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http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_on_a_roll/2008/01/04/61917.html
Obama On a Roll for Next Leg of Race
Friday, January 4, 2008
Barack Obama, flush from his stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses, rolled
into to New Hampshire Friday charged up for the second leg in his fight to
be America's first black president.
The young Illinois senator, with only two years of experience in Congress,
decisively defeated Hillary Clinton in Thursday's nominating contest in
Iowa, winning the backing of 38 percent of Democratic Iowa delegates.
"In four days' time we can choose to send a message that resonates all
across the country," Obama said after rushing to New Hampshire for Tuesday's
first primary votes of the 2008 White House race.
A message that "finally allows us to deal with critical issues like health
care and our schools and climate change and energy policy that breaks the
grip of our dependence on foreign oil," he said.
Without directly naming the former first lady, beaten into third place
behind rival John Edwards, Obama again attacked Clinton as a tired symbol of
the establishment who was betting on getting "the same old folks to do the
same old things, play the same Washington game over and over again."
"That is a gamble we cannot afford. That is a risk we cannot take. It is
time to turn the page. It is time to stand up. It is time for us to create
the kind of America we can believe in again," he said.
With back-to-back rallies in New Hampshire, Obama, 46, hopes to turn his
victory in Iowa and his message of hope and cleansing into a national surge
ahead of the November 4 vote to succeed President George W. Bush.
Clinton, 60, was also in fighting mood, seeking the kind of boost in New
Hampshire that revived husband Bill Clinton's White House dreams in 1992,
and led him to dub himself the "Comeback Kid."
With a narrow lead in polls here that may not survive the "bounce" expected
by Obama's camp after Iowa, Clinton must build a firewall before Tuesday's
primary to contain her rival.
"It is a short period of time, but it is enough time -- time for people to
say, 'wait a minute,'" Clinton said, developing her theme that Obama is too
inexperienced to be president.
Shellshocked Clinton aides insisted the New York senator, on her own quest
to become America's first woman president, would bounce back in the
state-by-state primary bouts.
"This is one of 27 contests," Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told
reporters. "Hillary Clinton will be the nominee."
The outlines of a retooled Clinton strategy -- apparently thrashed out
during an overnight flight from Iowa to New Hampshire -- were evident: never
give up; appeal to young voters won over in droves by Obama in Iowa; play up
his inexperience; warn he would be consumed by a Republican firestorm in a
general election; and focus on economic woes.
An average of New Hampshire polls by RealClearPolitics had Clinton leading
with 34 percent to Obama's 27 percent and Edwards' 18.
On the Republican side, conservative Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, who
pulled off a major upset to defeat Mitt Romney in Iowa, could find it hard
to repeat that triumph in more liberal New Hampshire.
Huckabee drubbed Romney in Iowa by 34 percent to 25 percent, capturing the
votes of the "Christian Right" benefiting, like Obama, from a populist wave
of anger at Washington politics.
But RealClearPolitics poll averages had Vietnam war veteran John McCain
leading the Republican field in New Hampshire at 31.3 percent, with former
Massachusetts governor Romney at 28.8 percent, ex-New York mayor Rudolph
Giuliani at 10 and Huckabee trailing at 9.5.
McCain earned a virtual tie for third place in Iowa considering he did very
little campaigning there, and he is expected to do well in New Hampshire,
which he won in 2000 before falling to Bush.
Iowa took some early casualties however, with Democratic senators
Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden both dropping out of the race after their
poor showings.
And Thursday's results further splintered the Republican field, with other
leading candidates like Giuliani lying in wait in bigger states still to
hold primary battles leading up to February 5, when more than 20 states will
vote.
Meanwhile, the White House denied the Iowa caucus reflected unhappiness at
Bush's leadership, when asked if the result was a test of where the US
public stands on Bush.
"No, not at all," said spokesman Tony Fratto. "I think he thinks it's
more -- it's a good test for anyone who will eventually end up in this job.
