Dems Cross Paths On Homestretch To Tuesday
Obama Assures Voters He Is A Christian; Clinton Makes Surprise Appearance On "SNL"
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'Must Win' Attitude For Dems
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama step up their campaigns for the critical primaries in Texas and Ohio. Jim Axelrod reports.
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All Eyes On Ohio
Steve Kroft talks to Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and reports from Ohio, whose primary voters next Tuesday could determine which candidate is nominated.
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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., greets supporters at a campaign rally, March 2, 2008, in Westerville, Ohio. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., greets supporters at a campaign stop in Westerville, Ohio, Sunday, March 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Campaign Coverage
News and video from the campaign trail.
"What precise foreign-policy experience is she claiming that makes her qualified to answer that telephone call at 3 a.m. in the morning?" Obama asked of the former first lady at a town-hall meeting. It was a reference to dueling television ads over who would exercise superior judgment in responding to a national emergency in the middle of the night.
The Illinois senator also sought to ease lingering Internet-fed concerns about his religion, in particular whether he was a closet Muslim.
"I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. I pray to Jesus every night," he declared at an earlier appearance in the rural southern Ohio town of Nelsonville. He said he wanted to halt "confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated."
Unlike Clinton, who has been barnstorming Ohio, Obama had only two events in the state on Sunday and was spending the night in hometown Chicago. He heads to Texas on Monday for a final day of campaigning before awaiting returns on Tuesday in San Antonio.
His aides said privately that they felt they had a good shot at a win in Texas, but were less certain about Ohio, where they braced for a possible loss.
The two senators came close to running into each other in a Columbus suburb, where Clinton spoke at one high school and Obama spoke several hours later at another. Obama supporters boasted of a much larger crowd.
CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that in one part of Westerville, Ohio, Clinton told supporters: a candidate must be more than a good speaker.
"Sometimes I finish a speech," she said, "and people come up to me and they say, 'Oh, that was so inspiring and so wonderful and it made me feel so good.' I say 'Well, that's great but that's just words.' Our job is to make a difference."
From another part, Obama had a different message: Clinton's experience didn't stop her from voting wrong on Iraq.
"To this day, she won't even admit her vote was a mistake or that it was even a vote for war," he told potential voters. "So besides the decision to invade Iraq, we're still waiting to hear Senator Clinton tell us what precise foreign policy experience that she is claiming that makes her prepared to answer that phone call at three in the morning."
Obama said his opposition to the war in Iraq in 2002 was not a single speech - as Clinton has asserted - but a series of remarks during his 2002 successful Senate campaign.
Obama criticized Clinton expressly for failing to read the classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons capabilities, a report available at the time of her October 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war. "She didn't give diplomacy a chance."
"When it came time to make the most important foreign policy decision of our generation the decision to invade Iraq Senator Clinton got it wrong," Obama said.
He said that Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a fellow Democrat from neighboring West Virginia, had read the intelligence estimate as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. However, Rockefeller wound up voting for the war resolution.
Rockefeller, who is now chairman of that committee, endorsed Obama on Friday and campaigned with him on Saturday.
Rockefeller called Obama "brilliant" and "well grounded" and prepared to take the reins as commander in chief.
The Obama campaign also lined up a conference call for reporters with various Democratic foreign-policy experts who asserted his ability to inspire and lead, his good judgment on Iraq, and ticked legislative accomplishments. It was an effort to undercut Clinton's claim that Obama foreign-policy experience was shallow.
Neither candidate forgot the fact that Ohio is a state hit hard by job loss, and both hit on the economy in their stump speeches today.
"I couldn't believe the prices on the gas stations I was driving by … $3.68 in the poorest part of Ohio," Clinton marveled. "We need a President who gets it and who says, 'wait a minute, we're going to do something about this!"
"I will invest $150 billion over ten years in establishing a green energy sector that will create up to five million new jobs," said Obama.
With Ohio and Texas both widely seen as "must win" for Clinton, she took a quick trip to New York last night to be on "Saturday Night Live."
