Clintons, Obama Urge Primary Patience

Hillary Clinton Vows Fight To Convention, Obama Picks Up Another Superdelegate

(CBS/AP)  Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has feasted on adversity in the Democratic presidential primaries, is rejecting calls from some key Barack Obama supporters to drop out of the race for the good of the party, declaring she will stay until the last state primary votes are counted, even if it means what some democrats fear will be an ugly public battle at the August national convention.

Former President Bill Clinton, underscoring his wife's determination against statistically long odds of overcoming Obama's pledged delegate lead, said in California Sunday a "vigorous debate" was good for the party and those who want to see the former first lady quit the contest should just "chill out."

"We're going to win this election if we just chill out and let everybody have their say," Clinton said.

A crowd of about 20,000 was chilled as supporters waited in cool temperatures for Obama to speak on the campus lawn at Penn State University, where the Illinois senator agreed that the tough campaign was healthy if frustrating.

"As this primary has gone on a little bit long, there have been people who've been voicing some frustration," Obama said.

"I want everybody to understand that this has been a great contest, great for America. It's engaged and involved people like never before. I think it's terrific that Senator Clinton's supporters have been as passionate as my supporters have been because that makes the people invested and engaged in this process, and I am absolutely confident that when this primary season is over Democrats will be united."

After Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy last week became the first leading Democrat to openly call on Clinton to abandon her bid and back Obama, the front-runner said Clinton should stay in the race as long as she wanted. He also said he had not talked to Leahy before he issued his statement on Clinton leaving the race. But Leahy's sentiment is shared by many activists worried that a drawn-out nominating contest only bolsters Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain.

Other Obama supporters have echoed that view while stopping short of asking Clinton to withdraw.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday called Obama's lead all but insurmountable, while Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said the contest would be reaching "a point of judgment" very soon.

"I don't think it's up to our campaign or any individual to tell Hillary Clinton or their campaign when that is," Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "But there will be, I think, a consensus about it, and I think it's going to occur over these next weeks."

Obama picked up the endorsement of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar Sunday night, giving him another superdelegate supporter.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Klobuchar said Obama "has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time."

In a statement, Obama said he's grateful for Klobuchar's support. According to the Obama campaign, Klobuchar is the 64th superdelegate to endorse him since the Feb. 5th Super Tuesday contests.

Last week, Obama picked up the support of Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., giving the candidate a boost heading into the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

Richardson, D-N.M., who chose "loyalty to the nation" over his long-standing ties to the Clintons in backing Obama, told Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer on Sunday that while superdelegates should play a key role, the party "big-shots" should not ultimately determine the party's nominee. "It should the voters."

As she has fought through three-months of primary voting, Clinton has been able count on a deep well of support from women voters, many of whom see the attempt to push her out of the race now as the work of a male-dominated party structure.

In California, Clinton beat Obama by a margin of 59 percent to 36 percent among women. She bettered him by 54 percent to 45 percent among women in Ohio, an important general election battleground state.

Obama, in turn, has walloped Clinton among men in nearly every state. He has prevailed among women in just a handful of places, including his home state of Illinois and states with large black populations.

As Obama crossed Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22, he pounded his message of reform and said again that McCain was running for U.S. President George W. Bush's third term.

McCain, the Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero, gave a major foreign policy speech last week trying to blunt Democratic attempts to paint him as a candidate who would view the world through Bush's pre-emptive foreign policy lens.

"Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed," said in the carefully honed speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. "We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies."

Nevertheless, McCain has not backed away from his support for the unpopular Iraq war and has, in fact, said his candidacy would likely stand or fall on the outcome. Violence has flared anew in Iraq despite the U.S. troop surge that McCain said has been a success.

CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs reports that McCain has launched a new tour to reintroduce himself to the American electorate, but he's running his campaign in a way that seeks to separate him from the many woes facing the GOP.

"John McCain, it appears, is going to be a party of one," says Ververs in an analysis on the Arizona Senator's latest campaign moves.

Clinton, in vowing to continue her campaign until August if necessary, returned to the open Democratic Party sore of the negated primary votes in Michigan and Florida.

