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Hillary Clinton's Idea of Fun...

May 31, 2008 9:07 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: Does standing for six hours in a moving pick-up truck with dirt and wind blowing in your face, waving and waving the whole time, sound like fun? Well according to Sen. Hillary Clinton it was the most fun she has ever had campaigning.

"We went through many cities, and I was so happy to be standing up in the pick-up truck waving at all of the people on the streets and in the cars who were driving by," she said in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "It was the most fun I think I’ve had campaigning anywhere."

Clinton did take a few breaks while canvassing -– but as others began to fade at the end of the long day watching the senator wave to people from the truck, she kept smiling and waving, as the loudspeakers that followed her blasted songs by Ricky Martin and others, with "Hillary Clinton" incorporated into the lyrics.

At the end of the day, Clinton addressed the Mita Congregation, one where a few thousand of people gathered wearing all white.

"I feel very much at home here because I believe that we understand that we are called not to lead just hearers of the word, but doers of the word," she said.

Clinton also expressed her feeling of closeness with this island, saying as she has said frequently: "I am not a stranger to these beautiful islands, nor to the people of Puerto Rico. I am proud to represent 1 million Puerto Ricans in New York. I have also felt as though I was your senator as well as New York’s senator."

May 31, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (73)

Obama Won't Wait for Clinton Concession

May 31, 2008 8:57 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Karen Travers Report: The Obama campaign is not worried about the tempest that erupted at a Washington, D.C., hotel on Saturday when top Clinton adviser Harold Ickes threatened to take the fight over Michigan's delegates all the way to the convention.

"He said 'reserve the right,' not that he was going to do it," said Obama adviser Anita Dunn. "They have to get through the next three days. I've been there before."

Now that the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee has decided what to do with the Florida and Michigan delegations, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is 68 delegates away from clinching the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.

Obama's campaign expects to win around 38 delegates in the final three contests of Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana. If he hits that mark, it would leave him 30 superdelegates away from his party's nod.

The Obama campaign is pushing superdelegates to come on board by Tuesday so that Obama can claim his party's presidential nomination when he speaks that evening at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The site was chosen because it is the same place where Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will formally receive the GOP's presidential nomination in early September.

Asked if Obama would wait to get a concession call from Clinton before claiming the nomination, Dunn said the onus was on Clinton now that the Democratic Party has firmed up the number of delegates needed to claim the party's nod.

"He's not going to wait by the phone like a high-school girl waiting for a date," said Dunn. "That's not Barack Obama."

"After Tuesday," Dunn added, referring to the final contests of South Dakota and Montana, Clinton "can decide how united she wants this party to be."

May 31, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (891)

Obama Quits His Church

May 31, 2008 6:24 PM

Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos, and Sunlen Miller report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., today resigned from his controversial church, Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago.

Obama had been in discussions about resigning with his church's new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss before the latest controversy, which involved a longtime friend of Obama's, Father Michael Pfleger, mocking Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, just last Sunday form the church's pulpit, using racially charged language, to the apparent delight of the congregation.

"Rev. Moss, when Hillary was crying, and people said that was put on, I really don't believe it was put on," Pfleger said from the pulpit. "I really believe that she just always thought, 'This is mine! I'm Bill's wife, I'm white, and this is mine! I just gotta get up and step into the plate.' And then out of nowhere came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama,' and she said, 'Oh, damn! Where did you come from? I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show!'

Pfleger then mocked Clinton's tears.

"She wasn't the only one crying, there was a whole lot of white people crying!" Pfleger said to laughter.

After his sermon, Rev. Moss thanked Pfleger: "We thank God for the message, we thank God for the messenger, we thank God for Father Michael Pfleger," Moss said.

Obama's resignation from his church was first reported Saturday evening by CNN.

The previous controversy involving his church involved heated rhetoric from its former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons used incendiary language to discuss the U.S. and race. The controversy prompted Obama to deliver a widely-publicized speech about race and later to condemn Wright.

Sources tell ABC News that Obama felt that as the campaign continued, the media would continue to focus on the church, to the detriment of the church community, that Obama would be held responsible for what happened in the church, and that the Church would be held responsible for his campaign. It would be best, Obama felt, to simply cut ties. He has not yet joined a new church.

As he distanced himself from Wright on April 29, Obama expressed disappointment in how the media maelstrom had intruded on the church.

"When I go church it's not for spectacle, it's to pray and to find to find a stronger sense of faith, it's not to posture politically it's not to, you know, it's not to hear things that violate my core beliefs," he said. "And I certainly don't want to provide a distraction to those who are worshipping at Trinity. As of this point I'm a member. I haven't had a discussion with Rev Moss about it so I can't tell you how he's reacting and how he's responding ... there’s been great damage."

Obama will address the matter this evening at a campaign stop in South Dakota.

UPDATE: Trinity United has issued a paper statement from the current pastor, Rev. Otis Moss:

"Trinity United Church of Christ was informed that Senator Barack Obama and his family will no longer be members of our church. Though we are saddened by the news, we understand that it is a personal decision. We will continue to lift them in prayer and wish them the best as former members of our trinity community. As in the prayer for the ephesians, our entire trinity family ask that the nation entrust Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, to God's care and guidance, so that Christ may continue to dwell in their lives, in their hearts, and in their work. We ask now for god's peace to be with them. 'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more and all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.'

