Clinton: "I'm Just Getting Warmed Up"

Senator Suggests She'll Press On After Tuesday's Crucial Contests As Dems Express Concern Over Long Primary Process

(CBS/AP)  Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton reached for the finish line of contentious Ohio and Texas primary campaigns on Monday as senior Democrats expressed concern the party could suffer this fall if their struggle goes much longer.

"I'm just getting warmed up," said Clinton, looking beyond this week's contests and shrugging off 11 straight primary and caucus defeats as well as a three-digit deficit in delegates.

Going in to Tuesday's contests, the Clinton camp is making the argument that it has taken Obama's best shots - and has started to turn the tide, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Jim Axelrod.

The former first lady campaigned from Ohio, where she accused Obama of double talk on NAFTA, to Texas, where her new television commercial questioned his readiness to serve as commander in chief.

Obama spent his day in Texas, a state rich in military bases, where he pledged to begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq next year and envisioned a "seamless transition from active duty to civilian life" for men and women who leave the armed forces.

Appearing in a flag-draped setting before an audience of veterans in San Antonio, Obama looked to project an image that his aides hope is increasingly plausible - that of commander in chief, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

But he was shadowed by allegations that he had overstated his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement to win votes back in Ohio. He told reporters his campaign never gave Canada back-channel assurances that his criticism of NAFTA, which is wildly unpopular in Ohio, amounted to political posturing.

"Nobody reached out to the Canadians to try to assure them of anything," he said at a news conference in Carrollton, Texas.

In addition to Texas and Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont hold primaries on Tuesday. Obama has won 11 straight contests, and has been gaining ground among superdelegates in recent weeks as his victories have piled up, and Clinton's support has begun to erode.

"Even if Clinton does well enough to argue for hanging on through Pennsylvania on April 22nd, she may face more pressure to reconsider doing so," CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs said. "Seven more weeks of increased back-and-forth could sap the momentum of even this energized Democratic race." (Read more.)

Senior Democrats have begun to speak out in private as well as public about the impact a continuation of the bruising campaign might have in a fall confrontation with Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting.

On a conference call with reporters earlier this week, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe argued that Clinton must win by big margins Tuesday in order to close in on Obama’s pledged delegate lead, reports CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic. (Read more.)

Several Democrats said the party's chairman, Howard Dean, told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week he was concerned about the possible impact of a nominating campaign that stretched through the end of the primaries in early June. Dean also said that if the party is divided going into next summer's convention, it would remain that way afterward, even if the differences were papered over in the four days in Denver, these officials said.

Dean did not suggest any attempt to intervene. The Democrats who described his comments did so on condition of anonymity, saying they had been made in a private setting.

Dean, Reid and Pelosi, all superdelegates, are neutral in the race between Clinton and Obama.

On Sunday, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination and a superdelegate, predicted that the results of this week's primaries will decide the party's race.

“D-Day is Tuesday," he told Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer. "Whoever has the most delegates after Tuesday should be the nominee."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, told Providence radio station WPRO during the day, "We can't go all the way through to the convention fighting with each other while McCain and the Republicans lob in whatever free shots they want." Whitehouse, a superdelegate who supports Clinton, added, "Let's see how Tuesday plays out, and then let's start thinking about how we're going to get behind a candidate."

The controversy over NAFTA flared after the AP reported the existence of a memo, written by a Canadian official, asserting that Obama's senior economic adviser had told him the Illinois senator's public criticism of the free trade agreement was "political positioning."

The adviser, Austan Goolsbee, said his comments were misinterpreted by the memo's author, Joseph DeMora, who works for the Canadian consulate in Chicago and attended the meeting.

Clinton campaigned from the pre-dawn hours until after dark as she made her way from Ohio to Texas in hopes of a political revival.

Her campaign released a new television commercial designed to undercut Clinton's claim that he is ready to become commander in chief.

"Barack Obama says he has the judgment to be president. But as chairman of an oversight committee charged with the force fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, he was too busy running for president to hold even one hearing," it says.

The announcer adds: "Hillary Clinton will never be too busy to defend our national security, bringing our troops home from Iraq and pursuing al Qaeda in Afghanistan."

Obama aired a two-minute commercial in Ohio and Texas - the same one he used before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses that kicked off the election season - in hopes of nailing down at least one big-state victory.

"This country is ready for a leader who will bring us together. That's the only way we're going to win this election," he says in the ad. "And that's actually how we'll fix health care and make college affordable, become energy independent and end this war."