And it's exciting for Americans to pay attention to it. He is."
Obama On a Roll for Next Leg of Race
Friday, January 4, 2008
Barack Obama, flush from his stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses, rolled
into to New Hampshire Friday charged up for the second leg in his fight to
be America's first black president.
The young Illinois senator, with only two years of experience in Congress,
decisively defeated Hillary Clinton in Thursday's nominating contest in
Iowa, winning the backing of 38 percent of Democratic Iowa delegates.
"In four days' time we can choose to send a message that resonates all
across the country," Obama said after rushing to New Hampshire for Tuesday's
first primary votes of the 2008 White House race.
A message that "finally allows us to deal with critical issues like health
care and our schools and climate change and energy policy that breaks the
grip of our dependence on foreign oil," he said.
Without directly naming the former first lady, beaten into third place
behind rival John Edwards, Obama again attacked Clinton as a tired symbol of
the establishment who was betting on getting "the same old folks to do the
same old things, play the same Washington game over and over again."
"That is a gamble we cannot afford. That is a risk we cannot take. It is
time to turn the page. It is time to stand up. It is time for us to create
the kind of America we can believe in again," he said.
With back-to-back rallies in New Hampshire, Obama, 46, hopes to turn his
victory in Iowa and his message of hope and cleansing into a national surge
ahead of the November 4 vote to succeed President George W. Bush.
Clinton, 60, was also in fighting mood, seeking the kind of boost in New
Hampshire that revived husband Bill Clinton's White House dreams in 1992,
and led him to dub himself the "Comeback Kid."
With a narrow lead in polls here that may not survive the "bounce" expected
by Obama's camp after Iowa, Clinton must build a firewall before Tuesday's
primary to contain her rival.
"It is a short period of time, but it is enough time -- time for people to
say, 'wait a minute,'" Clinton said, developing her theme that Obama is too
inexperienced to be president.
Shellshocked Clinton aides insisted the New York senator, on her own quest
to become America's first woman president, would bounce back in the
state-by-state primary bouts.
"This is one of 27 contests," Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told
reporters. "Hillary Clinton will be the nominee."
The outlines of a retooled Clinton strategy -- apparently thrashed out
during an overnight flight from Iowa to New Hampshire -- were evident: never
give up; appeal to young voters won over in droves by Obama in Iowa; play up
his inexperience; warn he would be consumed by a Republican firestorm in a
general election; and focus on economic woes.
An average of New Hampshire polls by RealClearPolitics had Clinton leading
with 34 percent to Obama's 27 percent and Edwards' 18.
On the Republican side, conservative Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, who
pulled off a major upset to defeat Mitt Romney in Iowa, could find it hard
to repeat that triumph in more liberal New Hampshire.
Huckabee drubbed Romney in Iowa by 34 percent to 25 percent, capturing the
votes of the "Christian Right" benefiting, like Obama, from a populist wave
of anger at Washington politics.
But RealClearPolitics poll averages had Vietnam war veteran John McCain
leading the Republican field in New Hampshire at 31.3 percent, with former
Massachusetts governor Romney at 28.8 percent, ex-New York mayor Rudolph
Giuliani at 10 and Huckabee trailing at 9.5.
McCain earned a virtual tie for third place in Iowa considering he did very
little campaigning there, and he is expected to do well in New Hampshire,
which he won in 2000 before falling to Bush.
Iowa took some early casualties however, with Democratic senators
Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden both dropping out of the race after their
poor showings.
And Thursday's results further splintered the Republican field, with other
leading candidates like Giuliani lying in wait in bigger states still to
hold primary battles leading up to February 5, when more than 20 states will
vote.
Meanwhile, the White House denied the Iowa caucus reflected unhappiness at
Bush's leadership, when asked if the result was a test of where the US
public stands on Bush.
"No, not at all," said spokesman Tony Fratto. "I think he thinks it's
more -- it's a good test for anyone who will eventually end up in this job.
And it's exciting for Americans to pay attention to it. He is."
