Obama, McCain Fight Over Clinton Supporters And Crossover Voters

This week Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are fighting hard to win support from independents and uncommitted supporters of Hillary Clinton. At a Philadelphia fundraiser, Obama shared with voters the same sentiment he shared with Clinton during their much-touted (and still quite secretive) private meeting. Obama told Hillary:

"You're the only one who knows what I've gone through and I'm the only one who knows what you've gone through."

And while many Clinton supporters and surrogates have fallen in with the Obama camp since the end of the primary, a few public defectors are making waves. The McCain camp has proudly touted one Wisconsin Democratic superdelegate who has promised to vote against Barack Obama:

In an interview, Bartoshevich expressed lingering unhappiness over the Democratic nominating process, said Clinton was treated unfairly by the party and said she has deep reservations about Obama's lack of experience and his judgment.

"I'm kind of disenfranchised," she said.

She said she planned to vote for Clinton at the convention, but in an Obama-McCain matchup in November, "I will not be voting for Obama. I will cast my vote for John McCain.

Still, to this point, Bartoshevich is the only superdelegate that both sides acknowledge has flipped sides.

Meanwhile, McCain's camp is pushing to the press a Clinton-oriented virtual town hall, as well as a list of "prominent Democratic and unaffiliated leaders" who have joined Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) in a group called 'Citizens For McCain.' In 2000, Bush had great success with a similar organization: Democrats For Bush. Of course, Ben Smith notices that the members of Citizens of McCain come up short in one respect:

What they could use: a bit more prominence. Beyond Lieberman, most are out-of-office local officials; only one, former Rep. Tim Penny of Minnesota, ever held federal office. Some are quite obscure, to wit: Commander of Newport Memorial-VFW Post 1119 Francis Harding Jr. and former State Chair of Environmentalists for Clinton-Gore 1992 Roberta Weisbrod.

And Obama is having his own luck tempting crossover voters, particularly with black conservatives. The Associated Press runs through some of the most prominent officials who are publicly wavering between McCain and Obama, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts:

J.C. Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he's thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them.

"And Obama highlights that even more," Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things."

Comments

[Christopher1]

Clitions voters need to cross over yo McCain better then open the borders Obama.

[marijam]

I don't plan on supporting any candidate, or making up my mind until I find out who the V.P. is going to be for either of the two nominees.

[sayno]

www.justsaynodeal.com

[simplyirresistible]

Please get over being angry and disappointed. This country, the world cannot afford 4 additional years of Bush's regressive policies.

http://healinganation.wordpress.com/

[schicklett3]

I'm still waiting for Hillary to say she's voting for McCain. LOL

[schicklett3]

Hillary Clinton, and Bill for that matter, will never campaign for Obama. They've spent the past 15 months tearing him down, calling him elitist, telling their supporters Obama can't win, and even stooped so low as to play the Bobby Kennedy assination and the race card.
I have no respect for either Clinton and personally hope they stay in hiding. BUT, we all know she needs Obama's help to pay off her 40 million campaign debt and she'll make obligatory, phony speeches to show her support. Makes me wanna' barf.

[Keith52]

Excuse me but where is HRC in all this baloney? She needs to make a public statement and say, "If you vote for John McCain, you are not a supporter of Hillary Clinton." Has she even said that? I know she DID say, during the primary, that McCain was more qualified than Barack to be POTUS.

[hopeforchange]

Cant Obama win people over on his own. Does he need to rely on a girl to do it?

[mindlessmissy]

the "girl" caused the rift in the first place so maybe he does need her ... you have to admit she developed some good campaigning skills towards the end ...

[srtjsrtj]

Sen. McCain & The Republican Party No Equal Pay For Women

NEW ORLEANS — Republican Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.

Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had delayed the vote to give McCain's Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.

McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.

"I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what's being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems," the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. "This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system."

[srtjsrtj]

Sen. McCain Refused to go back to Washington on Thursday to Vote to give Women Rights For Equal Pay on the same jobs as MEN.

What sparked the Bill in Congress was a woman, Lilly Ledbetter who worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, after 20 years found out that she was paid 40% less than the men on the same job. This means she will get significantly less then the men on the job in Social Security and Pension Benefits at retirement.

The bill sought to counteract a Supreme Court decision limiting how long workers can wait before suing for pay discrimination.

