Monday, February 25, 2008
CAMPAIGN NEWS BRIEFING
CAMPAIGN NEWS BRIEFINGS - Feb.25, 2008
HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT NEWS BRIEFINGS - FEB. 25, 2008
Clinton Ramps Up Criticism Of Obama In Rhode Island. NBC Nightly News (2/24, lead story, 3:35, Allen, 9.87M) reported, “Hillary Clinton campaigned in Rhode Island today. A small state that votes in the shadow of Texas and Ohio on March 4th. Clinton began her day facing more speculation her campaign is on its last legs while she went after Barack Obama with sarcasm.” Sen. Hillary Clinton: “Now, I could stand up here and say let's just get everybody together. Let's get unified. The sky will open. The light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing.” Allen: “Today Hillary Clinton cast Barack Obama as naive about how difficult it is to get things done in Washington, a different tone from yesterday's outrage.”
Clinton Reassures Donors On Campaign’s Prospects. The AP (2/25, Fouhy) reports that in an attempt to “reassure anxious donors, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday outlined a road map she said she will follow to beat Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries March 4.” Clinton “insisted that her campaign is on track and moving forward, despite losing 11 contests to Obama since Feb. 5.” Clinton said, “I am very optimistic and extremely positive about what we're doing as we go forward in these states [Ohio and Texas.]”
Clinton Calls Chafee’s Criticism Of Iraq War Vote “Revisionist History.” The Providence (RI) Journal (2/25, Arsenault) reports that in a Journal interview, Clinton responded to criticisms in former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s forthcoming book that Clinton’s vote to authorize force in Iraq “should be a career-ending lapse in judgment.” “‘I’m not going to contradict his personal opinion,’ Clinton said. ‘That’s certainly his to hold. But I think there’s a lot of revisionist history going on here. At the time, it was very clear that we were hoping to rein in Saddam Hussein and determine what, if any, remaining weapons of mass destruction he had. Because the facts are, he had them when we went in after the first Gulf war.’ Clinton said she supported the threat of force to compel Saddam to accept inspections, and blames President Bush for abusing the authority extended by the resolution. ‘It was a sincere vote by me at the time, and if I had known what he would do with the vote, I would not have voted for it.’”
Granholm Defends Clinton’s Reaction To Obama Mailers. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” (2/24, 10:30 a.m.), where they were asked to address Sen. Hillary Clinton’s reaction to the release of flyers by the Obama campaign which Clinton claimed misrepresented her positions on trade agreements and health care. Granholm, who is backing Clinton, defended Clinton’s outrage, saying “I think she rightly feels so strongly about these two issues that those fliers touched on—health care and trade—that she felt she had to come out strongly.” The rest of the article can be seen here.
Clinton Criticizes Obama Over Supermarket Union Ads. The New York Sun (2/25, Gerstein) reports that the Clinton campaign “is charging Senator Obama with hypocrisy for denouncing independently funded advertising campaigns,” but that “Clinton’s own position on the appropriate role for so-called 527 organizations is murky, a fact which complicates her attempt to tarnish Mr. Obama concerning the issue.” The Sun notes that the Clinton campaign was reacting to “a plan by a supermarket union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pro-Obama television advertising in Ohio.”
Clinton Regrets Husband’s “Racially Charged” Comments. The Wall Street Journal (2/25, Chozick, 2.06M) reports Hillary Clinton “expressed regret over the weekend for racially charged comments her husband made in South Carolina that some pundits have said played a part in her campaign's recent troubles.” At the annual "State of the Black Union" symposium in New Orleans, Clinton said, “If anyone was offended by anything that was said, whether it was meant or not, or misinterpreted or not, then obviously, I regret that.”
Clinton Campaign Questions Obama’s Support For Israel. Newsweek (2/25, Hirsh, Ephron, 3.12M) reports that the Clinton campaign has “sent around negative material about Obama's relations with Israel, according to e-mails obtained by NEWSWEEK.” The e-mails “raise questions about Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor at Obama's Trinity Church in Chicago. Wright has criticized Israel, and Trumpet, a publication run by his daughter, gave an award for ‘greatness’ to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who once called Judaism a ‘bloodsucking religion."
