Friday, February 29, 2008
Clinton and Obama create space between themselves in Austin
Seated side-by-side at desks on a stage in Austin, Clinton and Obama engaged in discussions of what ultimately were complementary or overlapping policy issues.
But midway through what had been genial interplay, their exchange sharpened as both candidates were asked about their rhetoric toward each other on the campaign trail, including accusations by the Clinton campaign that Obama had plagiarized part of a speech from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a key campaign adviser.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words," Clinton said, then took a shot at one of Obama's campaign slogans. "Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in; it's change you can Xerox."
But Obama dismissed the contretemps as political distraction.
"The notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who's one of my national co-chairs, who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think is silly," Obama said. "This is where we start getting into silly season in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged about it."
They also clashed over health care and over readiness to serve in the Oval Office.
Clinton has proposed universal health care that would require all Americans to be covered, Obama's plan does not carry such a requirement, and Clinton again criticized what she said his proposal to leave 15 million people
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Labels: Barack Obama wins Iowa, Hillary Rodham Clinton.Austin
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Clinton has defeated Republican attack machine and emerged stronger
Sen. Barack Obama's promise of transformation and an end of partisan politics has its seductive appeal. The Bush-Cheney era, after all, has been punctuated by smear campaigns, character assassinations and ideological fervor.
Nobody dislikes such poisonous partisanship, especially in foreign policy, more than I do. I am one of very few Foreign Service officers to have served as ambassador in the administrations of both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, yet I have spent the past four years fighting a concerted character-assassination campaign orchestrated by the George W. Bush White House.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the few who fully understood the stakes in that battle. Time and again, she reached out to my wife -- outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson -- and me to remind us that, as painful as the attacks were, we simply could not allow ourselves to be driven from the public square by bullying. Clinton knew from experience, having spent the better part of the past 20 years fighting theTo read the full article, click here....
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Labels: Barack Obama wins Iowa, CIA officer, Clinton
Monday, January 7, 2008
Obama wins in Iowa, with Edwards second, Clinton third
With almost all of the state's 1,781 precincts reporting, Obama, D-Ill., was winning 38 percent of the delegates being awarded in the competition. Clinton, D-N.Y., took 29 percent to run third behind former senator John Edwards, D-N.C., who drew 30 percent.
Obama's victory came after the longest, costliest and most intensely fought campaign in the history of the Iowa caucuses. The year-long competition produced a huge turnout that temporarily swamped some precincts and reflected the energy and enthusiasm among Democratic voters determined to recapture the White House in November.
Party officials said turnout exceeded 236,000, far above the 124,000To read the full story, click here..
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Labels: Barack Obama wins Iowa, Hillary Clinton, john edwards
Friday, January 4, 2008
Onslaught in Iowa reflects its centrality to presidential contest
On the Democratic side, three candidates -Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina -- are running neck-and-neck-and-neck, with the rest of the field fighting to squeeze past one of them to finish third.
Among Republicans, former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts are battling for first place, while the race for third is a toss-up among several contenders.
The closeness of the caucus contests here increases the import of these final days -- and any verbal misstep, breakthrough TV ads or crystallizing moment on the campaign trail -in what already have been exceptionally fluid races.
Iowans are scheduled to vote on January 3.
"We've never had anything like this," said David Nagle, a former congressman and past chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, who has been tracking the caucuses since they gained national attention in 1972. "If you can find a three-headed coin, flip it. That's about the best projection I can give you."
The onslaught in Iowa reflects its centrality to the presidential contest, despite the efforts of politicians in more populous places -- including Michigan, Florida and California -- to cut the state down to size by moving their contests up to January and early February. All that Iowa's detractors managed to do was to elevate the state's import and add uncertainty by pushing the campaign into the heart of the holiday season.
"This is really a caucus like no other," said Jeff Link, a longtime Iowa Democratic strategist and Edwards supporter. "Everyone feels they need to get in as many visits and events as they can between the 26th and the 3rd because it's close. Everyone's going to try to do everything they can in these closing days."
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Labels: Barack Obama wins Iowa, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee
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