Poll Shows 10-point Lead for Obama, Increasingly Negative View of Clinton

I encourage you to take the time to read this lengthy and excellent analysis of where things stand in the race for President. zjm

By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen

updated 3:55 a.m. ET, Wed., April. 16, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama holds a 10-point lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when Democrats are asked whom they would prefer to see emerge as the party's presidential nominee, but there is little public pressure to bring the long and increasingly heated contest to an end, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The fierce battle, however, appears to have taken a toll on the image of Clinton, who was once seen as the favorite. And Obama has widened his lead since early February on several key qualities that voters are looking for in a candidate and has narrowed sizable advantages for Clinton on others.

He now has a 2-to-1 edge on who is considered more electable in a general contest -- a major reversal from the last poll -- and has dramatically reduced a large Clinton lead on which of the two is the "stronger leader."

While Clinton retains a big edge over Obama on experience, public impressions of her have taken a sharply negative turn. Today, more Americans have an unfavorable view of her than at any time since The Post and ABC began asking the question, in 1992. Impressions of her husband, former president Bill Clinton, also have grown negative by a small margin.

In the new poll, 54 percent said they have an unfavorable view of Sen. Clinton, up from 40 percent a few days after she won the New Hampshire primary in early January. Her favorability rating has dropped among both Democrats and independents over the past three months, although her overall such rating among Democrats remains high. Nearly six in 10 independents now view her unfavorably.

Obama's favorability rating also has declined over the same period but remains, on balance, more positive than negative.

Debate likely to focus on 'bitter' remarks

The findings come as the two contenders prepare to meet tonight in Philadelphia for their first debate in more than a month and their final direct encounter before Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary. The exchange will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time and will air on ABC News.

A likely centerpiece of the debate will be a controversy over comments Obama made April 6 at a San Francisco fundraiser in which he described residents of economically hard-hit small towns as "bitter" and said they "cling" to guns or religion. The Clinton campaign quickly seized the opportunity to tag Obama as an elitist who is out of touch with the values of rural America.

Obama said that while he may have chosen his words poorly, he was correct in saying that many Americans in these communities are rightly angry about the failure of the government and politicians to do more to improve economic conditions in their areas. His campaign also released an ad yesterday that criticizes Clinton. The spot opens with a narrator saying: "There's a reason people are rejecting Hillary Clinton's attacks. Because the same old Washington politics won't lower the price of gas or help our struggling economy. Barack Obama will represent all Americans."

Overall, 51 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they would prefer to see Obama win the nomination and face Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the November general election; 41 percent would rather have Clinton atop the Democratic ticket. Post-ABC polling just before Clinton won the Ohio primary and the popular vote in the Texas primary on March 4 showed nearly the same results.

In hypothetical general-election matchups, Obama holds a slim, five-point lead over McCain, while McCain is three points ahead of Clinton, which is within poll's margin of error. But in the past six weeks, McCain has gained ground on each of his potential rivals.

Dems want to see a clear victory

The closeness of the primary contests and McCain's momentum are a worrisome sign to some Democratic Party officials who fear that an extended and negative contest could hurt their chances of winning back the White House and picking up seats in Congress.

But few of the Democrats polled expect such dire consequences. Two-thirds predict that the length of the battle will either not have much of an impact (50 percent) or will even help (17 percent) the party's prospects in November. A third of Democrats, however, think a long competition will carry a cost for the party. And more than a third of Democrats said they might not support the party's nominee in the fall if it is not their top choice.

Nearly six in 10 Democrats who are aligned with one of the candidates said they would prefer to see Clinton and Obama continue campaigning until one of them wins a clear victory, rather than bringing the fight to an early conclusion. And most Democrats say Clinton should stay in the race even if she comes up short in Pennsylvania: 79 percent of Clinton partisans would want her to fight on after what would be an unlikely loss, and more than a third of Obama supporters said she should stay in even if she is defeated there.