Obama Draws “Surprising Numbers” Of Republican Voters. The Los Angeles Times (2/25, A1, Barabak, 881K) reports in a front page story on the “GOP renegades” who “are part of a striking phenomenon this campaign season: They are ‘Obamacans,’ as the senator calls them, and they are surfacing in surprising numbers, blurring the red-blue lines that color the nation's politics.” Susan Eisenhower, “a GOP business consultant and granddaughter of former President Eisenhower, has endorsed the Democratic hopeful. Colin L. Powell, who served in both Bush administrations, has hinted he may do so as well.” Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, “who quit the Republican Party after losing his reelection bid, endorsed Obama even though he campaigned for Chafee's opponent last year. Mark McKinnon, a strategist for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, says he will continue to back the Arizona senator, but will step aside rather than work against Obama if the two meet in the fall election.”
Farrakhan Praises Obama At Nation Of Islam Convention. The Chicago Tribune (2/25, Ramirez, 607K) reports that in a speech to “thousands of members of the Nation of Islam in Chicago at their annual convention, Minister Louis Farrakhan on Sunday praised presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as the only hope for healing America's racial divisions.” Farrakhan “spoke about the war in Iraq, the nation's ailing economy and the increase in natural disasters, saying the world was in a perilous state and Obama could help it recover.” The speech, “titled ‘The Gods At War—The Future is All About Y.O.U.th,’ closed the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day Convention, which commemorates the birth of the movement's founder, Wallace D. Fard Muhammad.”
Conservatives Say Obama’s Patriotism An Issue. ABC World News (2/24, story 2, 2:50, Tapper, 8.78M) reported, “If Clinton has not been able to put Obama on the defensive, Republicans are hoping to by questioning his patriotism. Making hay out of his not putting his hand over his heart last summer during the national anthem, his removal of his American flag lapel pin, and other incidents.” Obama has “said he would push back against questions of his patriotism by arguing the Republicans were the ones that took the country to war without giving troops the proper equipment. He said, quote, ‘We'll see what the American people think is the truth definition of patriotism.”
Michelle Obama Mocked For Lack Of Pride In US. In an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (2/25), Ralph R. Reiland, an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University, writes about Michelle Obama’s recent statements suggesting that she has recently become “proud of my country,” noting that during her “adult lifetime” the cold war ended, and that “could not have happened without the United States.” He adds that at the same time, the US economy made significant gains. He continues to compare Obama to Fidel Castro.
Rothenberg Asks If Obama’s “Change” Means Liberalism. In his Roll Call column (2/25), Stuart Rothenberg says Obama “continues to promise change and stress his ability to unite Americans. It’s a feel-good campaign built on soaring rhetoric and good intentions. Pardon me if all of the fawning from the national media, and the endorsements from Caroline Kennedy and Garrison Keillor, leave me less than convinced that he can bridge the deep divide that separates Americans.” In politics, “the devil is always in the details, and except in rare cases, Obama has either avoided them or, more importantly, failed to note the obvious contradictions in his message and his record.” Obama is “a wonderful speaker, and his calls for change obviously resonate with many Americans.” But “does Obama want to find common ground between Democrats and Republicans? Will he push issues and alternatives only with a national consensus? Or is ‘change’ simply a value-neutral word for liberalism?”
Obama Criticized For Backing Away From School Voucher Support. The New York Sun (2/25) editorializes, “No sooner had we issued Elizabeth Green’s dispatch under the headline ‘Obama Open to Private School Vouchers’ than his campaign was scrambling to undo the potential damage with the Democratic primary electorate,” releasing a statement reading, “Senator Obama has always been a critic of vouchers.” The Sun adds, “Parents of schoolchildren, in sharp contradistinction to teachers’ unions, will prefer Senator Obama’s initial statement to the clarification issued by his campaign. The initial statement was change you can believe in. The follow-up message was the same old interest-group Democratic Party politics as usual. It was plainly designed to assuage the teachers’ unions, who are the enemies of change.”
HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT NEWS BRIEFINGS - FEB. 25, 2008
Clinton Ramps Up Criticism Of Obama In Rhode Island. NBC Nightly News (2/24, lead story, 3:35, Allen, 9.87M) reported, “Hillary Clinton campaigned in Rhode Island today. A small state that votes in the shadow of Texas and Ohio on March 4th. Clinton began her day facing more speculation her campaign is on its last legs while she went after Barack Obama with sarcasm.” Sen. Hillary Clinton: “Now, I could stand up here and say let's just get everybody together. Let's get unified. The sky will open. The light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing.” Allen: “Today Hillary Clinton cast Barack Obama as naive about how difficult it is to get things done in Washington, a different tone from yesterday's outrage.”
Clinton Reassures Donors On Campaign’s Prospects. The AP (2/25, Fouhy) reports that in an attempt to “reassure anxious donors, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday outlined a road map she said she will follow to beat Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries March 4.” Clinton “insisted that her campaign is on track and moving forward, despite losing 11 contests to Obama since Feb. 5.” Clinton said, “I am very optimistic and extremely positive about what we're doing as we go forward in these states [Ohio and Texas.]”
Clinton Calls Chafee’s Criticism Of Iraq War Vote “Revisionist History.” The Providence (RI) Journal (2/25, Arsenault) reports that in a Journal interview, Clinton responded to criticisms in former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s forthcoming book that Clinton’s vote to authorize force in Iraq “should be a career-ending lapse in judgment.” “‘I’m not going to contradict his personal opinion,’ Clinton said. ‘That’s certainly his to hold. But I think there’s a lot of revisionist history going on here. At the time, it was very clear that we were hoping to rein in Saddam Hussein and determine what, if any, remaining weapons of mass destruction he had. Because the facts are, he had them when we went in after the first Gulf war.’ Clinton said she supported the threat of force to compel Saddam to accept inspections, and blames President Bush for abusing the authority extended by the resolution. ‘It was a sincere vote by me at the time, and if I had known what he would do with the vote, I would not have voted for it.’”
Granholm Defends Clinton’s Reaction To Obama Mailers. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” (2/24, 10:30 a.m.), where they were asked to address Sen. Hillary Clinton’s reaction to the release of flyers by the Obama campaign which Clinton claimed misrepresented her positions on trade agreements and health care. Granholm, who is backing Clinton, defended Clinton’s outrage, saying “I think she rightly feels so strongly about these two issues that those fliers touched on—health care and trade—that she felt she had to come out strongly.” The rest of the article can be seen here.
Clinton Criticizes Obama Over Supermarket Union Ads. The New York Sun (2/25, Gerstein) reports that the Clinton campaign “is charging Senator Obama with hypocrisy for denouncing independently funded advertising campaigns,” but that “Clinton’s own position on the appropriate role for so-called 527 organizations is murky, a fact which complicates her attempt to tarnish Mr. Obama concerning the issue.” The Sun notes that the Clinton campaign was reacting to “a plan by a supermarket union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pro-Obama television advertising in Ohio.”
Clinton Regrets Husband’s “Racially Charged” Comments. The Wall Street Journal (2/25, Chozick, 2.06M) reports Hillary Clinton “expressed regret over the weekend for racially charged comments her husband made in South Carolina that some pundits have said played a part in her campaign's recent troubles.” At the annual "State of the Black Union" symposium in New Orleans, Clinton said, “If anyone was offended by anything that was said, whether it was meant or not, or misinterpreted or not, then obviously, I regret that.”
Clinton Campaign Questions Obama’s Support For Israel. Newsweek (2/25, Hirsh, Ephron, 3.12M) reports that the Clinton campaign has “sent around negative material about Obama's relations with Israel, according to e-mails obtained by NEWSWEEK.” The e-mails “raise questions about Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor at Obama's Trinity Church in Chicago. Wright has criticized Israel, and Trumpet, a publication run by his daughter, gave an award for ‘greatness’ to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who once called Judaism a ‘bloodsucking religion."
