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Clinton Slams Democratic Activists At Private Fundraiser

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Celeste Fremon - Apr. 19 (Opinion) - At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the "activist base" of the Democratic Party -- and MoveOn.org in particular -- for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had "flooded" state caucuses and "intimidated" her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.

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Hillary And The Commies

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Marc Cooper - Apr. 17 (News Analysis) - During Tuesday night's Pennsylvania debate, George Stephanopoulos didn't flinch from trying to smear Barack Obama by association with former 60's radical Bill Ayers. Too bad George didn't ask Hillary about her own summer spent working for a law firm run by Communists. The facts: Obama met with former Weather Underground radical Ayers and his wife, former 60's SDS leader Bernardine Dohrn, at a 1995 Chicago meeting. From 1999-2002, Obama served on the board of a charity organization with Ayers that gave out a couple of grants. Now, I knew these Weathermen folks back in the 60's, and they were quite unsavory then. There were plenty of us who were in SDS at that time who thought the Weathermen were despicable. And, frankly, I have no particular affection for them now. I found Ayers' memoir, published in 2001, to be execrable. But by the time Obama met them in the 90's, they had cleared their violent past with the criminal justice system, they had served their punishment, gone back to school and by then become legitimate and even respected educators, and players in Chicago liberal politics.

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Me and Barack: Michelle Obama Talks To Pennsylvanians

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Mayhill Fowler - Apr. 17 (Opinion) - Michelle Obama is just as gifted an orator as her husband, and her talents were on display Tuesday in York, PA, where she gave one of the best speeches I've seen so far in Election 2008. Typically, she talks about growing up South Side Chicago, and this is what she did in York, but in a more fervent and eloquent way than ever before. Post-bittergate, she's not only refashioned her stump speech to address the charge of her husband's perceived elitism but also she's drilled deep into her herself to find ways to reach people--so that the very act of connection subverts the criticism. Like a lot of the beautiful old towns in Pennsylvania, York is struggling but it's not down. The Peppermint Pattie rolled on down the road to Hershey twenty years ago (and is now headed for Mexico). Caterpillar has gone, too. But there's still Harley-Davidson and a couple of long-time family businesses. And, of course, there's health care, which has become the number one employer in so many small cities in America. Michelle's audience in the restored Beaux Arts theater downtown was classic Obama: African-Americans and well-educated white folks. The way the race's last lap is playing--with Clinton and Obama hopping about from state to state, in and out, most Quaker Staters will never get a chance to hear and see Senator Obama. Indeed no one in the theater I approached had seen him. His wife was the closest they would get.

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Where Did McCain Get What He's Got "in the Bank" with the Press?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Off the Bus - By Jay Rosen - Mar. 28 (News Analysis) - First came John McCain's strange assertion that Al Qaeda in Iraq was being trained and supported by the Iranians. Next he backed off the claim after Joe Lieberman whispered something in his ear. "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda," he said. Then on Meet the Press, NBC's political director, Chuck Todd, explained why this slip wouldn't hurt him with the press corps : "Even if he gets dinged on the experience stuff, 'Oh, he says he's Mr. Experience. Doesn't he know the difference between this stuff?' He's got enough of that in the bank, at least with the media, that he can get away with it." (Video here.) Chuck Todd's phrase, he's got enough of that in the bank, got people wondering what kind of depositary institution this was.

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"Hey, I Am For Hillary": One New Hampshire Superdelegate Isn't Keeping Quiet

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Off the Bus - By Erin Medlicott - Mar. 28 (Opinion) - "there was never any doubt where I was going to be," he said at a Bill Clinton campaign appearance for Hillary held at the VFW in Nashua. "He gave us eight incredible years for this country, and she's got both the heart, the head and the experience to take us there again."

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Perception of Electability At Stake For Obama In Coming Primaries

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Off the Bus - By Mayhill Fowler - Mar. 25 (Opinion) - the Obama Campaign must be looking down the road through a different scope. Obama must be estimating that his 30-plus million in the bank is not going to be enough. Internet fundraising from small donors is not going to re-supply him for a coming fight of the magnitude for which his campaign is bracing.

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California Superdelegates: No Brokered Convention

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By John Tomasic - Mar. 11 (Opinion) - In interviews with OffTheBus this past week, California superdelegates undercut media-generated dramatic narratives about how the Democratic nomination will unfold in August. They discounted, for example, the Spielbergian "doomsday scenario" painted by Time magazine, where back room "wheelers and dealers" would revel in the power they "wrestled from the rabble." They shook their heads, basically, at the way CNN, way back before Super Tuesday, was warning that members of the "super class of super Democrats" had been given "the power of tens of thousands of average citizens." The situation the superdelegates themselves described is a lot less Spielberg than it is C-Span. For them, it's all about the slow and largely predictable functioning of party machinery. For the superdelegates in California, at least, the two plot lines that drive the media version of the story of the nomination basically don't exist. First, the chance of an actual brokered convention is seen as slim to none. Second, the alleged tension between the citizens and the delegates seems either a misreading or just plain exaggeration.

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Way Off The Bus

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Mar. 03 (Opinion) - On a recent trip to Brazil, the level of enthusiasm over Obama's candidacy was palpable. It's not only those with votes in the election who are desirous of change in Washington.

