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Clinton Presidential Bid Doomed By Bill, Campaign Infighting

June 30, 2008 5:53 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: In the August issue of Vanity Fair, Gail Sheehy, author of the biographical book, "Hillary’s Choice," chronicles the demise of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, revealing some new tidbits about the demise of her historic bid.

Sheehy exposes more of the infighting within her campaign including the battles between former campaign adviser Harold Ickes and former chief strategist Mark Penn. She includes this quote from Ickes, "Penn was the chief strategist. Following our loss, he now disclaims responsibility for anything and everything that went wrong and acts as if he were barely involved, which is especially galling from someone who made [nearly] $20 million from the campaign.”

Sheehy also focuses on Bill Clinton, reporting that the former President wanted his own office in the campaign headquarters and that a top fundraiser described him as out of control.

Monetary issues plagued Clinton’s campaign and it is revealed that “there wasn’t a budget request denied in Iowa,” and that the early voting state cost the campaign $25 million dollars.

The campaign arguably never was able to recover from that financial blow and, as reported in the article, Clinton “resisted focusing on money” even through she was briefed about it.

“We have a cash flow problem,” Ickes reportedly told Clinton, per Sheehy.

Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who has been blamed for the loss in Iowa by overspending, was fired and, as Sheehy reports, asked that Mark Penn be fired too. That did not happen, and the infighting continued between Penn, Ickes and others.

Sheehy reports that according to Ickes, it didn’t sink in for Clinton that it was over until 12 hours after Obama clinched the nomination. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY., and other members of Congress, urged Clinton to concede, and 24 hours later it was clear to Clinton that she had to step down.

June 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (299)

Obama Calls President Bill Clinton

June 30, 2008 3:54 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller and Sarah Amos Report: Amid reports of tension between Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, the Obama campaign announced Monday the presumptive Democratic nominee called Bill Clinton at 11amET this morning from Kansas City, Missouri while enroute to his event in Independence, Mo.

This is the first time Obama has spoken to the former president since winning the Democratic Party's nomination.

The former president was in New York, where he has an office in Harlem and a home in Chappaqua, NY. They spoke for 20 minutes. Obama asked the former president to campaign with him and for him. The Obama campaign said Bill Clinton told Obama he is excited about that prospect.

"Senator Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign," said Obama spokesperson Bill Burton.

"He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation’s great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come."

The former president's office was just as effusive about the call today.

"President Clinton had a very good conversation with Sen. Obama today. He renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Sen. Obama is our next President," said Bill Clinton spokesperson Matt McKenna.

"President Clinton continues to be impressed by Sen. Obama and the campaign he has run, and looks forward to campaigning for and with him in the months to come. The President believes that Senator Obama has been a great inspiration for millions of people around the country and he knows that he will bring the change America needs as our next President."

Over the weekend, Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Committee chair and a former national co-chair to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said the former president would speak to  Obama within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Reports have swirled for weeks about tensions between Bill Clinton and the presumptive Democratic nominee. Reigniting speculation about their relationship, Clinton's office last week released a one-sentence statement from spokesman Matt McKenna that was dubbed "tepid" by many members of the punditry and media.

During the campaign, Bill Clinton appeared to directly attack his wife's rival, telling PBS' Charlie Rose before the Iowa caucuses that voting for Obama is "a roll of the dice." He also said the Obama campaign "played the race card on me" after he likened Obama's South Carolina win to Jesse Jackson's in the 1980s, and publicly said Obama's opposition to the Iraq war was "a big fairy tale."

June 30, 2008 in Bush, George W., Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (170)

Dem Guru: McCain 'Limited' by POW Years

June 30, 2008 3:02 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Molly Hunter Report: While Barack Obama was urging supporters not to devalue the military service of rival John McCain, an informal Obama adviser argued Monday that the former POW's isolation during the Vietnam War has hobbled the Arizona senator's capacity as a war-time leader.

“Sadly, Sen. McCain was not available during those times, and I say that with all due respect to him," said informal Obama adviser Rand Beers. "I think that the notion that the members of the Senate who were in the ground forces or who were ashore in Vietnam have a very different view of Vietnam  and the cost that you described than John McCain does because he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here or the challenges that were involved for those of us who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam war."

"So I think," he continued, "to some extent his national security experience in that regard is sadly limited and I think it is reflected in some of the ways that he thinks about how U.S. forces might be committed to conflicts around the world."

