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Hillary's 'Designated Rural Hitman' Sets High Bar for Rest of Primaries

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March 18, 2008 11:13 PM

ABC News' Sarah Amos reports: Bill Clinton set a high bar in Fort Wayne, Ind., tonight while campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

In past states Clinton has made a point to lower expectations, particularly in Texas, where he went as far as to say if she didn't carry the state, she may not get the nomination.

Today, Clinton was singing a different tune, telling the crowd, "we need your help. We need your help. I believe she will win a big victory in Pennsylvania. I believe she will win in West Virginia and
Kentucky. Nobody believes she can win in Indiana because it borders Illinois. If you show them they're wrong, she'll be the nominee, and she'll be the president."

Clinton went on to urge voters in Indiana not to make up their minds just yet, saying Hillary does her best when voters think about their choice in the last hours of an election. 

"In every election that we've been involved in, all these primaries, she always wins the voters that decide in the last 48 hours. Even in the states where she had no money, no organization, got beat bad.

"In Virginia she won the closing vote, a state where we had no organization, spent no money.  She just went up there for a couple days. In Mississippi, where she was bound to lose, she did much better than everybody expected because she won the closing vote," Clinton told the crowd.

"In Texas, she won the vote up to 48 hours before the election 50-49. She won the last 48 hours 61-38. The people who start thinking about who would be the best president are coming to her," said Clinton, throwing in one final example of a state his wife managed to win.

It was an energized day of campaigning for Clinton, who joked throughout the day about how much more comfortable he feels coming to rural America.

"I'm the designated rural hitman in the campaign, because I feel at home," Clinton told one audience today.

Tomorrow, Clinton will continue his rural-themed campaign run with stops across eastern Pennsylvania.

March 18, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (58)

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Tiffany - Are you delusional? To claim that "racism was not an issue in 2008" would certainly seem to bear that out. Your ignorance of that fact or the refusal to acknowledge it is exactly what Senator Obama was speaking about yesterday. Until Americans - black, white and everything in between - are willing and able to have an honest discourse about racism (as it applies to all people, not just blacks) this country's progress will continue to regress and we will continue to see the vile comments as witnessed in places like this.

Posted by: James | Mar 19, 2008 9:01:48 AM

Bill wants to be back to the white house and be the next President. everything is about him what he has done etc. where is Hillary? I thought she was qualified for this job?

Posted by: Truth | Mar 19, 2008 9:26:46 AM

LOL She still won't have enough dellgates nor the popular vote or have won the majority of states but it might just sway the supers to go against the will of the people....which CLEARLY shows that the Clintons will make decisions in the highest office in the land that GOES AGAINST the will of the people. How nice more of the same old crap for another 4 years...or did tired old Bill just need a sound bite to off set Obama's speech yesterday? Yeah I think most will be smart enough to understand that one LOL

Posted by: Brian | Mar 19, 2008 9:46:00 AM

For a second,I thought I stumbled on to Hillary's campaign web site. Then I realized it was the Always Bill Clinton web site.

It is apparent that Hillary supporters are just as divisive as she is. You are quick to toss around the word liar but don't forget about Hillary's lies. What exactly was her role in Northern Ireland and the Balkans? Who really was responsible for SCHIP? Why does she think she can pad her resume?

Posted by: BobW Rochester, NY | Mar 19, 2008 9:49:06 AM

When is this going to end? At first Bill said, if Hillary did not win Texas and Ohio, she was done. Well she lost Texas, when is she going to get out and stop destroying the Democratic party? Enough is enough, she cannot win the nomination! The math does not work for her.

Posted by: BrwnIzofMine | Mar 19, 2008 9:54:05 AM

When is this going to end? At first Bill said, if Hillary did not win Texas and Ohio, she was done. Well she lost Texas, when is she going to get out and stop destroying the Democratic party? Enough is enough, she cannot win the nomination! The math does not work for her.

Posted by: BrwnIzofMine | Mar 19, 2008 9:54:07 AM

If Hillary wins Indiana by 500%, then she'll be the nominee :)

Posted by: Larry from Purdue | Mar 19, 2008 9:59:35 AM

So many comments supporting "Clinton" yet it is really Bill that everyone loves and refers to.

Hillary can't even remember the details of the foreign policy experience she's claiming as was evidenced today by her statement that she went with Joe Wilson on a historic trip to Africa. Ooops! It was Susan Rice (Obama's foreign policy advisor). She can't remember because she's making it up as she goes along.

Hillary is no better a choice than McCain in this election and will lose 20% of democrats if she steals the nomination at this point. Vote for her and guarantee more of the same acrimony and divisiveness of the 90's. Her "solutions" are slash and burn the Dem. party if she doesn't get the nomination.

Posted by: Abroadabroad | Mar 19, 2008 10:01:46 AM

To Abroadabroad:

To discount Hillary in light of Bill is understandable, yet wrong. Obama (presumably your candidate) touts the end of "old politics" and ushering in an era of "A more perfect union". Will he just fire, admonish, or pull a Bush and just not care what others who conform to the "old politics" think? That is most of Washington. Short of a true revolution from Obama's supporters, his policies will idle and languish much like Bush's Social Security and Immigration plans if HE cannot conform to WORKING with "old politics".

The obvious choice for the Democratic party is a Clinton/Obama, Obama/Clinton ticket in November. It will make a lot of activists on both sides eat some humble pie, no matter what the arrangement is. But that ticket is gold.