Ephesians 3:20"

- Rev. Otis Moss III

May 31, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (857)

Obama and Clinton Camps Dig in on Michigan

May 31, 2008 3:20 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and John Santucci report: Supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed bitterly over how to allocate Michigan's delegates at a Saturday meeting of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee.

"This event that happened on Jan. 15 was not anything close to a primary election and cannot allocate delegates in a normal fashion," said former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., on behalf of Obama. 

"As a result," he continued, "this does not mean Michigan should not be represented at the National Convention, but it does mean that the delegates from our state should be split evenly between the two remaining candidates."

After Bonior's comments were booed by Clinton supporters in attendance, Tina Flournoy, a top Clinton adviser and RBC panel member, argued that Obama's position would put party officials in the position of displacing the will of the voters.

"What is being proposed here is that you go into a voting booth and at some point later down the road someone decides that your vote is for someone else," Flournoy said. "If we’re going to do that, let’s cancel 2012, and let’s divide all the delegates in all the states."

Clinton adviser Harold Ickes said that, with the exception of affirmative action, there is no more sacred principle in the Democratic Party than "fair reflection" of the voters' intent.

Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard made Clinton's case to RBC members by warning that there could be consequences for the Democratic Party in November if the DNC panel does not allocate more delegates to Clinton.

"If you turn your back on Michiganm you will be flirting with a McCain victory," Blanchard said.

The Michigan Democratic Party has proposed splitting the difference between the Obama campaign's call for a 50-50 split and the Clinton campaign's call for a 73-55 split based on giving Clinton her share of the Jan. 15 vote and assigning Obama the day's "uncommitted" vote.

But for now, neither the Clinton nor the Obama camp has been willing to meet the other half way.

May 31, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (140)

Clinton Blows Kisses to the Citizens of Puerto Rico

May 31, 2008 3:06 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton stood on a white pick-up truck where a platform was built so she could face forward and wave and blow kisses to well-wishers who came out into the street to greet her. Some women even ran out of a hairdresser's shop with curlers in their hair to wave at the former first lady.

At times the caravan brought traffic to a hault as drivers leaned out of their cars to catch a photo on their cell phone.

Preceeding Clinton's truck was a flatbed truck full of about 40 reporters filming the senator from New York. There were giant speakers in front of the bus full of reporters playing songs that all include lyrics about Hillary Clinton. The woman MC says Hillary Clinton will be the president for all Puerto Ricans.

Some staffers wore wearing headsets and rode scooters, perhaps to attempt to control the chaos and maintain some sort of organization. Island campaigning is very different from campaigning in Iowa and Indiana. This would be the first day-long moving caravan -- with loud music blaring -- of this campaign season.

Six more hours to go for Hillary Clinton; her caravan is scheduled to hit seven municipalities throughout Puerto Rico.

May 31, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (19)

Bill Clinton Thinks Primary Process Will Have 'Unusual Outcome'

May 31, 2008 2:58 PM

ABC News’ Sarah Amos reports: Bill Clinton began a busy day of campaigning today in Elk Point, S. D., by taking a moment to mention the DNC Rules Committee meeting that is currently under way in Washington, D.C. "This has been an amazing election, and it has come down to the end, and you and Montana and Puerto Rico are going to be the last three places to vote. I think that we are going to have an unusual outcome," said Clinton, in regards to the Democratic primary process coming to an end next week.

Clinton then reminded the crowd that the DNC Rules Committee meeting was at the moment trying to decide what to do about the contested delegated of Florida and Michigan. "The Republicans seated them as half delegates, the Democrats eviscerated them even though the Republicans were more responsible, in fact completely responsible, and the Democrats shared responsibility with Michigan. They figured since Michigan was the worst hurt state in the country by the Bush economy, they oughta be able to vote early -- and we will see what happens," Clinton told the crowd from the front porch of a local home.

"Hillary's position has always been that if everybody gets to vote, and everybody's vote is counted, she would accept the will of the Democrats and those who are legally eligible to participate in that process, that we would unify this party united do our best to win in November," added Clinton, before moving on to other topics.

May 31, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (159)

Obama on McCain's Troop Level Comment: 'We've Seen This Movie Before'

May 31, 2008 2:31 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama called Sen. John McCain’s refusal to admit he misspoke about troop levels in Iraq "disturbing" and cast his actions as the sequel to the Bush administration’s refusal to admit their own mistakes.

"We've seen this movie before," Obama said at a town hall in Rapid City, S.D. "A leader who pursues the wrong course, who is unwilling to change course, who ignores the evidence. Now, just like George Bush, John McCain is refusing to admit that he's made a mistake."

Obama explained to the crowd of 2,700 that McCain had said on Friday that the United States had drawn down to pre-surge troop levels in Iraq.

