PORTLAND, Ore. -- Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the past 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now.The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak.
The scene suggests this is not an exaggeration. The sea of heads stretches for half a mile along the grassy embankment, while others watch from kayaks and power boats bobbing on the Willamette River. More hug the rails of the steel bridge that stretches across the water and crowds are even watching from jetties on the opposite shore.
(Source: Washington Post blog)
Look at the number of boats that pulled up to listen to Senator Obama.
(In the above photo, you see the TV screen, which shows Obama speaking and thousands of people outside the arena watching on a big-screen).
"Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, rides in a pickup truck to commute to work with sheet metal worker Jason Allan Wilfing, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, as she campaigns in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)" (view)
WALLACE: Senator, you say a lot of good stuff. Reverend Wright (INAUDIBLE) are distractions from the real issues. But especially for someone like you, who’s a newcomer to the national scene, people don’t know a lot about, don’t voters have a legitimate interest in who you are and what your values are?
OBAMA: Absolutely ...I don’t think that the issue of Reverend Wright is illegitimate.
| Pct. of total | Clinton | Obama | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Yes | 60 | 40 |
| 64 | No | 48 | 52 |
[Obama:] "And, you know, if I'm acting in an ethical way, if I am working to make sure that I am applying what I consider to be a core value of Christianity, but also a core value of all great religions, and that is that I am my brother's keeper and I am my sister's keeper, then I will be doing my part to move his agenda forward."
[Obama:] "So as I'm doing this [community] organizing, some of the pastors started saying, 'You know, you've got great ideas, Obama, but, you know, if you're going to organize churches, it might help if you were going to church.' And I thought, 'Well, that's not an unreasonable position.' And so I started visiting some churches. Trinity United Church of Christ was one of the churches that we were trying to get involved in the organization."
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me pick up on this. When these comments from Senator Obama broke on Friday, Senator McCain's campaign immediately said that it was going to be a killer issue in November.
Senator Clinton, when Bill Richardson called you to say he was endorsing Barack Obama, you told him that Senator Obama can't win. I'm not going to ask you about that conversation. I know you don't want to talk about it. But a simple yes-or-no question: Do you think Senator Obama can beat John McCain or not?
SEN. CLINTON: Well, I think we have to beat John McCain, and I have every reason to believe we're going to have a Democratic president and it's going to be either Barack or me. And we're going to make that happen.
And what is important is that we understand exactly the challenges facing us in order to defeat Senator McCain.
He will be a formidable candidate. There isn't any doubt about that. He has a great American story to tell. He's a man who has served our country with distinction over many years, but he has the wrong ideas about America. And those ideas will be tested in the cauldron of this campaign.
But I also know, having now gone through 16 years of being on the receiving end of what the Republican Party dishes out, how important it is that we try to go after every single vote everywhere we possibly can to get to those electoral votes that we're going to need to have the next president elected.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But the question is, do you think Senator Obama can do that? Can he win?
SEN. CLINTON: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Now, I think that I can do a better job. (Laughter.) I mean, obviously, that's why I'm here. I think I am better able and better prepared in large measure because of what I've been through and the work that I've done and the results that I've produced for people and the coalition that I have put together in this campaign, that Charlie referred to earlier.
Obviously, I believe I would be the best president, or I would not still be here, standing on this stage, and I believe I'm the better and stronger candidate against Senator McCain, to go toe to toe with him on national security and on how we turn the economy around.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, do yo think Senator Clinton can win?
SEN. OBAMA: Absolutely, and I've said so before. But I too think that I'm the better candidate. (Laughter.) And I don't think that surprises anybody.
SEN. OBAMA: So this i something that I've said before. It is something that I will repeat again. And yes, people are frustrated and angry about it, but what we're seeing in this election is the opportunity to break through that frustration. And that's what our campaign has been about, saying that if the American people get involved and engaged, then we are going to start seeing change. And that's what makes this election unique.
[Moderator: ]But pledge now that whichever one of you wins this contest, you'll take the other as your running mate, and that the other will agree if they lose, to take second place on the ticket.So I put the question to both of you: Why not?
(Pause, laughter.)
Don't all speak at once. (Laughter.)
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I'm happy to start with a response. Look, this has been an extraordinary journey that both Senator Clinton and I have been on and a number of other able candidates. And I think very highly of Senator Clinton's record. But as I've said before, I think it's premature at this point for us to talk about who vice presidential candidates will be because we're still trying to determine who the nominee will be.