"Oh, the campaign is going very well." Clinton told comedian Amy Poehler, dressed as a Hillary lookalike, "Very, very well. Why? What have you heard?"
"Nothing," Poehler answered, just a little too quickly.
Both Clinton and Obama will fly to Texas tomorrow where Obama has erased a long-standing Clinton lead. Political scientist James Henson says voters like to be on the winning team - and Obama's won 11 in a row.
"Texans like to think of themselves as different, Henson said. But we're not that different in the sense that people are taking a second look at this thing."
"And moving towards Obama?" asked Axelrod.
"It feels like it," Henson nodded.
Still, Axelrod reports, it's too close to call in Texas. As for Ohio, where the polls do show Clinton in a little bit of a stronger position, one top neutral Democrat there says that Obama does have the momentum, he is shrinking the lead, but the question is, does he have enough time?
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"It used to be thought that wars are good for the economy. No economist really believes that anymore," Stiglitz said in an interview.
Stiglitz and Bilmes argue the true costs are at least $3 trillion under what they call an ultraconservative estimate, and could surpass the cost of World War Two, which they put at $5 trillion after adjusting for inflation.
The direct costs exclude interest on the debt raised to fund the war, health care costs for veterans coming home, and replacing the destroyed hardware and degraded operational capacity caused by the war.
In addition, there are costs not accounted for in the budget such as rising oil prices and social and macroeconomic costs, which the book details.
Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:03am EST
By Daniel Trotta
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Iraq war has contributed to the U.S. economic slowdown and is impeding an economic recovery, Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is severely underestimating the cost of the war, Stiglitz and co-author Linda Bilmes write in their book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War" (W.W. Norton), due to be published on Monday.
The nearly 5-year-old war, once billed as virtually paying for itself through increased Iraqi oil exports, has cost the U.S. Treasury $845 billion directly.
(cont)
He has 4 choices. He can call for a draft. He can wind down the Iraq War, and deploy some, but not all the forces to Afghanistan. He can get sufficient volunteers. He can get allies to add troops.
Well, people are just not volunteering in sufficient numbers. The allies are pulling, not adding, troops. So, he is down to a draft or winding down the war. He said he will not do the latter. What''s left?
He will not tell you this, but here is the answer: he will have to call for a military draft, period. The military would prefer not to do it, draftees are more difficult to train and form into cohesive fighting forces. But, there is no other way to fight all his wars, at the level he wishes to fight them. No, McCain is not joking about his war policies. He just will not tell the truth about the implications. He will, of course, deny vigorously when challenged that they require a military draft.
But, that''s what simple addition compels. Today''s second-graders, who will 10 years hence be called by McCain''s draft, could teach him that.
The Huffington Post
Where is the money going to come from to pay for it all? Daddy at least got the Saudis to pay for most of the first Gulf War. George W. has not received a devalued dime from them. Having succeeded in bankrupting the country by turning a $5 trillion projected surplus into a $3 trillion deficit, an astonishing $8 trillion turnaround, borrowing like bandits from the social security trust fund just as the boomers are about to retire in droves, what devalued currency is McCain going to use to pay for all of this?
Listen for these McCain answers: he will be "confident" that Americans will be patriotic enough to answer the call to duty and volunteer in sufficient numbers for the military (but, curiously, not confident that the wealthiest Americans are patriotic enough to pay higher taxes to support his wars -- odd, isn''t it?) Does McCain believe that, now that they can no longer exhibit a higher patriotism by helping their dad become president, the Romney sons will now volunteer? Or, Jenna''s financee? Or, perhaps, Jenna herself? We do need to give McCain credit, his own sons, like Jim Webb''s, are volunteering.
But, unlike the squeamish White House reporter who was afraid of not getting called upon again and thus accepted Bush''s bald assertion on overextending the military without a followup, we ought to be entitled to ask McCain two questions: upon what recent evidence is his confidence based? And, if he is wrong, what is going to do?
