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http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/0...inton-goes-after-the-big-win-in-pennsylvania/
Dems Get Personal as Clinton Goes After the Big Win in Pennsylvania
Saturday, April 19, 2008
In Pennsylvania, it's not just about winning for Hillary Clinton. It's about
winning big.
Clinton trails Barack Obama in delegates and is struggling to convince
uncommitted superdelegates that her campaign for the Democratic presidential
nomination is still alive and kicking. To that end, her campaign is looking
for a commanding victory Tuesday to give her momentum going into the Indiana
and North Carolina primaries two weeks later.
"A double-digit victory in Pennsylvania would be huge," Clinton supporter
and former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Hoeffel told FOX News. "That double-digit
victory is within reach and it would be a tremendous turnaround."
With three days to go until the Pennsylvania primary, both candidates
stormed through the Keystone State on Saturday, taking jabs at each other's
character. Obama told voters Clinton is a "slash and burn" Washington
game-player. Clinton suggested Obama is all talk, no substance.
Polls show Clinton consistently leading in Pennsylvania, but since late
March, Obama has narrowed that margin to about 5 or 6 percentage points.
Obama aides tell FOX News the goal is to keep Clinton's lead to single
digits. This would dull Clinton's argument that she consistently wins big in
large industrial states that are key in a general election. Clinton won by
10 points in Ohio and New Jersey and by 17 in her home state of New York.
In a sweep across the southeastern part of the state, Obama clambered aboard
a shiny, royal blue train car Saturday morning in Philadelphia after
speaking to about 35,000 supporters the night before - the largest crowd of
his campaign.
Clinton, meanwhile, spoke under a baking sun outside West Chester's
175-year-old fire house, striking a somber note about problems at home and
abroad as she described the stakes for voters Tuesday.
"I don't want to just show up and give one of those whoop-dee-do speeches
and get everybody whipped up," she said. "I want everyone thinking."
The primary Tuesday follows a month-long hiatus in voting, a gap the
candidates filled in large measure by sullying each other.
Clinton has been trying to cast Obama as a flimsy candidate, even poking fun
at him for complaining about the rough treatment he got at a debate
Wednesday in Philadelphia. On Saturday she said the "incredible pressures of
a political campaign" are a good way to test which candidate can handle the
pressure of the presidency.
Clinton worked hard over the past week, in interviews and in a television
ad, to get electoral mileage out of Obama's controversial claim to a group
of California donors that small-town voters "cling" to guns and religion out
of bitterness over lost jobs.
But only Tuesday will tell how well that worked. Pennsylvania polls have
stayed pretty much steady for the past week while national polls have
fluctuated wildly.
The Gallup daily tracking poll Saturday showed Clinton with the national
lead, by 1 percentage point, for the first time since mid-March. The poll
gave her 46 percent to Obama's 45 percent.
But a Newsweek poll released Friday gave Obama a 19-point lead, his widest
ever of the campaign. The Gallup poll Friday gave Obama a 3-point lead.
Pennsylvania political consultant Ken Smukler told FOX News that the voter
makeup in Pennsylvania favors Clinton. And her effort to play up Obama's
"bitter" comments could pay a dividend, however small, he said.
"I think it's enough to move Hillary Clinton from high single digits to
maybe low double digits, which is a significant move," he said.
Smukler said a few percentage points could make the difference in how
undecided superdelegates view Clinton's candidacy. And Clinton needs
superdelegates in order to overcome Obama's lead. Those unbound party
officials continued drifting toward Obama since the last election,
increasing his edge in the race, and that trend is bound to accelerate if he
performs strongly Tuesday.
With 158 pledged delegates, Pennsylvania also offers the biggest payoff of
any remaining primary state and a key opportunity for Clinton to make up
ground against Obama's delegate lead.
Working in Clinton's favor, Pennsylvania has a large white, working-class
population, and the third oldest population of any state. The state's
politically savvy governor, Ed Rendell, backs Clinton.
But Obama is campaigning with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey. The Obama
campaign has 30 field offices to Clinton's 24 and has outspent her more than
2-to-1 on TV advertising.