Ohio has a wide-open Democratic primary in which Republicans and independents can also vote, reports CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield. The turnout among independents, who are expected to favor Obama, could be pivotal.

Texas, meanwhile, has a diverse electorate in which more than one-third of the population is Hispanic and 12 percent are black, reports Schieffer.

"It's been a long time since it was just cowboys and 10-gallon hats," he said.

[denn034]

Warming up for what? Losing to McCain thanks to Nader being in the race? Get real, slick Hilly.

[missingamerica]

Sigh...yup, Hillary is just another divide-and-conquer pig.

Why am I not reassured by knowing that a transition from Bush to Clinton would most assuredly be a smooth one?

[missingamerica]

lollll...I didn''t read far enough down:

"This is a wartime election, which Democrats haven''t talked enough about in my opinion," said Clinton.

Let me check: Yup, my crystal ball still shows her walking down the Aisle arm-and-arm with Lieberman...

[l00ker]

Oh, so that explains why she''s been getting shellacked over these passed few weeks. A little late in the ball game though.

Democrats in the polls favor Clinton over Obama and this says a great deal about his chances in November as do people over 50, and women. Obama does well with independents, Republicans, those under 40, and blacks. Democrats should not count on independents or Republicans (the latter are probably cross-overs) to come to the polls. Of course, the blacks will definitely be there but the others are iffy. We need a candidate who is attractive to Democrats. After all, they are most likely to show up and vote Democratic.

[obamagrls-bf]

are american''s fooled again by clintons... He said he was voted to have --x in WH with a ten..and Hillary says she wud shw tax returns after the election is over.. it does tell that Clinton''s income were not fair.. shold we vote hillary just becoz she is white and igore Obama who UNITES the country.

[brianp55]

"I''m just getting warmed up," Clinton told reporters...

Maybe, but I have a feeling that a very large and very cold bucket of water will bring the temperature down a bit tomorrow.

[perception5]

With around 100 delegates being the difference between them of course Hillary should continue on.

This isn''t the same case as the GOP race where McCain leads Slick Huck by some 800 delegates

[obamagrls-bf]

TAX return time!!! Hillary where is yours ..I wanna see how much U earned from investment in INDIA..

[notopennshut]

I wonder what Hillary is warming up for? So that she can sizzle and burn not only herself but take the party with her?? We should say enough of this destruction that she is doing! Stand and fight for you? She will fight for her self interests and even if elected, I can see her fighting the other party, and in the process getting nothing done for us for the next years. This is getting real scary and those who can''t see it coming must have blinkers on. You can also see the Republicans rooting for her because they know McCain can defeat her since many of the disillusioned democrats will not bother going out in NOvember. Nothing like the wrath of a "woman scorned" and that is what she perceives herself now. Democrats have no one to blame but themselves when they allow this kind of deliberate destruction to continue.

[remco82]

Hillary may be "warmed up", but if I take that walk to the mound, I''m telling her to sit back down and giving the signal for the cagey little left-hander to come in, the one whose name begins with ''O'' and ends with ''A''. He''ll throw three hard ones past McCain and we''ll be out of this mess!

[obamagrls-bf]

HILLARY TAX RETURN 2006:

--------------------------

Investment from stock in USA - 20 million

Investent in India (Chatwal ) - 5 millions

Bill clinton''s publication - 7 millions

Sallary international Clinton foundation - 50 millions

[rowdytexan2]

TAX return time!!! Hillary where is yours ..I wanna see how much U earned from investment in INDIA..


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by OBAMAGRLS-BF at 01:53 PM : Mar 03, 2008

She''s already given her tax returns to the Electoral Commission. She doesn''t have to show them to you.

[realpatriot1]

sesanders,

Dukakis, Mondale, McGovern, Kerry, and Gore all did even better with Democrats.

It''s time for you slow learners to realze that the democrats don''t win without turning red to blue.

[rowdytexan2]

Obama keeps narking on her tax returns to take the spotlight off his incompetence. Get real!

Obama is a scammer.

[beader59]

All of you Hillary haters just take a chill pill. She has the American right to do continue on. She is a very well-educated, intelligent and experienced person who is more than qualified to run our country. If you ahte her, who cares, vote for Obama and his rhetoric and feel comfortable that you made the right choice. If Hillary and Bill are such criminals, then I guess you better just get out there and hang them. Get real and over your ignorant view of the Clintons. Hillary will be the next President and she will lead our country back to where it should be. A great economy, good standing within the foreign market, great U.S. morale, lower gas prices, etc.