(cont)
John McCain tells us that he is not a very good economist. It brings to mind the old joke that the definition of an economist is someone who is good with numbers but did not have the personality to be an accountant.
But McCain is not joking when he talks about his war policy. He wants to continue the Iraq War. He pledges to increase the US commitment to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell (and, by the way, he knows how to catch him, he just has not told George Bush). He also speaks of other wars.
George Bush says to listen to the generals. Well, the Army Chief of Staff General George Casey tells us that our military is way overstretched, and that tours-of-duty will have to become shortened. [When asked prior to the invasion in ''03 whether he was worried about overextending the military, our seerless President said: "the military will not be overextended," and the reporter failed to ask him how he knew that]. General (ret) Barry McCaffrey has said that we are so lowering recruitment standards just to keep our numbers up that he is concerned for the long-term quality of the military.
(cont)
The vile Rockefellar sack of excrement...supports Obama...Obama has the support of General Dynamics controller...the Crown family...Meanwhile Clinton has the support of much the same elements in New York!! She has the support of former Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin who took over Rockefellar''s Citigroup as Chairman. The Rockefellar scum support both candidates in the Democratic primary! The arse-licking dog General Powell once described himself as a "Rockefellar Republican"...for those stupid enough to vote for either Rockefellar supported Clinton or Obama...this means that you are voting for candidates who, like Rockefellar, will not always do what is best for the United States... as America''s CFR Fuhrer and power arbiter David Rockefellar noted on page 404 of his biography...''I do not always do what is best for the United States...''
IF ANYONE GOES TO SEE OBAMA ASK HIM TO SAY
"I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISABLE, FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOE ALL."
HE WILL REFUSE AND THAT IS NOT AMERICAN.
THAT IS A MUSLIUM
So, pledge allegiance to the flag, a dish towel, a beach blanket or a snot rag...ignore the Constitution and you will be a good Bushamerican.
You have to do better than giving false claims that you are a authority on Islamic Law. No one is dumb enough to believe your lies about Islam, especially since all the accurate information on Islam is right at our finger tips. You are probably not even female, more than likely youre a low-life-beer-belly-loser, but nice try....thanks
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Hillary Clinton should recall that the elder Bush tried that against her husband in 1992, to no effect.
As Fred Barnes noted at the time, "I guess I"d prefer Bush to Clinton at a time like that, but that"s a Cold War question. The Cold War is over. Now people are worried about the economy."
- Posted by prayerman3 at 08:49 PM : Mar 02, 2008
If you don"t know the difference between "profit" and "prophet" you must have been asleep during Sunday School.
It will be real enough when I take it to the bank.
spend, spend spend. That''s all these candidates propose. They spend to solve our problems when they should cut spending. It''s the only way.
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That TV ad she ran, the parody of the Sopranos... I believe that took place in the International House of Pancakes.
Does that count ?
And in the Senate they voted the same way 94% (!!!) of the time.
"Peas in a Pod"
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/peas_in_a_pod.html
-----David Frum, National Post
Published: Saturday, February 23, 2008
I have been involved in politics most of my life. I fought against NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO because they were unbalanced. I have watched and listened to the senate for years... I fought against giving president Bush authority to use force in Iraq and the Patriot Act.
In all of the time that she has been in the senate Hillary Clinton has never done anything that made me wish she was president. In fact as a senator she has been very unimpressive. She is the last person I would like to see be commander and chief of our country...not because she is a woman, I am a woman, but because she has demonstrated poor judgement in foreign policy, an inability to get her healthcare plan passed, and poor management of her campaign.
Senator Obama, on the contrary, has impressed me with his leadership skills, his public stand on Iraq, his management of his campaign. Most of all he has impressed me with his character. He is an extraordinary man. He is brilliant, wise, and he has very strong, natural leadership skills. He sees the big picture in a much bigger framework than most people can and this is good for the american people. I believe he has the potential to be one of the greatest leaders of our time.
