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Bill Clinton to North Carolina: Don't Let Them 'Stomp Your Voice'

April 30, 2008 9:31 PM

ABC News' Sarah Amos reports: Bill Clinton ended a marathon day of campaigning with an argument to voters why his wife can still be the last Democratic candidate standing in this presidential election.

Standing on the front steps of the train station in Whiteville, N.C., the former president told the crowd that "she's gonna end this thing roaring" if voters give her a victory in North Carolina.

"Just remember this, she got this far because of people like you," Clinton said. "And if you show up and you vote for her in big enough percentages and big enough numbers, she'll go right on. And let me tell you something, last poll in Kentucky she was ahead 62 to 26. Last poll in West Virginia she was ahead two to one. She's gonna end this thing roaring."

With the crowd energized, Clinton continued his thought, telling the crowd to not let other people decide the election for them.

"And what are they gonna say if she wins the popular vote? 'I'm sorry, we are gonna give it to the caucus states that are going Republican in November?'" Clinton told the cheering crowd. "No. So all these people tell you she can't win and that are rushin' to get all the people to declare for it, to send it off, to cut you off, and stomp your voice -- don't you believe them. You are still in the driver seat."

It was a rousing ending to what some reporters felt was a never-ending, seven-event day.  Clinton managed to fit baseball fields, barbecue, community centers, front porches and even the Gen. William C. Lee Airborne Museum into the trip -- all the while assuring the voters of North Carolina that a victory in the state would bring Hillary Clinton one step closer to winning the Democratic nomination.

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (132)

Obama's Negatives Rise, Clinton Tops McCain in New Poll

April 30, 2008 6:40 PM

ABC News' Ed O'Keefe Reports: Barack Obama's recent woes may be having an effect in the polls.

A new CBS/New York Times poll released on Wednesday shows Sen. Obama, D-Ill., and presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tied in a hypothetical general election match-up, while Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., edges out McCain by a five-point margin.

Here are raw CBS/New York Times numbers now (among registered voters):

If the candidates were Obama and McCain, who would you vote for?
Obama: 45%
McCain: 45%
Undecided/Don't Know: 6%

If the candidates were Clinton and McCain, who would you vote for?
Clinton: 48%
McCain: 43%
Undecided/Don't Know: 5%

"Barack Obama's problems over the last few weeks, including his Pennsylvania primary loss and the continuing media coverage of his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, may have contributed to his weaker position compared to two weeks ago," read an analysis released by CBS and the New York Times.

Since their last poll four weeks ago, unfavorable views of Obama have risen 10% -- from 24% a month ago to 34% at present.  Obama's woes also appear to know few demographic bounds -- unfavorable views of Obama have risen among women, whites, independents and Democrats, according to CBS News and the New York Times.

Here are the raw CBS/New York Times numbers as of their last poll on April 3, 2008 (among registered voters):

If the candidates were Obama and McCain, who would you vote for?
Obama: 47%
McCain: 42%
Undecided/Don't Know: 7%

If the candidates were Clinton and McCain, who would you vote for?
Clinton: 48%
McCain: 43%
Undecided/Don't Know: 5%

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Monday found similar results.

In that poll, Clinton leads McCain by 9-points, 50-41, in a hypothetical general election match-up.  Obama, on the other hand, is "virtually tied" with McCain, at 46-44 percent. 

Obama strongly condemned recent comments made by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, on Tuesday, a move that many political pundits consider high-stakes but necessary gamble by his campaign to control a spreading political firestorm.

Reacting to what he called the "spectacle" of his former pastor at the National Press Club, Obama denounced Wright saying, "What Rev. Wright said yesterday directly contradicts everything I have ever done or said in my life."

"Whatever relationship I had with Rev Wright has changed as a result of this," Obama said.

The candidate went considerably further than he has in the past in distancing himself from Wright, accusing him of "insensitivity and outrageousness" in his Monday appearance at the National Press Club in Washington.

"The person I saw (on Monday) was not the person I met 20 years ago," Obama said.

So, let's focus on Barack Obama and his campaign and see where things stand in aftermath of latest Rev. Wright events.

In his exclusive blog on ABCNews.com, former Bush campaign strategist and ABC News political contributor Matthew Dowd opined that "Obama's statements in last 24 hours of being passionately critical of Wright and saying he was out of step with America were the only choice he had left. It was his only option and he seized it well."