In the new Post-ABC poll, conducted just as the "bitter" controversy began, half of rural Democrats said they want Clinton to be the party's nominee, compared with 39 percent who prefer Obama. Suburban Democrats are divided about evenly between the two, and Obama has a 24-point advantage among those living in urban areas.

The latest turn in rhetoric comes alongside a perception that the Democratic race has become increasingly negative. In the past two months, the percentage of Democrats calling the contest "mostly negative" has increased 14 points, to 41 percent. While a quarter of Democrats who see the campaign as generally negative blame both sides, more than three times as many blame Clinton's team as Obama's.

Obama has a lead in this poll among pledged delegates and overall votes won in primaries and caucuses, but neither he nor Clinton is likely to amass the majority needed to win the nomination without the help of superdelegates -- elected officials and party leaders.

Those superdelegates are free to back any candidate, and many of them remain uncommitted. When asked how superdelegates should decide which candidate to support, nearly half of Democrats said they should follow the overall popular vote, while just one in eight said the number of delegates won in primaries and caucuses should be the deciding factor. Nearly four in 10 said superdelegates should choose the candidate they think is the best.

Efforts to sway superdelegates

In efforts to sway superdelegates, the Clinton campaign has seized on fiery comments by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., Obama's former pastor, whose harsh comments about the United States in past sermons generated a storm of criticism.

And while most Democrats (and 59 percent of all Americans) said Obama has already done enough to distance himself from Wright, nearly half are very (15 percent) or somewhat (32 percent) concerned that Republicans would use Wright's comments effectively against Obama in a general election.

Many Democrats are also concerned about how Obama's level of experience would play in the November contest: 43 percent said his ability to serve as president would be diminished because of a lack of seasoning. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Clinton's political style would prove an asset in the White House.

But Obama counters with significant momentum on attributes and issues, and he now has advantages over Clinton of 31 points on electability, 23 points on honesty and 21 points as the candidate who would do more to change Washington.

Democrats in the new poll are more evenly divided about which candidate better understands their problems: 46 percent said Obama, while 41 percent said Clinton.

Clinton maintains a wide advantage on experience, but her 24-point edge as the "stronger leader" has eroded substantially in the new poll, to a 49-to-44-percent margin. And Obama is now on par with Clinton on handling the economy (he trailed by 14 points in the last poll) and Iraq (Clinton had been up eight points), the top two issues for Democratic voters. Additionally, Clinton's current 10-point lead on health care is down from 28 points.

The poll was conducted by telephone April 10 to 13 among a random national sample of 1,197 adults, including 643 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points; the Democratic sample has an error margin of four points.

Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

More Good Polling News for Obama

From NBC's Mark Murray

New LA Times/Bloomberg polls for Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina are out...

Pennsylvania
Clinton 46%
Obama 41%

Indiana
Obama 40%
Clinton 35%

North Carolina
Obama 47%
Clinton 34%

Methodology: "The poll, conducted under the supervision of Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus, interviewed 623 voters in Pennsylvania, 687 in Indiana and 691 in North Carolina who expected to cast Democratic ballots. The margin of sampling error for the findings in each state is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The telephone interviews took place Thursday through Monday, meaning the bulk were conducted just as controversy broke out over an Obama remark widely criticized as demeaning rural voters in Pennsylvania."

Gallup Daily: Obama 51%, Clinton 40% - Largest Lead of the Year for Obama!

The current 11 percentage point lead is the largest for Obama this year, and marks the ninth consecutive day in which Obama has led Clinton by a statistically significant margin. The current Gallup Poll Daily tracking average is based on interviewing conducted Saturday, Sunday and Monday -- after the initial reports of Obama's controversial remarks about "bitter" small-town residents began to be reported in the news media.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Wagner Backs Obama

By The Tribune-Review Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.

Wagner, a Beechview Democrat, introduced Obama at a town hall meeting on the campus of Washington and Jefferson College. Wagner said Obama has a track record of bipartisanship that makes him most capable of bringing about changes to the economy, health care and ending the war in Iraq.