Posted by ranakarimi
#1. There are many families in Indonesia that have Muslim, Christian, and Buddhists, so your assertion that he must be a Muslim is a lie as it is contrary to facts in Indonesia, which, while it the country with the world''s largest Muslim population, it is not a Muslim country, the constitution specifically prohibits such.
and dont forget there is a law in islam called TAGIYEH which means u can lie about ur religion in order to do good for allah later now the question is waht good obama has plan to do for allah!" Posted by ranakarimi
This is the second lie, there is no reason accepted for lying for any reason in the Koran, your made-up word "tagiyeh" does not exist.
Clearly you are a troll you have posted these lies before and been shown the truth, yet here you are posting the same lies again. Obviously you are neither Christian or Muslim, as you try to promote hate by spreading lies.
Under Al-Taqqiyeh, lying to infidels isn''t a sin, it''s a virtue.
3.68 per gallon for gas is HORRIBLE anywhere *****!!! You did not need to drive to the "poorest part of Ohio" or anywhere else for that matter ---to get that. You phony heifer.
Posted by girlinvt at 03:03 AM : Mar 03, 2008
Too bad your research did not lead you to note why Obama voted "present" instead of cast specific votes and why the blocks he represented wanted only that level of support. When Congressmen appear and do not cast definitive votes, they are often requested to do so by constituents to not indicate a specific leaning, but to deter some meetings or votes from being nullified. As we understand it, to prevent certain policies or rules in Congress from kicking in, a certain amount of Congressmen must meet and take a vote. Not specifically on any issue--but to prove that they were present and accounted for. Senator Clinton knows this about procedural voting as does Obama--and Senator Clinton has voted "present" at least 112 times to Obama''s 132. But of course--you did not know Clinton also votes merely "present" sometimes.
Do we want a President who was elected by people voting with their emotions? Or people voting with their heads? Posted by truth-hurts at 03:33 AM : Mar 03, 2008
We actually want a President who does the will of the people and considers remarks and policies before making them and makes those judgments based on sound thinking not on polls or saying what they think is the most politically expedient answer for their personal future. We want a President who backs up what they say and is not caught in lie after lie or in manipulating and/or maneuvering us (like planting questions in Iowa) We don''t care if our hearts or heads net us such a person. We only care that to the best of our ability--we can select (of those in the field) the one we can trust the most, the one who we feels gets us best and will serve our collective interest, and the one who can unite our divisions and reflect a new way forward.
Now--you may want to think that is your Candidate--but it is not. next post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4vn4cBmqJ0&session=*************************************************************************************************************************************************************-farsCz_h72rppeafbYC0XEA3D5y_BmYnMkH7ofWENdUaUp74V5dhiB8VEm37pOpcV0aWbJSNZfJFg1emhdKLF6estnhHIXIZd7czsYw9anFxYjVu6ypB23diyYHXkNax2n
- Posted by tomtomasters at 08:10 AM : Mar 03, 2008
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Don"t take counsel of your fears.
Barack Obama will be a fine President.
Anyone who voted for Bush should not be calling others suckers.
juwboys,
If lying to infidels is a sin there are a whole lot of Bush & Clinton supporters on this board who are adhere to Al-Taqqieh.
Too funny yet so pathetically sad!
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by kansas1946
March 3, 2008 8:18 PM PST
- Just think of the Impossibility and trouble we have in trying to Impeach Bush and Cheney, and think about that now while looking at in trying to impeach a Black President when he commits acts of treason and commits more of the same war crimes as Bush..."
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Reply to this comment
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See all 41 Comments- Posted by tomtomasters at 08:10 AM : Mar 03, 2008
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Why would you assume that Obama would commit acts of treason? Would you not vote for Hillary because it would be hard to impeach a woman?? That is really a lame reason not to vote for either one of them.
No one wanted to impeach Bush because by the time he needed to be impeached, it really wasn''t worth the bother. It was too late in his second term to waste the time and energy.