Obama Draws “Surprising Numbers” Of Republican Voters. The Los Angeles Times (2/25, A1, Barabak, 881K) reports in a front page story on the “GOP renegades” who “are part of a striking phenomenon this campaign season: They are ‘Obamacans,’ as the senator calls them, and they are surfacing in surprising numbers, blurring the red-blue lines that color the nation's politics.” Susan Eisenhower, “a GOP business consultant and granddaughter of former President Eisenhower, has endorsed the Democratic hopeful. Colin L. Powell, who served in both Bush administrations, has hinted he may do so as well.” Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, “who quit the Republican Party after losing his reelection bid, endorsed Obama even though he campaigned for Chafee's opponent last year. Mark McKinnon, a strategist for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, says he will continue to back the Arizona senator, but will step aside rather than work against Obama if the two meet in the fall election.”
Farrakhan Praises Obama At Nation Of Islam Convention. The Chicago Tribune (2/25, Ramirez, 607K) reports that in a speech to “thousands of members of the Nation of Islam in Chicago at their annual convention, Minister Louis Farrakhan on Sunday praised presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as the only hope for healing America's racial divisions.” Farrakhan “spoke about the war in Iraq, the nation's ailing economy and the increase in natural disasters, saying the world was in a perilous state and Obama could help it recover.” The speech, “titled ‘The Gods At War—The Future is All About Y.O.U.th,’ closed the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day Convention, which commemorates the birth of the movement's founder, Wallace D. Fard Muhammad.”
Conservatives Say Obama’s Patriotism An Issue. ABC World News (2/24, story 2, 2:50, Tapper, 8.78M) reported, “If Clinton has not been able to put Obama on the defensive, Republicans are hoping to by questioning his patriotism. Making hay out of his not putting his hand over his heart last summer during the national anthem, his removal of his American flag lapel pin, and other incidents.” Obama has “said he would push back against questions of his patriotism by arguing the Republicans were the ones that took the country to war without giving troops the proper equipment. He said, quote, ‘We'll see what the American people think is the truth definition of patriotism.”
Michelle Obama Mocked For Lack Of Pride In US. In an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (2/25), Ralph R. Reiland, an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University, writes about Michelle Obama’s recent statements suggesting that she has recently become “proud of my country,” noting that during her “adult lifetime” the cold war ended, and that “could not have happened without the United States.” He adds that at the same time, the US economy made significant gains. He continues to compare Obama to Fidel Castro.
Rothenberg Asks If Obama’s “Change” Means Liberalism. In his Roll Call column (2/25), Stuart Rothenberg says Obama “continues to promise change and stress his ability to unite Americans. It’s a feel-good campaign built on soaring rhetoric and good intentions. Pardon me if all of the fawning from the national media, and the endorsements from Caroline Kennedy and Garrison Keillor, leave me less than convinced that he can bridge the deep divide that separates Americans.” In politics, “the devil is always in the details, and except in rare cases, Obama has either avoided them or, more importantly, failed to note the obvious contradictions in his message and his record.” Obama is “a wonderful speaker, and his calls for change obviously resonate with many Americans.” But “does Obama want to find common ground between Democrats and Republicans? Will he push issues and alternatives only with a national consensus? Or is ‘change’ simply a value-neutral word for liberalism?”
Obama Criticized For Backing Away From School Voucher Support. The New York Sun (2/25) editorializes, “No sooner had we issued Elizabeth Green’s dispatch under the headline ‘Obama Open to Private School Vouchers’ than his campaign was scrambling to undo the potential damage with the Democratic primary electorate,” releasing a statement reading, “Senator Obama has always been a critic of vouchers.” The Sun adds, “Parents of schoolchildren, in sharp contradistinction to teachers’ unions, will prefer Senator Obama’s initial statement to the clarification issued by his campaign. The initial statement was change you can believe in. The follow-up message was the same old interest-group Democratic Party politics as usual. It was plainly designed to assuage the teachers’ unions, who are the enemies of change.”
