There's still fight in the ol' broad!

[Parkbandit]

LAREDO, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has raised the possibility of a challenge to Texas' primary and caucus rules just days before the contest, drawing a warning against legal action from the state's Democratic Party.

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Top strategists for Democratic rival Barack Obama said Friday they supported the party's action, suggesting the Clinton campaign was trying to block the reporting of caucus results.

Aides to Clinton said earlier this week they were alarmed at the lack of clarity about many of the caucus rules and expressed their concerns on a conference call with Obama's staff and state party officials. Texas has a two-step voting process, with a primary and then caucuses shortly after the polls close.

Specifically, Clinton aides questioned a provision allowing caucus attendees to vote to move the location if they choose to do so, and whether people who had cast so-called "provisional ballots" in the primary would have their votes counted in the caucus.

They also expressed concern about the automated phone system precinct chairs would use to call in the results of each caucus, saying the party hadn't yet trained anyone to use the system properly.

Clinton political director Guy Cecil said he asked party officials to spell out the rules in memo form and to send them to both campaigns.

"We want to see the results in writing, and we reserve the right to challenge something if we don't believe it reflects something that was discussed on the call," he said, insisting that if there were clear problems with how the caucuses were being run, "you are allowed to say something about it."

Cecil on Friday denied that the campaign planned to sue the party, which will manage roughly 8,700 caucuses Tuesday evening.

"There were no veiled threats of lawsuits of any kind," Cecil said of the conference call.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the Clinton campaign was trying to minimize the results of the caucuses. The former first lady and her team have made clear their unhappiness with caucuses, believing that they cater to the hard-core party activists who tend to support Obama. The Illinois senator has won 13 caucuses so far, while Clinton has won just two.

"This takes it to a new level, which is they don't want the people who are participating in those caucuses to have their results reported in a timely fashion. And I assume that's a very self-serving decision," Plouffe said.

Texas party officials said they believed Cecil was threatening legal action and wrote a letter to him and to Obama senior strategist Steve Hildebrand reflecting that concern.

"If it is true that litigation is imminent between one or both of your campaigns and the Texas Democratic Party, such action could prove to be a tragedy for a reinvigorated democratic process that is involving a record number of participants here in Texas and across the nation," party attorney Chad Dunn wrote. "Litigation regarding the TDP could cripple the momentum of a resurging Texas Democratic Party and ultimately the November 2008 election."

The letter also noted that many of Clinton's senior campaign advisers in Texas had helped to develop the rules governing the state's caucus system. A Texas party official also noted that former President Clinton won the state's caucuses in 1992 and 1996 following the same rules.

Texas has 193 delegates up for grabs Tuesday. Of those delegates, 126 will come from the primary, and 67 from the caucus.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_el_pr/texas_caucus_challenge


You have to admire her tenacity and competitiveness. You go girl!

[Gan]

The letter also noted that many of Clinton's senior campaign advisers in Texas had helped to develop the rules governing the state's caucus system. A Texas party official also noted that former President Clinton won the state's caucuses in 1992 and 1996 following the same rules.

I love the irony...

[Parkbandit]

That was then and this is now. I wouldn't be surprised if the rules actually give a disadvantage to women.

FIGHT ON HILLARY!

[Clove]

Goddam Rove.

[Parkbandit]

Speaking of Rove.. I think he's helping her now:

HOUSTON - A stark new Hillary Rodham Clinton ad portrays her as the leader voters want on the phone when crisis occurs in the middle of the night, "while your children are safely asleep." Barack Obama retorted that his Democratic rival already had her "red phone moment" and it helped draw the U.S. into a misbegotten war.

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The ad, with its visuals of sleeping children, prompted an immediate denunciation Friday from Obama, who said it's meant to scare people. The Obama campaign rolled out testimonials from national security supporters that the Illinois senator has the temperament and judgment for perilous times.

Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson contended the ad "speaks to what people really know in their hearts" about his candidate's experience and, by inference, her opponent's lack of it. "This is a legitimate matter for a presidential campaign," he said. "We would be derelict if we didn't raise it."

The commercial stirred waters heading into the final weekend of the campaign for Ohio and Texas presidential primaries Tuesday that could make or break Clinton's campaign.

It evoked comparisons to Lyndon Johnson's infamous "Daisy ad" against Barry Goldwater in 1964 — the safety of children in a crisis — but without the mushroom cloud image and alarmist words that prompted that ad to be pulled after one showing, and talked about ever since.

Clinton, a second-term New York senator and former first lady, is casting herself as the candidate with the years of service needed to take command on Inauguration Day.

Obama, a first-term senator, is seeking to chip away at those arguments by suggesting he would have superior judgment.

His Exhibit A: He opposed the Iraq war before it started, while she voted for it, and now wishes she could take that vote back.

To the sound of a ringing phone, the Clinton ad shows children sleeping at night and a mother checking on a child as an announcer says a phone is ringing in the White House and something has happened in the world.

"Your vote will decide who answers that call," the voice says. "Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military — someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world."

It ends with an image of Clinton on the telephone as the announcer says, "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safely asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_next_commander

[Davenshire]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/29/155558/168/352/466445


these three in order are great.

[Parkbandit]

That's awesome. I loved Bill's speech... so ironic.