Dowd laid out four points he views as critical to an Obama comeback emphasizing, "The biggest damage to him is that he held a brand of being an unconventional candidate in a time America wants a shift from the conduct of politics as usual. But he and his campaign have seemed very conventional of late."

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (731)

Hillary's Dream Date: A Republican?

April 30, 2008 4:58 PM

ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Conspiracy theorists delight: Asked who she'd go out with on a date -- with any celebrity, living or dead -- and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton chose . . . a Republican.

Her fantasy date would be with President Abraham Lincoln, Clinton said in an interview being published in the People magazine hitting newsstands Friday.

The question: "If your husband gave you a pass for one night and you could go on a date with any celeb, alive or dead, who would it be?"

Clinton's answer: "That's such a dangerous question! How about Abraham Lincoln?"

Another surprising tidbit: Despite the 19-hour days she puts in on the trail, she's apparently never heard of the energy drink Red Bull. Asked if she's ever had one, she replied, "No. What is it?"

Clinton, D-N.Y., also equivocates on a few either-or questions: She refused to choose between comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, said she likes both wine and beer, and wouldn't select either "American Idol" or "Dancing With the Stars"; she said her mother -- who lives with the Clintons -- keeps her up to speed on both programs.

She did, however, choose Weight Watchers over the South Beach Diet -- but didn't elaborate on her own eating habits.

She also said she's never had cosmetic surgery: "People have to decide what's right for them. It's never been anything I thought was right for me."

Clinton weighs in on the Texas polygamy sect, expressing some sympathy for the women who entered into polygamous marriages.

"Many of these women were raised in the sect, isolated from the outside world from birth," Clinton told People. "It takes an enormous amount of independent thinking to lift yourself out of the circumstance you've been born and raised in to say, 'Wait a minute, this isn't right.' "

She also credits her husband with making the clinching argument in convincing her to run for president.

Said Clinton, "He finally said, 'Well, you have to decide whether you could do what your country needs -- and whether you'd be willing to subject yourself to the process.' Then he said, 'If we end up with another Republican president and you didn't even try . . .' And that kind of clinched it for me."

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (218)

Ron Paul Tops Amazon List at #1

April 30, 2008 4:38 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf Reports: Texas Congressman Ron Paul has "wound down" his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, although his supporters continue to make a showing at state conventions from Missouri to Nevada - even even causing a ruckus that required the Nevada convention to be temporarily shut down.

His fans also catapulted Paul's latest manifesto, released today and titled appropriately, The Revolution: A Manifesto, to number one on the Amazon bestseller list.

That makes not just an erstwhile presidential candidate who cedes he can't win the race but is encouraging voters to support him at the polls, but a bestselling one at that. The next nearest candidate is Sen. Barack Obama, whose Audacity of Hope is at #113 on the Amazon list and whose Dreams of My Father is at #278. Things don't look as good in the cold hard online reality of Amazon for Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton.  McCain's Faith of My Fathers is way down at #4,758 this hour and Clinton's Living History is at 21,380, although those two books are years old.

The Amazon list is updated hourly and Paul's supporters, who have been waiting for the book, also know how to make their point online. So, it's unclear if Paul's one-day showing will catapult him into The New York Times Bestseller list, where Obama is currently at #4 and #8 on the paperback nonfiction list.

Paul says in Revolution: A Manifesto that campaign books have deservedly short shelf lives, but he wrote his more as an entrée to his revolution of freedom, peace and small government, notions which he says are on the rebound and are going, eventually, to unite Americans.

April 30, 2008 in McCain, John | Permalink | User Comments (100)

Michelle Obama Declines Opportunity to Discuss Wright

April 30, 2008 3:54 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Back on the campaign trail, Barack Obama reitereated his disappointment in the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, defending his denoucement of his former pastor in a press conference on Tuesday.

"Frankly, what he said over the last few days and in some of the sermons that have been excerpted were unacceptable and weren't things that we believed in or cared about or cared to believe in," Sen. Obama, D-Ill., said in response to a voter's question at a campaign event in Indianapolis, Ind., "I've made a statement (on Tuesday) that was hard to make but it was I believed."

The questioner had asked about "turning his back on someone who had been a good friend" but Obama, with his wife Michelle by his side, did not take issue with the tone.

"I mean, it is true that part of the job when you're running for president is that anybody who is tangentially, you know, even remotely associated with you is somehow fair game and that's unfortunate because most of us in our lives –- we meet people, we know people, some people we work with or we sit on a board with -- we don't really go vet them and find out all the terrible things they might have done because, you know, we don't know or what they said to see if it's politically correct," Obama continued.