Experience v. Inspiration
"When I fly in an airplane I want the pilot with the most experience, not the one who can inspire hope in me that I get to where I am going. When I pay my taxes, I want the person filing them to be experienced, not the new person who inspires hope in me that he can do the job. When I hire someone to fix my washing machine, I want the tried and true experienced person, not the one who inspires me to hope that he can fix it. When I go to the doctor I do not want to get the one who inspires hope in me that s/he can cure what's wrong, but the one who knows what the hell to do the minute I call. It's not really the job of a public servant to inspire, but to get the job that the people demand done. The democrats think that if they have hope and are inspired things will get better, but they actually won't. When Oprah makes her employees sign her fifty page non-disclosure statement, she doesn't "hope" they can't break it, she pays teams of experienced lawyers to MAKE SURE they can't break it, or be sued in an experienced court by an experienced judge."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roseanne-barr/experience-vs-inspiratio_b_87982.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roseanne-barr/experience-vs-inspiratio_b_87982.html
Clinton to Obama: 'Shame on you'
A visibly angry Sen. Hillary Clinton lashed out Saturday at Sen. Barack Obama over campaign literature that she said he knows is "blatantly false.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BGP-EJQPd8
--
“Today in the crowd I was given two mailings that Sen. Obama’s campaign has been sending out. … I have to express my deep disappointment that he has continuing to send false and discredited mailing with information that is not true to the voters of Ohio”.
“We have consistently called him on it. It has been discredited. It is blatantly false, and yet he continues to spend millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods”.
“Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove’s playbook” . “This is wrong and every Democrat should be outraged.”
“He says one thing in speeches and then he turns around and does this,”
“That is not the new politics that the speeches are about. It is not hopeful, it is destructive particularly for a Democrat to be discrediting universal health care by waging a false campaign against my plan, to be talking about NAFTA in a way that tries to make him appear to have a plan when he does not.”
“It is the worst kind of politics. Number one, it is wrong and untrue, and number two, it is exactly the talking points that the health insurance industry and the Republicans use on a daily basis.
“Sen. Obama knows that it is not true that my plan forces people to buy insurance even if the can’t afford it. … My plan has more financial help my plan has been evaluated by independent experts as actually achieving universal coverage and providing the financial assistance so everyone can have health care.
“This mailing about NAFTA saying that I believe NAFTA was a ‘boon’ quoted a newspaper [Newsday] that has corrected the record. We have pointed it out, the newspaper has pointed it out. Time and time again you hear one thing in speeches and then you see a campaign that has the worst kind of tactics reminiscent of the same sort of Republican attacks on Democrats.
“Well, I am here to say that it is not only wrong, but it is undermining core Democratic principles. Since when do Democrats attack one another on universal health care?”
“This is the kind of attack that not only undermines core Democratic values, but gives aid and comfort to the very special interests and their allies in the Republican party,”
“Shame on you Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public, that’s what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio, and lets have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BGP-EJQPd8
--
“Today in the crowd I was given two mailings that Sen. Obama’s campaign has been sending out. … I have to express my deep disappointment that he has continuing to send false and discredited mailing with information that is not true to the voters of Ohio”.
“We have consistently called him on it. It has been discredited. It is blatantly false, and yet he continues to spend millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods”.
“Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove’s playbook” . “This is wrong and every Democrat should be outraged.”
“He says one thing in speeches and then he turns around and does this,”
“That is not the new politics that the speeches are about. It is not hopeful, it is destructive particularly for a Democrat to be discrediting universal health care by waging a false campaign against my plan, to be talking about NAFTA in a way that tries to make him appear to have a plan when he does not.”
“It is the worst kind of politics. Number one, it is wrong and untrue, and number two, it is exactly the talking points that the health insurance industry and the Republicans use on a daily basis.
“Sen. Obama knows that it is not true that my plan forces people to buy insurance even if the can’t afford it. … My plan has more financial help my plan has been evaluated by independent experts as actually achieving universal coverage and providing the financial assistance so everyone can have health care.