"Senator Obama has proven to us that he has the leadership to lead our country, not just out of this war, but to make sure veterans" are properly served, Wagner said at the event attended by about 300 people, including several veterans.

Wagner, a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, was awarded a Purple Heart.

Jeers and Boos for Hillary to Become Votes for Obama

Twisted Hillary

John McCain Should Go on Vacation, Hillary Clinton is Doing His Job for Him
by Arianna Huffington

Clinton supporters say the darndest things.

Here's Sen. Evan Bayh, commenting on the political firestorm surrounding Barack Obama's remarks -- broken here on HuffPost's OffTheBus -- about economically-depressed small town voters: "The far right wing has a very good track record of using things like this relentlessly against our candidates, whether it's Al Gore or John Kerry. I'm afraid this is the kind of fodder they might use to harm him."

They? They? It's not the far right wing relentlessly using these comments for political gain, Senator. It's your candidate, Hillary Clinton, adopting the frames, lies, stereotypes and destructive clichés long embraced by the likes of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. She has clearly decided that the road to victory runs through scorched earth.

The question is, if she succeeds, what kind of Party will she be left to lead? She's burning down the village to save it -- or to prove that she would make the best fire chief. But the village won't be saved; only one house will be left standing. A house with room for just two occupants. Hill and Bill.

Clinton's cynical distortion of Obama's remarks is in keeping with her campaign's modus operandi. On the foreign policy front, we've been fed a steady diet of her RNC-patented attacks: No Democrat can be trusted with national security -- except her. Obama hasn't crossed the threshold to be commander-in-chief. Etc.

Now she's turned to the domestic policy section of the RNC playbook, twisting Obama's words in a way that confirms every right-wing demagogic caricature of her own Party.

Yes, as Obama himself admits, he certainly could have chosen his words more artfully. Perhaps he should have borrowed Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign riff about "economically insecure white people who are scared to death." Maybe "scared to death" is less "elitist" than "bitter." But telling the truth, however inartfully, makes you "out of touch"? Give. Me. A. Break.

It has been an article of faith in the Democratic Party over the last twenty years that when small town, working class whites vote for Republicans they're voting against their economic self-interest. And why do they do that? Because every four years the Republican Party comes into those small towns and, to distract folks from the worsening economic situation, trots out a bunch of divisive, hot button social issues: "Let's not talk about why you don't have a job, can't afford health care, or can't send your kids to college; let's talk about gay marriage, school prayer, illegal immigration, and flag burning amendments." And Hillary is following the blueprint.

John McCain may as well take the next six months off, raise some money, maybe take a vacation -- because Hillary Clinton is out there doing his work for him.

This weekend she tried to paint herself as a good old boy, the kind of gal you'd want to have a beer with -- not like that "elitist" Barack Obama: "You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught be how to shoot when I was a little girl." After she said this, she took a shot of whiskey. What's next, ads of Obama windsurfing? At 3 a.m.

But before Hillary Oakley runs out and bags her a few more ducks, Andrew Sullivan points out that of the top ten gun-owning states in the country, Obama has won six -- Hillary has won one. Cling to that.

But, of course, this isn't about guns or religion or fear of foreigners. It's about, as David Axelrod says, the (pardon the expression) bitterness and mistrust that stem from voters being "tired of politicians who come around at election time and express their solicitude as part of a tactic and don't follow through on it."

Jumping on the GOP talking points bandwagon, Clinton's new Mark Penn, Geoff Garin said: "These are the kinds of attitudes that have created a gulf between Democrats and lots of small-town and heartland voters that we've been working very, very hard to bridge." Karl Rove, who has devoted his life to making people believe that such a gulf exists, couldn't have scripted it better himself.

If Clinton's Rovian stoop-to-anything tactics succeed -- not at beating Obama but at making him an easier target for McCain -- the price will be paid by the very small-town Americans she is now pandering to. Americans already banished to economic oblivion by the same cynical tactics she's employing will be rewarded with four more years of downward economic mobility.

