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Rove on Clinton: She 'Barely Beat Nobody Else'

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January 16, 2008 3:27 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Talal Al-Khatib Report: Former Bush adviser Karl Rove slammed Sen. Hillary Clinton's, D-N.Y., performance in the Michigan primary during a Wednesday speech to the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.

Watch the VIDEO HERE.

"I want you to look at the results of last night’s primary in Michigan," said Rove. "Sen. Clinton’s name was on the ballot and none of her principal opponents were. Fifty-five percent of the people turned out and voted for her. She got 328,151 votes, but 236,723 people turned out for the Democratic primary to vote for 'uncommitted'."

"Think about that," Rove continued. "If you run against nobody, and nobody gets 40 percent of the vote. The other 5 percent of the vote went for three other people. 27,924 votes went for the guy who believes in UFO’s, the guy who dropped out, and the guy who last held public office somewhere around 1855. That’s a pretty remarkable testament to the deep concerns the Democrats have about Senator Clinton when she can’t barely beat nobody else."

The three unnamed Democrats alluded to by Rove as having picked up five percent of the vote against Clinton are Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman who confirmed at an October debate that he has seen some kind of unidentified flying object, Chris Dodd, the Connecticut senator who dropped out of the presidential race after the Michigan ballot was printed, and Mike Gravel, who represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969-81. 

The Clinton campaign responded to Rove's dig by noting that two Obama supporters -- Michigan Rep. John Conyers and his wife, Detroit City Council President Pro Tempore Monica Conyers -- ran a radio ad in Detroit encouraging Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in the primary.

Even though Clinton's top two rivals did not appear on the ballot, a Clinton spokesman sought to frame the 15-point margin over "uncommitted" as a positive affirmation.

"Anytime you win a race by a 15-point margin, it's a great victory," said Clinton spokesman Phil Singer.

Obama and former Sen. John Edwards removed their names from the Michigan ballot after the Democratic National Committee declared that no delegates chosen in Michigan's Democratic primary would be seated at this summer's convention. The DNC blocked Michigan from holding a delegate-awarding contest because it violated national party rules when it was scheduled before Feb. 5.

Clinton refrained from campaigning in Michigan but she left her name on the ballot.

A spokesman for Monica Conyers joined Rove in offering a blistering assessment of Clinton's Michigan performance. The spokesman to Monica Conyers also sought to tie the unusually high "uncommitted" vote to the recent Martin Luther King and "fairy tale" comments made by Clinton and her husband, the former president.

“Michigan was the first time, where in effect, the vote was a referendum on the racially insensitive remarks of both candidate Clinton and former President Clinton," said Sam Riddle, a spokesman for Monica Conyers, "and the verdict rendered by black voters in Michigan was nothing less than a complete rejection of the Clinton candidacy."

"Forty percent of Democratic voters selected uncommitted: an invisible, non-entity," he added. "She acts as if she has inherited the black vote, and nothing could be further from the truth."

Obama said on a Jan. 13 conference call with reporters that Clinton was "ill-advised" for making comments which he saw as minimizing the achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But the Illinois Democrat who would be the nation's first African-American president has more recently joined with Clinton in seeking to dispel the rancorous feud over race. 

January 16, 2008 in Bush, George W., Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (133)

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Shut the hell up, Carl, and sit down. You are the architect of the most corrupt presidency in history. There may still be a jail cell waiting for you. We just have to wait until we get the First Criminal out of the way.

Posted by: Bill | Jan 16, 2008 5:04:52 PM

I am a Hillary supporter, I do not like Obama,he has no experience, I can't imagine him in the Whitehouse on day 1. I don't even know what he did for a living in the past.I never heard of him until 4 years ago at the Democratic convention! I don't care for Edwards, at one time I thought he would make a good President. Hillary has a lot of experience & with Bill it will even be better, they are the ones that can turn around this country & bring everyone together. When Bill was in the Whitehouse we sure didn't have a war that was running us into enormous debt, we have to borrow from other countrys including China! We didn't have the home forclosures, Companys closing, the amount of unemployment we have today. Their is a enormous amount of people that are hurting. They have no healh insurance , working but companys don't offer it, they barely make ends meet. I know, I am a senior citizen & I know everytime I go to the store, my money does not go as far as it once did. I have to pinch every penny. You have to look at the whole picture when you are deciding who to vote for. Read up on all of them , watch the Sunday morning programs they have & listen to what they are saying about all who is running. Too many people have tunnel vision, they also look at the glass as half empty! Think about the people that are hurting in this country, before you decide who to vote for & remember we need a person with experience & a lot of it! Hillary has that!

Posted by: Joyce | Jan 16, 2008 5:05:56 PM

The Repubs are dying for Obama to get the nomination. They can easily take out the lightweight state senator (I discount his whopping two years of U.S. Senate experience because all he has done is posture and campaign for the presidency since being elected to the senate.)

Clinton -- and the women of America -- are what they are most concerned about going up against.

Rove, Hannity and many other conservatives are doing their part to degrade her and get Winnie the Poohbama the nomination.

Posted by: Robert John | Jan 16, 2008 5:08:02 PM

The thought of another Clinton in the whitehouse is absolutely sickening...how could you people be so stupid..yea i said it, STUPID

i can't believe this horse ****

Posted by: trevor | Jan 16, 2008 5:08:52 PM

Karl wouldn't be opening his big fat mouth unless he knew Clinton could beat the future nominating republican canidate. Stay on task Karl
goooooooo awayyyyyyyyyy stay retired.
go climb under a rock.