[obamagrls-bf]

Bill-hill missused CLINTON foundation''s money....and this is the reason they have not filed retuns for 2006/2007 .. this is the truth...may OBAMA made the deal with Rezko.. He did make his returns PUBLIC even before the campaign... May Rezko unfair but Obama made a deal with someone who is Licenced by the state govt on Land brokering ... so whom to blame???

[linda554]

I don''t understand how Hillary can even run. The Clinton''s are running as a team and there ''team'' and their ''team'' was impeached. Not to mention the fact that you can''t run for a third term.
Forgetting all of that, this woman has been lying to the people for at least 35 years, involved in one scandal after the other, lied under oath as the First Lady and made alot of enemies while in the White House proving that she cannot unite people but divide them.
Obama would not be the first president in office who won over someone with more experience. He will have the advice from people with several years of experience.
My vote is to get away from the Clinton Bush reign and give our country a fresh start.

[boatdocster]

Just getting warmed up!!!

Hmm, Hillary''s ninth or tenth new sound byte - tag line, still no hard facts. Sat on lots of committees, and accomplished what?????

Still has the same crappy campaign manger and does nothing about it. "Denial" is still waiting for her in the hallway.

Sorry - if it takes Hillary 15 months to get her campaign in order and arrive at "Just Getting Warmed Up", I do not want her answering the phone at 3:00 AM!

[obamagrls-bf]

Hillary wud loose OH by 10 points ... may pull off in TX in popular voting ( du to loya hispanic ) by 2 points but OBAMA will win TX delegates by 55 to 45 %....this is the most scientific survey by Huston Cr.

[mudrose-2009]

You go Hillary. Loose change is just a little too smug. You go girl. Knock the wind out of this little *****''s sail.

[msabccbs]

http://www.hillarythemovie.com/index.htm

Younger voters (and those of us who don''t remember), should look back at all the legal procedings, the refusal of the Clintons to answer questions, people who went to prison to protect them (McDougals) and on and on it goes.

http://www.hillarythemovie.com/index.htm

We don''t need the Clintons or the Bushes - we all need to move forward with Obama.

[obamagrls-bf]

are Hillary supporters learned who to CRY from HIll and how to Lie from Bill...lots of SMOKE in this room......

HILLARY TAX RETURN 2006:

--------------------------

Investment from stock in USA - 20 million

Investent in India (Chatwal ) - 5 millions

Bill clinton''''s publication - 7 millions

Sallary international Clinton foundation - 50 millions

[boatdocster]

Hillary Clinton and her campaign is pushing for precinct captains for Texas'' 8,000 Democratic polling places. They need to train folks to lead the caucus sessions that will determine more than 60 delegates after the primary voting is over. In training materials being handed out by the Clinton campaign, it is clear that they want to control those caucus sessions.

The materials say in part, "DO NOT allow the supporter of another candidate to serve in leadership roles." It goes on to say, "If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness. "The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions."

[truthspeake2]

OBAMA 2008...RIP Hillary and the GOP!

[hawksprings]

Clinton: "I''m Just Getting Warmed Up"

Hillary, Get your oven warmed up, because pretty soon all you have to do is bake cookies.

[bsimon2007]

Enough said: http://shareddarkness.com/2008/02/20/hillary-its-over.aspx

[obamagrls-bf]

Hillary is over and exposed ....BILL thinking now Monica wud have run a better campaign than her .... Hill let down Bill and bill let down USA

winner ''HOPE'' ...

[realpatriot1]

General Custer at Little Big Horn..."I''m just getting warmed up!".

Wednesday morning she''ll be crying, "Remember The Alamo!"

[obamagrls-bf]

Congratulations OBAMA supporters ..it seems HIll-supporters fled the blog...

hehehehehheh I cannt stop lafin

[michael0004]

Why should Sen. Clinton drop out of the race before Sen. Obama has the required number of delegates (2065) needed to secure the nomination? He currently has fewer than 1400 and will not be close to 2065 no matter what happens tommorrow. Why does Sen. Obama and the media want her out of the way so soon for? What are they afraid might come out? Also, why does it only apply to superdelegates who support Sen. Clinton that they must vote the same as their constistuents? After all Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Kerrey,among others say they will cast their superdelegate votes for Sen. Obama despite the fact that their constituencies voted for Sen. Clinton.
Sounds like a double standard to me.

[erasmus6]

It would be really stupid for Hillary to drop out because a little more time is needed for the "Obama-followers" to see the light. Eventually they will wake up and see Obama for what he really is, inexperienced and weak. You need a little more than just being a "great guy" to run a country.

[misssuzq]

Our pickings are slim this time so who do we vote for?

