P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/campaign_rdp/2008/01/14/64335.html
Clinton, Obama Step Back From Flap
Monday, January 14, 2008
Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama
stepped back from a controversy over race Monday night, agreeing that a
prolonged clash over civil rights could harm their party's overall drive to
win the White House.
The two leading Democratic contenders shifted course as Republicans pointed
toward Tuesday's pivotal primary in Michigan, where Mitt Romney and John
McCain both pledged to lead a revival for a state and an auto industry
ravaged by recession.
Obama was the first to try and quell the controversy that flared in the
Democratic campaign in recent days, calling reporters together to say he
didn't want the campaign "to degenerate into so much tit-for-tat,
back-and-forth that we lose sight of why all of us are doing this."
Referring to Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, he said that while they
may have disagreements, "we share the same goals. We're all Democrats, we
all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights."
Clinton's campaign issued a statement in the same vein about an hour or so
after Obama spoke, saying it was time to seek common ground. "And in that
spirit, let's come together, because I want more than anything else to
ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to
expand rights for all Americans," she said.
Strikingly, though, one of Clinton's supporters, New York Rep. Charles
Rangel, was sharply critical of Obama in an interview during the day. "How
race got into this thing is because Obama said 'race,'" Rangel, the dean of
the Congressional Black Caucus, said on NY1.
For all the maneuvering, Democrats are without a contested election on
Tuesday.
That was in contrast to the Republican campaign, where McCain and Romney
battled in a Michigan primary that neither could afford to lose.
"I will not rest until Michigan is back," said Romney, a native son who
jabbed at his rival for saying many jobs among the thousands lost will never
return.
"We will create new jobs," insisted McCain, who also favors improvements in
federal programs for laid-off workers. "We have the innovation, the talent,
the knowledge and the ability ... to regain Michigan's position as the best
in the world."
Polls showed McCain and Romney in a close race, with former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee running third.
Of the three, Romney is most in need of a victory as he looks to restore at
least some of the luster lost with defeats in the Iowa caucuses and New
Hampshire primary. Several associates have suggested the former
Massachusetts governor may quit the race unless he prevails.
McCain won the state's primary eight years ago on the strength of
independent voters, and hopes for a reprise on Tuesday. He has regained the
lead in the national polls that he enjoyed months ago _ before his campaign
nearly came apart over the summer.
Huckabee has less at stake in Michigan than either of his two rivals, and
hopes to attract votes from those hard-hit by the state's economic troubles,
as well as from evangelical Christians, who powered him to victory in the
Iowa caucuses.
He, too, campaigned on economic issues during the day.
"Some of the toughest competition your company faces is from its own
government, whose tax policies, whose regulatory policies, the threat of
litigation, makes it real tough to stay in business," he told employees at a
Demmer Corp. plant near Lansing that makes armored personnel carriers for
the military.
Romney went before the Detroit Economic Club for a speech meant to appeal to
laid-off workers as well as voters who recall his father's tenure as
governor a generation ago.
"I've got Michigan in my DNA. I've got it in my heart, and I've got cars in
my bloodstream," he said. A former Massachusetts governor, Romney promised
to convene a White House summit within 100 days of taking office to produce
a solution to the auto industry's long-term slide.
In remarks that could apply to President Bush and the Republicans who
controlled Congress for a decade, he said, "Washington politicians look at
Michigan and see a rust belt. But the real rust is in Washington."
McCain spoke constantly of the productivity of Michigan workers. "As
president of the United States, I will herald a new day for Michigan," he
said.
Among other Republicans, former Sen. Fred Thompson is making a last stand in
South Carolina, which has a primary next Saturday. Former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Florida, where he hopes to resurrect his
flagging campaign in the Jan. 29 primary.
For much of the day, both Clinton and Obama seemed content to engage in
increasingly accusatory campaign tactics.
Campaigning in Nevada, Obama, said some of his opponents "don't seem to have
anything positive to say about their own record. All they're trying to do is
run me down."
