Obama gets boost; Clinton urged to quit

Obama gets boost; Clinton urged to quit

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago

PITTSBURGH - Barack Obama got a surprise boost in the last big state

of the long Democratic campaign Friday with an endorsement from

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr., while another Obama supporter sought

to nudge Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the race.

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Clinton leads by double-digits in Pennsylvania polls, and Obama hopes

Casey's endorsement will earn him a second look from the state's

white, working class and Catholic voters -- groups that have leaned

toward Clinton in other Democratic contests this year.

Clinton, on the other hand, is hoping a victory in Pennsylvania will

help persuade party "superdelegates" to support her and allow her to

catch Obama in the race for National Convention delegates.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont senator who endorsed Obama in January,

said she was never going to win enough delegates, and he suggested she

should throw in the towel in "the interests of a Democratic victory in

November." A number of Democrats have expressed concern that

Republican John McCain is getting a head start while Obama and Clinton

fight on.

Undeterred, Clinton said the competition would only strengthen the

party in the long run.

"This spirited, exciting contest is actually a real plus for us," she

said while campaigning in Indiana, which has its primary two weeks

after Pennsylvania's April 22 vote.

McCain launched his first television ad of the general election

campaign Friday, portraying himself as a courageous leader with the

knowledge and experience to keep the country safe as a wartime

commander in chief. "The American president Americans have been

waiting for," the ad says, juxtaposing footage of the Arizona senator

with clips of him as a prisoner of war in Vietnam three decades ago.

Casey, the son of a popular late governor, had said earlier this month

he would not endorse before the Pennsylvania primary out of concern

for party unity. But he joined Obama at a boisterous rally kicking off

a six-day bus trip through the state, where current Gov. Ed Rendell

has been campaigning hard for Clinton.

Coming so late in the campaign season, Pennsylvania will play an

unexpectedly key role this year. The state's primary will allocate 158

delegates, the biggest prize left in the drawn-out nomination battle.

After the Pittsburgh rally, Casey said of Obama: "I believe in this

guy like I've never believed in a candidate in my life, except my

father."

Unfazed, Clinton noted her own roster of high-powered endorsements

including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and anti-war Rep. John

Murtha in addition to Rendell.

The former first lady's campaign used the criticism of her candidacy

as a fundraising tool.

"Have you noticed the pattern?" Clinton wrote in an e-mail to

supporters. "Every time our campaign demonstrates its strength and

resilience, people start to suggest we should end our pursuit of the

Democratic nomination. Those anxious to force us to the sidelines

aren't doing it because they think we're going to lose the upcoming

primaries. The fact is, they're reading the same polls we are, and

they know we are in a position to win."

Obama is hoping for a showing in the state that would force her to

rethink whether she will push ahead. Obama holds the lead in pledged

delegates, and Clinton would need landslide wins in the remaining 10

contests to overtake him in that category, an unlikely scenario.

The Casey endorsement also was a welcome change of subject for Obama

after two weeks of grappling with the uproar over incendiary comments

from his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Recent national polls

indicate that the Illinois senator, bidding to become the first black

president, handled the situation well with a major speech on race.

Casey is a first-term senator, a Catholic who, like his father, is

known for his opposition to abortion and his support of gun rights.

"I really believe that in a time of danger around the world and in

division here at home, Barack Obama can lead us, he can heal us, he

can help rebuild America," Casey told the crowd in Pittsburgh.

His move on Friday could be seen in part as a political jab at the

Clintons. Bill Clinton was the Democrats' presidential nominee in 1992

when Casey's father was not given a prime-time speaking position at

the party's convention, which outraged many of the state's

conservative Democrats.

Casey said enthusiasm for Obama by family members -- including his four

daughters -- was part of his reason for endorsing now. He said he did a

lot of thinking over the Easter holiday.

"When people you love and people you respect in your family or

community are not just supportive of him, but incredibly enthusiastic

about his candidacy, that has had an impact on my thinking and the way

I approach this," he said. "I didn't think that at this point in our

history with the stakes so high that I could stay on the sidelines

once I had made a decision about who, the person I'd vote for."

He said the decision had nothing to do with the Casey history with the

Clintons.

Obama himself challenged Clinton's argument that her experience in

government would make her a better candidate in November against

McCain.