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Immigration and Social Issues, Not Iraq, Dominate Among Iowa Republican Voters

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Chase Martyn - Dec. 18 (Opinion) - While the war in Iraq might loom large in the minds of Democratic caucus-goers, Iowa Republicans are much more focused on immigration and cultural issues, according to a new survey of state GOP chairs. The local Republican officials, like the leading GOP presidential candidates with the exception of Ron Paul, mostly agree that a stable Iraq is key to U.S. national security and the war on terror. But the Iraq war itself is not playing out as a stand-alone voting issue.

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Candidates Play Nice, Moderator Plays It Safe At Democratic Debate

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Daniel Nichanian - Dec. 14 (Opinion) - The debate is not likely to change many people's minds in that few contrasts were drawn, but every candidate was right on message and people's impressions are likely to be confirmed. Insofar as Clinton needed a strong showing that would slow down talk of her slide and vulnerabilities, she got it. Insofar as Obama wanted to avoid major showdowns that could reverse the storyline of his momentum, he got that, too. And insofar as Edwards's hope in the next three weeks is to capture the spirit of Iowa nice, he still has every chance of prevailing on January 3rd.

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Anatomy of an Obama Photo Op

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Zack Exley - Dec. 12 (Opinion) - Obama's Nevada staff pulled off a brilliant little piece of communications magic to keep the Oprah bounce aloft one more day here. As someone who's almost never been around the communications side of campaigns, it was a fascinating process for me to watch unfold from event to nightly news. A little past noon, right before a closed meeting with student organizers, Obama's staff had him sit down in front of local TV cameras to discuss Social Security with six hand-picked supporters who were mostly in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Before the event, I watched as the local press dutifully and unenthusiastically set up their cameras and waited for Barack's arrival. These people are amazing: out of 280 million Americans, these reporters and camera people have to be the least excited about the presidential campaign. They had, 'I'm so over this' written all over their faces.

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Oprah Spins Magic for Obama

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Beverly Davis - Dec. 09 (Opinion) - Des Moines, Iowa---Using the same warm homespun Southern girl-speak and inspiration mixed with spiritual references that has made her the queen of daytime television, Oprah Winfrey, delivered a one-two knock out in the first political speech of her life as she invited the crowd of 18,400 to "Dream American Anew Again" and "think seriously about who we are and who we could be." Michele Obama, dressed in a chic grey dress with a fashionable big belt at her waist and mid-calf suede black boots - any one of these items would surely rank as features on Oprah's 'Favorite Things' show - introduced the First Lady of Television, "who empowers us all" to earsplitting cheers and applause by the voters who braved freezing drizzle pelting their faces and slippery dangerous streets in12 degree temperatures with a wind chill dipping the temperature down to zero. It was an ugly, cold day but it didn't take Oprah long to "Fire up" the audience.

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Ron Paul Third In Iowa?

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Chase Martyn - Dec. 09 (Opinion) - (Off The Bus/Iowa Independent) In the past week, momentum in Iowa's GOP caucuses has shifted significantly. Gov. Mitt Romney, who had an apparent stranglehold on the 2008 caucuses through the summer and fall, has found himself in the midst of a true fight. Today, in the second round of Iowa Independent's Republican Power Rankings, we seek again to answer the question, "If the Iowa Caucuses were held tonight, what would be their results?" We caution our readers that our methodology is wholly unscientific. Our rankings are based on impressions we received from activists, politicos, and caucus-goers along with our gut feelings and guesses. We hope that as our readers follow the always unpredictable Iowa horse race from day to day, they will keep this list in mind as a useful perspective from reporters on the ground across the state.

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Latest Iowa Power Ranking: Edwards On Top Again

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Chase Martyn - Dec. 03 (Opinion) - (Off The Bus feature) Today, Iowa Independent releases its second round of Democratic Power Rankings, seeking again to answer the question, "If the caucuses were held tonight, what would be the results?" Our hope is that although our methodology is notably unscientific, the list below will provide our readers one more point of reference while reading horse-race stories from day to day. Although much has happened over the past two weeks, a lot has stayed the same. Polls, which fail to account for many important variables, continue to show the top three contenders in a dead heat in Iowa. Candidates have all spent significant amounts of time here at campaign appearances and forums. Field staff continue to make their calls, identifying new supporters and retaining as many previously identified supporters as possible. Our focus in compiling these lists is largely on organization, one of the single most important indicators of caucus success. But this week, we have also added indicators of candidate momentum in the cases where we feel it is warranted. As history proves, momentum is as powerful a force as any other in the last month of the presidential campaign in Iowa.

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Hillary and the Politics of Disappointment

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Paul Loeb - Nov. 24 (Opinion) - When Democrats worry about Hillary Clinton's electability, they focus on her reenergizing a depressed Republican base while demoralizing core Democratic activists, particularly those outraged about the war, and thus maybe lose the election. But there's a further danger if Hillary's nominated--that she will win but then split the Democratic Party. We forget that this happened with her husband Bill, because compared to Bush, he's looking awfully good. Much of Hillary's support may be nostalgia for when America's president seemed to engage reality instead of disdaining it. But remember that over the course of Clinton's presidency, the Democrats lost 6 Senate seats, 46 Congressional seats, and 9 governorships. This political bleeding began when Monica Lewinsky was still an Oregon college senior. Given Hillary's protracted support of the Iraq war, her embrace of neoconservative rhetoric on Iran, and her coziness with powerful corporate interests, she could create a similar backlash once in office, dividing and depressing the Democratic base and reversing the party's newfound momentum.

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