Hillary could focus all her efforts on her pet project, health care. Obama could pursue any agenda he wants. And Bill? Send someone competent like him overseas for a year of heavy diplomacy. The Clintons will always have haters; but most of them are in this country. Bill is loved throughout most of the rest of the world. He would truly show the international community that real American policy of "pre-emptive DIPLOMACY" is, indeed, back.

Posted by: Michael | Mar 19, 2008 10:16:13 AM

This is exactly what Hillary is hoping for - people to remember how good things were when her HUSBAND was in the White House and assume that everything will be just as good with HER in the White House. There is absolutely nothing to support that...

C'mon, people! She thinks you're all stupid, can't you see that?!?!

Posted by: TekTami78 | Mar 19, 2008 10:19:32 AM

Transparency! Disclosure! Honesty! Something the Clinton's know nothing about. Since the kitchen sink isn't working, maybe they should throw the entire kitchen!

Posted by: David | Mar 19, 2008 10:34:10 AM

The discourse on this board is very disappointing, but clearly at the same time it is a sober slice of why our nation doesn't get anything done in the way of public policy.

Posted by: VinceinATL | Mar 19, 2008 10:35:51 AM

The reason our nation doesn't get anything done is not because people have different opinions, people have always, throughout history, disagreed on many issues... the problem we have now is that we have politicians who are bought off specifically to not get things done, mostly by big business and in spite of what the "regular" people demand and also because we have political figures who are cowards and are too worried about themselves to take a chance... Can a politician who will make a tough decision please stand up?

Posted by: dee | Mar 19, 2008 10:50:12 AM

To Michael,

HRC has eliminated any possibility of a joint ticket, and even if she hadn't I would be skeptical of either arrangement. If HRC were at the top of the ticket, then Obama wouldn't be VP...Bill would be. And if Obama were at the top I'm not so sure that HRC wouldn't constantly try to upstage him or undermine him. She doesn't want to be cast in a supporting role anymore.

Keep in mind that there is also a portion of the Democratic party, of which I am part, who will not vote for her because of her Iraq war vote or who do not see many distinctions between her and McCain (5 of my family members)except healthcare; and most believe she couldn't get it passed even if she did nothing else. They do see a distinction between Obama and both McCain and HRC. Whether the distinction is compelling is a choice each voter must make. Healthcare will only be achieved with a bi-partisan solution. HRC had her crack at that and failed miserably. Add to it that nothing will get the infirm republican voter out of bed and to the polls like HRC on the ticket.

The choice is clear to me. Obama is a high-minded, principled leader with the best chance at bringing a much-needed change to DC. He gets my vote.

Posted by: Abroadabroad | Mar 19, 2008 10:57:58 AM

In 2000, The political division between Nader and Gore supporters gave way to Bush's 8 years of dictatorship. The result a trillion dollar war and a once prosperous economy put in shambles. Most people agree that if Nader's ego hadn't clouded the bigger picture of America's welfare we wouldn't be where we are now.

Eight years later, we see the same division in the democratic camp. One can easily draw the striking similarities between Hillary and Nader.

Mike G, TX

Posted by: Mike | Mar 19, 2008 11:06:27 AM

If she wins Indiana, she wins the presidency? Okay, so that must mean that the Democrats carry Indiana in the general election, right?

Call me cynical, but unless Limbaugh goes off his rocker and convinces his followers to do the same in the general election, I don't think so.

In light of the fact that Clinton "won" the Texas primary as a result of all the Republicans who voted for her in that state's open primary (yes, I know, it wasn't Limbaugh, it was Republicans suddenly wanting another Clinton for president), Bill's comments reflect the campaign's efforts to take full advantage of Indiana's open primary.

I was a fan of Bill Clinton throughout it all. I stopped being a fan when I realized that he and his wife are really no different than Karl Rove and the others who do anything it takes to win.

Posted by: Jeff Fazio | Mar 19, 2008 11:10:20 AM

I voted for Bill and I am so completely over the Clintons and their monarchy I cannot begin to say. I would LOVE to have Barack Obama as president. If, by some, typically Clintonian method, she manages to steal the primary, I will watch the scandals with relish this time. I won't be heartsick like last time. I am a Democrat but this obsession Democrats have to keep supporting the Clinton's "top down", back door methods are disgusting. Yes, the Democrats are eating their own but I'm just one vote, I won't matter.

Posted by: Sloane77 | Mar 19, 2008 12:06:50 PM

Sure Bill wants Hillary to win. He's looking for his third term, and anyone who says he'll sit in a corner and keep his mouth shut is utterly delusional.

Posted by: MizLiz | Mar 19, 2008 12:16:12 PM

This reminds me of a song by the band XTC called "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"...it was about a man who came in and just wanted to help people...do the right thing. But when you do that, you make enemies who smear you and try to destroy you. And that's what we are...a nation of people that fear positive change. Sure, we cry out for it. But we fear it's success because it may conflict with rose colored memories or "perks" in our life we place too high a value on. If you want the good of life, you need to stop fearing it...stand by those who face it without fear, and find strength as the numbers by your side grows. There is no solidarity in the dark pit of the angry and fearful.

Posted by: Will | Mar 19, 2008 12:21:50 PM

Bill, Hillary lost VA by a huge margin. You promised to win Texas by huge margins. Now you're moving on from promising huge margins in Pennsylvania and saying that *not* losing by huge margins in Indiana is a win.

If this were a football game HRC '08 would be 1st and 10 at the 165th yard line.

Posted by: media browski | Mar 19, 2008 1:29:38 PM

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