"John McCain was wrong, and he was wrong on the most important question that any commander-in-chief faces," Obama said. "We have not drawn down to pre-surge levels. We have about 20,000 more troops in Iraq today than we had before the surge. Even after we finish rotating more troops out later this summer, we’ll still have thousands more of Americans in Iraq than we had before the surge. Those are the facts."

Today marks Obama's second day of criticisms of McCain over these remarks -- but today Obama went further -- saying that McCain’s refusal to admit a misstatement will be indicative of his presidency and a continuation of the Bush administration’s Patten.

"Now we all misspeak sometimes. I’ve done it myself. So on such a basic, factual error, you’d think that John McCain would just say, 'Oh, I misspoke, I made a mistake' -- and then move on. But he couldn't do that. Instead, he dug in," Obama said and connected it to Bush’s handling of the Iraq war, "We all know this president refused to admit that he made a mistake. That’s the leadership that we’ve had enough of over the last eight years."

The McCain campaign pushed back, defending McCain’s original remarks.

"Barack Obama is ignoring facts, he irresponsibly refuses credible evidence on the ground proving American troops have surged toward significant gains in Iraq and it proves he is just not ready to be commander-in-chief," McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds wrote. "For over 874 days, which includes the entirety of the 'Surge' strategy, Barack Obama has refused to visit Iraq, see the conditions on the ground, and meet with General Petraeus and it raises questions about whether his campaign is based on conceding defeat in Iraq, no matter what progress our troops make there."

Obama, within his remarks, spent most of his time focusing on the presumptive Republican nominee -- sighting differences on the GI bill, and the gas tax holiday among the foreign policy criticisms. By comparison, Obama mentioned his opponent on the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton, only once. He told the audience she has run an outstanding campaign, and "She is going to be working on behalf of the Democratic Party as I will be."

May 31, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (69)

Obama Backs Florida Compromise

May 31, 2008 1:31 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis, John Santucci and Gregory Wallace report: On behalf of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., announced Saturday that the Democratic frontrunner is willing to seat all of Florida delegates with half a vote each in order to end the stalemate over how to allocate the state’s delegates.

"This action will involve extra delegates, up to 19 delegates being awarded to Sen. Clinton," Wexler said. "Sen. Obama should be commended for his willingness to offer this extraordinary concession in order to promote reconciliation to Florida voters."

Although Clinton's Florida representative, State Sen. Arthenia Joyner, said, "I want it all" -- meaning a full seating with full voting power -- Clinton's advisers concede in private (and Bill Clinton concedes in this April 29 audio clip) that the former first lady would be satisfied with a full delegate seating with 1/2 vote for each delegate.

Wexler sought to put Obama's Florida position in a magnanimous light, saying that the 19 delegates Clinton would net over Obama from Florida would "actually amount" to the same number of delegates that she netted from her victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Clinton received 12 more pledged delegates than Obama in Pennsylvania and seven more pledged delegates than Obama in Ohio.

"Let us unify. Let us move on," Wexler said.

Resolution of Michigan -- where Obama took his name off the ballot -- has thus far proved more elusive.

May 31, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (89)

Clinton Speaks at Puerto Rican Medical Center Before Hitting Flat Bed Truck for Canvassing

May 31, 2008 11:26 AM

ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: “Buenos dias,” said Hillary Clinton when greeting a small audience at a medical center in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “I am dressed for our caravanning, which starts right after this event,” said the New York senator, who was wearing a bright purple top and white pants.

“I have had the most wonderful experience campaigning in Puerto Rico. I am so privileged to represent one million Puerto Ricans in New York, and I have enjoyed the many times marching in the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Campaigning in Puerto Rico is like one long Puerto Rican Day Parade.”

Clinton spoke about the health insurance program she worked on when she was first lady, stating, “The bill that we passed that I helped to lead in passing would have treated Puerto Rico equally and expanded the children’s health insurance program and it was vetoed. I will sign it,” she said. Clinton also spoke about the universal health-care plan she would offer as president.

She answered several questions Saturday before heading off to canvas in seven municipalities through San Juan. She will be standing on a flat bed truck weaving her way through town as she will greet, wave and meet with locals. Last weekend Clinton hit the beach. This weekend, she will make her way through the city.

May 31, 2008 in Bush, George W. | Permalink | User Comments (17)

Obama Eyeing Spot on Mount Rushmore?

May 31, 2008 9:59 AM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama's tight schedule and fierce regimen doesn't afford many opportunities to be spontaneous.

But the presidential candidate broke his schedule when the press corps following him took a trip to Mount Rushmore Friday night.

After a day of campaigning in Montana, Obama returned to his hotel room in Keystone, S.D., to sleep. Upon being informed by his communications director that the press corps was making a stop at nearby Mt. Rushmore, the senator decided to tag along in the unscheduled outing.

Half past 10 p.m., a time when Obama is normally retiring to bed, he instead trudged to see the national landmark under a full set of stars.

"There's something about seeing it at night that's spectacular," Obama said on his first visit to the site.

Obama was asked if he'd like to see his face on the mountain with Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

"I dont think my ears would fit," Obama said, laughing. "There's only so much rock up there."

Obama's visit followed Sen. Hillary Clinton's trip to the landmark on Wednesday.

May 31, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (47)