'Bitter' Sweet Symphony, Day 4

Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:19 AM by Mark Murray

Obama told the Philly Inquirer that people find stability in their traditions and are vulnerable to politicians exploiting wedge issues. “‘As a wise old woman who was talking to me the other day said, “You misspoke, but you didn’t lie,”’” he said.”

The Washington Post checks in with two undecided superdelegates to get their reaction to Obama's comments. “Looking for any possible edge, the Clinton campaign has pressed uncommitted superdelegates to view Obama's remarks as a major debacle that could harm him in November. But as of yesterday evening, there was little evidence that the electability argument is resonating. “Rep. Mike Doyle (D), an undecided superdelegate who represents Pittsburgh and surrounding towns in the Monongahela Valley, said yesterday that he was not particularly troubled by Obama's comments. ‘I don't disagree with a lot of what he said. My dad was a mill worker. My grandfather was a steel mill worker, and when the steel industry collapsed, nobody's family was hurt more than mine,’ Doyle said. ‘It's not inaccurate to say a lot of politicians have come through these towns, made a lot of promises and failed to deliver. I thought he was spot-on when he said how people feel.’”

“He added that Obama's unexpected endorsement yesterday by Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney ‘carries a hell of a lot more weight’ than the blowup over his comments about small-town residents. Rep. David E. Price, an uncommitted Democrat from North Carolina, which holds its primary May 6, said his frustrations are with Clinton, for the potential damage she has inflicted. ‘Senator Obama could have chosen better words, but it seems to me that he's stating the obvious,’ Price said. ‘People are feeling a great deal of economic stress, anxiety, and there is a certain amount of anger out there… I think it's most unfortunate that opponents simply pounce, particularly opponents in his own party.’”

The LA Times: "Obama … struck back at his rivals Monday by saying that voters were tired of politicians who fanned ‘fake controversies" for their own advantage.’” More: "Obama said Monday that he would ‘never walk away from the larger point’ he was trying to make.”

“Obama argued that politicians had fostered a legacy of cynicism by continually pledging to address what he called ‘the downside of globalization’ and then going back to Washington to fight ‘over the latest distraction of the week.’”

The Boston Globe notes the irony in Obama getting caught up in the “elitist” controversy. “The irony of Obama playing into those very suspicions is that he often argues forcefully that the Democratic Party must broaden its appeal ideologically and expand its base of support beyond the coasts to build a ‘governing majority’ and bring true change to the country. Obama, who wants to prove in Pennsylvania he can draw working-class votes key to winning swing states in November, often cites his primary and caucus wins in rural red states as proof he can lead the party in that direction.”

The liberal intelligentsia (a.k.a, America's op-ed writers) seems to side with Obama. Bob Herbert: "But there is something perverse in the effort to portray Senator Obama — who has tried hard to promote a message of unity and healing — as some kind of divisive figure. He has spoken with great insight and empathy, most notably in his race speech in Philadelphia, about the anxiety and frustration of middle- and working-class Americans. In his San Francisco comments, Senator Obama fouled up when he linked frustration and bitterness over economic hard times with America’s romance with guns and embrace of religion. But, please, let’s get a grip. What we ought to be worked up about is the racism that still prevents some people from giving a candidate a fair chance because of his skin color."

The L.A. Times profiles the citizen-journalist who taped Obama at the San Fran fundraiser and wrote about it.

The San Francisco Chronicle wonders if Obama's remarks are getting more negative traction because he uttered them in liberal bastion San Francisco.

"If John McCain wants to..."

"I wasn't born into a lot of money"

'The elitists are those who ignore the realities of people who are struggling'

Earlier today we talked with Greg, a 55-year-old pastor from State College who has lived in Pennsylvania for 25 of the last 30 years. Like many Pennsylvania residents, he has witnessed first-hand the negative effects that outsourcing and economic stagnation have had on his community.