Obama, seeking to become the first black president, didn't mention Clinton
by name. But the reference was unmistakable after days of race-related
controversy, and as her campaign arranged a conference call to criticize his
record on abortion.
Rangel's remarks were the second critical of Obama in as many days by a
black surrogate campaigner. On Sunday, businessman Robert Johnson appeared
to make a veiled reference to Obama's self-disclosed drug use as a youth _
although he quickly disputed that was his intent.
The former first lady did not mention the campaign's increasingly combative
tone as she campaigned in New York.
"Both Senator Obama and I know we are where we are today because of leaders
like Dr. King," Clinton said at a labor-sponsored birthday celebration in
honor of the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. "We have to
bring our party together and our country together."
Next up for the Democrats were precinct caucuses Saturday in Nevada. There,
Clinton's supporters awaited a court ruling on a lawsuit seeking a
last-minute change in rules they agreed to months ago. Their objective was
to prevent several caucuses along the Las Vegas strip, where thousands of
Culinary Workers Union employees _ many of them Hispanic or black _ hold
jobs.
The rules were approved in March, when the former first lady was the
overwhelming national front-runner in the race. But the union voted to
endorse Obama last week, and the lawsuit followed.
A third Democrat, former Sen. John Edwards, is campaigning aggressively in
both Nevada and South Carolina, and his aides circulated a memo during the
day saying both his rivals were "deeply flawed." it said both Clinton and
Obama might be unable to win the White House in November, and that Edwards,
alone, was strong enough to fight the Republicans and corporate interests
all the way to victory.
Obama's comments about the attacks on him came in Nevada several days after
race became a subject of controversy in his contest with Clinton, who is
trying to become the first woman to win the Oval office.
The issue flared after Clinton said it had taken President Lyndon Johnson, a
white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by
signing the Civil Rights Act. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and the
highest-ranking black in Congress, expressed unhappiness over that as well
as remarks her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had made that were
critical of Obama.
The former president made several appearances on black radio programs to
ease concerns, while his wife appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" this
weekend and accused Obama's campaign of distorting her comments.
Clinton, Obama Step Back From Flap
Monday, January 14, 2008
Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama
stepped back from a controversy over race Monday night, agreeing that a
prolonged clash over civil rights could harm their party's overall drive to
win the White House.
The two leading Democratic contenders shifted course as Republicans pointed
toward Tuesday's pivotal primary in Michigan, where Mitt Romney and John
McCain both pledged to lead a revival for a state and an auto industry
ravaged by recession.
Obama was the first to try and quell the controversy that flared in the
Democratic campaign in recent days, calling reporters together to say he
didn't want the campaign "to degenerate into so much tit-for-tat,
back-and-forth that we lose sight of why all of us are doing this."
Referring to Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, he said that while they
may have disagreements, "we share the same goals. We're all Democrats, we
all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights."
Clinton's campaign issued a statement in the same vein about an hour or so
after Obama spoke, saying it was time to seek common ground. "And in that
spirit, let's come together, because I want more than anything else to
ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to
expand rights for all Americans," she said.
Strikingly, though, one of Clinton's supporters, New York Rep. Charles
Rangel, was sharply critical of Obama in an interview during the day. "How
race got into this thing is because Obama said 'race,'" Rangel, the dean of
the Congressional Black Caucus, said on NY1.
For all the maneuvering, Democrats are without a contested election on
Tuesday.
That was in contrast to the Republican campaign, where McCain and Romney
battled in a Michigan primary that neither could afford to lose.
"I will not rest until Michigan is back," said Romney, a native son who
jabbed at his rival for saying many jobs among the thousands lost will never
return.
"We will create new jobs," insisted McCain, who also favors improvements in
federal programs for laid-off workers. "We have the innovation, the talent,
the knowledge and the ability ... to regain Michigan's position as the best
in the world."
Polls showed McCain and Romney in a close race, with former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee running third.
Of the three, Romney is most in need of a victory as he looks to restore at
least some of the luster lost with defeats in the Iowa caucuses and New
Hampshire primary. Several associates have suggested the former
Massachusetts governor may quit the race unless he prevails.