“This mailing about NAFTA saying that I believe NAFTA was a ‘boon’ quoted a newspaper [Newsday] that has corrected the record. We have pointed it out, the newspaper has pointed it out. Time and time again you hear one thing in speeches and then you see a campaign that has the worst kind of tactics reminiscent of the same sort of Republican attacks on Democrats.
“Well, I am here to say that it is not only wrong, but it is undermining core Democratic principles. Since when do Democrats attack one another on universal health care?”
“This is the kind of attack that not only undermines core Democratic values, but gives aid and comfort to the very special interests and their allies in the Republican party,”
“Shame on you Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public, that’s what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio, and lets have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.”
Daily Texan Endorsement: Time to clean house
As voters, we're often torn between our hearts and our minds when making crucial decisions concerning the welfare of the country. This endorsement is no different.
In the past year, we have been entranced by the powerful timbre of Barack Obama's voice. We have felt our hearts soar with each progressive idea he has put forth, especially his call for youth action and enrollment in public service programs. But we do not think he is the wisest choice for president. George W. Bush has made a mess of America, and we believe Hillary Clinton is the best person to clean it up. She is prepared and willing to be a leader who is "a lot less hat and a lot more cattle," as she stated during Thursday night's debate.
Clinton is a seasoned politician, and some argue that works against her. But Bush has been wildly successful in destroying every positive function of the machine that is Washington, D.C., and Clinton has the political tools and knowledge to fix it.
We have admired the consistent integrity of Obama's campaign. He is everything a politician shouldn't be, meaning that we think he is a good human being. To truly be a leader we can look up to, Clinton should learn from her refined opponent's style.
But during Thursday's debate, Obama made a major gaffe in incorrectly stating that he had received endorsements from every major newspaper in Texas. We may not be considered a "major" paper to many, but we represent a crucial constituency of close to 50,000 young and enthusiastic voters, and we've been scrutinizing every move of the candidates leading up to today's endorsement. Sure, Obama took many under his spell when he graced our city with his presence early in his campaign, but we think he prematurely considered his work in Austin done.
We've taken into account our communication with each campaign as an indication of how each candidate's government would function. Upon finding out the debate would not be open to students, Obama's campaign told us there was nothing they could do to get more students into the debate, whereas the Clinton camp was sympathetic in offering assistance. This makes us wonder how far Obama would go for us as president.
The youth vote, especially here in Texas, is extremely important to both candidates. As Texas, Austin and UT have all entered the limelight as major players in the nomination process, we have been confused by Obama's relative absence from the home of such an important, excited and loyal constituency.
Clinton, while not as dazzling as her opponent, has asserted her presence to us. She has pledged to restore government support to college students by increasing the availability of Stafford Loans and Pell Grants. Her outline for a universal health care system is thorough and sound, while Obama unfairly exploits the resounding term "universal" in terms of his plan, which is voluntary and wouldn't actually serve America in its entirety (like Social Security, policy can only be universal if it is mandatory). Furthermore, Clinton's plans for Iraq ensure a gradual transition to stability for the Middle East.
Clinton's abrasiveness, while somewhat off-putting, is essential in scrubbing our country clean of the grime the current administration has let build up. And by promising that the clean-up will begin in full effect on day one of her presidency, she's proved to us over and over again that she's ready, even excited, to get her hands dirty. Meanwhile, Obama's curent focus is geared toward winning the nomination, and we need more than hope and rhetoric to be reassured that the critical transition to come with the next presidency will be handled safely.
We live each day in anticipation of Democratic leadership for this country. But considering the current state of America, now is not the time for radical change.