McCain spent five years in captivity as a POW in North Vietnam.

The Beers remarks, which were made at the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, D.C., drew a swift rebuke from a McCain spokesman who portrayed them as an example of Obama saying one thing and his supporters doing another.

"Mr. Beers'™ remarks are part of a pattern of Obama supporters attacking John McCain'™s military service, and a reminder of why it'™s what Sen. Obama, his supporters and his campaign actually do that matters most," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers tells ABC News. "Sen. Obama speaking out against these attacks isn't really relevant -- either his supporters aren'™t hearing him or they don'™t believe his words."

The Beers comments came one day after Gen. Wesley Clark downplayed the significance of McCain's military experience during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president," said Clark.

Speaking Monday in Independence, Missouri, Obama implicitly distanced himself from the comments made by the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate.

"For those who have fought under the flag of this nation -- for the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed; for those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country -- no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides," said Obama.

CAPAF, which is the political arm of a liberal think tank headed by former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, has been taking the lead for Democrats on dissecting McCain's policy proposals. CAPAF's Monday series of four policy panels on the economy, health care, foreign policy, and energy was dubbed "McCain University."

Beers' comments were prompted by an audience member saying during the question-and-answer period that his son had just become eligible for the draft if one were re-instituted in the United States.

"I will be damned if I will send my son to war to create a free Iraq or a free Syria or a free North Korea or a free Iran," said the questioner. "To defend the United States is one thing, to go to send my son to war to extend a neocon foreign policy is not going to happen, and I don't know if John McCain understands the passion and the depth of this kind of feeling."

"Does he not remember what went on in the streets of this country in the late 60s, when we were doing this kind of nonsense in Vietnam?" he continued.

Asked to explain the Beers relationship to the Obama campaign, Beers spokesperson Moira Whelan described him as an "informal adviser."

"Rand Beers offers advice to the Obama campaign when asked but is not a surrogate for the Obama campaign and was not speaking on  behalf of the campaign" on Monday," said Whelan. During the Democratic primaries, Beers also offered advice to the Clinton campaign.

In Vietnam, Beers served as a Marine officer and rifle company commander.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton reacted to the comments by Beers by saying: "It is Senator Obama's feeling that Senator McCain's service was heroic and should not be diminished."

Asked if the comments by Beers diminished McCain's service, Burton had no immediate response.

June 30, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (416)

The Note: Obama Seeks New Image in Foreign Travel

June 30, 2008 8:29 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein Reports in Monday's Note: What -- 50 states aren’t enough for these guys?

The latest odd turn in the race that’s seen everything has Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain seeing places that presidential candidates just don’t visit very often.

McCain is next up with a three-day trip to Colombia and Mexico that starts Tuesday, after two previous foreign trips this year brought him to Europe and the Middle East.

Obama is planning an extensive itinerary for next month: Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, England, France, and Germany -- just as foreign policy is set to resonate on the trail again,  as Obama talks patriotism,  and as Democrats seek to grab the national-security mantle from McCain (under the cover of downed fighter planes). 

This latest Obama introduction starts at home, with a “major speech” on patriotism scheduled for Independence, Mo., Monday morning. (Fun game: Count the American flags -- including the pin on Obama’s lapel -- at the event site.)

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

Independence Day means patriot’s week for Obama: “The message will be that love of country is not defined only by such traditional measures as serving in the military or tracing one's ancestors to the Mayflower,” John McCormick writes in the Chicago Tribune. “Patriotism, he and his supporters will say, can be reflected in living the national dream, which in Obama's case means rising as the Hawaiian-born son of a Kenyan father and Kansan mother to professional and political prominence.”

“In the coming days, Obama is expected to visit some traditionally red states as he seeks to broaden the electoral battleground,” McCormick writes. “Over the weekend, his campaign also announced a trip this summer to Europe and the Middle East, where Obama's popularity could be on display and his standing as a diplomatic figure boosted.”

We’ve done the math for you: The candidates’ foreign destinations award a grand total of zero electoral votes.

But the coming trips provide opportunities for both men in the tentative definitional dance of the early stage of the general election. And risks: Gaffes carry a multiplier of approximately three when committed abroad, and the visuals are not always under the control of a campaign operating in foreign territory.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' John Santucci and Alexa Ainsworth contributed to this report.

