VIDEO: Terry McAuliffe making the case for Hillary's campaign on Meet The Press!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on May 12, 2008 - 4:42am.
Rapid Response
Hello Everyone:
Terry McAuliffe in my opinion did an excellent job on Meet The Press last Sunday of making the case for Hillary's candidacy and answering the tough questions about it!
Here is the Meet The Press video link of this interview. Terry McAuliffe is on right after Chris Dodd who was the first person interviewed:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24566231#24566231 (48:36)
Alex Wong / Getty Images for Mee
Decision 2008
Two former DNC Chairmen: Obama supporter Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe weighed in on Clinton's continuing candidacy and what it means for the Democratic Party. Plus, a political roundtable with Chris Cillizza, John Harwood, Michele Norris and Jerry Seib.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24564374/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24566231#24566231 (48:36)
Here are some of the key points about Hillary's candidacy that Terry McAuliffe made in this interview which I would agree with:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24564374/page/2/
'Meet the Press' transcript for May 11, 2008
MR. TIM RUSSERT: "Just looking at the facts, he"--Barack Obama--"the presumptive nominee." Fair?
MR. TERRY McAULIFFE: First off, no one is the nominee. Everyone needs to be clear, until someone gets the magic number of the delegates, 2209, you are not the nominee of the Democratic Party. Right now, Tim, you have seen in these contests you've had 35 million people vote. If you take everyone who pushed a button for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, 16.6 million for Hillary Clinton, 16.7 million for Barack Obama. That is a difference of 100,000 votes out of 35 million.
MR. RUSSERT: You're counting Florida and Michigan.
Mr. McAULIFFE: Sure I am, they voted. There's no question they voted, they were certified at the county level and the state level. They voted. I'm not talking about delegates. But they voted.
MR. RUSSERT: But Obama's name wasn't on the ballot in Michigan.
MR. McAULIFFE: And that was a political decision he made to pull his name off the ballot.
MR. RUSSERT: All right.
MR. McAULIFFE: Let's be clear. He was on the ballot, he took his name off to appease Iowa and New Hampshire. It was a political decision, I'm fine with that. But they voted, two and a half million people. And the Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet on the 31st to determine their status. But just remember. Who voted? A difference of 100,000 out of 35 million...
MR. McAULIFFE: Has it become an avalanche today? No. Did it become an avalanche after Tuesday, when you and others were all on the air saying it was over? No. Which should make you say something. We are now coming up to West Virginia on Tuesday. The last poll had Hillary up 43 points. She's up 40 points in Kentucky. What does it say for the candidate that you say has won the nomination that he can't win two states that Bill Clinton carried in 1992 and 1996? We lost them in 2000 and 2004. This is our point: Hillary Clinton in the general election can beat John McCain. She beats him in Florida, she beats him in Ohio, she beats him in Missouri. This is about winning the election on November 4th in helping the down-ballot races. She has won those 20 congressional districts that are key to us winning to keep the House of Representatives..."
Terry McAuliffe also discussed Hillary's electability, the primary rules, the status of Michigan and Florida, Hillary's finances, Hillary's criticism over quoting the AP article, and some other issues.
The only thing that I would disagree with Terry McAuliffe about in this interview is when he made this comment about how easy that he seems to think that Democratic Party unity will be to achieve after the Democratic nomination process is over:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24564374/page/3/
'Meet the Press' transcript for May 11, 2008
MR. RUSSERT: "Do you believe if Senator Obama's the nominee that those white ethic blue-collar voters will come back and support him?
MR. McAULIFFE: Yes. Sure. If he's the nominee. We're not there yet. But if he happened to be the nominee, we'll all be unified, Tim. This will all come together..."
I think that he was saying this because it was the politically correct thing for him to say at the moment. Terry McAuliffe in my opinion would have been in very hot water politically and he would have damaged the Clinton campaign if he went on national television and admitted to the truth of how hard that Democratic unity will be to achieve!
I definitely agree with the many polls which show that Democratic unity will be very hard to achieve after the nomination process regardless of who wins:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15327
POLLS: Democratic unity will be very hard to achieve after this primary is over!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on April 20, 2008 - 11:59pm.
Please forward this information on so that many more people will know the realistic arguments that Hillary has in her favor as opposed to their hearing many pundits in the biased media saying around the clock that this primary race is already over!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securingamerica.com/
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.
http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!
It is refreshing to hear some real "straight talk" about this very important issue. I completely agree with James Carville!