She won both contests, but the national party had said in advance the contests would not count because the state parties ignored the prohibition against holding the votes too early. Obama had taken his name off the Michigan ballot for that reason and neither candidate focused campaigning in those states.

But Clinton trails Obama by 1,624 to 1,499 in national delegates, including both those pledged as a result of state primaries and caucuses as well as superdelegates - elected and party officials who can vote for whomever they wish.

Clinton now insists the Michigan and Florida votes be added to her tally. She won in both states.

[jgunther7]

Please keep Hillary in the race; Obama needs an opponent to fight as he travels around the country presenting his program, like the way he presented his three-point plan on The View. He is now closing in on Clinton in Pennsylvania. In just one week he closed the gap from 16% down to 10%, with three weeks to go. A lot of this is due to negative campaigning by the Clintons and exposure of their family trait of lying. The pressure from their polls nose-diving in a downward spiral and the daily grind of the campaign trail, are drawing out the worst Clinton character flaws. By August, Hillary and her gang will still be going on and on and on about a 30 second video clip from a sermon some pastor made. She is a harmless waste of space and serves as a good comparison to show off Obama''s strengths. He couldn''t ask for a better opponent.

Texas is a good example of the effect time is having on Hillary%u2019s campaign. Texans don%u2019t like liars, and when they got to know the candidates better they changed from Clinton to Obama. Texas is now 5 votes ahead for Obama. Clinton went from winning to loosing. She is destroying herself with her own campaigning. Keep Hillary around, it is making Obama look good.

[jack3213]

VOTING BECAUSE OF COLOR, CREED, OR *** AND NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO ISSUES OR WHAT THEY STAND FOR, OR WHAT THEY VOTED FOR IN THE SENATE, OR HOW MUCH CREDIBILITY THEY HAVE IS BEING FOOLISH AND UNEDUCATED. STOP BEING A VICTIM AND WANTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, THEY WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT AGGRAVATION. TRUE, BUSH IS NOT WHAT WE WANTANYMORE, HOWEVER: MCCAIN IS FAR BETTER, MORE HONEST, AND MUCH MORE ABLE TO MAKE THE CHANGES THAN ANY OF THE TWO DUMB DEMOCRATS.

[rufisgufis]

croft 777

Who let you out of the loony bin?

[obamasgranny]

African Americans have been duped!! Obama is not even African American in the eyes of the government!! You must be 12.5% of any particular ethnicity to be recognized as that race. His whole life is a lie,..take the time to actually read this:

http://kennethelamb.blogspot.com/2008/02/barak-obama-questions-about-ethnic.html

It is not about race, but by definition (his own) he will not be the first African American president.

[croft777]

Obama has a plan to pay all the african americans money because of the slave days.Only 2% of people in the U.S. owned slaves. I''m not paying, I don''t owe them shi*t!

[croft777]

Obama is a true racist bigot. Do not think other wise.

[croft777]

Obama is the manipulator, liar, blood thirsty sand monkey waiting to destroy the U.S.

[croft777]

Obama is not a christian, he is a muslim disquised as a Christian, and not a true Christian at that, for the church he is a member of is satans home where they speak evil concerning Gods people.

[croft777]

Obama is the anti-christ. Beware. The deciever of the world.

[croft777]

BLKPRESIDENTcroft777,

There''''s nothing wrong with my view of woman. I respect women. Even have a couple as friends. The real issues in this campaign is not what anyone thinks of a women. The real issues here in the context of a nation that is at war and amid a sagging economy is who we want to select as our next president. Fairly easy choice for me given we only have three choices left: a girl, an OLD man and Obama. It''''s really that simple.


I would never pick Sand monkey Obama for nothing. That idiot would ruin us for good.!! next!

[blkpresident]

croft777,

There''s nothing wrong with my view of woman. I respect women. Even have a couple as friends. The real issues in this campaign is not what anyone thinks of a women. The real issues here in the context of a nation that is at war and amid a sagging economy is who we want to select as our next president. Fairly easy choice for me given we only have three choices left: a girl, an OLD man and Obama. It''s really that simple.

