“The Clintons Are In A State Of Panic”
Telegraph:
Hillary Clinton’s most senior advisers are in a state of “panic” about her presidential prospects and are plotting to enlist Democrat leaders in Congress to thwart her rival Barack Obama’s ambitions.
Mr Obama has begun calling those “super delegates” - 795 congressmen and senior party officials who could break a dead heat - who are committed to Mrs Clinton, asking them to change their minds and help him wrap up the nomination.
As of tonight, the two candidates were neck and neck but Mr Obama appeared to be gaining momentum.
“He’s saying: ‘Hey, I won your state and I won your congressional district, why are you supporting her?’” a Democrat strategist revealed.
The Clinton camp hopes to stop the Obama bandwagon by winning Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party’s leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down.
Clinton aides have privately admitted that Mr Obama would only consider such a move if offered the position of vice presidential running mate, something Mrs Clinton has always been reluctant to consider.
A senior Democrat who has discussed Clinton campaign thinking with a member of her inner circle said: “The Clintons are in a state of panic. She has to win both Texas and Ohio.”
But he added that this might prove impossible if Mr Obama maintains his momentum and wins most, or all, of the nine contests which come before that.
Mr Obama won yesterday’s primary elections held in Washington state and Nebraska, and is expected to do well in Louisiana.
He is also favourite to sweep Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC, which all vote on Tuesday, as well as Wisconsin and Hawaii, where he once lived, on February 19.
Only in Maine is Mrs Clinton confident, though Virginia and Wisconsin may also go her way.
Asked about the upcoming states, Mr Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod told The Sunday Telegraph: “We feel comfortable with them. What was once inevitable is no longer inevitable. The momentum has switched in this race.
“We closed a 20 point gap in the national polls in the last two weeks. The more people are exposed to his message, the better he does.”
But he added: “We are up against the Clinton machine. We are the perpetual underdog and will be throughout this process. We’re ready to go all the way to the convention.”
Clinton aides believe that if Mr Obama does not deliver a knock-out blow before March 4, the advantage will swing back to her and she will argue for a deal in which uncommitted super-delegates unite behind her, to preserve party unity.
But the prospect of a deal behind closed doors, that could brush aside the views of voters in the primaries, is already creating fury in the party.
Donna Brazile, an African American strategist, said last week: “If 795 of my colleagues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party.”
But the Clinton camp fears that a failure to engineer a deal could lead to bitter battles at the Democrat convention in Denver in late August, which could even end with Al Gore, the former vice president, emerging as a compromise candidate.
“There’s a five per cent chance of that happening, but that’s five percent too high,” the Clinton source said.
Mrs Clinton is also under financial pressure.
She claimed that she received $7.5m in donations after admitting lending her campaign $5m last week.
But the source claimed that her campaign is actually in far worse financial trouble than they are letting on.
There will be no proof of how much she raised for three months, when the totals are formally declared to election watchdogs.
The one thing the Clinton and Obama camps can agree on is that John McCain, who is popular with independents and moderate Democrats, is their “worst nightmare”.
They now fear that he could pick Colin Powell or former congressman JC Watts, both of whom are African American, as his running mate.
But Mr McCain still has to shore up his conservative base and is actively looking at the Governors of Minnesota, South Carolina, Indiana, Mississippi, Florida and Texas: Tim Pawlenty, Mark Sandford, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour, Charlie Crist and Rick Perry.
Allies of President Bush are making the case for Rob Portman, a former White House Budget office director and Ohio congressman.
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The end is near for the traitor and his little woman.
February 10th, 2008 at 3:17 pmMike - Couldn’t agree with you more. Its about time the “Teflon Don” and his posse (or is that pussy) are run out of town.
February 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pmConsidering that the Klintons are trying to throw a BLACK presidential candidate under the bus or at very least, sabotage his campaign, I’m VERY surprised I’m not hearing cries of racism. In fact, I’ll be surprised if after the general election, we don’t hear cries of racism against those who didn’t vote for Osama. Bottomline: if you stand any taller than the other blades of grass, make sure you know a good lawyer, cuz the ACLU lawnmower is coming.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:09 pmI still wish they would successfully investigate all the deaths surrounding the clintons
February 10th, 2008 at 4:31 pm“Donna Brazile, an African American strategist, said last week: “If 795 of my colleagues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party.”
And what party will you be joining Donna? The communist party? LOL…Shit, like I care…
Poor Shitlary. Even the zipper skipper can’t help her now.
And her political leg-breaking apparatus got fired from the Communist News Network.
Hear me laughing?
February 10th, 2008 at 5:54 pmIf the Clintons pull a coup, you bet your ass that Cities will burn.
February 10th, 2008 at 7:08 pmDon’t be surprised if Obama is suddenly discovered dead, Vince Foster style.
(a bullet in the BACK of his skull and a suicide note in his hand)
Of coarse Bill and Hillary will be on the other side of the country when this happens.
February 10th, 2008 at 7:17 pmCry little woman, cry. Perhaps we could receive some coverage of Billy crying too!
To be sung to the tune of a “Little Rascals” song of the 30’s-40’s.
Hillery had a tear drop and
February 10th, 2008 at 8:53 pmDidn’t know what to do,
She didn’t know what to do till;
Billy came along and
Billy had a tear drop,
Billy had a tear drop,
Billy had a tear drop too!
You mean the tune, “Jimmy Had A Nickel” … The Flora Dora Girls (I think)?
Holy cripes! I thought I was the only one who knew that.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:17 pmdrillanwr:
I know it too. Damn were old.
February 10th, 2008 at 10:05 pmNot THAT old … I remember reruns of it on TV when I was a kid in the 60s … until it got to be too un-PC for broadcasters.
I bought the video collection for my daughters in the early 1990s, and they loved them. Over and over and over and over again …
BTW -
The Flora Dora Girls and the Jimmy/Nickel song … Yeah, I hated it. My sister and I used to mock it loudly and incessantly, the annoying refrain, “Jimmy had a NICKEL! Jimmy had a NICKEL!” until our Mother would shout out the window at us to shut the hell up. Didn’t help one of the kids on our street was named Jimmy and we used to torment him with the damn thing. Poor kid had NO idea what we were going on about. He’d never watched The Little Rascals … His Mom was weird … NO TV, only Highlights Magazines …. bleh! But he DID have one of the only/couple skateboards (NOT today’s skateboards. One of those old wooden ones with metal wheels) on the street. THAT is where our parents drew the line, no skateboards for girls! (never could understand that one … I was allowed to surf with my cousin in the shark infested ocean, but no skateboards??!!??) … So my sister and I let Jimmy hang with us while we used HIS skateboard … while we teased him with that stupid song. What was he going to do? We were the only two girls on the street full of boys …
February 11th, 2008 at 12:01 am