But one thing I'm absolutely certain of is that come August, when we're in Denver, the Democratic Party will come together, because we have no choice if we want to deliver on the promises that not only we've made but the founders made. We are seeing peoples' economic status slipping further and further behind. We've seen people who have not only lost their jobs but now are at risk of losing their homes.
We have a sharp contrast in terms of economic policies. John McCain wants to continue four more years of George Bush policies and, on the foreign policy front, wants to continue George Bush's foreign policy.
So I'm confident that both Senator Clinton's supporters and Senator Obama's supporters will be supporting the Democratic nominee when we start engaging in that general election.
MR. GIBSON: But Senator Clinton, Governor Cuomo made that suggestion because he's not so sure. And other Democrats are not so sure.
Just to quote from the Constitution again, "In every case," Article Two, Section One, "after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice president."
If it was good enough in colonial times, why not in these times.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Charlie, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to make sure that one of us takes the oath of office next January. I think that has to be the overriding goal, whatever we have to do.
Obviously we are still contesting to determine who will be the nominee. But once that is resolved, I think it is absolutely imperative that our entire party close ranks, that we become unified.
I will do everything to make sure that the people who supported me support our nominee.
I will go anywhere in the country to make the case. And I know that Barack feels the same way, because both of us have spent 15 months traveling our country. I have seen the damage of the Bush years. I've seen the extraordinary pain that people have suffered from because of the failed policies; you know, those who have held my hands who have lost sons or daughters in Iraq, and those who have lost sons or daughters because they didn't have health insurance.
And so, regardless of the differences there may be between us, and they are differences, they pale in comparison to the differences between us and Senator McCain.
So we will certainly do whatever is necessary to make sure that a Democrat is in the White House next January.
With Mitt Romney passionately advocating for John McCain’s candidacy in cable TV interviews, traveling with to western states for McCain fundraisers, and campaigning in
The most problematic aspect of Mitt Romney as the vice presidential nominee is the fact that he is running as a republican. Yet, Romney’s history is marred by a slew of liberal positions he vehemently espoused while campaigning in the 1990s in
The second problem with Mitt Romney as a vice presidential nominee is his failure to energize the base. Despite Mitt Romney’s expensive and repeated attempts to portray himself as the heir of Ronald Regan—whom, he impugned while campaigning during the 1990s—and staunch defender of conservative ideals, Romney utterly failed in convincing conservative voters in primaries. For example, in
The third problem with Romney is that he epitomizes the classic politician who will say anything to win an election. His never-ending slew of spin, sophistry, and non-sequiturs raised countless doubts about his authenticity. For example, in Romney’s much-anticipated speech of faith in
What in the world was Bill Clinton thinking on April 10 when he brought up Hillary Clinton’s “misstatement” about landing under sniper fire in
In October, November, and early December, dozens of polls showed that Hillary Clinton held a strong lead over Barack Obama in
Speaking to a reporter on January 23, the red-faced finger-wagging former president said that the Obama campaign and its surrogates are “feeding” the media racially-controversial stories “because they know this is what you want to cover. This is what you live for…. And the Obama people know that. So they just spin you up on this and you happily go along…shame on you.”[2] When these comments emerged, they eclipsed any coverage of Hillary or her policies for a few days. Sadly, this same theme played out repeatedly in the days running up to the
Bill, along with Hillary surrogates such as New York Congressman Charles Rangel and BET Founder Robert Johnson, repeatedly poured gasoline on the fire of a racially-charged controversy stemming from a comment that Senator Clinton made that seemed dismissive of the Martin Luther King’s work and legacy. These incendiary comments drew fire from prominent blacks such as Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.[3] As if Bill had not yet inflamed racial tensions enough, on election day, when polls showed Senator Obama would win, the former president added a final comment that solidified the anger in the African-American community toward the
First, the landslide defeat in
Third, the way Bill Clinton’s attacks on Senator Obama injected race into the primary angered many super delegates, causing them to break their silence and endorse Senator Obama. For example, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of
While Bill Clinton made a great politician when it came to campaigning for himself, he is making a terrible campaigner when it comes to campaigning for her husband.
[1] http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/sc/south_carolina_democratic_primary-234.html#market
