From The Road
February 15, 2008 2:16 PM

Obama: Clinton's Attacking Because "She's Feeling Down"

By
Maria Gavrilovic
Topics
Barack Obama
(CBS)
From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

MILWAUKEE -- Barack Obama accused Hillary Clinton of going after him in recent days because she is "down."

"I understand that Senator Clinton periodically, when she's feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal," Obama said.

"But I think this kind of gamesmanship is not what the American people are looking for."

However, throughout the press conference and at the following rally, Obama did not shy away from going after Clinton several times.

He accused Clinton of taking double the amount of special interest money than himself or McCain. "That's not being a part of the solutions business. That's being a part of business-as-usual in Washington."

At the Milwaukee rally, Obama pounced on Clinton on issue after issue,

"Her supporting getting NAFTA didn't get jobs to the American people, he supporting a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of bankruptcy, that didn't help them or the bills that were stacking up on their desks. Hollering at Republicans and engaging in petty partisan politics didn't help health care get done."

Obama and Clinton have also bickering over superdelegates, which increasingly look like they may be the deciding factor in determining the democratic nominee. Controversy has come up over Clinton backer, and superdelegate, Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who the New York Times says will endorse Obama. However, both Lewis's office and Obama deny knowledge of the endorsement.

Obama admitted to calling Lewis after the article was published but he did not speak to him directly. He argued that broader issue was that superdelegates should not override decisions made by voters.

"Our position has always been clear which is voters should make these decisions; whoever has the most pledged delegates at the end of this contest should be the nominee and that super delegates should ratify that decision by the voters."

Obama was asked if he believes Clinton should receive the pledged delegates have yet to be awarded in Michigan and Florida, which were penalized by the Democratic National Committee for moving their primaries into January.

"Obviously it wouldn't make any sense, and I think even my six year old would understand it would not be fair for Senator Clinton to be awarded delegates when there was no campaign and in one of the states, at least, my name didn't appear on the ballot."

Add a Comment See all 35 Comments
by lovehillary February 17, 2008 9:38 PM EST
Obama CHOSE to take his name off the ballot in Michigan!!! It was HIS choice! As for Florida, he is the ONLY candidate who ran a campaign Ad there, so he had the most campaigning there! THAT wasn''t allowed either!!

Hillary SHOULD GET the delegates coming to her from Michigan and Florida!!! These are two states needed for the General Election and you CANNOT DISENFRANCHISE THOSE VOTERS!!!
Reply to this comment
by drband36 February 16, 2008 1:58 PM EST
Obama aired TV ads in Florida because they were part of *national media air-time buys* that he made. You can''t contract to run an ad nation-wide and then "substract" Florida from the media buy.

MF4Edwards, maybe you weren''t aware of this provision.

Elise in NH
http://www.obamastraws.blogspot.com
Reply to this comment
by gpservices February 16, 2008 1:07 PM EST
For all of these years what has any president really done for minorities. Oh one help free the slaves. Your sure... There''s over 2 million black men & women in- carcerated. Blacks & Latinos make up the majority of the prison population but their the minorities. Racism still runs rapid in the government, military, courts, and police dpt. Black men are being targeted and shot down like dogs in the street yearly by police. "Well it looks like the dogs are more important than black men!" It''s still bias in the housing market, work force and educational system.

Now could someone please tell me what did Bill Clinton really do for black people but give them some crumbs? If I gave a dog some kibbles & bits when it never had steak it would be happy to. Clinton had eight years in office. I ask again what did he really do? I understand that the president himself can''t turn things around, its done in layers. My question is who is going to start cleaning up this mess?
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by fatalx1a February 16, 2008 6:31 AM EST
Now, I would post those of Obama''s, but the list is too substantive, so I''ll mainly categorize.
During the first - 8 - eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.

His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These inculded
**the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law,
**The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law,
**The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
**The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, - became law,
**The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.

Reply to this comment
by fatalx1a February 16, 2008 6:31 AM EST
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men''s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men''s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton''s bills are, more substantive. 16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11
18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.

There you have it, the fact''s straight from the Senate Record.

Reply to this comment
by fatalx1a February 16, 2008 6:30 AM EST
Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term - 6yrs. - and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law - 20 - twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years.

These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress www.thomas.loc.gov, but to save you trouble, I''ll post them here for you.

1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O''Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.
Reply to this comment
by mf4edwards February 16, 2008 5:06 AM EST
Obama did not obey the rules in Florida and aired TV commercials immediately after the debate. (Presidential candidates gave their word they would not campaign in Florida, because Florida moved their Primary date, thank you Howard Dean.) Obama gave his word that he would abide by the pact given to the DNC, obviously he lied. Obama came up with a lame excuse that the cable networks could not cut Florida out of a National media package. Well, I have news for you all; I called CNN and MSNBC, and of course you can leave an entire state out, you could leave a city out! I had them fax a media buy proposal to me so I could have it in writing. NO ONE CARED! What does that tell you!
Reply to this comment
by bloomusa February 16, 2008 4:29 AM EST
Vote for the only candidate who can beat McCain, OBAMA!!! National Polls show that people would vote for Obama, not Hillary over McCain......It is really important to choose wisely! We cannot go through 4 more years or 40 more years of war because we cannot pick a winning candidate. Texas and Ohio take notice!
Reply to this comment
by bloomusa February 16, 2008 4:25 AM EST
Hillary VOTED for the WAR, and for the credit card companies, do you wonder why? She has voted against the people and has voted for the Corporations, she is not voting for the people, why are they voting for her? People need to rethink who they support because she cannot beat McCain like Obama can. He is for the people and he is the most likely to beat McCain! It is so clear.....
Reply to this comment
by bloomusa February 16, 2008 4:23 AM EST
Hillary VOTED for the WAR, and for the credit card companies, do you wonder why? She has voted against the people and has voted for the Corporations, she is not voting for the people, why are they voting for her? People need to rethink who they support because she cannot beat McCain like Obama can. He is for the people and he is the most likely to beat McCain! It is so clear.....
Reply to this comment
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