We'd like to see Obama and Clinton work together in achieving the many goals they share. Obama has our confident vote in four (or eight) years' time. But for now, we can't risk trusting the judgment of our hearts. Logically, Hillary Clinton should be the next president of the United States. Under her leadership, we can return to being the great country we once were
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2008/02/22/Opinion/Endorsement.Time.To.Clean.House-3228848.shtml
In the past year, we have been entranced by the powerful timbre of Barack Obama's voice. We have felt our hearts soar with each progressive idea he has put forth, especially his call for youth action and enrollment in public service programs. But we do not think he is the wisest choice for president. George W. Bush has made a mess of America, and we believe Hillary Clinton is the best person to clean it up. She is prepared and willing to be a leader who is "a lot less hat and a lot more cattle," as she stated during Thursday night's debate.
Clinton is a seasoned politician, and some argue that works against her. But Bush has been wildly successful in destroying every positive function of the machine that is Washington, D.C., and Clinton has the political tools and knowledge to fix it.
We have admired the consistent integrity of Obama's campaign. He is everything a politician shouldn't be, meaning that we think he is a good human being. To truly be a leader we can look up to, Clinton should learn from her refined opponent's style.
But during Thursday's debate, Obama made a major gaffe in incorrectly stating that he had received endorsements from every major newspaper in Texas. We may not be considered a "major" paper to many, but we represent a crucial constituency of close to 50,000 young and enthusiastic voters, and we've been scrutinizing every move of the candidates leading up to today's endorsement. Sure, Obama took many under his spell when he graced our city with his presence early in his campaign, but we think he prematurely considered his work in Austin done.
We've taken into account our communication with each campaign as an indication of how each candidate's government would function. Upon finding out the debate would not be open to students, Obama's campaign told us there was nothing they could do to get more students into the debate, whereas the Clinton camp was sympathetic in offering assistance. This makes us wonder how far Obama would go for us as president.
The youth vote, especially here in Texas, is extremely important to both candidates. As Texas, Austin and UT have all entered the limelight as major players in the nomination process, we have been confused by Obama's relative absence from the home of such an important, excited and loyal constituency.
Clinton, while not as dazzling as her opponent, has asserted her presence to us. She has pledged to restore government support to college students by increasing the availability of Stafford Loans and Pell Grants. Her outline for a universal health care system is thorough and sound, while Obama unfairly exploits the resounding term "universal" in terms of his plan, which is voluntary and wouldn't actually serve America in its entirety (like Social Security, policy can only be universal if it is mandatory). Furthermore, Clinton's plans for Iraq ensure a gradual transition to stability for the Middle East.
Clinton's abrasiveness, while somewhat off-putting, is essential in scrubbing our country clean of the grime the current administration has let build up. And by promising that the clean-up will begin in full effect on day one of her presidency, she's proved to us over and over again that she's ready, even excited, to get her hands dirty. Meanwhile, Obama's curent focus is geared toward winning the nomination, and we need more than hope and rhetoric to be reassured that the critical transition to come with the next presidency will be handled safely.
We live each day in anticipation of Democratic leadership for this country. But considering the current state of America, now is not the time for radical change.
We'd like to see Obama and Clinton work together in achieving the many goals they share. Obama has our confident vote in four (or eight) years' time. But for now, we can't risk trusting the judgment of our hearts. Logically, Hillary Clinton should be the next president of the United States. Under her leadership, we can return to being the great country we once were
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2008/02/22/Opinion/Endorsement.Time.To.Clean.House-3228848.shtml
Won't Back Down
Well I wont back down, no I wont back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I wont back down
Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around
And Ill keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down
Hey baby, there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down.
Well I know whats right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But Ill stand my ground and I wont back down
Hey baby there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down
No, I wont back down
Deliver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjDKOqI-0lw (It's very Texas!)
Resolved: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAyvHL2m6Tc
Proud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmnmDkG_-cI (featuring John Glenn airing in Ohio)
Level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS1u-d6aqsk
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I wont back down
Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around
And Ill keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down
Hey baby, there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down.
Well I know whats right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But Ill stand my ground and I wont back down
Hey baby there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down
No, I wont back down
Deliver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjDKOqI-0lw (It's very Texas!)
Resolved: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAyvHL2m6Tc
Proud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmnmDkG_-cI (featuring John Glenn airing in Ohio)
Level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS1u-d6aqsk
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