NEW YORK, March 2, 2007

Both Clintons, Obama To Face Off In Ala.

Bill And Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama Will Be On Hand In Selma This Weekend

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    Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already slugging it out while other candidates like John Edwards wait and watch. Gloria Borger reports.

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(CBS/AP)  In competition for a key Democratic voting bloc, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is enlisting the help of her husband, former President Clinton, at a weekend civil rights commemoration headlined by a formidable black rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

Clinton and Obama, the party's top 2008 presidential contenders, will be in Selma, Ala., Sunday to observe the 42nd anniversary of a civil rights march that helped end racial segregation in the South. Obama is scheduled to deliver the day's keynote address at a Selma church that morning, with Sen. Clinton speaking at another church nearby.

But late Thursday, the Clinton campaign announced that the former president would join his wife in a symbolic march across the Edmund Pettus bridge, where civil rights workers were beaten by state troopers in 1965. Obama also will participate in the march, along with civil rights activists and others.

Bill Clinton also will be inducted that day in the National Voting Rights Hall of Fame — another high-profile opportunity for the Clintons to grab the spotlight from the charismatic Obama.

The joint appearance marks the first time the Clintons have appeared together publicly since she announced her candidacy in January.

Normally, Clinton might not worry much about the support of black voters after serving eight years as first lady in a White House that enjoyed legendary popularity among blacks. Bill Clinton was dubbed "the first black president" by author Toni Morrison, and Hillary Clinton has enjoyed strong support from black voters — a critical Democratic constituency — as a senator and presidential contender.

But that popularity is being challenged by Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois who some believe has a real chance at becoming the nation's first black president.

"I think the Clinton camp is sending a signal that they will aggressively contest Barack Obama for the African American vote," said Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., in an interview with the Washington Post. Davis has endorsed Obama and his district includes Selma.

Davis added, "I think it's gratifying to see that two of the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination would want to come to Selma 42 years after Bloody Sunday, and I think it dramatizes the changes that have occurred in American politics and black politics in particular."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the more people who attend the anniversary events, the better.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Add a Comment See all 44 Comments
by gunnerv1 March 5, 2007 10:48 AM EST
Just Remember...These colors never run (unless your a liberal).
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by j-whitman March 3, 2007 4:57 AM EST
Thg,, Before you go, here's another one for the Walking Liar --
-- WASHINGTON - President Bush's proposed federal budget would probably not produce its advertised surplus of $61 billion in five years, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

Instead, Bush's February budget plan would produce a $9 billion deficit by 2012 if it were to be enacted, CBO maintained.

Reply to this comment
by thgdriver March 3, 2007 4:51 AM EST
j-we'll see, Nancy's head got so big at becoming speaker she demanded a giant economy size plane. You know how tough it would be to stop for fuel once in the speakers old plane. BOO HOO HOO. Just charge it to me and J. Q. Taxpayer.

With Al Hypocrite Gore as a spokesman for Global warming, you may as well have Hanoi Fonda back as you war protester spokesperson.

Oh, I forgot she is your spokesperson. I caught her act on TV.

Gotta go to bed. Nite J
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by j-whitman March 3, 2007 4:40 AM EST
Thg,,
, The only reason our disabled troops are kept on active duty is to pump up the numbers on active duty -- Just as the data is contrived on the War on Terror & the twisted intell we all know now was wrong on Iraq, Iran & North Korea...
Have a nice night
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by j-whitman March 3, 2007 4:36 AM EST
Thg,,,, Republicans don't want it fixed,, It would be an admission of failures,
, It may be such a mess now the next 3 Presidents will be trying to fix it.
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver March 3, 2007 4:32 AM EST
For the next two years or so the Demoncrats are in charge, They say they will fix it, when they don't, and I am telling you they won't. You all will have to rethink your voting habits.
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver March 3, 2007 4:23 AM EST
It's so nice to see the two of them so in love. They are not in love with each other, but in love, nun the less.
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by j-whitman March 3, 2007 4:12 AM EST
Have a very Bad Night Bushies,, You deserve it.
Reply to this comment
by j-whitman March 3, 2007 4:09 AM EST
Secretary of the Army,, gone today
Surgeon General,, gone soon
Head of VA,,, next
Iraq is lost,, Afaganistan sinking like Bush's poll numbers
Our military severly damaged
New York & New Jersy's air space & sea ports sold to Sunni's... on & on it goes.

AND YOU IDIOTS ARE BASHING CLINTON & OBAMA -- LOL,,, YOU PEOPLE ARE THE "AXIS OF EVIL"
Reply to this comment
by j-whitman March 3, 2007 3:59 AM EST
Hawk,,, What happened?? Did you lose the will to fight ??? Bush's poll numbers are now 29% & sinking like a rock.
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