- Daily Photo: Obama Jokes Around at G-20
- Blackwater gets replaced in Iraq
- Daily Photo: U.S. Marines Look Out for Taliban in Afghanistan
- Hillary Clinton the Tomboy and Her "Ah-Ha" Moment
- Obama Administration Sudan Envoy Headed to Region
- Daily Photo: Potential Flashpoint in Iraq
- Clinton Says New Afghanistan-Pakistan Plan Depends on Diplomacy
- Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
- Additional 4,000 Troops to Be Ordered to Afghanistan
- Daily Photo: Navy Submarine Trains in the Arctic
- Alarm Over North Korea Missile Prep
- Anti-Terror Stimulus? US Offers Rewards for Top Terrorists
- Daily Photo: Pakistani Women in Refugee Camp
- Condoleezza Rice Appears on "The Tonight Show"
- Diplomat and Aid Group Sound the Alarm on Darfur Camp Situation
- auto industry rescue
- Ballotwatch
- Biden, Joe
- Bush, George W.
- Clinton, Bill
- Clinton, Hillary
- Dodd, Chris
- Edwards, John
- Giuliani, Rudy
- Gravel, Mike
- Huckabee, Mike
- Hunter, Duncan
- Inauguration
- Iraq
- Kucinich, Dennis
- McCain, John
- Obama, Barack
- Palin, Sarah
- Paul, Ron
- Romney, Mitt
- Tancredo, Tom
- Thompson, Fred
- Veepstakes
- Vote 2008: Democrats
- Vote 2008: Republicans
- Washington
- White House
« Previous | Main | Next »
Private Worries as Team Clinton Looks for Best Case Scenarios
March 02, 2008 7:55 PM
ABC News' Kate Snow and Eloise Harper report: As she makes her way across Ohio, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is preaching optimism.
"I have seen in the last weeks, the resilience, and the grit and the determination of the people of Youngstown, and across Ohio, and we’re going to win!" she told voters in Youngstown, Sunday.
But privately, Clinton campaign advisors say their own internal polls show the race tightening in Ohio and remaining very close in Texas.
"We're going to go full bore and see what happens," a senior advisor told ABC News, Sunday.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is outspending Clinton on the airwaves by about two to one. And in some markets, Clinton aides say they believe he has spent closer to three times as much on advertising.
"I've never seen the likes of this," said the advisor.
In their best case scenario, Clinton aides hope she could win Ohio by 3 to 6 points and squeak out a victory in Texas. They would consider that a good night and reason to fight on to Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22.
Other scenarios, they admit, are not so pretty.
"If she wins Texas and loses Ohio, it becomes a harder argument to make that she can win Pennsylvania," said the senior advisor.
And pressure among fellow Democrats is mounting.
On Sunday, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson -- who recently left the Democratic presidential race -- said he thinks the nomination should be decided on Tuesday, no matter what.
"You know, the concern that I have is the bickering that took place between those two very fine senators is going on too long," Richardson said on the CBS program "Face the Nation."
"D-Day is Tuesday," he continued. "We have to have a positive campaign after Tuesday. Whoever has the most delegates after Tuesday, a clear lead, should be, in my judgment, the nominee."
The Clinton campaign is calling superdelegates who have already voiced support for Clinton (what they call "automatic" delegates) to try and convince them to stay with the senator, no matter what happens on Tuesday.
And they continue to try and persuade uncommitted superdelegates to join the Clinton ranks.
But increasingly, said the advisor, the first thing out of their mouths is, "We’re waiting to see what happens."
March 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (379)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Hillary was perfect for SNL..........she's a joke....
Posted by: Todd | Mar 2, 2008 8:47:48 PM
Who went negative first?
No it wasn't the Walmart comment.
It started way back when Camp Clinton started that email about Obama's being a muslim. That wasn't the GOP folks that was Camp Clinton.
That's where the negativity started. And long before the Walmart shot we have hubby making the cracks in So Carolina that so turned off the African American voters they moved in droves to Obama.
Before walmart we had the 'fairy tale' comments. Let's keep the facts straight, it isn't all that difficult.
Posted by: korey | Mar 2, 2008 8:48:04 PM
Obama is NOT and never has been the front runner in this race. He leads her by 100 delegates and she leads him by more Super Delegates. And that does not include her delegates from Florida and Michigan. Eleven states does not EQUAL 50 states. We all get a vote in America!
This front runner was spin from the media, Obama and Obama supporters. Hillary will WIN Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and many other states, including Puerto Rico, that have not yet voted. And she will go on to WIN the Democratic nomination and rightfully so. She is the more qualified candidate.
General Election historical data clearly shows that she is the candidate that has the best chance at actually winning the Presidency.
Posted by: Texas Democrat | Mar 2, 2008 8:48:18 PM
The letter to Bill Richardson was perfect. Thanks
Posted by: Edward Franco | Mar 2, 2008 8:49:17 PM
Given Obama's mathemathically insurmountable delegate lead (Yes We Can!), Hillary's best case scenario is to bow out gracefully. Period. In doing so, she may recapture some of the goodwill lost in the wake of her desperate, negative tactics. Otherwise, she'll just show herself to be the self-absorbed, amoral, power-obsessed type her worst critics have always claimed she was. Does anyone really think she's concerned about harming Obama's chances for victory in the GE? Only to the extent that it would reflect poorly on her because you can bet that she's already figuring an Obama loss will preserve her chances in 2012.