Obama changed the subject rather quickly to talking about how he and Michelle came from modest backgrounds, but when wrapping up, the candidate looked at his wife seated on a picnic table next to him and asked, "So Michelle, do you have anything to add to that?"

Mrs. Obama shook her head indicating no.

"You do but," the Senator said, trailing off, leaving the incomplete thought in the air before adding, "Remember there are a lot of reporters around though."

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (79)

Does Clinton Have 'Testicular Fortitude'?

April 30, 2008 3:48 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: At an event in Indiana, Sen. Hillary Clinton got a ballsy introduction by the president of the local steelworkers union who said it's "going to take an individual with testicular fortitude" to deal with solving the nation's problems.

While Clinton cracked a smile and then burst into laughter behind him, union leader Paul Gibson called for a president who would take a "strong, hard look" at trade and continued,  "I'm tired of these Gucci wearing,  latte-drinking, self-centered egotistical people that have damaged our lifestyle." He backed Clinton saying "I know the entire executive board has not made a move yet to endorse whoever in this primary, Paul Gibson is going to do it right here tonight, she's standing right behind me.”

Clinton addressed Gibson's racy comments – glossing over the slightly controversial part saying with a smile "I do think I have fortitude...women can have it as well as men.”

Clinton went on to address high gas prices, her plan for universal healthcare and highlighted trade issues to a very rowdy crowd of over a thousand union members.

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (31)

Hillary Clinton: Wright Remarks 'Offensive and Outrageous'

April 30, 2008 2:46 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: In an "O'Reilly Factor" exclusive, Hillary Clinton rebuked Rev. Jeremiah Wright in her strongest language to-date.

Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., speaking exclusively to FOX News, called Wright's comments "offensive and outrageous," telling conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly that she going to leave the controversy "up to voters to decide."

Here's the full exchange between O'Reilly and Clinton, as released by FOX News:

O'Reilly: "Can you believe this Rev. Wright guy? Can you believe this guy?"
Clinton: "Well, I'm going to leave it up to voters to decide."
O'Reilly: "Well, what do you think as an American?"
Clinton: "Well, what I said when I was asked directly is that I would not have stayed in the church.
O'Reilly: "You're an American citizen, I'm an American citizen, He's an American citizen, Rev. Wright. What do you think when you hear a fellow American citizen say that kind of stuff about America."
Clinton: "Well, I take offense. I think it's offensive and outrageous. I'm going to express my opinion, others can express theirs. It is part of just, you know, an atmosphere we're in today."

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

In an ABC News debate earlier this month, Clinton repeated the assertion she had made on the campaign trail that, if in Obama's position, Rev. Wright would not have been her choice in pastor.

"One's choice of church and pastor is rooted in what one believes is what you're seeking in church and what kind of, you know, fellowship you find in church," Clinton told moderators Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.

"But I have to say," she continued, "for Pastor Wright to have given his first sermon after 9/11 and to have blamed the United States for the attack, which happened in my city of New York, would have been just intolerable for me. And, therefore, I would have not been able to stay in the church."

You get to choose your pastor. You don't choose your family, but you get to choose your pastor. And when asked a direct question, I said I would not have stayed in the church," Clinton concluded, later adding she considered the issue "legitimate" in the minds of voters.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., strongly condemned recent comments made by his former pastor at a press conference on Tuesday.

Reacting to what he called the "spectacle" of his former pastor at the National Press Club, Obama, D-Ill., denounced Wright saying, "What Rev. Wright said (on Monday) directly contradicts everything I have ever done or said in my life."

"Whatever relationship I had with Rev Wright has changed as a result of this," Obama said.

Speaking the National Press Club in Washington on Monday, Rev. Wright called the recent criticism surrounding his sermons "an attack on the black church".

"This is not about Obama, McCain, Hillary, Bill or Chelsea, this is about the black church," Wright said, speaking before an enthusiastic audience of black church leaders at the onset of a two-day symposium.

Throughout his speech and a subsequent question and answer session, Wright defiantly argued that many of his critics had not heard his whole sermons and that the media had twisted his words.

Wright vigorously defended himself against accusations he is unpatriotic but in Washington, he went on to compare U.S. troops to the Roman legions that killed Christ, to praise Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farakhan, and to suggest that the AIDS epidemic was a racist plot.

The Reverend also said he was quoting a previous U.S. Ambassador to Iraq when he said African Americans should sing "God damn America" not "God Bless America" in his first sermon following the 9/11 attacks.

