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
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Clinton's Last Stand?
CBS News political consultant Joe Trippi and political pollster Frank Luntz tell Harry Smith Sen. Hillary Clinton will win Ohio and Sen. Barack Obama will take Texas. What matters is by how much.
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'Super' Tuesday, The Sequel
Very high turnout for primaries in Texas and Ohio may favor Sen. Barack Obama, who has virtually erased Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead, and is gaining momentum. 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. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y, speaks during a rally at the University of Toledo, in Toledo, Ohio, Monday March 3, 2008. (AP)
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Hillary Clinton
A look at a life and career full of firsts.
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Barack Obama
A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
"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.
©MMVIII, 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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See all 392 CommentsWhy am I not reassured by knowing that a transition from Bush to Clinton would most assuredly be a smooth one?
"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...
Maybe, but I have a feeling that a very large and very cold bucket of water will bring the temperature down a bit tomorrow.
This isn''t the same case as the GOP race where McCain leads Slick Huck by some 800 delegates
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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
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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.
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.
Obama is a scammer.
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.
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!
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.
HILLARY TAX RETURN 2006:
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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
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."
Hillary, Get your oven warmed up, because pretty soon all you have to do is bake cookies.
winner ''HOPE'' ...
Wednesday morning she''ll be crying, "Remember The Alamo!"
hehehehehheh I cannt stop lafin
Sounds like a double standard to me.
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.
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.
I might make an exception for the one who votes to deport you.
How is it over there at Dawg Patch, USA?
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.
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.
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.
"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!
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