I have worked with those who have lost jobs, taken cuts in income and benefits, watched as families struggled when unemployment benefits ran out … I know the bitterness and I know the courage and the hope that people have.

For Greg, job creation is the central issue of the upcoming election. "We have seen decent paying manufacturing jobs leaving the state," he said. "The jobs that come in are in the service or retail sectors, and pay half or a third of what people were making before. People here have a strong work ethic, but some have to work two or three jobs just to keep up."

Greg believes that Barack Obama is best suited to represent the needs of working-class Pennsylvanians, and praised Obama’s candor in addressing these tough issues.

Barack’s comments resonate with those who have suffered. The elitists are those who ignore or downplay the realities of the suffering and struggles that we have endured for decades.

As a pastor, Greg identifies with Barack's moral background and appreciates his stance on faith. He praised Barack as a man of integrity, and applauded the Senator’s ability to stay on message throughout the campaign.

Greg has seen the energizing effect that the Obama campaign has imparted on the State College community. Greg served as a campus minister at Penn State for four years, and noticed a strong political apathy amongst the students there. He marveled at the Senator’s ability to draw 22,000 people — many of them students — to a recent rally in State College. He says that Obama’s presence has helped to re-energize the student body.

Greg finished by adding, “Thank you, Barack, for again serving as the voice of the people who have not been heard.”

Chris Matthews: Obama's Real Message/Two of Senator Clinton's Pennsylvania Supporters Defend Obama and Reject Hillary's Attacks

Acclaimed Writer Jane Smiley Speaks Out On Clinton Attacks on Obama : Here We Go Again!

Huffington Post | April 12, 2008

You know, I just spent seven and a half years disagreeing with the administration that has given us an unprecedented military and economic mess. I saw it coming, it came, and in some ways it was worse, and promises to get worse, than I foresaw. I the course of these seven years, I have had my patriotism questioned and demeaned fairly often. I was even put in a book, as one of a hundred people who were hurting America. When I got into this book, my relatives worried that I would get shot by some rightwing nut, even though several of them were and are rightwing nuts themselves (and they carry guns). All this time, though, I considered myself a patriot and a loyal American because I was able to see the destruction that was being wreaked upon the nation, and in particular, upon the middle and working classes, by the Republican liars and war criminals and job outsourcers and health care destroyers and army wreckers and infrastructure ignorers and media whores and agriculture blackmailers (see this month's VanityFair).

So now, Barack Obama tells the truth about conditions as we know them--that the countryside and the small towns are dying in many places in our country, and that the corporatocracy doesn't care enough to do a thing about it. He points out that immigrant-baiting, gay-baiting, gun-baiting, and religious pandering have helped to destroy those towns and that countryside, that those being destroyed have been cynically enlisted by their very own destroyers to provide the votes that help accomplish the destruction. And this is what Senator Hillary Clinton says about it: "Senator Obama's remarks were elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans."

From Senator Clinton's remarks, I infer that to actually see what has gone on in the US in the last 20 years is unAmerican. It doesn't matter who you are, where you were born, what you pay in taxes, what else you might have contributed to the culture, how you vote, who you support. If you don't support fundamentalist religion, job outsourcing, and free access to guns, then you are not even American.

I cannot believe how angry this makes me. I cannot believe that after the last seven and a half years, I can even get this angry. Yes, I know she is pandering to her audience. Yes, I know she will do anything to get elected. Yes, I know that she and Bill Clinton are corrupt to the core, and that I should have never expected anything better of her. But, please, any of you angry white women who still support this craven shill, don't mention it to me. Do me the following favor -- apologize to your children for not stopping the war that HIllary voted for, the war that is going to impoverish them. Then apologize to them for the effects of global warming that are going to make their lives hell. Then apologize to them for the school shooting they may someday see, the one where the kid gets the guns out of his father's gun case, or buys at a gunshow. Apologize to them for the meaningless wars they are going to fight and pay for. Then tell them that "American values" killed their hopes and maybe killed them. And ask them if they think it's going to be worth it.

Owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers Endorses Obama

Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,

Based on the experiences that I have had in my seventy-five years and my assessment of what I think our nation needs to make real the change that is so needed, I am proud and now feel compelled to endorse Senator Barack Obama.

This is not something that I do regularly but as I listen to the candidates in this race, I am struck that we continue to hear about the problems and the same challenges that we have been talking about for decades. Protecting jobs here in Pennsylvania, breaking our dangerous and costly addiction to foreign oil, making health care accessible and affordable – these are neither new issues nor new ideas. And yet we have failed to make real progress.

As a grandfather and a citizen of this community I think Barack Obama’s, thoughtful, strategic approach is important for America. When I hear how excited young people seem to be when they talk about this man, I believe he will do what is best for them which is to inspire them to be great Americans.

This time, we can’t afford to wait. Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership – the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign. Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country. And he has rejected the back-room politics in favor of opening government up to the people. Barack Obama is the one candidate in this race who can finally put an end to business as usual in Washington and bring about real change for Pittsburgh and the country as a whole. He has inspired me and so many other people around our country with new ideas and fresh perspectives.

True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are the underdogs. Barack Obama is the underdog here but it is with great pride that I join his team.

When I think of Barack Obama’s America I have great hope. I support his candidacy and look forward to his Presidency

Sincerely,

Daniel M. Rooney, Owner and Chairman, Pittsburgh Steelers

Senator Bob Casey Speaks Out for Obama

Quote of the Day

"Experts are suggesting that if Hillary loses Pennsylvania, she could be finished. I don't want to say Hillary's days might be numbered, but her new Secret Service code name is ‘Katie Couric.'"
- Jay Leno

Obama on the mark

Monday, April 14th 2008, 4:00 AM

Barack Obama's clumsy musings about Pennsylvanians in economically distressed small towns - "They get bitter; they cling to guns or religion" - is being touted by pundits as proof the Democratic frontrunner can't win the White House.

The critics are wrong. Obama's bluntness probably didn't win him many new friends - but the early read from the Keystone State is that voters see the flap as more right than wrong.

Two days after Obama's comments became public, he was endorsed by the Allentown Morning Call, the main paper serving the troubled Lehigh Valley. It's exactly the kind of area Obama was talking about.

Farther west, despite Clinton's deep roots in Scranton - her family has been there since the 1880s - the Scranton TimesTribune endorsed Obama, too. Two days after the "bitter" flap broke.

Federal labor statistics show just how much Pennsylvanians have to be upset about. In February, 8,200 people in the state filed new unemployment claims, the secondhighest number in the nation after California.

During December, January and February, Pennsylvania recorded more than 400 different mass layoffs.

So when Fox News sent a reporter into an Allentown diner to talk with a resident about Obama's comments, it came as no surprise that the oldtimer - who said he plans to vote for Republican John McCain - described the mood in the area as "definitely bitter."

"When I arrived here in 1961, this was a booming town, and we had at least 40 department stores, Mack Truck, Bethlehem Steel - and they've all gone by the wayside, and a lot of bitter people," he said.

Which was Obama's point. Talk has been part of his stump speech for months.

"We are not just up against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we are also struggling against our own doubts, our own fears and our own cynicism," Obama told a South Carolina crowd in January. "And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we're willing to work for it."

Obama's call for voters to look inward and change their minds and hearts isn't the kind of thing you normally hear from a politician. When it works, it carries an echo of John F. Kennedy's famous challenge to Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

When it doesn't work, Obama sounds like a scold.

But the tough talk was needed. Republicans have been winning presidential elections since 1980 by harping on culture and lifestyle issues - God, guns and gays - to persuade bluecollar Democrats to cross party lines and vote against their own economic interests. Obama is gambling that the best way to avoid defections from socalled Reagan Democrats is to address their fears headon.

And it seems there's something about the pitch that Pennsylvania voters like. Before the latest flap, polls showed Obama within 5 points of beating the favored Hillary Clinton.