McCain won the state's primary eight years ago on the strength of
independent voters, and hopes for a reprise on Tuesday. He has regained the
lead in the national polls that he enjoyed months ago _ before his campaign
nearly came apart over the summer.
Huckabee has less at stake in Michigan than either of his two rivals, and
hopes to attract votes from those hard-hit by the state's economic troubles,
as well as from evangelical Christians, who powered him to victory in the
Iowa caucuses.
He, too, campaigned on economic issues during the day.
"Some of the toughest competition your company faces is from its own
government, whose tax policies, whose regulatory policies, the threat of
litigation, makes it real tough to stay in business," he told employees at a
Demmer Corp. plant near Lansing that makes armored personnel carriers for
the military.
Romney went before the Detroit Economic Club for a speech meant to appeal to
laid-off workers as well as voters who recall his father's tenure as
governor a generation ago.
"I've got Michigan in my DNA. I've got it in my heart, and I've got cars in
my bloodstream," he said. A former Massachusetts governor, Romney promised
to convene a White House summit within 100 days of taking office to produce
a solution to the auto industry's long-term slide.
In remarks that could apply to President Bush and the Republicans who
controlled Congress for a decade, he said, "Washington politicians look at
Michigan and see a rust belt. But the real rust is in Washington."
McCain spoke constantly of the productivity of Michigan workers. "As
president of the United States, I will herald a new day for Michigan," he
said.
Among other Republicans, former Sen. Fred Thompson is making a last stand in
South Carolina, which has a primary next Saturday. Former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Florida, where he hopes to resurrect his
flagging campaign in the Jan. 29 primary.
For much of the day, both Clinton and Obama seemed content to engage in
increasingly accusatory campaign tactics.
Campaigning in Nevada, Obama, said some of his opponents "don't seem to have
anything positive to say about their own record. All they're trying to do is
run me down."
Obama, seeking to become the first black president, didn't mention Clinton
by name. But the reference was unmistakable after days of race-related
controversy, and as her campaign arranged a conference call to criticize his
record on abortion.
Rangel's remarks were the second critical of Obama in as many days by a
black surrogate campaigner. On Sunday, businessman Robert Johnson appeared
to make a veiled reference to Obama's self-disclosed drug use as a youth _
although he quickly disputed that was his intent.
The former first lady did not mention the campaign's increasingly combative
tone as she campaigned in New York.
"Both Senator Obama and I know we are where we are today because of leaders
like Dr. King," Clinton said at a labor-sponsored birthday celebration in
honor of the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. "We have to
bring our party together and our country together."
Next up for the Democrats were precinct caucuses Saturday in Nevada. There,
Clinton's supporters awaited a court ruling on a lawsuit seeking a
last-minute change in rules they agreed to months ago. Their objective was
to prevent several caucuses along the Las Vegas strip, where thousands of
Culinary Workers Union employees _ many of them Hispanic or black _ hold
jobs.
The rules were approved in March, when the former first lady was the
overwhelming national front-runner in the race. But the union voted to
endorse Obama last week, and the lawsuit followed.
A third Democrat, former Sen. John Edwards, is campaigning aggressively in
both Nevada and South Carolina, and his aides circulated a memo during the
day saying both his rivals were "deeply flawed." it said both Clinton and
Obama might be unable to win the White House in November, and that Edwards,
alone, was strong enough to fight the Republicans and corporate interests
all the way to victory.
Obama's comments about the attacks on him came in Nevada several days after
race became a subject of controversy in his contest with Clinton, who is
trying to become the first woman to win the Oval office.
The issue flared after Clinton said it had taken President Lyndon Johnson, a
white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by
signing the Civil Rights Act. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and the
highest-ranking black in Congress, expressed unhappiness over that as well
as remarks her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had made that were
critical of Obama.
The former president made several appearances on black radio programs to
ease concerns, while his wife appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" this
weekend and accused Obama's campaign of distorting her comments.
