Clove
05-23-2008, 04:56 PM
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/clinton-calls-vp-chatter-completely-untrue/
Clinton, Defending Nomination Battle, Cites R.F.K. Assassination
May 23, 2008, 2:44 pm
By Katharine Q. Seelye
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.– Senator Hillary Clinton just adamantly denied all reports that she has had any contact with Senator Barack Obama or his campaign about her exit from the race. She also referred to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 Democratic campaign as a reason she should continue to campaign.
When she denied reports of any contact with the Obama camp regarding an exit strategy, it was not clear whether she was lumping in any discussion of her joining his ticket as vice president.
“It’s flatly, completely untrue,” she said when asked by the editorial board of the Argus Leader newspaper whether reports about her working out an exit strategy with Mr. Obama were true.
She said there had been “no discussions at all,” adding: “At all. I can’t speak for the 17 million people who voted for me and
I have a lot of supporters,” she said. “It’s not anything I’m entertaining, nothing I have planned, nothing I’m prepared to engaged in.”
Mrs. Clinton’s discussion with the Argus Leader was carried live on its Web site, and she was sending a message that could reach voters way outside of South Dakota, which votes June 3.
In her discussion with the editorial board, she chalked up news accounts of any discussions between her camp and Mrs. Obama’s as “part of an ongoing effort to end this before it’s over.” She attributed those accounts to Obama supporters.
“I would look to the campaign of my opponent for the source of those stories,” she said. Asked if she meant the Obama campaign was planting them, she said, “I would think so. That’s been the pattern for quite some time now.”
She added that “people have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa,” where she came in third, behind Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards.
Asked why, she said she didn’t know. “I find it curious, because it’s unprecedented in history,” she said, referring to this push she described to get her out. “Between my opponent and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this, and historically that makes no sense. So I find it a bit of a mystery.”
Historically, she said, nomination fights have gone on longer. “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said.
Mr. Obama learned of the remark when he was traveling to a rally in South Florida. He was not expected to publicly discuss it, aides said. Instead, the campaign issued a one-line statement.
“Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.
But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said that she was simply using the Kennedy assassination as a benchmark to underscore that nomination fights can go a long time and that she was in no way implying anything else.
“She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer,” said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign. “Any reading into it beyond that is outrageous.
She was asked to speculate about why people might want her out. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t want to attribute motives or strategies to people.”
Asked if it was because she was a woman, she said she didn’t want to speculate. “I want to be judged on my own merit and I believe I am,” she said. “But others have.”
She then reassured South Dakota voters that she would still be in the race when their primary comes around on June 3.
She allowed that Mr. Obama could win, but said she would be a stronger candidate in the fall, pointing to new polls that show her beating Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, in November and Mr. McCain beating Mr. Obama.
This doesn’t mean Mr. Obama can’t win, she said, adding a caveat. “But I’m a real believer in evidence-based decision making.” She said that as the campaign has gone on, “I’ve gotten stronger and stronger.” The evidence? Since Ohio and Texas voted on March 4, she said, she has won more states, more elected delegates and more popular votes.
Besides, she added: “His delegates are from caucuses, which are not representative and are largely driven by the most activist members of our party. I have a stronger base to build on to achieve victory.” She said that if she didn’t win the nomination, she would work her heart out for “a Democratic president,” without naming Mr. Obama.
A member of the editorial board suggested that her strategy for winning rested on counting the delegates _ and popular vote _ from the disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan.
No, she said, because “neither of us has the delegates.” When someone on the board said that Mr. Obama was closer than she was, Mrs. Clinton corrected him.
He’s slightly closer,” she said, noting that the difference was less than 200 delegates out of 4,400. But both have to convince superdelegates to determine who is stronger and can win in the fall, she said.
She urged the editorial board to “look at all the evidence,” which in her view includes the map of how many electoral votes she and Mr. Obama might be able to win in the fall.
“I’m waiting to see the electoral map that leads my opponent to the 270 electoral number,” she said, referring to the number needed to be elected president. “That’s all I ask,” she said. “Show me the map. It’s the map, not the math.”
She gave no clue of what she might do after the June 3 votes, here and in Montana, if they don’t resolve anything. Polls suggest that Mr. Obama will win both states, but she is expected to win Puerto Rico, which would add a large popular vote to her overall tally.
But she hinted, as she has in recent days, that taking her fight all the way to the convention has crossed her mind.
She said she remembered other candidates “who finished a distant second” behind the nominees but still “went all the way to the convention.” And in her case, she said, she’s ahead in the popular vote (counting the disputed votes from Michigan and Florida) and fewer than 200 delegates apart. “No one has the nomination,” she said.