Obama still isn't expected to win Pennsylvania, but finishing a close second will prove that voters, despite the media hoopla, are more interested in fixing their communities and their country - and, yes, their hearts - than they are in being sold another bill of goods about the prosperity that remains so stubbornly out of reach.

Obama finally takes on Hillary's campaign tactics: "She knows better; shame on her."

Pennsylvania Small Town and Rural Leaders Reject Clinton and McCain Attacks

Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,

We live in small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania and we support Barack Obama for President.

A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not. Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing.

What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven’t been looking out for them. He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises.

He was right.

The politicians who are now saying that we shouldn’t be frustrated are the ones who are out of touch.

People in the towns and communities we live in have seen their jobs shipped overseas. We’ve seen our pensions disappear. We’ve seen our health care costs skyrocket. We’ve seen everything from the cost of gasoline to a gallon of milk go through the roof.

As our families have struggled to make ends meet and our communities fought to stay intact, how has Washington responded? By giving tax breaks to the wealthy, rewarding corporations who ship jobs overseas, and turning the levers of power over to the lobbyists and special interests.

It’s easy to feel a little frustrated when you see these Washington politicians continue to ignore you. But it’s not the only emotion we feel. When someone comes along who is untainted by the system in Washington, who doesn’t take money from federal lobbyists or special interests and who promises that things can be different, we feel something else—hope.

That’s why we’re supporting Barack Obama. Others have come along and promised change, but failed to deliver. Sen. Obama is different than the rest. He doesn’t take money from the special interests, and he speaks honestly about the issues we are facing.

In addition to supporting his plans for jobs, health care and education, we believe that he can deliver on his promises to ensure economic opportunity for family farmers, to provide support for rural economic development, to promote renewable energy in rural America, to protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting, and to preserve open land for hunting and fishing.

Unlike his opponents who have been part of the Washington establishment for decades, Barack Obama understands the struggles we are going through. We welcomed him with open arms as he made his way through small towns and rural areas on his recent bus tour across the state. And we will work day and night from now until the primary on his behalf not only because he has heard our frustrations, but because he speaks to our hope that Washington can actually work for people like us.

Sincerely,

Ted Alter, State College

Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Bayla, Greensburg

Mayor John Brenner, York

Lloyd Casey, West Chester – President, Pennsylvania Forestry Association

Mayor John Fetterman, Braddock

Mayor Rick Gray, Lancaster

Scott Harrison, Warriors Mark

State Representative Bryan Lentz, Swarthmore

State Senator Sean Logan, Monroeville

Carl Majji, Claysville – Corporal, U.S. Army

Mayor Thomas McMahon, Reading

State Senator Bob Mellow – Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader

U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, Doylestown – U.S. Congressman (PA-08)

Perry County Commissioner Steve Naylor, New Bloomfield

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien, Dunmore

Fran Rodriquez, Lancaster

State Representative Josh Shapiro, Abington – Deputy Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Major General Walter Stewart, Berks County – Former Commander, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard

State Representative Dan Surra, St. Marys

State Representative Thomas Tangretti, Greensburg

Lackawanna County Commissioner Michael Washo, Scranton

Obama: "I’m in touch. I know exactly what’s going on...and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.”

UPDATE: I am re-posting these clips because they are more important than ever, given the foolish spin of the mass media, and the continuing unscrupulous tactics of the Clinton campaign. I've also posted a number of new items today. Please see below.

During the past couple of days both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have been running around declaring that Obama is out of touch with the American people. Obama's answer to these absurd attacks perfectly illustrates why we need Barack Obama as our next president, and why we need to rid the country of politicians like McCain and Clinton - zjm

"What we need is a government that is actually paying attention"

Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains Solid Democratic Lead

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking for April 10-12 shows Barack Obama continuing to hold a solid lead over Hillary Clinton in national Democratic voters' support for the presidential nomination, 50% to 41%.

