Dogged by Low Poll Numbers, Obama Heads Into West Virginia Unfazed
From CBS News' Michelle Levi:
CHICAGO -- With news of a new poll showing Hillary Clinton up big in West Virginia, Barack Obama heads there today - on the eve of the primary - for a town hall on veterans' affairs.
The campaign heads to the Mountain State today amidst discouraging poll results which show West Virginians are not ready to call the race for Obama. A Suffolk University poll taken over the weekend shows Clinton leading Obama by 36 points among likely Democratic voters. Possibly more disappointing to the Obama campaign, the poll shows 44 percent favor Obama while Clinton's favorabilty there is 70 percent.
These numbers come as no real surprise to campaign watchers, however, and Obama's schedule has reflected this. Today's trip to West Virginia is his first before tomorrow's primary.
Meantime, Obama has spent the past week, since his big win in North Carolina and close loss in Indiana last Tuesday, focusing more on John McCain and very little on Clinton. So, while tomorrow's predicted loss looms, he's unfazed since the reality is setting in that Clinton has virtually no chance of capturing the nomination at this point.
Campaigning in Oregon late last week and efforting to not sound overconfident, Obama mentioned his uphill battles in West Virginia and Kentucky, another state where Clinton is expected to perform well.
"We do not have this nomination locked up, so we are still competing. She is going to do very well in West Virginia. She will win these states in all likelihood by significant margins," said Obama.
Obama campaign spokesperson Jen Psaki explains, "We know that we are the underdog in both Kentucky and West Virginia. After almost two decades of campaigning in these states, Senator Clinton starts with a quite a head start. But we are going to fight hard to earn as many votes as we can get and hopefully overcome the institutional advantages she has."
Today, he will speak will speak to a group of about 1,000 people at the Charleston town hall meeting and there will be between 150 and 200 veterans in attendance. Obama will be introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V. and his wife Sharon. Rockefeller caused a bit of a headache for Obama earlier this spring when he suggested McCain disregarded Vietnam victims and had a fiery temper.
Obama has plans to campaign in Missouri, an important swing state for the Democrats next fall, tomorrow afternoon after an event in Lexington, Ky., another indictaion that his campaign has begun to focus on the general election.
CHICAGO -- With news of a new poll showing Hillary Clinton up big in West Virginia, Barack Obama heads there today - on the eve of the primary - for a town hall on veterans' affairs.
The campaign heads to the Mountain State today amidst discouraging poll results which show West Virginians are not ready to call the race for Obama. A Suffolk University poll taken over the weekend shows Clinton leading Obama by 36 points among likely Democratic voters. Possibly more disappointing to the Obama campaign, the poll shows 44 percent favor Obama while Clinton's favorabilty there is 70 percent.
These numbers come as no real surprise to campaign watchers, however, and Obama's schedule has reflected this. Today's trip to West Virginia is his first before tomorrow's primary.
Meantime, Obama has spent the past week, since his big win in North Carolina and close loss in Indiana last Tuesday, focusing more on John McCain and very little on Clinton. So, while tomorrow's predicted loss looms, he's unfazed since the reality is setting in that Clinton has virtually no chance of capturing the nomination at this point.
Campaigning in Oregon late last week and efforting to not sound overconfident, Obama mentioned his uphill battles in West Virginia and Kentucky, another state where Clinton is expected to perform well.
"We do not have this nomination locked up, so we are still competing. She is going to do very well in West Virginia. She will win these states in all likelihood by significant margins," said Obama.
Obama campaign spokesperson Jen Psaki explains, "We know that we are the underdog in both Kentucky and West Virginia. After almost two decades of campaigning in these states, Senator Clinton starts with a quite a head start. But we are going to fight hard to earn as many votes as we can get and hopefully overcome the institutional advantages she has."
Today, he will speak will speak to a group of about 1,000 people at the Charleston town hall meeting and there will be between 150 and 200 veterans in attendance. Obama will be introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V. and his wife Sharon. Rockefeller caused a bit of a headache for Obama earlier this spring when he suggested McCain disregarded Vietnam victims and had a fiery temper.
Obama has plans to campaign in Missouri, an important swing state for the Democrats next fall, tomorrow afternoon after an event in Lexington, Ky., another indictaion that his campaign has begun to focus on the general election.
I wonder why?
He doesn''t care about FL or MI either.
He was concentrating on every state while Hillary was writing them off back in February, that''s why the contest is now over and it''s time to focus on the General
Election.
He''s going to West Virginia but what would be the point of camping out there when he needs to focus on taking on McCain?
Just because the lady in the pants suit isn''t ready to say it''s over doesn''t mean he has to dance to her tune.
And yet he''s still even or ahead in the states he needs to win.
jack3213,
Will McCain keep his promises? It would be the first time! He flip flops more than Romney!
Republicans ridiculed Bill Clinton in 1992 when he promised to balance the budget and create 8 million jobs...he did both!
Bush promised to bring dignity back to the White House and to have a humble foreign policy. Gingrich promised term limits, a line item veto,fiscal responsibility, and ethics in government.
The promises being made by the Democratic candidates are far more modest, doable, and necessary than McCain''s insane promises to stay the course on the economy and Iraq.
OOPS - DOWN TO NEEDING ONLY 49 NOW
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by blackmilitan
May 12, 2008 4:11 PM PDT
- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn, an Obama supporter, compared Clinton to the Glenn Close character in "Fatal Attraction" -- a spurned woman turned stalker who was apparently drowned in a bathtub only to jump up one more time to be shot dead.
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Reply to this comment
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See all 19 Comments"Glenn Close should have stayed in that tub, and Sen. Clinton has had a remarkable career and needs to move to the next step, which is helping elect the Democratic nominee," Cohen said during a local TV interview. He later apologized for his comments.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4835378&page=1