Posted by: Carol | Jan 16, 2008 5:11:08 PM

People are still trying to say Bush didn't win in 2000. Of course he won. He wouldn't be in the White House if he didn't. Get over it.

Posted by: George | Jan 16, 2008 5:13:46 PM

Joyce: what "experience" does Hillary have? Sleeping with Bill isn't really an "experience" to brag about (especially since many other woman have done that). Should we let Brett Favre's wife play this Sunday's game too??

Posted by: Richard, Memphis, TN | Jan 16, 2008 5:16:44 PM

if you want another 4 years of GOP rule, vote for Hillary

Posted by: Richard, Memphis, TN | Jan 16, 2008 5:19:33 PM

WHO CARES WHAT ROVE SAYS? ROVE IS A BUSH PERSON!!!

Posted by: JOHN | Jan 16, 2008 5:21:05 PM

Let me show you how this breaks down:

55% - Clinton

40% - Uncommitted

Ok, so according to informal polling, 75% of people who voted uncommitted would have voted for Obama. So that works out to 40% times .75 = 30% for Obama. The rest would go to Edwards, so he gets 10%. The remaining 5% to others.

NOW LET'S SEE THE REAL PICTURE

55% Clinton

30% Obama

10% Edwards

5% Losers, etc.

Clinton got ~twice the vote Obama did and NEITHER OF THEM CAMPAIGNED THERE.

Posted by: dontbeatool | Jan 16, 2008 5:21:58 PM

Clinton supporters must surely be haplessly naive as these result indicate, regardless of how tehy try to spin it! A case in point: I'm an older social conservative Republican who isn't thrilled with our current batch of GOP candidates (in part, because of their personal lives) and actually find Obama honorable, and very inspiring. I may not agree with a lot of his policy but I think he would be good for the U.S.--he is the kind of candidate we need to take all of us in a new cross party direction. What we definitely don't need is Hillary! She is simply too polarizing and I think her supporters massively underestimate just the amount of visceral anti-Clinton sentiment there is in the population, even among many independents nad some other former "Reagan-Democrats." If Obama is nominated, however, many of us conservatives are willing to give him a chance but if it's Hillary, we'll vote for whoever the candidate is on the GOP side even if it's someone like McCain who, personally, I can't stand due to his immigration amnesty stance and such! I also don't think they realize just how many evangelical conservative Repubs like myself and my wife who are very seriously considering Obama. I can count at least 6 friends of ours who are politically like us, but respect and like Obama (and Michelle). He is a good man, honest, and has personal integrity and (surprising for polticians) faithfulness to his spouse, regardless. Many of us will indeed consider him. We simply do not wish to revisit the 90's and elect someone who relishes such division and spin as the Clintons. Personally, I think the Dems would be nuts to nominate Clinton (don't they get it?!)--there would be a huge electoral backlash and you guys will end up losing an election that is, unfortunately, all your's to win!

Posted by: Dennis | Jan 16, 2008 5:28:02 PM

Dennis,

If you think Hillary is so sure to lose, what are you worried about?

Yours,
Captain Obvious

Posted by: dontbeatool | Jan 16, 2008 5:31:38 PM

It is not reasonably proven that Rove did anything wrong here, as with half of the conspiracy minded accusations against Bush and Cheney. Go ahead and live in your fantasy. Man, are you judgemental! I read this to my teens, and they were embarrassed by your clear "youth!"

Posted by: Dennis | Jan 16, 2008 5:34:35 PM

He likes an abandoned dog running and barking in a park. Why is there anybody ctake him?

Posted by: dogowner | Jan 16, 2008 5:36:31 PM

Hillary is the best person. Please look at her platforms, her plans as president. That is the most important. She is the only person who can deliver. Obama is a talker however eloquent he is.

Posted by: Cuong Pham | Jan 16, 2008 5:38:12 PM

Captain, I have friends and family who are Democrats and I feel honestly bad for them that they really think Hillary is going to win everyting...just like they did with Kerry! It's not going to be healthy for the country to have such boiling over inevitable voter resentment as we've seen the last 8 years. I want to move on. Does that make sense?

Posted by: Dennis | Jan 16, 2008 5:38:25 PM

Dennis, I am completely with you on this. Obama gets the nomination and I, as an independent, vote for him or at least don't vote for the Republican in all likelihood. Hillary is the nominee, and I am another that will be voting Republican or Bloomberg if he runs, rather than for Hillary. I cannot fathom what the Dems cannot "get" in this. Obama would be a shoo in unless there is a lot more racism out there then I perceive. Hillary will get a backlash, and it has nothing to do with gender as far as I am concerned.

By the way Clinton backers, I am still waiting for someone to respond to my earlier post which I see no one is willing to take up the challenge to touch. Just exactly what is a Black-Brown issue that Hillary wanted to repeat constantly last night in the debate. Does anyone have the guts to explain that remark?

Posted by: Steve | Jan 16, 2008 5:40:41 PM

Those who say that nomination of Hillary as the democrate candidate for president means that dem will loose are applying the "fear" policy. There is no substance in such argument.
Go for Hillary!

Posted by: Pham si | Jan 16, 2008 5:42:08 PM

I would rather listen to a guy who has intimate knowledge of the clintons like Dick Morris than a Traitor like karl rove!
Clinton:The Inauthentic Candidate

Posted by: Anybody But clinton! | Jan 16, 2008 5:43:49 PM

Look what this pulpy crook has helped do to our country. Like his insignificance is only surpassed by his deep thoughts, yet he still speaks. I beg your pardon but if a crony speaks in the woods, and no one listens, did he really speak.

Posted by: Nelly | Jan 16, 2008 5:43:55 PM

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