Hispanics, as “a mentor.” In 1982, when Richardson ran for Congress for the second time — he lost two years before — Kennedy flew to Santa Fe and campaigned for him. “That might have been the reason I was elected,” Richardson said. And he said he likes Obama, telling a story about how Obama saved him during one of last year’s Democratic debates:

“I had just been asked a question — I don’t remember which one — and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn’t going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, ‘So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?’ But I wasn’t paying any attention! I was about to say, ‘Could you repeat the question? I wasn’t listening.’ But I wasn’t about to say I wasn’t listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, ‘Katrina. Katrina.’ The question was on Katrina! So I said, ‘On Katrina, my policy . . .’ Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, ‘Obama, that was good of you to do that.’”

On the bright side, we know he was not wearing an earpiece.

As for his endorsement, there’s a reason he’s not being listed with Kennedy, Gore, or Edwards as a powerful potential endorsement.

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