June 30, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (56)

Richardson to Help Clinton Ease Debt

June 29, 2008 3:18 PM

ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Clinton ally James Carville may have called him "Judas" when he endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in March, but that isn't stopping Gov. Bill Richardson D-NM., from offering to raise money to help Sen. Clinton retire her significant campaign debt.

"We've been asked to help. So in principle we are going to help," Richardson told ABC News after addressing members of the Democratic Leadership Council in Chicago at the centrist group's annual gathering. "I think the party needs to come together," he added.

Richardson cautioned that the healing process inside the Democratic Party after its protracted nomination battle may not yet be complete. "Everybody's a human being. There still probably is a need to heal a little bit. It's not going to come back and be together right away. It may take a little time," Richardson told the crowd in his prepared remarks. "I mean, I hope not too much longer," he added to laughter in the audience. Gov. Richardson then mentioned that he has seen some hopeful signs of the party stitching itself back together and that he is "going to be involved in a debt event for Sen. Clinton in New Mexico." He later added that the event has yet to be scheduled.

President Clinton worked hard to woo his former cabinet secretary's support for his wife's candidacy after Gov. Richardson ended his own bid for the Democratic nomination. In January, Mr. Clinton flew to Santa Fe, New Mexico to watch the Super Bowl with Gov. Richardson as part of the outreach effort. Gov. Richardson ultimately decided to endorse Sen. Obama's candidacy in March which was received as a great affront inside the Clinton campaign at the time. Gov. Richardson noted today that his endorsement of Sen. Obama got more public attention than either his campaign announcement or withdrawal speeches.

In his remarks at the DLC, Gov. Richardson addressed six major foreign policy/national security challenges awaiting the next president including nuclear proliferation and the rapid rise of China and India. He said that before Barack Obama said a word at his inauguration, the image of a "young man with an internationalist background" would immediately work to restore the United States' reputation around the world.

June 29, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (244)

McCain: On Some Issues 'Obama’s Word Cannot Be Trusted'

June 28, 2008 9:15 PM

ABC News's Bret Hovell reports: At a fundraiser tonight in Louisville, Ky., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that the word of his opponent for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., "cannot be trusted."

"You know, this election is about trust, and trusting people's word" McCain told a crowd of donors to his campaign. "And unfortunately, apparently, on several items, Sen. Obama's word cannot be trusted."

McCain’s remark came at the conclusion of a number of examples of what McCain said were Obama's changes in position. McCain cited a proposal that he and Obama appear together at town hall meetings -– which Obama originally seemed to be in favor of, but has not agreed to yet -– and Obama's reversal on whether or not to take federal financing for his campaign as signs that Obama's word could not be trusted.

"So there are stark differences between Senator Obama and myself on a broad variety of issues," McCain said.

McCain has frequently mentioned his desire for the campaign with Obama to be "respectful," but has been ramping up more personal attacks on Obama in recent weeks.

The fundraising event in Louisville raised $2 million for McCain's campaign, according to the chairwoman of his Kentucky finance committee, who announced the number when she was introducing McCain.

June 28, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan | Permalink | User Comments (648)

Obama and McCain spar over immigration in front of Latinos

June 28, 2008 6:24 PM

ABC News’ Bret Hovell and Jennifer Duck report: Senators John McCain and Barack Obama did not encounter each other when they spoke back to back at a conference of elected Latinos in Washington, D.C., Saturday, but they traded verbal barbs on the thorny issue of immigration just a few minutes apart.

McCain spoke first to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and after talking about energy independence and the current economic woes in the United States, was asked about the priority of reforming immigration to his plans for his first 100 days in office if elected.

“It will be my top priority -- yesterday, today and tomorrow,” McCain said to applause.

Speaking after McCain, Obama said that the Arizona Republican and presumptive Republican nominee walked away from immigration reform.

“He deserves great credit as a champion of comprehensive [immigration] reform,” Obama said, speaking from the same rostrum McCain had utilized earlier. “I know he talked about that when he just spoke before you, but what he didn’t mention is that when he was running for his party’s nomination, he walked away from that commitment.”

McCain, who championed a comprehensive reform with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in 2007, changed the emphasis of his immigration plan when speaking about it before sharply partisan audiences, regularly stressing border security as the first step to a complete approach to the problem.

Obama, D-Ill., the Democratic nominee-in-waiting, also was asked where he would rank immigration reform on his list of first 100 day priorities.