"If the contest between McCain and the Democratic nominee is who's

been there longer, John McCain wins!" he said to laughter from the

crowd.

"If the argument is who is going to pursue a foreign policy like

George Bush's, then John McCain wins. If that's the criteria for being

tough, if that's the criteria for answering the 3 o'clock phone call

after you voted for the war in Iraq and you went along with George

Bush's policies when it came to Iran and not talking to leaders that

we don't like, then John McCain wins that fight."

Leahy told Vermont Public Radio in an interview that aired Thursday:

"There is no way that Sen. Clinton is going to win enough delegates to

get the nomination."

In a statement issued Friday, he said Casey's endorsement was the

latest sign.

"Senator Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to

remain a candidate for as long as she wants to. As far as the delegate

count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there

is not a very good reason for drawing this out. But as I have said

before, that is a decision that only she can make," Leahy said.

On the other hand, political rivals could accuse him

of abandoning potentially unpopular views or of trying

to disguise his real positions.

Take the death penalty.

In 1996, when he was running for a seat in the

Illinois Senate, Obama's campaign filled out a

questionnaire flatly stating that he did not support

capital punishment. By 2004, his position was that he

supported the death penalty "in theory" but felt the

system was so flawed that a national moratorium on

executions was required.

Today, he doesn't talk about a moratorium and says the

death penalty is appropriate for "some crimes -- mass

murder, the rape and murder of a child -- so heinous

that the community is justified in expressing the full

measure of its outrage."

Then there's another crime-related issue, gun control.

That 1996 questionnaire asked whether he supported

banning the manufacture, sale and possession of

handguns in Illinois. The campaign's answer was

straightforward: "Yes." Eight years later, he said on

another questionnaire that "a complete ban on handguns

is not politically practicable" but reasonable

restrictions should be imposed.

His legislative record in Illinois shows strong

support for gun restrictions, such as limiting handgun

purchases to one a month, but no attempts to ban them.

Today, he stands by his support for controls while

trying to reassure hunters that he has no interest in

interfering with their access to firearms.

Obama's presidential campaign contends that voters

can't learn anything about his views from the 1996

questionnaire, which was for an Illinois

good-government group known as the IVI-IPO. Aides say

Obama did not fill out the questionnaire and instead

it was handled by a staffer who misrepresented his

views on gun control, the death penalty and more.

"Barack Obama has a consistent record on the key

issues facing our country," said spokesman Ben LaBolt.

"Even conservative columnists have said they'd scoured

Obama's record for inconsistencies and found there

were virtually none."

IVI-IPO officials say it's inconceivable that Obama

would have let a staffer turn in a questionnaire with

incorrect answers. The group interviewed Obama in

person about his answers before endorsing him in that

1996 legislative race, and he didn't suggest then, or

anytime since, that the questionnaire needed to be

corrected, they said.

Since he came to Washington, one piece of legislation

that raises questions is the USA Patriot Act, the

security measure approved after the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks.

Reverence for a fine education ran deep through the American upper

Class. Don't be fooled by hideous new money, if allowed a generation

or so to dry off and clean itself up.

Shalom,

--- Prof. Leland Milton Goldblatt

"no law should mandate family communication."

Obama supporters are going to ask Clinton to quit; Barry wants to be

HANDED the Presidency like lil' Georgie before him. And obama changed

his tune on Wright also, he say ANYTHING for a vote.

monkey_cartman@yahoo.com wrote:

>Obama gets boost; Clinton urged to quit

>PITTSBURGH - Barack Obama got a surprise boost in the last big state

>of the long Democratic campaign Friday with an endorsement from

>Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr., while another Obama supporter sought

>to nudge Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the race.

>

>Clinton leads by double-digits in Pennsylvania polls, and Obama hopes

>Casey's endorsement will earn him a second look from the state's

>white, working class and Catholic voters -- groups that have leaned

>toward Clinton in other Democratic contests this year.

>

>Clinton, on the other hand, is hoping a victory in Pennsylvania will

>help persuade party "superdelegates" to support her and allow her to

>catch Obama in the race for National Convention delegates.

>

>Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont senator who endorsed Obama in January,

>said she was never going to win enough delegates, and he suggested she

>should throw in the towel in "the interests of a Democratic victory in

>November."