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Carville_Democrats_Divide/2008/05/06/93789.html
Carville: Democrats Deeply Divided
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 9:10 AM
By: Newsmax Staff
The battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination has created a deep divide within the party that may be difficult for the eventual winner to overcome, according to Democratic strategist James Carville.
As Carville sees it, there are two “main parts” of the Democratic Party, which he calls “Party A” and “Party B.”
Party A Democrats tend to be urban or suburban, are traditionally better educated, white, more affluent, heavily female, socially liberal and reform-oriented, Carville observes in a column for The Financial Times.
Candidates from this wing include Adlai Stevenson, Eugene McCarthy, Gary Hart, Mike Dukakis, Bill Bradley and Howard Dean.
Party B Democrats are comprised of “a more broad coalition of working class people who are generally less affluent, less educated, and look to the federal government to soften the harsher edges of capitalism,” writes Carville, who was Bill Clinton’s campaign manager for the 1992 presidential race and is now a CNN political contributor.
They tend to be either urban or rural, and include labor unions, older voters, and African-Americans.
Candidates from this part include Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Bill Clinton.
In the past, the less affluent Party B has usually won the day, Carville notes. But in the current race, Obama — whom he calls “an almost prototype Party A Democrat” — reaches into Party B’s ranks and wins the African-American vote.
Clinton — “whose message is almost exclusively Party B” — attracts a significant number of older, educated white women, who normally belong in the Party A camp, according to Carville.
The eventual nominee, therefore, will have to “bridge the fissures within the party” and also “find a way to re-embrace those racial and gender identity voters who now find themselves aligned with a new wing of the party,” says Carville.
Specifically, Carville wonders if Clinton can win the vote from African-Americans who supported Obama, and if Obama can attract older, college-educated white women who embraced Clinton.
Carville concludes that for the Democratic nominee, uniting the party “is going to be one demanding, difficult job.”
This is the first time I've heard anyone point out that people like me support Hillary in large numbers. The pro-BO media has tried to paint all female Hillary supporters as dull and unlearned, in total contrast to all the legions of brilliant, forward charging, worldly women who are for the great Barack.
And, to expand the subject a bit: I listened to Steve McMahon on a recording of Washington Journal. It was the first time I can recall disagreeing with him. He told the CSPAN host and Repub strategist Kevin McFadden, late of the Romney campaign, that the working class will come over to BO when he wins the nom. It was bad enough that he kept talking as though he already had it! He did concede that Hillary has a "small" chance. But, like so many Obamaniacs, he sounded like he was shunting Hillary aside. And to talk about Reagen Dems like they're just good little Dem lemmings who'll do what they're told--dumb! And wrong!
And, on the subject of Washington Journal, two interesting comments from callers: one man insisted that BO will be soft on crime. When pressed for any actual statement BO made, the man claimed that Obama stated that he will let all the black criminals out of prison! Now, we know he didn't say that, but it doesn't surprise me that this GA caller thinks that. It's part of the milieu that swirls around the grapevine concerning black liberals. And, concerning a matter that IS true, a woman mentioned how Ted Kennedy pushed his (truly) failing candidacy to the convention, yet he wants Hillary to drop out. The Democratic Party, if it nominates Obama, has told me in no uncertain terms that it no longer wants people like me. Though I'm highly educated, I don't belong to the brie-eating, latte-drinking class, I'm not black, and I'm not young. And I'm not a lemming that just follows orders from the DNC.
This was an excellent interview in my opinion:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/12/ldt.01.html
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
Tornado Destroys Picher, Oklahoma; 2008 Tornado Season Deadliest in Years; Massive Earthquake Hits China
Aired May 12, 2008 - 19:00 ET
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Hillary Clinton is expected to win a huge victory in tomorrow's primary in West Virginia. Her chances of winning the Democratic nomination, however, appear slim tonight, but she isn't dropping out of the race.
Joining me now from Washington, her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe.
Terry, good to have you with us.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, FMR. DEM. NATL. CMTE. CHMN.: Good to be back with you, Lou.
DOBBS: Let me start by asking, everybody says what's the point here? Let's start with, what's the point?
MCAULIFFE: The point is there are still 7 million Democrats yet to vote. We have six contests to go. We have hundreds of delegates to be chosen. Senator Obama will need the unpledged superdelegates to win. We'll need them as well and the argument is after June 3rd who has the best chance to win in the general election. Hillary has gotten 16.6 million voters. Senator Obama has 16.7 million. This thing goes on, we have six important contests. She's going to win by double digits tomorrow night.
DOBBS: Did you include Michigan and Florida there?
