RAPID CITY, S.D., June 2, 2008
Clinton Seeks To Turn Obama Superdelegates
New York Senator Mounting Last Ditch Campaign To Overtake Obama's Advantage
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Video Clinton Determined To Finish Harry Smith speaks with chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign Terry McAuliffe about her determination to stay in the race for the Democratic nomination.
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Photo Essay Hillary Clinton A look at a life and career full of firsts.
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The former first lady enters this week with an insurgent strategy not only to win over undecided superdelegates but to peel away Obama's support from those party leaders and elected officials who already have committed to back him for the nomination.
"One thing about superdelegates is that they can change their minds," she told reporters aboard her campaign plane Sunday night.
Obama displays no signs of worry, pivoting toward his new contest with Republican John McCain and responding to Clinton with a shrug. And some of Clinton's own backers are saying the time is near for her to fall in behind him.
Obama, campaigning in Mitchell, S.D., confidently predicted Clinton "is going to be a great asset when we go into November."
"Whatever differences Senator Clinton and I may have, those differences pale in comparison to the other side," he said.
South Dakota and Montana, which hold primaries on Tuesday, are the last Democratic nominating contests. Obama is favored in both states and he goes into them with 2,071 delegates, 47 away from the number now needed to secure the nomination. Clinton has 1,913 delegates. (See the latest CBS News state-by-state delegate tally)
Obama has made up most of the ground he lost Saturday when the national party's rules committee agreed to
With 31 delegates at stake Tuesday, Obama could close the gap further and cue undecided superdelegates to come to his side. He picked up two more on Monday, Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Connecticut Democratic Party, and Virginia's Jerome Wiley Segovia, a Democratic National Committee member.
But Clinton argues she now leads in the popular vote — a debatable point given that she relies on Michigan and Florida outcomes. None of the candidates campaigned in either state and Obama received no votes in Michigan because he removed his name from the ballot. Clinton also continues to present herself as better able to confront McCain in the fall.
Clinton also won a lopsided victory over Obama on Sunday in Puerto Rico. With almost all percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Obama 68 percent to 32 percent.
She and her campaign's national chairman, Terry McAuliffe, made it clear that Obama's supporters were now fair to pluck with those arguments.
Clinton invited Virgin Islands superdelegate Kevin Rodriguez, a recent convert, to travel with her to South Dakota where she planned to campaign Monday. Rodriguez had initially supported Clinton, switched to Obama, and recently returned to her camp.
"This has been such an intense process," she said, "I don't think there has been a lot of time for reflection. It's only now that we're finishing these contests that people are going to actually reflect on who is our stronger candidate."
Asked Monday on CBS News' The Early Show if Clinton would take her campaign to the convention, McAuliffe said again they "would keep all of their options open."
Cinton's decision, if prolonged, is not likely to sit well with party leaders and some of her own supporters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have both called on the contest to end shortly after the final primaries.
Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and a national co-chairman of Clinton's campaign, said Sunday: "It does appear to be pretty clear that Senator Obama is going to be the nominee. After Tuesday's contests, she needs to acknowledge that he's going to be the nominee and quickly get behind him."
Eager to make amends for avoiding Michigan's primary and build general election support, Obama on Monday planned to hold a town hall meeting on the economy in Troy, Mich.
Clinton, meanwhile, said she was still contemplating whether to challenge the decision by the Democratic Party's rules committee to split the Michigan delegates 69-59 in her favor. Each delegate would have a half vote. The agreement granted Obama 55 uncommitted Michigan delegates and four who would have been assigned to Clinton based on the state's results.
McAuliffe Sunday night called the panel's judgment "outrageous."
"People are angry," he said. "This does not unify our party, this crazy, cockamamie thing they came up with in Michigan."
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See all 156 CommentsObama as POTUS is a like a train wreck with all the cars filled with radioactive material.
God help us.
Let%u2019s say NO to Obama Hussein!