"You cannot do terrorism on other people and not expect it to come back on you," Wright said on Monday. "Those are Biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright 'bombastic' principles."

Obama came out forcefully on Tuesday, insisting he was "disappointed" by Wright, and rejecting his one-time pastor's assertion that the controversy was an attack on the black church.

The candidate went considerably further than he has in the past in distancing himself from Wright, accusing him of "insensitivity and outrageousness" in his Monday appearance at the National Press Club in Washington.

"The person I saw yesterday was not the person I met 20 years ago," Obama said.

Wright has been Obama's pastor since the Illinois Democrat joined the church. He performed Obama's marriage ceremony and baptized the candidate's two daughters.

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (432)

Clinton Commutes for Votes, Pumps Gas Tax Debate

April 30, 2008 11:26 AM

ABC News' Eloise Harper and Sarah Amos Report: Hillary Clinton is making the morning commute in search of votes.

Though, for the past 16 years, she's traveled in the security-mandated comfort of sleek black Secret Service suburbans in which traveling "shotgun" has an entirely different meaning, Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., is turning pain at the gas pump into an election issue.

Making her point on Wednesday in Indiana, Clinton rode to work with Jason Wilfing, a sheet metal worker from South Bend.

Wilfing picked up Clinton from her hotel in the boss's truck for arguably one of the nation's most unusual midweek commutes.  Trailed by several police cars and surrounded by two rather large suburbans, Wilfing drove with Clinton in the passenger's seat and an armed Secret Service agent keeping watch in the back.

The pair stopped at a gas station en route to work and pumped over $60 into the tank (Clinton paid but did not pump, admitting she had not pumped her own gas in a while given round-the-clock Secret Service protection and also, notably, properly upholding the "Wilfing flies, Clinton buys" rule).

While inside the station, Clinton attempted to buy a cup of coffee, making her way over to the coffee machine where she had a little trouble getting it to work. Her chief of staff quickly helped her fill up a French Vanilla cappuccino.  The clerk joked that it would be $10 prompting Clinton to comment that would be the most expensive cappuccino she'd ever had. The total was $1.23, she handed over a Lincoln and, as she departed added, "I'd love to have your support on Tuesday."

When Wilfing and Clinton arrived at the Sheet Metal Factor, Clinton delivered brief remarks, once again, expressing her support for a gas tax holiday and criticizing her Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for not doing the same.

HOW DO THE CANDIDATES COMPARE AT THE PUMP? WATCH THE "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

Several states away in North Carolina, former President Bill Clinton was on message, pumping rising gas prices and record oil company profits for votes.

"There's a difference between the two candidates here," Clinton told the crowd at one his seven events in North Carolina on Wednesday, "Her opponent says, 'Well, she's just pandering to voters.' That's not true. Look, folks, there are people out here who are choosing every week now between driving to work and having enough food for their kids, between driving to work and paying their medicine bills."

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

Clinton emphasized the difference between the candidates, telling the Apex, N.C. crowd, "She just disagrees with her opponent on this. Hillary has got a long record as an environmentalist. But to say that giving people a little slack on these gas prices is going to discourage us from switching to higher mileage cars is just factually wrong. We're dealing with people here that cannot pay their bills. And it's going to be a tremendous drag on the economy if we let this situation continue. So she believes that we should suspend (the federal gas tax), get people through the summertime, the high driving months."

All three presidential contenders traded jabs on the campaign trail on Tuesday regarding their varying positions on a gas tax holiday.

"This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election," Obama told a Winston-Salem town hall crowd. "The easiest thing in the world for a politician to do is to tell you what they think you want to hear. But if we're gonna solve our challenges right now, then we've gotta start telling the American people what they need to hear. Tell 'em the truth."

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., fired back at Obama on Tuesday, charging that the Illinois Senator doesn't fully grasp the current state of the U.S. economy.

"Barack Obama doesn't understand the effect of high gas prices on the American economy," Bounds said in a statement released to the press. "Senator Obama voted for a gas tax reduction before he opposed it, he has no plan for relief from record-high gas prices for Americans this summer, and he's the empty-tank candidate in this race."

ABC News' Bret Hovell and Sunlen Miller contributed to this report.

April 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (110)

Bill Clinton Rallies Rural America Through Wal-Mart and Pundits

April 29, 2008 11:23 PM

ABC News' Sarah Amos reports: Former President Bill Clinton has always been a prominent subject in the media's coverage of the Democratic primary. In the past week however, Clinton has found himself the topic of even more articles than usual -- many dissecting his role in courting the rural vote.

