Clinton On The "Anchors Of The Electoral Map"

Hillary Clinton on Saturday reinforced her campaign's talking point that she was a stronger candidate because she had won Ohio and Florida, crucial "anchors of the electoral map" in the general election, in her words. But she hedged when a reporter asked her to explain why her primary victories would preclude an Obama victory in those same states in the fall. Watch the full exchange below:

Reporter: Your campaign has made a big argument that you have won in the big swing states and this makes you a more viable candidate in the general election. Could you just explain that logic because if Obama lost in Ohio that doesn't necessarily mean he will lose in a general election As well Al Gore and John Kerry both won Pennsylvania in a general election. So could you just explain that argument?

Comments

[SmellTheHorse]

Hillary and Bill are betting that they can bloody Obama so badly that everyone will forget to ask for their tax returns, the list of donors to the Clinton Library, the National Archive records of her tenure as First Lady, and her Senate earmarks.
But you can bet John McCain and the GOP won't forget to ask for them. Every day.
And if you think there's nothing sleazy and queasy in the records the Clintons are blocking, honey, you don't know the Clintons..­.

[flyguy14222]

Lets not stray and change the argument. Obama lied about Rezko and he seeks to emulate a hate filled preacher.

[ordinaryguy]

YOU'RE AN IDIOT. THE ARTICLE WAS ABOUT A CLINTON INTERVIEW. STAY ON TOPIC.

[DoAsISay]

Ordinaryguy, DO NOT shout at flyguy. He may have to go on strike to protest. Lets hope the people who strike actually strike by not writing, rather than strike by writing more.

[FogBelter]

That was last weeks news cycle ... Where are Hillary's Tax Returns? Where are her White House Records? Where is the list of donors to Bill's library? Why won't Bill release the documents regarding his pardons?

Rezko and Reverend Wright are old news ...

[hyjanks]

And Mc"Cane" choses to emulate his "hate filled preacher", the wrong Reverend Hagee.

[treadway123]

Oh, Boy -----you haven't kept up on the news flyguy have you? Seems picture have hit out there show Bill Clinton and Reszko and his wife all buddy, buddy. The reasonthe Rezko thing died down was because it came out that Rezko actually donated to Both Bills campagnes and Hillary's Campagnes! the reason Mccain isn't running with it is because his good buddy Joseph leiberman has money in his campayne also from Rezko. You really ought to keep up with the news! Oh and ya about that preacher--­----------­--if you want to say obama is him and belileve in the same thing-----­---------t­han Hillary must be Mr. Ferreco and Bill Clinton! She must have known about thier racial problems and out look, and she must have know Bill was haveing sex with all those women-----­----------­--after all she slept in the same bed with him, eat at the same table and lived in the same house with him every day for over 20 years now didn't she! Ms. Ferreco is her friend and mentor and has been a racist all these years! But Oh boy she should have known! So get off Obama shirt tails now Flyguy!

[stepintothelight]

If you look around the boards you will see this is the Clinton/Penn strategy for today. They are swarming all the boards trying to distract the discussion points. Guess this shows that ... maybe ... they have just run out of excuses for the inexcusable?

[ntmessage]

She hedges only because she is trying to be a team player, even though many supposedly on the Dem (team players?) side relentlessly bash her. The truth is she cannot really support what the numbers deny. The fact is that many large states that Clinton wins without trouble, Obama has problems and will likely loose if he is the nominee. Obama’s chances in VA and WI do not overcome NJ, PA, CT, OH, FL and others.

We have predicted this for some time with empirical models and just now, the polls are now catching up to our results. Polls track opinion not behavior.

[DavidK08]

I hope that this is the first question in the next debate. Just ask it to Obama first, then her. Ask this one before the tax return question. Then spend the rest of the debate on why her tax returns took so long to get out, why they aren't complete and does she really think that anyone believes the "stuff" that comes out of her mouth or her camp's.

It amazes me that so much time is spent on the Power comment and so little media attention on this type of question. She is making things up and getting the media to eat them up as if they were real!

