Obama and Rockefeller Campaign Across Ohio

By: Maria Gavrilovic
Topics: Barack Obama

(CBS)

From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Despite the fact that he believes he ran a "clean campaign" from the start, Barack Obama repeatedly went after Hillary Clinton at a rally in Westerville, Ohio today. Clinton made a campaign stop at the same Columbus suburb a few hours earlier, but at a different venue.

"This has been a long contest on the Democratic side, and we've had strong candidates throughout, Senator Clinton is a fine candidate and I tried as much as possible to spend my campaign talking not about the flaws of the other candidates but why I am running," Obama told a crowd of over 1,500.

"So I think that I think that the reason we've done well is because people understand that the problem is not who's got the 10-point plan, because everybody's got a 10-point plan. We've all got experts. We've all got accomplishments we can tout, we've all got a track record. The question is who can bring a country together, so you have a working majority to actually bring about change."

During the hour-long town hall meeting, Obama went after Clinton on NAFTA, Iraq and lobbyists, all without mentioning John McCain. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who endorsed Obama just few days ago, was on the campaign trail with Obama today. Despite his long relationship with the Clintons, Rockefeller said he chose Obama because of his character and judgment. He also argued that Obama will be able to withstand Republican attacks if he is the nominee, and that he has more experience than John McCain.

"I think Senator Obama's experience is substantially greater than Senator McCain's," Rockefeller said, "and I know that seems like an odd statement to make right now given McCain's service in Vietnam. I think that it comes down to the past versus the future."

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by giantrobot2 March 4, 2008 9:29 AM EST: 3 Reasons why to vote 4 Mike Huckabee:

1. McCain maxed out his FEC presidential fund and will not be able to compete with Obama''s advertising in the general election.

2. McCain is a puppet controlled by the party big wigs. He is not allowed to say or do anything without first getting their permission. Democrats will seize on this lack of power by a President.

3. McCain can not articulate well enough to pump up the Republican base to go out an vote in the general election. He doesn''t have the firepower and charm like Mike Huckabee to get all the stay at home Republicans out of the house to go vote in the general election.

The Republican party is doomed for 20 years to come if McCain is the nominee. We might as well start writing blank checks to send to the Democrats as they will be raising our taxes to astronomical porportions to finance government regulated health care.

Vote for Mike Huckabee, he is the only one that can go toe to toe with Obama in a general election.; Reply to this comment


by runleeny March 3, 2008 11:51 AM EST: Cottontop;
As far as a reason that Obama would want this "toughest job in the world" would be to spread this hidden agenda he may be bearing. I have to agree that he is a very charismatic candidate, but when I listen to him he provides nothing of substance, he missed 1/3 of the votes when he was in session, and he STILL has not answered why he didn''t put his hand on his heart for national anthem, like the other Americans standing behind him. He also has not addressed his pastors ties to Mr Farrakhan, if his spirital mentor likes Farrakhan, how do we know he won''t convice Mr. Obama to make some other disconcerting decisions that would be favorable to our nations enemy !; Reply to this comment


by cottontop123 March 3, 2008 1:38 AM EST: I want a future for my children and hopefully one day for my grandchildren. The people of this country need to wake up, we can''t afford to keep going down this path of self destruction. We''re playing into Osama Bin Laden''s hands. This is exactly what he wanted us to do. He wanted us to attack a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, to keep our military occupied while he could plan and attack without us being able to counter attack. He is laughing everyday, saying how stupid the Americans are for letting our brilliant Commander in Chief talk us into believing Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. When in actuality Saddam Hussein hated Al Quaida. So when you start questioning Barack Obama''s patriotism, ask yourself. Who''s actually going to bring to justice the man responsible for 9/11? The only man who has the right plan is Barack Obama.; Reply to this comment


by cottontop123 March 3, 2008 1:37 AM EST: You know I hear people like runleeny questioning Barack Obama''s patriotism everyday. Do you think for a minute if Barack Obama didn''t love this country he would put himself and his family through the scrutiny he has faced for the last year? If he didn''t love this country, why in the world would he be trying so hard to get the toughest job in the world? Let me remind everyone, the man who will claim to be the most patriotic in this race is also going to be the same man who keeps us on the current path we''re on. Nothing is going to change if John McCain gets elected president. We''re still going to be in Iraq, we''re still going to be shipping jobs overseas without regard to the American worker, we''re still going to have the tax cuts for the wealthy and Osama Bin Laden will still be making videos in Pakistan making fun of Americans for being in Iraq. Is this what we want for another four or even eight years? It''s *** sure not what I want.; Reply to this comment


by l00ker March 2, 2008 11:41 PM EST: Indeed, time to move on.; Reply to this comment


by gracemn March 2, 2008 11:17 PM EST: If Hillary is so ready on day one, then why didn''t Chris Dodd and Jay Rockefeller endorse her? Why is Gov. Richardson today hinting at if she doesn''t win both Texas and Ohio on Tuesday, that she needs to get out and stop the negative campaigning?; Reply to this comment


by gc1929 March 2, 2008 10:51 PM EST: How can someone who participates in a racially biased and divisive church bring such a diverse country together? CBS made a big deal tonight of supposedly clearing the air about Obama not being a Muslim, as if being a Muslim is a crime. Like so much of mainstream media they ignored a deeper issue, as I am certain many of the remaining hypocrites will choose to overlook as well.; Reply to this comment


by runleeny March 2, 2008 10:30 PM EST: Why didn''t the 60 minutes reporters ask BARACK OBAMA to answer WHY he didn''t put his hand on his heart for National Anthem. WHY didn''t the 60 minutes report ask BARACK OBAMA if HIS pastor of HIS church has close ties to Lewis Farrakhan. Is everybody afraid of this guy, including the 60 minutes reporter. That snippet on tv tonight left more questions than answers in my mind. The poor fella in Ohio that heard some rather disconcerting things about OBAMA, is only voicing the disconcerting things we all have heard about Obama. COULD SOME REPORTER SOMEWHERE ask BARACK for clear cut answers to these accusations ????? PLEEEZ; Reply to this comment


by susan10001-2009 March 2, 2008 9:50 PM EST: A Constitutional Professor at Harvard, Editor of the Harvard Law Review, a Community Organizer on the south side of Chicago, a Civil Rights Attorney working on Death Penalty cases, a State Senator for 8 years, the most sweeping Ethics Reform since Watergate (per the WSJ), and a Senator at the federal level for a couple of years...

And she calls him an empty suit?

The gall.; Reply to this comment


by drbob10001 March 2, 2008 9:41 PM EST: Among these candidates, only Barack Obama has experience in making successful judgements -- the only experience that counts!; Reply to this comment