MCAULIFFE: I do. They voted. The delegates is a different issue. But they clearly voted, Lou.
DOBBS: Well, they clearly voted but then the fools of the Democratic National Committee wouldn't count them. So, how about this, when we get a redo in Michigan and Florida sort of unseemly for the Democratic Party to be disenfranchising voters.
MCAULIFFE: I couldn't agree with you more and Hillary offered to do a redo. We even offered to pay for it. Unfortunately, Senator Obama would not accept the challenge to do the redo. I agree. We have got to get Florida and Michigan in the mix. We've got to have them for the general election. Hillary's going to win at least three of the next six. She's going to win the three big population centers. This thing should go on. Millions of people are fighting for her and she will fight for them.
DOBBS: Another question comes, why, let me ask you this. You're the expert here.
MCAULIFFE: Yeah.
DOBBS: Why all of the discussion about when 2,025 votes are needed for a nomination, neither one can succeed with pledge delegates so it's going to be a brokered nomination no matter how you look at it because superdelegates are required to reach that number.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
DOBBS: Why not have a more deliberative and fully comprehensive approach to this. That is, the Democrats will find a comprehensive and why not include Florida, why not include Michigan and just have a good old time of it? Why rush to judgment?
MCAULIFFE: I agree. This thing is so close. The difference of 100,000 votes out of 35 million cast. Never before have we asked a potential nominee in such a close race to get out of the race. Why should Hillary Clinton get out of the race? She will win by 25 points tomorrow. She's going to win by 25 points in Kentucky. We're going to win Puerto Rico. We're close on the delegates.
DOBBS: In all due respect, we were told before by campaign officials of Senator Clinton that they're going to wrap it up by Super Tuesday, too.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
DOBBS: What in the world is going on here? It's been quite a different scenario, hasn't it?
MCAULIFFE: It certainly has. We thought after February 5th it would probably be over. It has gone on. But Lou, I make the argument this has been good for the process. Millions of Democrats have come out. Millions more voted for the Democratic candidates in our primaries and caucuses. It's good. We'll come together at the end, but let's let the voters decide, not a bunch of TV pundits who are saying it's over. Not you, you have been good. Lou, you have been very good. In fact, I am recommending a Clinton/Dobbs ticket in '08.
DOBBS: That would be, that would be spectacular. I am sure flattered, but in advance decline that the senator having to make such a choice. The idea, the idea, well, don't go backward on me, there.
MCAULIFFE: You pulled out. All right.
DOBBS: The idea that Senator Clinton is in this position, what is the scenario that takes her to the nomination in your best scenario?
MCAULIFFE: By the time we finish up the next six contests, which will be over in three weeks, she will have moved ahead in the popular vote and we believe will be within 100 delegates out of more than 4,000 chosen and then the arguments has to be, Lou, who is it that best can win the general election? Today Hillary Clinton wins Florida, Ohio, Missouri. Today in poll Kentucky has her beating John McCain in Kentucky. You win Ohio and Florida, you win the election. She is the best, her coalition of seniors, women, blue collar coming together. It's exciting, but it's up to the voters to determine, not a bunch of TV saying it's over. It's not over until someone gets the magic number to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. Everybody ought to stand down and let's let the voters decide.
DOBBS: The voters would like to decide, I'm sure, and many of them think that they are, but the idea here, too, is as you well know, Terry, Senator Obama has a lead on Senator Clinton, therefore, he is the preferred candidate, the only way to break it down further, are you suggesting because she is more popular with non-college educated white working men and women, because he is more popular with African- Americans. What are you saying is the basis for her being the better candidate?
MCAULIFFE: Because she wins, Lou, those states that we have to win in the general election. She won Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida. She won those key New Jersey, key battleground states. Senator Obama won a great of great states. Idaho, Utah. We won't win those in the general election. We have to win the basket of states in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida. Hillary won all of those pretty much with double-digit leads. She will win tomorrow in West Virginia. She's going to win in Kentucky.
DOBBS: By how much?
MCAULIFFE: I think she wins by 20 plus points and this is a state, as you know, that Bill Clinton carried twice. He won in '92 and won in '96. This is a purple state. We have to pay attention to these purple states, Lou.
DOBBS: All right. Terry McAuliffe, we thank you for being with us.
MCAULIFFE: You bet. Thank you...
so Terry McAuliffe in my opinion really had his work cut out for him during this interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklfIPBK4Zg
MSNBC's Russert: 'We Now Know Who the Nominee Will Be' (01:24)