"It will be one of my priorities on my first day," Obama said, rather than the 'top' priority McCain had promised.  "Because this has been an issue we have demagogued.  There’s been a lot of politics around it but we haven’t been serious about solving the problem.  And I want to solve this problem."

McCain’s campaign fired back at Obama’s criticism of McCain’s immigration rhetoric with a statement e-mailed to reporters. It said, in part, that Obama has not reached out the way McCain has.

“The reality is that Barack Obama has never reached across the aisle to lead in a bipartisan fashion on an issue of major importance to the American people when his own political interests were at risk,” the statement read.

Both candidates are trying to reach out to the Latino vote during this election cycle, but Obama seems to be in a better position than McCain. A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll showed Obama with a 71 percent to 21 percent lead over McCain among Latino voters, some 8 percent of the electorate.

McCain was received with a polite standing ovation when he was introduced, and a sizable portion of the audience cheered when one questioner mentioned the prospect of a McCain presidency.

But Obama’s reception was more raucous. He entered the room to cheers and chants of his name.

That both candidates addressed the NALEO conference speaks to the importance of the voting bloc.

“We can do this, but I can’t do this on my own,” Obama told the crowd. “I need your help. This election could well come down to how many Latinos turn out to vote.”

“Thank you for all you do, for representing the hopes and dreams of so many American citizens,” McCain said, concluding his remarks. “And I’m grateful; I congratulate you on your success. Literally everyone in this audience is what America is all about.”

ABC News’s John Hendren contributed to this report.

June 28, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (79)

Obama Rallies Latino vote

June 28, 2008 6:08 PM

ABC News' Jennifer Duck reports: Trying to secure Latino voters, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama gave separate speeches today at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Washington.

The reception to the two presidential candidates was like night and day.

Antiwar protesters disrupted Sen. McCain's speech four times.  After the presumptive Republican presidential candidate left the room, the head of NALEO apologized and assured the room full of media and Latino leaders the protesters were not representing leaders at the conference.

When Sen. Obama was introduced, the crowd stood with roaring applause and chants. 

Obama said, “Si Se Puede,” or “Yes We Can,” with a big grin to the friendly crowd. 

“I'm proud to be here today not just as the Democratic nominee for president, but as the first African-American nominee of my party, and I'm hoping that somewhere out in this audience sits the person who will become the first Latino nominee of a major party,” Obama said.

Throughout the speech, Obama tied the Latino community and the African-American community together.  “We marched together in the streets of Chicago to fix our broken immigration system,” he said to the applauding crowd.  “And it's because of that 20-year record of partnership with your communities that you can trust me when I say that I'll be your partner in the White House and I will be your champion in the White House.

“And that's what you need now more than ever,” Obama continued. “Because for eight long years, Washington hasn't been working for ordinary Americans. And few have been hit harder than Latinos and African Americans.”

He attacked Sen. McCain for walking away from his commitment to immigration reform.

“He deserves great credit as a champion of comprehensive reform. I admire him for it,” Obama said. “I know that he talked about that when he just spoke before you, but what he didn't mention is that when he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment.  He said that he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote.  If we are going to solve the challenges we face, we can't vacillate, we can't shift depending on our politics. You need a president who will pursue genuine solutions day in and day out in a consistent way, and that is my commitment to you.”

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers responded to Obama's attack saying, “It’s quite audacious for Barack Obama to question John McCain’s commitment to immigration reform when it was Obama himself who worked to kill the Senate’s bipartisan immigration reform compromise last year. Barack Obama voted for five ‘poison pill’ amendments designed by special interests to kill the immigration reform deal. These efforts were strongly opposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the Democrat who led the fight for immigration reform, because he understood they would have the effect of ending the bipartisan work toward immigration reform.”

Both senators said if elected president, immigration would be a top agenda item.

More specifically, when asked if immigration would be on the agenda in his first 100 days in office, Obama replied, "It will be one of my priorities on my first day.   Because this has been an issue we have demagogued.  There’s been a lot of politics around it but we haven’t been serious about solving the problem.  And I want to solve this problem.  We can be a nation of laws and a nation  of immigrants….If we think a wall is a sole solution to the problem then we’re not thinking it through."

Obama also reiterated withdrawing troops from Iraq in a responsible way.

“We need to bring this war to a responsible, honorable end," Obama said.  "We’re not going to be able to bring the war to a close overnight. If we are bringing out combat troops at a pace of one to two brigades per month, then we could have our combat troops home, out of Iraq by the end of 16 months.”