No matter what her position in the race is, delegate count, pop. vote or states won, she always has something to say that puts her in front.

Just words though. It is always so convinient for the HRC camp. Look what she did with a net gain of 10 delegates.­..it was bigger than winning 11 states in a row. It was bigger than developing a lead of over 100 elected delegates. It is always just a little too convinient for her.

The media needs to start calling her on this stuff. Don't let Obama get away with it either...j­ust call her on this crap.

[mellene]

She's sure good at tearing down her opponent but stays mighty quiet on the Repubs and their abilities to run the country. Do we suppose she's really a Republican and a good old Goldwater girl?

[RButler]

If the race right now was Hillary vs. Edwards, I can't imagine saying I wouldn't vote for Edwards if he's the nominee but after reading comments for the last 6 months from Obama supporters, I can say I will never vote for him. I don't think Edwards' supporters would have been as ugly and nasty as the Obama folks have been. It would be disgusting to have 4 years of an Obama regime where anything and everything is deemed racist, every little criticism. The late night comedians will have to be censored. Some Obama supporters have already boycotted SNL for a comedy skit. What's next?

[robeson]

Come on Hillary fess up. You don't think Obama can carry the bigot, and illiterate vote.

[pinkyboo]

I hope no Democrat would carry either of those demographics.

[mrdontplay]

Hillary's voting block:

> Uneducated white's who thinks she was basically co-president
> loyal feminist women
> voters scarred by her Obama is a muslim or worse adds


Obama's voting block:
> Everybody else.

[drbala]

Obama's voting block:

> The rich elite
> Fainters who swoon over a messiah
> loyal black voters
> voters who have an unexplainable "hate" toward Hillary

Hillary's voting block:
> Everybody else.

[gcee]

"Fainters who swoon over a messiah"?

Because you repeat it dosn't make it true. Are you deliberately being obtuse?

[Repub4Obama]

How does that explain me and many of my friends? We're white, socially liberal but fiscal conservative voters who have been predominately Republican, leaning independant.

And by the way, my hatred of Hillary is not "unexplainable", it's very grounded in the things that she and her husband perpetrate. And I'm not a recent Hillary-Hater either. I started my love affair with my dislike of the Clintons around 1991.

[lvdragonlady]

Great post!! LOL

[RButler]

A poll on 2005 showed that 70% of students in high school and college admitted to cheating/plagiarism but of course they're voting for Obama. The notes are written on their hands to tell them who to vote for.

[dutchess2]

No - Hillary, we will NOT tolerate another election that does not result in the will of the people.

We will NOT tolerate superdelegates voting against the wishes of the people.

[robertell]

Hillary's become a spoof of something, I'm not quite sure what though.

She's in massive denial though, and hurting "her party" like I never figured.

power is funny, it corrupts. 35 years of as much seems to have insulated Hillary from the truth.

Now wee see that she's won the Texas popula vote becasue Repubs haters voted for her.

This primary season has come down to how dumb can the Dems be?

Dumb folk pick Hillary, winners pick Obama.

[Araxiel]

You are correct. Rush urged Republicans to vote for her. She is the Democrat "Manchurian Candidate.­" She is arrogant beyond belief. Why doesn't the MSM do a little more on the list of her corrupt, criminal donors and fund raisers? She is also one of the biggest recipients of insurance company donations. There is nothing about her that I admire, respect, or even like. And for that matter, where in the record is much evidence of Hillary's religious beliefs? Has she just recently become a church goer?

If she steals the Democratic Party nomination, I will not vote for her, and the only way she will get it is by theft. Should that happen the Democratic Party will be torn asunder, possibly irreparably. Millions of Obama supporters will never vote for her. McCain will prevail against Clinton. If the choice comes down to those two, God help us all.

[dukeman]

Lets not forget way back when, when she was saying that Barack Obamaa was not Black enough asnd not really an African American. Her campaign has been BS from the beginning.

[Zyzzygowski]

She never said that. It was an article written in a Los Angeles newspaper by a columnist.