Obama disputes that he's been complaining about the debate. And he also
played on poll findings indicating unease with Clinton's veracity.
"She's taken different positions at different times on issues as fundamental
as trade, or even the war, to suit the politics of the moment," Obama told
the crowd Saturday in Wynnewood, Pa. "And when she gets caught at it, the
notion is, well, you know what, that's just politics. That's how it works in
Washington. You can say one thing here and say another thing there."
He amplified the point at a later stop, in Paoli.
"Senator Clinton's essential argument in this campaign is you can't change
how the game is played in Washington. Her basic argument is that the
slash-and-burn, say-anything, do-anything special interest-driven politics
is how it works. . Senator Clinton has internalized a lot of the strategies,
the tactics, that have made Washington such a miserable place."
At his massive rally in Philadelphia the night before, he also played up his
humble political beginnings, saying "we're still the underdog here in
Pennsylvania."
Clinton's campaign is taking care not to heighten expectations for
Pennsylvania.
"This is not going to be a blowout race. . We're looking for a win, and we
think it's going to be a close race," said Nick Clemons, her Pennsylvania
director.
But her surrogates are already talking about how important a big win would
be for her.
Former President Clinton told a small crowd in Wilkes-Barre: "You give her a
big vote out of here, she'll wake up in a different world, and so will you,
and America will have a better tomorrow."
One of Clinton's supporters, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, said Friday that
Clinton needs a big win in Pennsylvania if she hopes to overtake Obama,
saying a loss in the Keystone State would be "pretty much a door-closer."
Obama's campaign released a statement Saturday saying Clinton shouldn't kid
herself: "Senator Clinton's campaign has resorted to denying both the
obvious - and their previous comments - by saying they'd be pleased with a
narrow victory in Pennsylvania on Tuesday . Senator Clinton needs a blow-out
victory on Tuesday to meet expectations."
Obama leads Clinton in overall delegates, 1,645-1,505, with 2,025 needed to
win the nomination. Obama also has a thin lead in the popular vote that
Clinton hopes to overcome before the final ballots are cast in June.
Dems Get Personal as Clinton Goes After the Big Win in Pennsylvania
Saturday, April 19, 2008
In Pennsylvania, it's not just about winning for Hillary Clinton. It's about
winning big.
Clinton trails Barack Obama in delegates and is struggling to convince
uncommitted superdelegates that her campaign for the Democratic presidential
nomination is still alive and kicking. To that end, her campaign is looking
for a commanding victory Tuesday to give her momentum going into the Indiana
and North Carolina primaries two weeks later.
"A double-digit victory in Pennsylvania would be huge," Clinton supporter
and former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Hoeffel told FOX News. "That double-digit
victory is within reach and it would be a tremendous turnaround."
With three days to go until the Pennsylvania primary, both candidates
stormed through the Keystone State on Saturday, taking jabs at each other's
character. Obama told voters Clinton is a "slash and burn" Washington
game-player. Clinton suggested Obama is all talk, no substance.
Polls show Clinton consistently leading in Pennsylvania, but since late
March, Obama has narrowed that margin to about 5 or 6 percentage points.
Obama aides tell FOX News the goal is to keep Clinton's lead to single
digits. This would dull Clinton's argument that she consistently wins big in
large industrial states that are key in a general election. Clinton won by
10 points in Ohio and New Jersey and by 17 in her home state of New York.
In a sweep across the southeastern part of the state, Obama clambered aboard
a shiny, royal blue train car Saturday morning in Philadelphia after
speaking to about 35,000 supporters the night before - the largest crowd of
his campaign.
Clinton, meanwhile, spoke under a baking sun outside West Chester's
175-year-old fire house, striking a somber note about problems at home and
abroad as she described the stakes for voters Tuesday.
"I don't want to just show up and give one of those whoop-dee-do speeches
and get everybody whipped up," she said. "I want everyone thinking."
The primary Tuesday follows a month-long hiatus in voting, a gap the
candidates filled in large measure by sullying each other.