[croft777]

Contrary to a few opinions on this board, the so-called media bias against Lil'''' Hillary doesn''''t really exist. Her campaign''''s signifigance is simply being eclipsed by a MAN with a plan. Not an OLD man like McCain but a man nevertheless. Somewhere in NY a kitchen stove needs cleaning. Maybe after PA. votes next month Lil'''' Hillary will drop out and don her apron and preside over her household cleaning.BLKPRESIDENT

Is this how you view women? You know, those things never interested me.Men can clean up after themselves, and cook and clean. I''ve got better things to do like count how many brain cells a man loses after a cfouple of drinks.

[croft777]

lol rowdy

[rowdytexan2]

I am sorry that I am a total Obamabot. My inability to face facts is just inbred into my DNA and I can''''t help it. My gender bias comes from many years of thinking myself superior to women, and then my having to depend on a woman to support me.

I know that Hillary is the best candidate, but like BLKPRESIDENT my failure to know my candidate...well, I just don''''t have time to do any real research since I have to sit here and watch the boards and spew Hillary Clinton hating shill all day long.

Please forgive me. I sincerely apologize for being a jerk and putting totally stupid and false statements on these boards. It comes with my support of a corrupt Chicago politician. I learned how to lie from him.


Posted by jesterbelle at 09:46 AM : Mar 31, 2008

[jesterbelle]

To everyone on this site.I would like to apologize to all for making a total asss of myself for backing a liar and a cheat.I admit now that Hillarys'' campaign promises are nothing but hot air.You see,I was born with my head in my asss,and I never bothered to pull it out and look around.I still have a hard time distinguishing ***** from apple butter.I''m always flappin'' my gums when I should be listening,since I was born with a large mouth and tiny ears.That said,I hope you can forgive me for being the biggest knothead on this site. Obama in ''08!


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Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 08:52 AM : Mar 31, 2008

It''s about time!

[blkpresident]

lindaredtail,

Taken nothing away from your comments tht America needs hope, but please understand hope only prevails when we are still alive and breathing, so understand that we cannot simply abandon war without ensuring America''s longterm safety from the terrorist.

[blkpresident]

lol @ jesterbelle--unfortunately, for lil'' Hillary--looking like him won''t help her tactically manage two wars adequately.

[blkpresident]

Contrary to a few opinions on this board, the so-called media bias against Lil'' Hillary doesn''t really exist. Her campaign''s signifigance is simply being eclipsed by a MAN with a plan. Not an OLD man like McCain but a man nevertheless. Somewhere in NY a kitchen stove needs cleaning. Maybe after PA. votes next month Lil'' Hillary will drop out and don her apron and preside over her household cleaning.

[jesterbelle]

Once again, lil'''' missy is NOT a Dwight David Eisenhower.




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Posted by BLKPRESIDENT at 08:45 PM : Mar 31, 2008

She kinda looks like him though.

[blkpresident]

Gypsy0126,

Before you go writing President Eisenhower off as an insensitive man not in tune with the plight of Black Americans because he was to busy golfing, you might want to consider a few things: While America under his leadership was enjoying peace and prosperity in the 1950''s, it was the Eisenhower Administration that ensured that Historically Black Colleges recieved their full measure of acceptance in offering educational opportunities to ALL of America''s citizens; One of his best golfing friends was the late US Senator Prescott Bush(R) Connecticut who also cared about Black Americans, unashamefully promoting them to pursue higher education and embracing the concept of "A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" long before the Civil Rights Movement. I''m not saying President Eisenhower was perfect, but don''t you dare try to paint him out to be an insentive man to Black America

As far as your assessment of my anger-management or mental-health goes, save your diagnosis for yourself and the rest of Lil'' Hillary supporters who actually have convinced yourselves in your minds that she can manage two wars without proper training and know-how. A state of denial is far more dangerous than my so-called anger. Anger is fleeting, but denial is a bad case of mental blindness.

Once again, lil'' missy is NOT a Dwight David Eisenhower.