My vote will go to the one that wnats to do something to stop illegal immigration, not give thenm driver''s licenses and does not give them amnesty.

[rudy654-2009]

Hillary, Get your oven warmed up, because pretty soon all you have to do is bake cookies.
Posted by hawksprings at 02:26 PM

What? Aint you got no woman to do it for you? Dontja know how ''n to take pop''n fresh cookie dough and do it fur your own backwater redneck self? Maybe cant even read the instructions, I betcha.

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by MissSuZQ at 02:47 PM

I might make an exception for the one who votes to deport you.

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by dawg_pound at 02:41 PM

How is it over there at Dawg Patch, USA?

[remco82]

Her "Wizard of Oz" cackle fades away as she rides her broom into the sunset.

[rational_1]

Clinton: "I''m Just Getting Warmed Up"

Aah yes, the Rudy Giuliani philosophy - wait until the campaign is half over before waking up. We''ll see tomorrow if she''s really getting warmed up or done like dinner.

"I intend to so as well as I can on Tuesday and we''ll see what happens after that," she said. Tanslation: I expect to lose Texas.

[realpatriot1]

erasmus6,

We''ve already "seen the light''" regarding Hillary and McCain so more time won''t matter and he already has the nomination won. Even if she wins Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania by 20+ points she still won''t make up the difference in pledged delegates and the super delegates are following the pledged delegates.

The fat Lady has already gotten warmed up and has finished singing.

[sierra20071]

damma obamma! Obama has openly stated in a debate that he is for driving license for illegals. Obama is the one with terrorist pals. Obama is the one who''s money-maker is going on trial today. Obama has the wife of black militant persuasions. Obama that is just now proud of America, if Hillary or McCain wins, will she take back these words. Mark my words people, Michelle Obama runs Baraak, she is bigger, manlier, & mouch more opinionated than he. Vote for anyone but OBAMA!

[ranakarimi]

as a former muslim woman and proud american citzen who is familier with islam law im going to prove that obama is very dishonest man and here is why Obama is a Christian now. But he was born a Muslim because his father was a Muslim. His step father was also a Muslim. According to Muslim religion, the religion of the father determines the religion of the offspring. Therefore, Obama was once a Muslim. He has denied that he is ever a Muslim, but that just shows that he doesn''''t have the backbone or the honesty to recognize his heritage. When he came back to the U.S to live with his maternal grandparents, that''''s when he was raised as a Christian. To hear him say that he''''s never been a Muslim his entire life is truly a lie since he spent his first 9 to 10 years in Indonesia, a Muslim country, living with a Muslim step father. 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!

[jkimbo1]

erasmus6 says you need more then just a great guy to be president. I guess he thinks a witch full of hot air is what we need lol.

[sierra20071]

You Go Girl!!!

[wonderyman-2009]

McCain would vote for Obama in the primaries.
Why?
Because he knows straight talk will defeat hot air in the general election, that Iraq will by then have ceased to be an issue, that there is "stuff" on Obama waiting to be exposed - and he knows he "Caint" beat Hillary.

[sierra20071]

Let''s see, when your stuck on I''m first. And you are truly not - remember Natalie Maines, Whoopie Goldberg, & Sean Penn who firstly, openly, and bravely stood up against the war in Iraq, and at the expense of being chastised by the Obama media. these people were the first to speak out against the war. They paid the highest price, not Obama. Who spoke out from his couch after the mentioned trailblazers. And he has the audacity to accept and reap the rewards of this, not once giving credit to those who stood up before him. Where is this man''s charachter, he has none!! Yes, i would say McCain will have a field day with this green thumb,because this is just the tip of the iceburg.

[whitepicks2]

She''s just getting warmed up on running commercials which look identical to McCain''s until the ''..approved this message.'' If she''s not doing McCain''s work for him, she''s at least saving him millions in advertising.

[kenbomc]

Hillary could use a few more beers.

[trace-sc]

Obama on Obama''s experience:

"I can''t see running for president"

Why have you ruled that out, running nationally?

"You ... you ... know I am a believer in knowing what you''re doing when you apply for a job and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket I would essentialy have to start now before having served the day in the Senate. Now, there are some people who might be comfortable doing that but I am not one of those people."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4gexyfVpFMU

He is not one of those people? ... The Microwave Candidate is just an ambitious rookie who will do anything to get the nomination ... even pretend that now he is a seasoned politician!

[keeblers69]

What is she getting warmed up for? A good cigar?

[carpriddler]

I was going to vote for BO until I found out Jack Nickelson is backing Billary - Celeb''s can make change too.