Clinton has been trying to cast Obama as a flimsy candidate, even poking fun
at him for complaining about the rough treatment he got at a debate
Wednesday in Philadelphia. On Saturday she said the "incredible pressures of
a political campaign" are a good way to test which candidate can handle the
pressure of the presidency.
Clinton worked hard over the past week, in interviews and in a television
ad, to get electoral mileage out of Obama's controversial claim to a group
of California donors that small-town voters "cling" to guns and religion out
of bitterness over lost jobs.
But only Tuesday will tell how well that worked. Pennsylvania polls have
stayed pretty much steady for the past week while national polls have
fluctuated wildly.
The Gallup daily tracking poll Saturday showed Clinton with the national
lead, by 1 percentage point, for the first time since mid-March. The poll
gave her 46 percent to Obama's 45 percent.
But a Newsweek poll released Friday gave Obama a 19-point lead, his widest
ever of the campaign. The Gallup poll Friday gave Obama a 3-point lead.
Pennsylvania political consultant Ken Smukler told FOX News that the voter
makeup in Pennsylvania favors Clinton. And her effort to play up Obama's
"bitter" comments could pay a dividend, however small, he said.
"I think it's enough to move Hillary Clinton from high single digits to
maybe low double digits, which is a significant move," he said.
Smukler said a few percentage points could make the difference in how
undecided superdelegates view Clinton's candidacy. And Clinton needs
superdelegates in order to overcome Obama's lead. Those unbound party
officials continued drifting toward Obama since the last election,
increasing his edge in the race, and that trend is bound to accelerate if he
performs strongly Tuesday.
With 158 pledged delegates, Pennsylvania also offers the biggest payoff of
any remaining primary state and a key opportunity for Clinton to make up
ground against Obama's delegate lead.
Working in Clinton's favor, Pennsylvania has a large white, working-class
population, and the third oldest population of any state. The state's
politically savvy governor, Ed Rendell, backs Clinton.
But Obama is campaigning with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey. The Obama
campaign has 30 field offices to Clinton's 24 and has outspent her more than
2-to-1 on TV advertising.
Obama disputes that he's been complaining about the debate. And he also
played on poll findings indicating unease with Clinton's veracity.
"She's taken different positions at different times on issues as fundamental
as trade, or even the war, to suit the politics of the moment," Obama told
the crowd Saturday in Wynnewood, Pa. "And when she gets caught at it, the
notion is, well, you know what, that's just politics. That's how it works in
Washington. You can say one thing here and say another thing there."
He amplified the point at a later stop, in Paoli.
"Senator Clinton's essential argument in this campaign is you can't change
how the game is played in Washington. Her basic argument is that the
slash-and-burn, say-anything, do-anything special interest-driven politics
is how it works. . Senator Clinton has internalized a lot of the strategies,
the tactics, that have made Washington such a miserable place."
At his massive rally in Philadelphia the night before, he also played up his
humble political beginnings, saying "we're still the underdog here in
Pennsylvania."
Clinton's campaign is taking care not to heighten expectations for
Pennsylvania.
"This is not going to be a blowout race. . We're looking for a win, and we
think it's going to be a close race," said Nick Clemons, her Pennsylvania
director.
But her surrogates are already talking about how important a big win would
be for her.
Former President Clinton told a small crowd in Wilkes-Barre: "You give her a
big vote out of here, she'll wake up in a different world, and so will you,
and America will have a better tomorrow."
One of Clinton's supporters, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, said Friday that
Clinton needs a big win in Pennsylvania if she hopes to overtake Obama,
saying a loss in the Keystone State would be "pretty much a door-closer."
Obama's campaign released a statement Saturday saying Clinton shouldn't kid
herself: "Senator Clinton's campaign has resorted to denying both the
obvious - and their previous comments - by saying they'd be pleased with a
narrow victory in Pennsylvania on Tuesday . Senator Clinton needs a blow-out
victory on Tuesday to meet expectations."
Obama leads Clinton in overall delegates, 1,645-1,505, with 2,025 needed to
win the nomination. Obama also has a thin lead in the popular vote that
Clinton hopes to overcome before the final ballots are cast in June.