Lately, Clinton has been choosing not to ignore these often critical articles. Instead, he has found good use for his daily clippings in the past week, weaving a few choice ideas into his stump speeches.

In Oregon this past Saturday, Clinton told the crowd about an Associated Press article he read about his trip to rural parts of the state.

"There's an article, I just read an article in The Associated Press that quotes a Reed college political science professor who says that my coming to see you wont work. Now listen, he said that Hillary's decision to reach out to rural Oregon was -- quote -- 'old politics,'" Clinton told a crowd in Junction City, Ore., making sure to hammer home the point that Hillary Clinton cares abour rural America, no matter what others might say.

Today, in Elkin, N.C., Clinton had a different article to talk about -- but the same message to deliver.

"I love my duties in this campaign because I'm basically the ambassador of Hillary's campaign to rural America, to small-town America," Clinton told a cheering crowd in a gymnasium. "And a lot of the political and press elites that haven't been for her from the get-go have made fun of this. I noticed some fellow wrote an article making fun of me campaigning places lilke Elkin and he said, 'Next thing you know, Bill Clinton will be taking Wal-Mart greeters to the polls.' See, now he thought that was a put-down. You know what I thought? I thought that was a good idea, why didn't I think of that? That would run our totals up."

There was one problem with Clinton's re-hashing of the article. The New Yorker story he referred to actually took the Wal-Mart quote from a Clinton advisor, who joked that Clinton's Pennsylvania election day plans were "leading a caravan of Wal-Mart greeters to the polls."

But that error meant nothing to the small-town crowd before Clinton, many of whom reacted as though Clinton's comments were proof that the Clinton campaign really cared about them -- no matter what the political pundits might think.

Whether the former president takes offense at these articles is not always clear. There can be a mixture of insult and indiference in Clinton's delivery.

What is clear is the rallying cry the former president is attempting to build with such remarks. As Hillary's "rural hitman," Bill Clinton is out to prove that his wife is the candidate who really cares about the issues and people in rural America.

If the people in these crowds want a president "who is a tough enough politician to make her husband escort Wal-Mart greeters to the polls," they should support Hillary, according to Clinton.

And with seven stops across rural North Carolina planned for Wednesday, it is surely a point he isn't going to stop touting anytime before next Tuesday's primary.

April 29, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (48)

Bill Clinton Says Underdog Hillary Stayed Positive in Pennsylvania Primary

April 29, 2008 9:42 PM

ABC News' Sarah Amos reports: Former President Bill Clinton hit the trail in North Carolina today, continuing to use his wife Hillary Clinton's win in the Pennsylvania primary as momentum for her campaign.

"Most of what people have said in this campaign is wrong, including who's been more positive and who's been more negative," the former president told a crowd of more than 2,500 in Boone, N.C. "She's talked relentlessly about the solutions. She won in Pennsylvania after being hit with negative ad after negative ad after negative ad, and negative letters. And all she did was respond. She won being outspent three to one because the people knew she was in it for them."

While Clinton's account of the campaign in Pennsylvania put the blame for all of the negative campaigning on Sen. Barack Obama's camp, the voters of Pennsylvania largely disagreed. Many polls found that voters thought both candidates turned increasingly negative in the final weeks of campaigning.

Clinton also made a point to talk about the gas tax today, a topic he often mentions, but rarely dives into.

"In the short run, she would release some oil from our strategic petroleum reserve. It's full. The oil companies pay into it every month. You can release it, send it directly to the refineries, create more oil in the long run, more gasoline, and bring the price down through the summer months. Second, she would put an excess profits fee on the oil companies who are making record profits and give relief to the taxpayers from the gax tax in the summer months. If you did that you could lower the price of gas between 30 to 40 cents a gallon. It would make a huge difference, particularly to people who have to drive a long way to work," he said.

Clinton spoke on the campus of Appalachian State University, whose underdog football team rose to fame by beat perennial powerhouse University of Michigan last year. Clinton used that bit of history to remind the crowd that his wife is still the underdog in this race.

"Folks, I'm a sports nut, and I'm glad to be here at the home (cheering) of the greatest football upset in modern history, so I think it will have special meaning here if I begin with a line I always say today. Whenever somebody tells you you can't win, it's because they're afraid you will," Clinton told the cheering crowd.

April 29, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (202)