[dwt]

It also appeared in Time Magazine in February, 2007, and you can still read it here:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1584736,00.html

Here are two relevant quotes from that article:

"The black-on-black argument seemed to be bolstered by recent polls showing Obama significantly trailing Hillary Clinton among black voters."

"Back in the real world, Obama is married to a black woman. He goes to a black church. He's worked with poor people on the South Side of Chicago, and still lives there. That someone given the escape valve of biraciality would choose to be black, would see some beauty in his darker self and still care more about health care and public education than reparations and Confederate flags is just too much for many small-minded racists, both black and white, to comprehend.
Barack Obama's real problem isn't that he's too white — it's that he's too black. "

One year ago, Obama WAS perceived as "not being black enough" and HRC owned the black vote.

One year later, after such incidents as Bill Clinton shooting his mouth off in South Carolina; circulation of the "turban" photo; Geraldine Ferraro shooting her mouth off about the race "advantage"; the Red Phone ad; xenophobic emphasis on Obama's middle name "Hussein"; phony outrage about the rhetorical excesses of his "black preacher" - and the "real problem", indeed, has surfaced.

Obama now is "too black" - too black for HRC's base of uneducated whites and rabid over 50 feminists; and way too black for 80% of the Republican Party.

But NOT TOO BLACK, obviously, for his cohorts, and NOT TOO BLACK for 90% of under 30 voters (who represent the future of this disfunctional country), NOT TOO BLACK for educated, progressive white male Democrats and female Democrats who don't subscribe to the absurd fallacy that "bitch is the new black."

NOT TOO BLACK to be elected President if: 1) HRC and her knee-capping advisors grow up and throw in the towel for the good of the Democratic Party; 2) the Super Delegates, as well as John Edwards and Bill Richardon, get off their bet-hedging butts and commit to/endorse Obama RIGHT NOW.

The sooner the better. The longer this nomination battle goes on, the weaker the Party becomes, and the less likely the opportunity to prevent 4 more years of Bush Republican policies, and the potential decline of the American Empire.

[pinkyboo]

I don't remember HRC specifically saying Obmam is not "black enough" I remember the MSM saying it - couold you please supply the links to support your accusations?

[drbala]

I don't remember she saying anything like it.

Maybe be you are confused (fainted) by your blind support to your messiah.

[DavidK08]

Without question, Hillary won in FL because she is the establishment candidate. Does anyone really doubt that.

For reference, she is almost always ahead by 20-30% weeks ahead of an election. That is becuase of her name recognition, nothing more. When it comes down to it, Obama usually (2/3's) wins those states. Why don't HRC supporters think that maybe in FL this would be the same thing. Maybe he does't win, but he most likely would only loose by such a small margin that it wouldn't cut into his lead enough to matter.

In the end. HRC is counting on only one thing.....­.enough supers to overturn the delegate count of the elections. How American of her. If it were a reverse case, imagine the case she would make against it. She wouldn't stop crying.

[Grunty1]

She won because people know more about her due to her First Ladydom. Much harder to inform voters about lesser known candidates when you cannot campaign.

[stepintothelight]

And you are happy with what you do know about her?

[robertell]

Hillary's argument is specious, self serving, and part of a tawdrily transparent attempt to quite litereally steal the election.

She wants to overturn the popular vote? Based on some 'big state' electability hooey? Please, she won Texas by 101,000 votes. Of which 118,000 are registered repubs voting for her. And yet...spin spin spin....

She's crushing the Democratic party in it's moment of sunshine. She's lost, and yet continues to drag down her party. There is no way she can win the popular vote, or the delegates, and yet she persists in hurting her own party. Using some 'I played well for two minutes in the second quarter so I should win the game argument.' (Un-American)

Which brings up the question, is she really a Democrat, or just using the party?

If Hillary';s argument is correct, then we have to totally revamp how we determine a winner in this country. Or at least when it comes to her. It won't be that hard, because Bush has been using the same logic. Losing is actually winning! C'mon folks, get on board! Losing is Winning!

Hilary is a sham.