Posted by: KC | Mar 2, 2008 8:50:58 PM
The bottom line is if she eeks out wins in OH, RI and TX, and even if she goes on and barely wins PA, Obama will still end up coming out of this stretch netting more delegates since a small margin basically splits the delegates. Furthermore, considering the remaining states - VT, NC, MS, SD, WY, MT, OR in which he has substantial leads - large enough leads where he'll widen by 80 - 90 more delegates.
She can either stay in and hurt the party with Mark Penn's negative trash or bow out gracefully.
Posted by: Jack | Mar 2, 2008 8:57:19 PM
"Stay in Hillary. I don't care if it brings the party crashing down."
And there, in a nutshell, we have the problem with Hillary and her supporters.
Posted by: JdeMarco | Mar 2, 2008 8:58:53 PM
If Hillary can't gain in the Delegate count on Tuesday, and make it count for something, than I think it would be wise for her Campaign to reevaluate it's continued presence in the race...
Posted by: Dingodude | Mar 2, 2008 8:59:56 PM
Nobama...
I have yet to see anything out of Camp Clinton that would make me want to vote for a dual presidency...yet.
Posted by: Dingodude | Mar 2, 2008 9:03:17 PM
As a HC supporter I think she should drop out if she loses big in TX or if she loses both OH and TX even with a small margin. Other than that she should fight on. Why should states not vote yet be disallowed to have their say if the race is still competitive.
Posted by: esvida | Mar 2, 2008 9:08:13 PM
THIS IS NOT OVER! The country will make itself be heard on tuesday through Texas and Ohio and Rhode Island and Vermont. Many people still have not voted yet. This is democracy at its best.
$35 million in February will turn into $60 in March. Hillary is our leader, she will lead us towards the retaking of our country.
Posted by: TheGoodJuan | Mar 2, 2008 9:10:34 PM
Obama is promising to change Washington politics if he becomes. He was Illinois senator for 12 years. He was part and parcle of Illinois politics which has gotten dirtier. Yes THE CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
Posted by: Satish | Mar 2, 2008 9:12:14 PM
Clinton should be winning hands down. After all, she's been participating in presidential campaigns since she was 16 years old! And experience is all that matters! In fact, she *is* winning, all evidence to the contrary! (Um - that's sarcasm.) Fact is, Clinton has *never* had the pledged delegate lead in this race, not for one single day. Obama started off in the lead in Iowa and kept it from then on. And, yes, superdelegates count - but not until they've voted.
I'm with Richardson. Clinton has been given every opportunity to prove that Obama's initial surge was a fluke. It is time for the party to unite around the winner and start thinking about November.
Posted by: Gail | Mar 2, 2008 9:12:48 PM
cba...
Yes they are. :-)
Posted by: Dingodude | Mar 2, 2008 9:13:08 PM
Without Hillary, strangely enough, Obama wouldn't have the nomination. It was essential with his level of obscurity to run against a well-known, controversial opponent who starts out despised by 50% of the country - rational or not.
The blunders of the mighty Clinton machine contrasted to his steady, ground operation built on precinct captains - most of whom were new to politics - fueled a movement which refused to bow down to the Queen.
Posted by: Jack | Mar 2, 2008 9:13:57 PM
The product HRC is inferior to Barak Obama.
Better product wins.
Hillary is sidekick of Bill.
Obama is original success.
Posted by: Tariq Ahmed | Mar 2, 2008 9:18:02 PM
the emperor is without clothes.
Posted by: BKMC | Mar 2, 2008 9:20:22 PM
A few weeks ago my friends and I were so excited about having the circus here in NC in May. We were hoping to play a part in bringing NC and the nomination for Hillary (who would have thought NC would matter?!). We aren't Obama-haters. We like him and would vote for him. Both of them are so close on all the policies we care about, we don't understand all the people here loving one and hating the other. It's strange.
Anyway, now I just want it to be over. Hillary has gotten too crazy in the last week. I was riding with my one year old and three year old today and listening to NPR and they started playing a clip of one of her recent speeches. After a few seconds both of my kids just started yelling. It wasn't until then that I realized how out of control Hillary's gotten. "Shrill" is the word that comes to mind. Much more of this and she'll lose my support.
Right now I think she's trying to save face, and she can do that by winning in Ohio or Texas on Tuesday. If she doesn't win a landslide of pledged delegates, though, she should just leave it at that. Obama's not my first choice, but he'd be a great, historic nominee and president, and even though he wouldn't live up to all the "hope" hype, I think he'd change Washington for the better.
Posted by: NC for HRC? | Mar 2, 2008 9:20:44 PM
Obama is promising to change Washington politics if he becomes. He was Illinois senator for 12 years. He was part and parcle of Illinois politics which has gotten dirtier. Yes THE CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
Posted by: Satish | Mar 2, 2008 9:12:14 PM
_________________________________
Yeah anyway, what did he do in the Illinois except vote present? He had the opportunity to do alot of good so why didn't he?
Posted by: J | Mar 2, 2008 9:20:44 PM
I like Hillary but if she does not win big on Tuesday, she should drop out.
Posted by: Marilyn | Mar 2, 2008 9:21:58 PM
Post a comment