The crowd murmured and some shook their heads in frustration when Obama told the Latino leaders the entire foriegn aid budget for Latin America is equal to approximately one week of spending in Iraq.

Obama said the election depends on Latinos. “We can do this, but I can't do this on my own. I need your help. This election could well come down to how many Latinos turn out to vote.”

The day after the two former democratic rivals joined forces in Unity, N.H., Obama mentioned a conversation he had with Hispanic leaders who were Clinton supporters.

“I had a wonderful conversation a couple of days ago with some Hispanic leaders who have been great supporters of Sen. Clinton, including Henry Cisneros, who I see here today. And one of the things that I thought Henry said that was so on target -- and is true of all Americans but nowhere is it truer than in the Latino community -- is nobody's looking for government to solve all our problems. Nobody's looking for a handout. This is an aspirational community that embodies the best of the American Dream, the belief that we can come here and work hard and build a life not only for ourselves but for our children and our grandchildren.”

June 28, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Hecklers Butt In as McCain Addresses Latino Group

June 28, 2008 12:30 PM

ABC News' Bret Hovell and Jennifer Duck report: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was interrupted repeatedly by hecklers as he and his likely Democratic presidential opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., separately addressed the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Saturday, at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.

McCain was interrupted four times by protestors, three of whom were identifiable as CodePink members. Four separate interruptions (as opposed to the number of people protesting, which can vary) may tie a record for recent McCain events. In Denver in late May, McCain was interrupted four times during a foreign policy speech.

One of the protestors spoke in Spanish, then translated as she was getting hauled out of the room: "Your silence is consent to war crimes," she shouted at the crowd, which booed her.

Three of the protestors were women, one was a man.

Of the first protestor, a woman from Code Pink who frequents most of McCain’s stops in Washington, McCain quipped, "That’s a very familiar voice to me."

The woman was protesting the Iraq war, saying that she wanted a "peace candidate."

McCain also used the line he regularly does when interrupted by a protestor.

"The one thing Americans want us to stop doing is yelling at each other," McCain said.

Late in his remarks, a man stood up from what looked to be a part of the press section and shouted at McCain about the war. McCain barely broke stride, continuing to talk as the man was escorted out.

Generally, the crowd was very receptive to McCain’s remarks, which touched on many of the aspects of his stump speech and included a heavy dose of his opinions on illegal immigration.

"We must prove to them that we can and will secure our borders first," McCain said, speaking about those who opposed his comprehensive immigration plan, "while respecting the dignity and rights of citizens and legal residents of the United States."

The crowd was particularly supportive whenever McCain was interrupted, several times cheering after a protestor was pulled from the room.

Before Obama took stage later in the morning, a NALEO official apologized for the protesters, noting they were not a part of NALEO and didn't represent NALEO.

Protestors at a McCain events are not uncommon; many people are opposed to McCain’s position on the war in Iraq. Especially in Washington, the likelihood of someone interrupting McCain is about as good as the likelihood of McCain addressing his audience with his signature appellation, "my friends."

June 28, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan | Permalink | User Comments (195)

Jindal's Hometown Headaches

June 27, 2008 5:12 PM

ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg reports: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a longshot Republican VP prospect for Sen. John McCain, has been hit this afternoon with a recall petition, stemming from his failure to veto a legislative pay raise. The AP is reporting that four lawmakers, including House Speaker Jim Tucker, are targets of recall efforts after voting to double legislative pay. It appears largely symbolic: A recall would require verifiable signatures from more than 900,000 registered Louisiana voters.

Jindal today released a statement about the recall effort: "“The voters of our state are angry that the legislature more than doubled their own pay and I agree with them. It was excessive and they should reverse it. I'm sure more voters will take extraordinary steps to show their anger over the pay raise before this is all said and done - that's how a democracy works.”

While we're on Jindal, this was just the latest in a big news week for the Louisiana governor, who is a favorite of social conservatives. Over the past three days, he signed into law two different bills that were staunchly backed by conservatives and evangelicals. On Wednesday, he signed a law allowing for chemical castration of child rapists (on the same day the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law permitting the death penalty for child rapists). And he's just signed a law allowing teachers to foster "critical thinking" about evolution--a law critics said could amount to sneaking the teaching of evolution in the public schools.

June 27, 2008 in Romney, Mitt | Permalink | User Comments (18)