[RButler]

The superdelegates CAN turn over the popular vote. It's in the RULES. That's what they're there for and not to merely rubber stamp the pledged delegate vote. I know you don't like it but the Obama campaign keeps saying they're playing by the rules. It's a safety valve in case something like, oh, finding out that the candidate's pastor for 20 years is discovered saying things voters might not appreciate in their president. Or, maybe a trial of a long time supporter isn't complete yet. You wouldn't want Hillary to drop out and then find out something really unacceptable in Obama's past would you?

[frappe]

I've been raising this question in my posts as well. Why on earth would it be so difficult for Obama to win these "blue" States in November? Would Clinton's supporters all of a sudden lose their minds and vote Republican or boycott the general election? Of course, not.

Obama would not only get all of Clinton's supporters -- largely considered to be the "Democratic base" -- but he would also attract his huge following of Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans. The net result is that Obama would likely win these states by a far greater majority than Clinton would in the general election. (Assuming that she doesn't continue to go "nuclear" on Obama in the primaries.­)

So, her argument that she'd be more successful in the general lacks the force of logic.

[DavidK08]

LOGIC you say!

And then some!

[RButler]

I'm sure I'm not the only Hillary supporter that won't vote for Obama and for 4 years of everything being called 'racist'. That's the 'new politics' he's shown so far.

[OhioPoBoy]

Boston Globe Reveals who Repugnicants want us to vote for

"For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show."

Wake up! HRC doesn't stand a chance. As Tracy Morgan said, "If being the wife of the president qualified her to be president, Robin Givens should be Heavyweight Champ!"

HRC supporters are playing right into McCain's hands.

[northeast73]

Newsflash people: All states are NOT equal. 8,600 voted in Wyoming 2.2 million in Ohio...see the difference?

Secondly. Strength in swing states DOES matter. John Kerry won PA with 74% of the vote in the 2004 primary, but only carred the state by 1.4% in the general election.

Thirdly. This is a Democratic primary. The notion put out by Obamanation that the democratic party is filled with hateful ignorant racists is not only insulting, but a childish attempt to explain why your vapid candidate can't win outside of his base of college kids and african americans.

[mrdontplay]

all states are equal.

Kids who are in college are good kids in our society the fact that the youth who are the true leaders of tomorrow have chosen Obama says a lot about him and them.

The fact that the more education you have makes you more likely to vote for obama confirms that the SMART vote is with Obama.

Its hillarious how things are construed in this election.

Intelligence is a bad thing.

Experience as a wife of the guy is a good thing.

[northeast73]

The fact that the more education you have makes you more likely to vote for obama confirms that the SMART vote is with Obama
===========

No liberal elitim at play in this post, is there?

[RButler]

Hasn't it been known that some young people in the black community consider education and getting good grades 'acting white' and is it to be avoided? How are you going to spin, I mean, explain their votes?

[frappe]

I wish the Democratic party would get its act together and settle on Obama as our nominee. This protracted primary season is just too painful to endure and the Republicans are loving it.

I wish the superdelegates would come out early and voice their support for Obama and end this madness. We need to focus our ire and attention on where it belongs -- the Republican menace. Right now, as it stands, the Democratic party is "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory".

Obama '08!

[gomonkeygo]

I'm no college kid nor am I an African-American. I was brought up to be exactly the kind of voter the should be peeing my pants with joy at the prospect of another Clinton presidency. But I cannot think of anything worse besides a McCain presidency.

I know it's hard to believe any politician ever speaks the truth, but I think Obama does. More than his two opponents, certainly. One is willing to play racist fears against him (guess which one) while the other dances merrily in the background because he's being sweetly ignored and so far given total immunity to any scrutiny of his policies and tactics and backers because the MSM only cares about the Obama/Clinton race.

Wake up, everybody - there's a scary old man creeping up on the American people whose hawkish neo-con policies of total warfare forever against America's enemies will take us all into a hideous and unsafe future. He's already promised there will be more wars. And he means it.

Vote Obama.

[DoAsISay]

You don't sound anything like billary's uneducated demographic- the same that would identify with the bush "I don't read" demographic.

[stepintothelight]

Thank you MS Ferraro!!!