Posted by DarkSkyAbove at 09:26 PM : Jun 02, 2008
Unless you are in SD or Montana, you already had your say.
Maybe that comes from Obama''s admitted practice of only looking at a piece of paper 2 minutes before he needs it. Maybe Obama should think more for himself. After all, he is a lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 although not with highest honors. (Magna _ not Summa...) Obama appears to be the kind of guy who can cram for a test, get an A and then not remember it a week later. That is not what we need in a President.
Obama also said he''d been to all 57 states. Did he lose his bearings? Was it 3:00am?
opposed to Barack Obama. If Obama wins the nomination, John McCain will be our next president.
Posted by bookout2 at 12:17 AM : Jun 03, 2008
I wouldn''t care if you were polka dot and voting for your mammy.
opposed to Barack Obama. If Obama wins the nomination, John McCain will be our next president.
Posted by bookout2 at 12:17 AM : Jun 03, 2008
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Nobody would care if you were pink and voting for Santa Claus ******.
opposed to Barack Obama. If Obama wins the nomination, John McCain will be our next president.
Posted by bookout2 at 12:17 AM : Jun 03, 2008
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Who gives a dam what color you are.
thank goodness a voice of reason. this site is wrought with halfwits. let me know if you want a good conversation.
opposed to Barack Obama. If Obama wins the nomination, John McCain will be our next president.
The creepy part is that camp Clinton and their surrogates seem to actually believe it. They also state that Hillary''s been stronger the second half of the race, not factoring in that sometimes people vote for the inevitable loser to show dissatisfaction for the inevitable winner, rather than as a show of support for the long-shot.
It happened to McCain right after he hit that mark after SuperTuesday - he got creamed in the next three primaries so badly, Washington shut down the vote-counting to avoid the embarrassment.
I''m sure the Superdelegates must have the same reaction that the rest of us do that when camp Clinton makes the argument that they''ve ''won'' the popular vote and showed themselves to be ''stronger'' and then can''t understand why Superdelegates ignore that argument, we all think they''re in like some sort of parallel universe or something . . .
You are evil. You are the racist. Go away you NEOCON TROLL to the cesspool for which you were spawned.
Posted by LiberalVet at 06:37 PM : Jun 02, 2008
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Who opened up the loony bin and let all these idiots out at one time? Or have they just lost all their meds at the same time.
Our government and the media have decided for us that Barack Obama will be our next President.
THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL.
Posted by TruUSA at 08:29 PM : Jun 02, 2008
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It''s all for your benefit, numbnuts. Get a life, or maybe a GED.
Do not be afraid because there is evil looming.
The light will not be extinguished! Take courage and fight the evil!
Posted by DarkSkyAbove at 06:44 PM : Jun 02, 2008
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He''s clearly an ignoramus who can''t find his meds.
Cannot understand why she cannot seal the deal?
Her husband a very liked expresident for 2 terms (would do 8 if we let him)
SHe has been the senator of a well known/talked about state (which did not belong to her..Arkansas?)
And an outspoken one I may add
We have known she was going to be a candidate for years prior
Very smart, quick thinker, debater
I see her being a woman, a plus...we have to go with the times people! just look at other countries who have had incredible women leaders.
Obama was not well known by the average american (except Illinois)
Young, smart, outspoken
SOOOOO, my question again... why can''t she seal the deal???
She hasn''t. So it is time, PEOPLE!, to let go..
IF and only IF we want a democrat as our next president
As of today, we the average 5th grader will do the math, she cannot win....unless!!! she sleeps with her enemy and convince most of them to switch their vote.
seems You should wash up Your brains (if any) - Obama NEVER expressed anything close to racism, and here it is YOU, who sounds as racists.
Calm down.
We are in point to start to work to lift the country.
Do not scream, go and work and do it properly.
That what we should do now and aim on McBush.
You are evil. You are the racist. Go away you NEOCON TROLL to the cesspool for which you were spawned.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas
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