Sen McCain & The Republicans Voted against Equal Pay Law ; the right to give Women the same pay as men because and the President said it would cause Women to file Lawsuits. Funny they did not think if Employers would not discriminate in the pay scales there would not be a need to file a lawsuit. Sounds like Sen.McCain and the President expect Employers to keep paying women less for the same job.

[WASanford]

Look, my main issue has been, is, and will be the ending of the wars we are fighting in the Middle East and by extension, the closing down of our country’s expansive military empire. While I was (am) under whelmed by our candidates, I argued for Senator Clinton simply because she made a commitment to end the war in Iraq, something Senator Obama has not done. Where he to commit to ending those wars, I would be on his bandwagon in a heartbeat.

There is however, more to this. Senator Obama is up to his eyebrows in economists who favor world trade (See Naomi Klein’s “Obama’s Chicago Boys” here. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/klein) These trade agreements have decimated our nation’s working class, inhumanely exploited foreign workers, and dumped cheaply made and dangerous products into our economy. While the continuance of these trade agreements would be unconscionable, Senator Obama has said he will “Look at them.”

I do not know what I will do this November. I have in the past written in my name and voted for myself. I could write in Senator Clinton’s name and vote for her. Or most likely, I will hold my nose and vote for Senator Obama. I definitely will however, vote Democratic on the down ticket.

[marijam]

Yes, free trade was the deciding issue for me during the primaries. At this point, I agree with you when you say that you don't know what you will do this November. I don't like either party anymore.

[amber09]

A news flash!!!!! Clinton no-longer has her millions of supporters in her camp and surprise---each person has a free mind and vote. The media speaks of her voters as if they were brainless sheep! For women the votes will go to Obama because he advocates the issues women care about. McCain is wasteing his time!

[benne]

Yes, I know we're in a party delusion festival in which we desperately assert that 1) we can win without the swing states like Ohio and 2) Barack actually won through democratic means the requisite amount of votes. He didn't, and many Hillary supporters are upset that the Democratic party is no longer "democrati­c.' When it comes to women and working folk, they prefer their elite patricians. Some of us are walking, and others will simply stay at home. He'll get the crossovers from conservative black men, who like his whole message of bringing back the black man as the foundation of the church. Some of us here him loud and clear when he says, "It takes a family," meaning nuclear family. He is setting himself up as the retro-gender political candidate, but what can we expect from someone who won because the good ol' boys got behind him.

[Raymondf]

Obama cannot win with 20% crossover, and 12% Independent vote.

[frugorfoto]

Well I would never ever vote Republican. But the DNC has shown itself in this primary to be a cowardly, spineless, biased and mismanaged group. I have been a lifelong Democrat.. But this, together with the appalling bias in the party and in the media against Hillary and the fact that caucuses were a sham and were far from democratically run ( they aren't democratic in the true sense anyway- and where was the DNC to monitor them ? Nowhere I could see..), not to mention the farce that was the rules committee. Well I am writing in. And the Democratic party will get nothing from me. No time no money.And this from an active campaigner in every election since 1988.

[chelliza]

I am getting the impression that the issues have nothing to do with your voting. McCain's stand on the issues is everything that Hillary was against. It is not a way to honor her to vote for McCain, or write in and let him become president. Fix the system if you are angry, but don't let the country go down because of it.

[Nonamnesiac]

Much ado about nothing. Except for nearly extinct (only a couple left) Australophythaci like Harriet Christian, even Neanderthals (as well as Cro-Magnon) are going to vote against McCain. Those who claim they're voting for him over Obama because of Hillary are actually just lying McCain operatives who would have supported him over Hillary anyway.

[dajay]

yeah, you think so, huh?

[JJeff88]

Memo to B Obama - Do not let McCain's real or feigned attempt to attract Clinton supporters distract you from your main strategy of drawing distinctions between your policies and those of John McCain.

When you lay out the comparison repeatedly and consistently, you win.

When you fight Sen. McCain for Sen. Clinton's supporters, you throw away this year's huge Dem advantage over Republicans.

Stick with the issues, let the chips fall and you'll get most of Hillary's people anyway. (Some of them may still be crazed - but they're not stupid).

[thedirtman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMOmR1ef1xA