May 14, 2008
Hotline After Dark -- Staying Alive
Hillary Clinton's big win in WV prompted a lot of discussion about what this means for Barack Obama, including his problem with white, working-class voters.
Karl Rove: "It doesn't change much of the narrative about Senator Obama's weakness. In fact, it heightens it. He has a big problem with working-class, white, blue-collar voters. He cannot break through to them. Tonight, he should be doing better than he is in West Virginia, given the fact that momentum is on his side. He is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. And for him to do as badly as he did among this key voter group tonight, you know, speaks of some real weakness in the general election."
More Rove: "I think he made a mistake by not going out tonight and having a speech. ... For the first time since this primary season began, did not go out and have a primetime event during which he could speak to the American people. ... I think that was a little bit of a tactical mistake. He missed an opportunity to lay his message out. ... It makes him look like a sore loser. ... And it also makes him look like he lacks confidence" ("On the Record," FNC, 5/13).
Obama supporter/Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA): "I think that too often the commentary in the primary has focused on how we can categorize voters. ... I think a lot it doesn't make much sense because we're talking about a primary election versus a general election. ... I think he can deliver that message without getting into categories and pitching a message to one group of Americans versus others. I think he can have a very broad based message" (MSNBC, 5/13).
Clinton comm. dir. Howard Wolfson: "A week ago, people were telling Senator Clinton to get out. Tonight, we may have a 35-point win in a key swing state. So a lot can change in even a week. ... No Democrat has been elected president without winning West Virginia since Woodrow Wilson. ... Let's see what happens when people wake up tomorrow, they open their paper, Clinton landslide in West Virginia, a key swing state, a state that Democrats must win in November against John McCain, a state that Hillary Clinton has pledged and promised to win against John McCain. ... People are going to pause. They're going to look and see what happens in the upcoming states. We're looking forward to Kentucky and Oregon and the upcoming states. We've got to do well. We think we'll do well" (CNN, 5/13).
More after the jump (KATHERINE LEHR).
MSNBC's Matthews, on Clinton: "It's almost like she's the Al Sharpton of white people" (5/13).
FNC's Hannity: "If we were starting this process over tonight. ... If we were in Iowa and the Iowa caucuses was starting tonight, and tonight everything we know about Barack Obama now, I don't think he'd have a chance of getting this nomination" ("Hannity & Colmes," 5/13).
Mike Huckabee, on what Obama has to do to win in the general: "He's got to show, if he really wants to win voters like the ones in West Virginia that he's losing tonight, that those are people that he understands. You know, people don't expect the president to solve every problem, but they would like to know that the president at least understands what the heck the problems are. And he's got to be able to demonstrate that he truly understands that a good economy trickles down, but a bad economy trickles up, which means that it hits the poorest people, hardest and it hits them first" (MSNBC, 5/13).
Obama supporter Bill Richardson: "Senator Clinton deserves a lot of credit for her victory. ... But, you know, Senator Obama won neighboring Virginia by 29 points not too long ago. So if you look at working-class whites, there are a lot in Virginia" (CNN, 5/13).
See today's Hotline for the most recent coverage from the a.m. shows.
Posted at 08:50 AM
Comments
GO HILLARY!!!! Obama has ruined the DNC, we here in VA, have all changed to independants because of it. The DNC needs to listen to voters and not the retarded superdelegates.
cher | 05.14.08 09:41 AM
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Wow...West Virginia is a swing state now? Since when?
just another dem | 05.14.08 08:12 PM
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Wow...West Virginia is a swing state now? Since when?
just another dem | 05.14.08 08:12 PM
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Clinton takes Indiana by a ‘razor’ and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.
The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive – and most likely to be decided by superdelegates
If you’re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama
If you haven't done so yet, please write a message to each of your state's superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com
Obama Supporters:
Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It's that easy...
Clinton Supporters too …. !
It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !
Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It's that easy...
feeba | 05.15.08 06:40 AM
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West Virginia is Clinton country. It is also the least educated most polluted state in the union. Don't eat the fish!
Obama currently has a 20% lead in White working
class Oregon. He won by huge margins in
White working class Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota,
Minnesota, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota.
Limbaugh's Operation Chaos ditto heads crossed over temporarily to help Clinton get more votes Texas. Obama overwhemlingly won the registered Democratic only caucus and therefore received more delegates from Texas than Clinton. Obama came very close to winning Indiana.
MrUniteUs | 05.15.08 10:56 AM
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