WILKES-BARRE, Pa., April 2, 2008
Obama Changes Approach In Pennsylvania
Washington Post: Democrat Tries To Reach Out To Blue-Collar Voters
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Obama Narrows Gap In Pa.
With three weeks until the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Barack Obama is closing in on Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead. Harry Smith spoke with Obama on his campaign bus in Wilkes-Barre.
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Obama's 'Rude' Philly Run-In
"CBS News RAW": Campaigning at Philadelphia's Italian Market, Barack Obama has a confrontation with a "rude" and persistent photo-seeker. "You've been wearing me out," Obama tells the man.
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Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., bowls at Pleasant Valley Recreation Center in Altoona, Pa., Saturday, March 29, 2008. (AP)
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Barack Obama
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The latest list of primary and caucus dates as states continue jockeying for position.
When Sen. Barack Obama's bus rolls to a stop Wednesday in Philadelphia, he will have spent six days on the road and $3 million in television ads trying to bolster his chances in a state where polls show him running well behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).
A health nut, Obama (Ill.) has consumed hot dogs, french fries and homemade chocolates. He has sipped a few Yuengling beers. He has largely skipped arena-filling rallies in favor of town-hall-style events and casual visits, delivering populist appeals to the small-town, working-class voters who have proven most resistant to his candidacy.
Despite a few stumbles -- at an Altoona bowling alley, Obama rolled a ball into a gutter on his first try -- political observers say he has started to make the inroads with voters he will need to cut into Clinton's lead.
"The consensus is, this is a pretty successful tour for Obama," said G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. "He's hitting the right themes. I would be surprised if this doesn't move numbers."
Mark Nevins, Clinton's Pennsylvania spokesman, conceded to reporters on the candidate's campaign bus that Obama's aggressive efforts are making a difference.
Clinton is running a state campaign similar to Obama's, mixing small-scale and larger events that focus on pocketbook issues such as middle-class tax cuts and the creation of new manufacturing jobs. Her crowds are also boisterous, filled with shout-outs and standing ovations, along with signs that say "Don't quit."
She has taken to comparing herself to Rocky Balboa, the underdog boxer who does not know how to give in or give up. She walked onto the stage at an event here on Tuesday as the theme music of the film "Rocky" was played, after earlier invoking the fictional prizefighter in a speech.
"I know what it's like to stumble. I know what it means to get knocked down, but I've never stayed down," Clinton told AFL-CIO members in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
This gritty, ground-level strategy carried Clinton to a convincing victory in Ohio, a state with economic challenges and working-class demographics similar to Pennsylvania's. Whatever inroads Obama may be making, Madonna noted, he "still faces the inevitable problem of unfavorable demographics. We have more Catholics, old people, union members and conservative Democrats than Ohio."
Clinton also enjoys the strong support of Gov. Edward G. Rendell, the mayors of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and other prominent Democratic leaders.
If Obama loses badly in Pennsylvania on April 22, the momentum could shift to Clinton going into May 6, when Indiana and North Carolina vote. A poo showing in another general-election swing state would also raise questions among superdelegates -- the party leaders and elected officials who will probably determine the Democratic nominee -- about whether Obama could beat Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in November.
The Obama campaign has tried to lower its bar for success in Pennsylvania and has signaled an intention to trumpet anything short of a blowout victory by Clinton as one of its most significant triumphs of the primary season.
"President Clinton and Senator Clinton, either in terms of campaigning or governing, have been in this state for 15 years," said Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), who endorsed Obama last week and has accompanied him during much of his campaign through the state. "Hillary Clinton chaired health-care hearings in 1993. She has a good base here, but I think we can cut into it."
Casey's endorsement was one of a couple of recent developments that might indicate a shifting landscape. Another was the registration of 102,000 new voters and 133,000 party switchers as Democrats, a possible indication that Obama's efforts to register college students, Republicans and independents may be paying off.
To win in the state, Obama will probably need to run up big totals in and around Philadelphia, in the Lehigh Valley and in south-central Pennsylvania. Casey's support could help among more conservative Democrats, particularly in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre region, where his family is a fabled political brand.
On his tour, Obama has infused his stump speech with references to the economic woes that have beset communities across this state. At town hall meetings in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Obama spoke of "wages and income that have flat-lined. You are paying more for everything from college to health care to a gallon of milk to a gallon of gas. It's hard to make ends meet."
He staged a news conference in the freezing drizzle at a biofuels station, drawing attention to high gas prices and the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Two of his three TV ads target the special interests' grip on the political process. Again and again, he reminded crowds: "We've got to change how business is done in Washington. I'm a practical guy. I just want to solve problems."