Clinton, Defending Nomination Battle, Cites R.F.K. Assassination
May 23, 2008, 2:44 pm
By Katharine Q. Seelye
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.– Senator Hillary Clinton just adamantly denied all reports that she has had any contact with Senator Barack Obama or his campaign about her exit from the race. She also referred to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 Democratic campaign as a reason she should continue to campaign.
When she denied reports of any contact with the Obama camp regarding an exit strategy, it was not clear whether she was lumping in any discussion of her joining his ticket as vice president.
“It’s flatly, completely untrue,” she said when asked by the editorial board of the Argus Leader newspaper whether reports about her working out an exit strategy with Mr. Obama were true.
She said there had been “no discussions at all,” adding: “At all. I can’t speak for the 17 million people who voted for me and
I have a lot of supporters,” she said. “It’s not anything I’m entertaining, nothing I have planned, nothing I’m prepared to engaged in.”
Mrs. Clinton’s discussion with the Argus Leader was carried live on its Web site, and she was sending a message that could reach voters way outside of South Dakota, which votes June 3.
In her discussion with the editorial board, she chalked up news accounts of any discussions between her camp and Mrs. Obama’s as “part of an ongoing effort to end this before it’s over.” She attributed those accounts to Obama supporters.
“I would look to the campaign of my opponent for the source of those stories,” she said. Asked if she meant the Obama campaign was planting them, she said, “I would think so. That’s been the pattern for quite some time now.”
She added that “people have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa,” where she came in third, behind Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards.
Asked why, she said she didn’t know. “I find it curious, because it’s unprecedented in history,” she said, referring to this push she described to get her out. “Between my opponent and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this, and historically that makes no sense. So I find it a bit of a mystery.”
Historically, she said, nomination fights have gone on longer. “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said.
Mr. Obama learned of the remark when he was traveling to a rally in South Florida. He was not expected to publicly discuss it, aides said. Instead, the campaign issued a one-line statement.
“Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.
But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said that she was simply using the Kennedy assassination as a benchmark to underscore that nomination fights can go a long time and that she was in no way implying anything else.
“She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer,” said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign. “Any reading into it beyond that is outrageous.
She was asked to speculate about why people might want her out. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t want to attribute motives or strategies to people.”
Asked if it was because she was a woman, she said she didn’t want to speculate. “I want to be judged on my own merit and I believe I am,” she said. “But others have.”
She then reassured South Dakota voters that she would still be in the race when their primary comes around on June 3.
She allowed that Mr. Obama could win, but said she would be a stronger candidate in the fall, pointing to new polls that show her beating Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, in November and Mr. McCain beating Mr. Obama.
This doesn’t mean Mr. Obama can’t win, she said, adding a caveat. “But I’m a real believer in evidence-based decision making.” She said that as the campaign has gone on, “I’ve gotten stronger and stronger.” The evidence? Since Ohio and Texas voted on March 4, she said, she has won more states, more elected delegates and more popular votes.
Besides, she added: “His delegates are from caucuses, which are not representative and are largely driven by the most activist members of our party. I have a stronger base to build on to achieve victory.” She said that if she didn’t win the nomination, she would work her heart out for “a Democratic president,” without naming Mr. Obama.
A member of the editorial board suggested that her strategy for winning rested on counting the delegates _ and popular vote _ from the disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan.
No, she said, because “neither of us has the delegates.” When someone on the board said that Mr. Obama was closer than she was, Mrs. Clinton corrected him.
He’s slightly closer,” she said, noting that the difference was less than 200 delegates out of 4,400. But both have to convince superdelegates to determine who is stronger and can win in the fall, she said.
She urged the editorial board to “look at all the evidence,” which in her view includes the map of how many electoral votes she and Mr. Obama might be able to win in the fall.
“I’m waiting to see the electoral map that leads my opponent to the 270 electoral number,” she said, referring to the number needed to be elected president. “That’s all I ask,” she said. “Show me the map. It’s the map, not the math.”
She gave no clue of what she might do after the June 3 votes, here and in Montana, if they don’t resolve anything. Polls suggest that Mr. Obama will win both states, but she is expected to win Puerto Rico, which would add a large popular vote to her overall tally.
But she hinted, as she has in recent days, that taking her fight all the way to the convention has crossed her mind.
She said she remembered other candidates “who finished a distant second” behind the nominees but still “went all the way to the convention.” And in her case, she said, she’s ahead in the popular vote (counting the disputed votes from Michigan and Florida) and fewer than 200 delegates apart. “No one has the nomination,” she said.