May 06, 2008
Hotline After Dark -- Lucky Sevens?
There was a lot of speculation last night about today's primaries in IN and NC.
Time's Halperin, on Barack Obama: "I think the best thing for him tomorrow is to do better than he's done with white working-class voters in both states, no matter what the overall outcome" ("Election Center," CNN, 5/5).
Washington Post's Milbank: "Whatever state surprises us will be the most valuable. Everybody is expecting North Carolina for Obama, Indiana by slightly lower margin for Clinton. If either of those things doesn't happen, that could really change the race in a substantial way. ... But if it goes the way we're expecting, I'm going to pick up my ticket to Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning and head on down there for the month" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 5/5).
FNC's O'Reilly: "I expect Hillary Clinton to win in Indiana largely because of the interview she did with me" ("O'Reilly Factor," 5/5).
Time's Carney: "I think tomorrow the Democrats roll sevens. I think Hillary Clinton wins Indiana by seven and I think Barack Obama wins North Carolina by seven. What you have then is basically status quo ante. Hillary reinforces the perception that she's strong among working class and blue collar Democrats and white voters in particular. Obama gets the win he needs in North Carolina and it's just large enough not to cause panic in his campaign" ("Race for the WH," MSNBC, 5/5).
After the jump, the gas debate continues and Dems make the TV rounds (KATHERINE LEHR).
IT'S A GAS, GAS, GAS!
There also continued to be a lot of talk about HRC's gas tax holiday proposal and Obama's opposition to it.
Time's Tumulty: "I don't think that this gas tax issue is about the gas tax at all. It's really an effort by both candidates to tell us something about themselves. On Hillary Clinton's part, it is an effort ... to portray her as a fighter, as somebody who gets down into the nitty-gritty of policy. And, for Barack Obama, this is a really important way for him to try and portray himself as a truth-teller" ("NewsHour," PBS, 5/5).
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer: "As an issue it's nothing, but it shows him as an effete, academic liberal. She loved it when he claimed all the economists agreed with [him]. She said you've got all those professors of economics; I've got the working class" ("Special Report," FNC, 5/5).
HRC supporter/NC Gov. Mike Easley (D): "I think it's a creative solution. The people want it. ... I don't think it's a gimmick, I think it's a creative solution. But it's only short-term. She's got a long-term proposal on energy" ("LKL," CNN, 5/5).
MSNBC analyst/ex-"West Wing" EP Lawrence O'Donnell: "If Hillary wins Indiana tomorrow, it will be because of this pandering, which is the wildest one in the history of Clinton pandering. There's not a single person who has asked Hillary Clinton a question about this who remembers or knows that Bill Clinton raised the
gasoline tax a nickel. So, for 15 years, everybody in Indiana has been giving Bill Clinton a nickel on every gallon and for three months Hillary Clinton is saying, 'I'm going to relax 18 cents for three months,' after
hitting you a nickel a gallon for 15 years" ("Verdict," 5/5).
CATCHING UP WITH KATIE
CBS' Katie Couric caught up with Clinton and Obama separately. Some highlights from Obama's interview:
Obama, asked where he goes if he wins NC and Clinton wins IN: "We go to West Virginia and then Kentucky and Oregon and Montana, Puerto Rico, South Dakota. We're gonna be campaigning until June 3rd."
Asked why he wouldn't win in IN: "Well, look, there's no doubt we've had a tough couple of weeks with the remarks of my former pastor and the wall-to-wall coverage on that. And as a consequence we weren't able to get out our message about investing in renewable energy and clean energy and creating millions of jobs or rebuilding the country's infrastructure or providing tuition credits for students so they can go to college."
Couric: "What will you say to those superdelegates if you don't do better among white working-class voters tomorrow? How will you convince them of your electability?"
Obama: "This issue has come up lately because it's the only argument that Senator Clinton has for winning the nomination. ... I don't think the question is going to be electablility. The question will be, who has a vision for moving this country forward and has the leadership to allow us to finally deal with the energy crisis, will allow us to finally put in place affordable universal healthcare. That's going to be the question I think superdelegates should ask because that's going to be the question voters will ask" ("Evening News," 5/5).
And some highlights from Clinton's interview:
Clinton, asked if her gas tax proposal will end up hurting her more than helping: "No, not at all. In fact, a lot of people don't understand that I'm not proposing that we don't replace the revenues that would be lost. That's Senator McCain's position. In fact, I'm saying we should make the oil companies pay the gas tax this summer out of their record profits so that we don't make the deficit bigger. ... But all across Indiana and North Carolina people are responding because they're living with it."
Couric: "Yesterday you said we should move on from Reverend Wright, but your campaign continues to raise this issue with superdelegates. So are you telling the public one thing and superdelegates something else?"
Clinton: "No, that's just not the case. Our campaign responds to questions and concerns of those that talk to us, voters. A lot of voters on rope lines raise it. I say, 'let's talk about the economy, let's talk about healthcare, let's talk about education.'"
Clinton, asked if she will stay in the game no matter what happens on 5/6: "Well, I never make predictions. We're gonna wait and see how the people of Indiana and North Carolina decide" ("Evening News," 5/5).
Clinton also stopped by CBS' "Late Show" last night to deliver the "Top Ten Reasons Hillary Clinton Loves America." See it here.
And she went on "Extra." See that here.
Posted at 09:29 AM
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