Corey D. O'Brien, a Lackawanna County commissioner and Obama backer, had urged the candidate for a month to visit Wilkes-Barre to introduce himself to voters there. In a lengthy question-and-answer session after his opening remarks, Obama fielded queries about his name, his childhood ambitions, and his position on gun rights. O'Brien looked thrilled.
"As Senator Clinton says, this is Hillary country," he said. "People need to get to know him. But I predict that when they do, he'll do very well."
By Shailagh Murray and Perry Bacon Jr.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company





Yes, Obama actually said that. A child is not a gift from God; it''s "punishment". Ok - now what kind of freaky church did he attend? Oh wait - that''s right. We know...
Posted by mike71067
And he gets an endorsement by Casey who''s supposed to be Pro-Life. Something''s very wrong here. Very wrong.
With 8 years of failure by conservatives and you have a cocktail for a beat down. How is John McCain going to inspire the voter turnout for his party? His great speeches? Conservative talk radio? His flip-flop talk express bus overstuffed with Lobbyists? We all love to engage in punditry but the facts are the facts. Repubs do not have the votes to win. Outside of a total collapse (And I mean TOTAL collapse, not merely a split of the electorate)the Dem party they can offer up a broccoli f-art in a jar and still gain the White House. What planet are you conservatives living on? Your Reagan Democrat pink cloud from 20+ years ago?
Sounds to me that you are welcoming Socialism and a one party government right nucklehead. What are you drinking?
Hillary Clinton NYC Protest April 11
April 1, 2008 7 No Comments
Horizontal World:
APRIL 11TH, 8AM
ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, NY
Why: We are all very passionate Hillary Clinton supporters that demand to be heard for Hillary! We refuse to stand by and watch this election become corrupt and unfair!!
%u201CIt Takes A Village%u2026%u201D and we are Hillary%u2019s Village! We have three main reasons for this demonstration:
1. We want the country to know we are fed up with the biased/sexist media coverage against our candidate Hillary Clinton!
2. We demand Florida and Michigan votes be counted.
3. We demand the media STOP saying Hillary should quit the race.
There you go ..........bring the fear.......
"socializim".......you crazy commie liberals......!!
You know what....in this next election........I AM A LIBERAL........
I don''t really know what that means but I''ve been called it so many times I might as well be one......so there......wait I''m not just a liberal.....
I''M A CRAZY LIBERAL
Thats because there are MAD trolls like you out there that don''t have opinion you just got hate for Obama and Democrats.......
The Rubber Stamp is alive and well in the GOP.....
ABC.....ABC allows the trolls......ABC is ***.
Republicans:
Stop feeling so bad and stop voting for GOP''er just because you keep hearing the word "team" associated with them. This is not Football, your votes can help decide whether our brothers and sisters fight and die for causes that all Americans believe in and support.
Do not let your guilt get in the way of your intelligence!
By the way, where are the centrist Republicans? Why does the GOP have to have a big rubber stamp as a constituency?
I would rather have a "inexperienced" Democrat wasting a 500 billion on helping the poor or disabled or uneducated, than have a neo-con Republican blow 500 billion on killing tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi and thousands of US service men and women.
In the last 8 years or so Republicans have shown me that they will do anything and everything in their power to keep you from retaining an opinion based on the facts that their incompetence is comprised of.
-Please read who is Robert Casey Jr., and he is supporting Barack Obama! Why? ask yourself. Maybe he sees Obama the only candidate capable of uniting the Dems together and give McCain''s butt a heck of a kick!
http://casey.senate.gov/
IF THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE, ONE WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED. BY DEFENDING AND SUPPORTING REV WRIGHT AND HIS RACIST, ANTI AMERICAN, ANTI WHITE, ANTI JEWISH CHURCH, AND BY JUST TWO YEARS AGO GAVE $22,000 TO THE CHURCH,AND EXPOSING HIS CHILDREN TO A CHURCH RUN BY A MAN OF THE PAST WHO INFECTS THE YOUNG KIDS WITH THE RACIAL ATTITUDES, OF THE RACIST PASTOR, ONE COULD QUESTION HIS LACK OF RESPECT FOR CHILDREN. BORN OR UNBORN.
GOD "BLESS" AMERICA. NOT "G D AMERICA."
A child is a gift from God but it also represents the ultimate responsibility. Obama''s daughters are 7 and 9. If they were to become pregnant and be forced to conceive it would be punishment.
How many of your family, friends acquaintances that say the "n" the "f" or the "b" word do you denounce?
How many catholics have denounced the catholic church because of the child molesters? If you want to accuse someone because of their associations then Hillary is guilty of oral *** under the oval table!
