Clinton Ad Casts Pundits As Out of Touch

From CBS News’ Ryan Corsaro:


LOS ANGELES -- Hillary Clinton released a new ad in Oregon today that casts political pundits as out of touch with what voters in that state care about.

The ad, entitled “What’s Right,” suggests that voters should ignore “pundits in Washington” and shows video of ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Tim Russert.

“In Washington, they talk about who's up and who's down,” the ad’s announcer says. “In Oregon, we care about what's right and what's wrong.”

The ad goes on to list Clinton’s proposals to end No Child Left Behind, create a universal healthcare system, and says she opposed a Bush energy bill to control liquefied gas sites on Oregon’s coast.

The ad highlights a frustration the Clinton campaign is suffering from as they try to continue to gain support through the six primaries running up to June 3rd – the date through which she has vowed to stay in the race. The Clinton campaign has become increasingly aggravated with members of the media who deduce that she has little chance of regaining her lead in the delegate count and pulling ahead of Senator Obama.

After last week’s primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert declared that Barack Obama would ultimately win his party’s nomination based on the results in those states, saying “we now know who the Democratic nominee will be.” Clinton lost North Carolina and only won Indiana by a small margin.

After a night of speaking with fundraisers and asking for financial support in Los Angeles, Clinton travels to Eugene, Junction City, Salem, and Portland, Oregon, today to hold public campaign events. She will participate in a televised town hall meeting this evening with a local Portland television station in advance of Tuesday’s primary, where 52 delegates are up for grabs.

Tomorrow she will hold events in Kentucky, which also goes to the polls Tuesday, and has 51 delegates.