Anybody who thinks Battleax will get out of the race gracefully

doesn't know the Clintons. And they don't know them at all if they

think her or BJ will ever put the party or the country above their

selfish lust for power. Clintons = scorched earth politics.

Jeez Dems. The Clintons have been showing what kind of cutthroat

political warfare they play for decades. Does it really surprise you

how she's damaging your party for her own greed?

>Undeterred, Clinton said the competition would only strengthen the

>party in the long run.

>

>"This spirited, exciting contest is actually a real plus for us," she

>said while campaigning in Indiana,

Her selfishness is damaging her party so she spins it as "spirited,

exciting". LOL

>Leahy told Vermont Public Radio in an interview that aired Thursday:

>"There is no way that Sen. Clinton is going to win enough delegates to

>get the nomination."

You don't know the Clintons Leahy. I wouldn't be surprised if Toots

gets killed in an "accident" like Ron Brown or the Clintons blackmail

him into resigning.

Leland Milton Goldblatt Ph.D. wrote:

> On the other hand, political rivals could accuse him

> of abandoning potentially unpopular views or of trying

> to disguise his real positions.

>

> Take the death penalty.

>

I think people can change their positions on things politically.

Especially when it comes to guns, and capital punishment.

On the capital punishment matter at a time I believed that it should

be outlawed about the same time Obama had his views.

The reasoning for that was, is, that our justice system is too

imperfect to rely on to pass out the ultimate penalty.

But for me, reality is that there are people that you cannot justify

keeping them alive because of their extreme indifference to their

fellow man and human life and we cannot justify torture as punishment.

So I do agree with the death penalty in some circumstances, with

keeping is strict accordance to the rule of law and that this is the

ultimate penalty and should always be taken extremely seriously.

Not just by our government but also by the people

On the gun count, I believe that disarming a population based on any

reason excluding criminal penalties and few other issues goes against

what we stand for in this country. I am a liberal and agree completely

the right for the people to possess firearms.

I understands Republicans rethinking their allegiance after George W.

Bush.

However, Obama Hussein is caught not telling the truth about his

change of issue. As they say, Shines can talk there way out of

anything.

Prof. Goldblatt did not say this. It is what people say.

If he's questioned or confronted supporters throw up the race card

also Geraldine Ferraro or try to minimalize his relationships; Resko,

Wright, etc... His record as a Senator is weak with a 38% missed vote

rating

Per WaPo - Obama LIED and created a false narrative about his father's

connection to the Kennedy family!

Liberal hack politician with no core belief system except what he got

out of Rev. Wright's hate filled sermons.The liberals use focus groups

and surveys to figure out what they believe. Lib voters don't care

because they are just as feckless. Obama bowls a 37,what a great photo

op.

Just another sign of the constant lying of Obama--he lies about his

positions, lies about nafta, he lies about when he'll withdrawal

troops, lies about what he heard from the maniac Rev. Wright, lies

about his extreme church and even admitted he lied about the extent of

his Resko connections.

But his supporters continue to defend and drink the kool-aid. It's

true you can fool SOME of the people all of the time. BUT NOT ALL OF

US--

Democratic Party have chosen to cuddle him and protect him from any

criticism it makes him come off looking like a cry baby to any

objective viewer. But his supporters are not objective

The leaders of the Democratic Party will not have any choice but to

quit babying him

Because it takes experience -- you have to crawl before you walk, and

walk before you can run. You have to stumble when you spread your

wings so you can know your limits, and he hasn't done that.

Shalom,

--- Leland Milton Goldblatt

http://drgoldblatt.blogspot.com/

Dr. Goldblatt says: BOYCOTT ISRAEL! The boycott is not directed at

any religious or ethnic group, but rather it is directed at those

companies that are supporting the racist occupation of Palestine.

The Jack Abramoff scandal is more than a scandal; it is a cause for

international shame. It is also the story of how religious zealots,

terrorists and fanatics took over the United States government,

undermined our foreign interests, ruined our credibility, and cost us

our prestige as a trustworthy world leader, while leading more than

3000 US soldiers and Marines to their deaths along with thousands of

innocent Muslims and others, in pursuit of a fantasy that they call

Zionist Israel.