Find something on Obama not on his friends or Wife!
oppressor and you want this in the White House
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Posted by enaudnella at 04:33 PM : Apr 02, 2008
OK, his legislative record is inept. His credentials do not match the job he''s applying for. He plays poliltics like a street punk. And his plans for turning this country around are weak and vague.
Been sippin'' the kool-aid all day?
Republicans ARE NOT angry. Liberal just WISH they were.
The Dems are the ones feeling bad because their leaders are inept, corrupt, do-nothings that can''t even win a battle against President Bush, the man they call ''the stupidest in America''.
No guilt for Republicans. Liberals are the ones that need to exercise their brains. Look at the two UNQUALIFIED candidates they have chosen.
You WOULD rather be a coward and be taxed into the poor house.
Lame talking points are all you have. NOTHING else.
Were you born a dumbarse, or did you work hard to become one?
going to do riot remember what Ronald Reagan said
in 1968 OPENFIRE
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Posted by tbweb at 01:39 AM : Apr 03, 2008
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Obama is not black,...not by law Federal law anyway,...
Read it here:
http://kennethelamb.blogspot.com/2008/02/barak-obama-questions-about-ethnic.html
Obama is not black,...not by law Federal law anyway,...
Posted by NEVERKOOLAID at 02:58 AM : Apr 03, 2008,,,
Everyone knows Sen. Obama is not 100% Black, but Sen. Obama states that because he looks Black he gets treated like a Black and therefore in effect he is Black! Translated, Sen. Obama is merely pointing out he looks Black and will be treated like a Black whether he is 100% Black or legally Black or not! You know the saying, if it quacks like a duck! ...
Federal law states that he is not considered African American unless he is 1/8 or 12.5% African,...Even if elected, He will never be the first African American president.
Do you think he lied on his Harvard application?
The only racists that I see are the ones who assumed Obama was African American because of the color of his skin.
Besides Hillary is not 100 percent a women. She is a frikin fembot machine with no heart and no soul. I wouldn''t even clasifiy her as a human. Humans need a heart and a soul, she lacks both
Federal law states that he is not considered African American unless he is 1/8 or 12.5% African,...Even if elected, He will never be the first African American president.
Do you think he lied on his Harvard application?
The only racists that I see are the ones who assumed Obama was African American because of the color of his skin.
Posted by NEVERKOOLAID at 03:27 AM : Apr 03, 2008,,,
All I see is Americans and from my experience only "racist" would even care about statistics like this, especially at this level of detail, so you better look in the mirror. The only reason its even a topic of discussion is because Sen. Obama notes that Whites treat him Black despite knowing his real status! Hard core racist can take comfort in the fact that if Sen. Obama does become President they can just pay attention to his 50% White part and ignore the other percentages you noted. I would never even have considered dividing up Sen. Obama the way you did along the lines of racial percentages, thats actually disgusting and I bet your numbers are bogus on top of it! Sheesh.
Went with Farrakhan to the Half-million man march
Never attended a White Church (even though he and Michelle preach diversity)
His Wife is finally proud of America (1st statement) then she is really proud (2nd statement)
His wife wrote an essay on black separatists in Princeton
His Hate pastor gave Farrakahn an award and supports Hamas
Obama caught with handwriting on Liberal Survey supporting unfettered Abortion and strict gun control
Obama still hasn%u2019t explained REZCO ties fully
Each candidate has there own trash list of things people have a problem with. I think I''ve seen them all. The most interesting thing about each candidates trash list is that Sen. Obama''s seems to have the least trash, seems to be the lesser evil. The list you created looks bad if its true, but not so bad when compared to the other candidates trash list.
For the House of Representative, they are elected every 2 years.
For the Senate, they are elected they 6 years, but stagger their elections every 2 years in three stages. There are three classes. Class I, II & III.
This election cycle is for Class II senators.
Clinton this,
McCain that,
Obama this,
Clinton that,
McCain this,
Obama that,
The best prostitutes certainly get the most media attention!
cone
Posted by Hillarygrl34 at 10:05 AM : Apr 03, 2008,,,
The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke ran as a Republican and was elected to the La. State Senate so anything is possible. It can''t get any worst than that!
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by lottobee
April 3, 2008 11:54 PM PDT
- When Chris Matthews asked Obama the "national security question" on Hardball''s College Tour last nite ---- Obama did the usual evasive tap dance and did not answer the question. There''s your answer to what he will do at 3 A.M. when that call comes in. I''m not trusting my family''s lives to someone who cannot give a direct answer to a national security question. Of course, if you''re already "FOR Obama" you will tap dance around this and applaud him and think how smart he is. How easily we fool ourselves into believing what we want to believe. The average American voter is all too ready to be taken in by a slick candidate who carefully measures his audience and adjusts his speeches accordingly. Beware the tap dancer.
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