The latest news in the campaign focuses on remarks Obama made, first reported on Friday, about working class and rural voters being "bitter" about the economy. Clinton and John McCain have seized on the remarks.

Initial indications are that the controversial remarks has not yet hurt Obama -- his 9-percentage point lead in the current results (based on March 10-12 polling) is right in line with the average 8.5-point lead he held in the prior six days' tracking results. Also, his lead in the current results shows a slight improvement from his 7-point advantage in March 9-11 polling. As the story gains momentum in the press, the coming days' tracking results will measure its ultimate impact.

The controversy comes just as Obama has established himself as the leader in Democratic voters' preferences for the nomination, holding a statistically significant lead in each of the past seven days' tracking results. Prior to that, he had only managed to hold a significant lead in as many as four consecutive days' results, doing this in late March. (To view the complete trend since Jan. 3, 2008, click here.)

Two More Pennsylvania Newspapers Endorse Obama

Obama's vision is reason to nominate him

Pennsylvania's Democratic voters on April 22 will choose between two candidates in the presidential primary. Both are qualified to become the nation's chief executive. They have more similarities than differences. But, The Morning Call recommends that Sen. Barack Obama be nominated, and we offer three reasons.

The first is the quality of his campaign. It has surprised the experts by moving him close to the finish line against bigger, more established political machines and it has communicated his basic ideas well.

The second is his message of hope and change. It conveys a vision of the nation's future that is in tune with the tenor and consensus of most Americans.

And third, and most important for the Democratic Party at this moment in history, there is Sen. Obama's ability to inspire.

The other Democratic candidate on the ballot here, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, has focused their criticism on Sen. Obama's relatively short resume. But there is nothing naive or amateurish about the campaign he has assembled. We wish he (and Sen. Clinton) had paid more attention to the Lehigh Valley, of course. It is Pennsylvania's third-biggest metropolitan area and it deserves better than one visit by him and zero by Sen. Clinton this deep into the campaign.

But, he has done a good job of building a Pennsylvania organization. It has had to climb a steep hill, given that Sen. Clinton has the biggest share of high-profile Democratic officials' endorsements. Using the Internet, e-mail and old-fashioned storefront headquarters, he continues to build a corps of supporters here. And, at least so far, his has done a better job than the Clinton campaign of keeping the campaign positive.

In fact, while both candidates are members of the same U.S. Senate, Sen. Obama is the one who has distinguished himself as the better agent for changing Washington. Remember, on the issues, the differences between the Obama and Clinton platforms are thin or non-existent. He has set himself apart by enunciating a vision of a different America, one that people recognize as resting on the nation's founding principles. His vision calls upon ''the better angels of our nature'' just as Abraham Lincoln did in 1861.

Sen. Obama offers that vision to a nation that, like President Lincoln's, is divided. It is not about to set out on a literal civil war, but Republican and Democrat, young and old, conservative and liberal have much to fight about and are at each other's throats with little provocation. Finding common ground is the key, and Sen. Obama is better able to do that than Sen. Clinton. She has become a polarizing figure, an image that stems in part from the bitter partisanship of Washington during President Bill Clinton's administration. It was not for nothing that the journalist James B. Stewart called his book about the politics of those years ''Blood Sport.'' That rancor was not primarily Hillary Clinton's fault, but it is real, it persists, and her campaign so far has not dealt effectively with quelling it.

Then, there is his ability to inspire. It starts with his unmatched oratorical skills. His speech in Philadelphia on March 18 about race in America will join the greatest speeches in this nation's history in future textbooks on that topic. The combination of his scholarship, career experience and personal style leaves listeners at first rapt and then inspired. His oratory soars because he has a desire to listen to and represent all Americans -- the ''vision thing'' as President George H.W. Bush once called it. Sen. Clinton, by contrast, too often just sounds like a partisan, and that isn't change.

Sen. Clinton has made much of her ''ability to lead'' on day one in the Oval Office. Past experience like hers is one thing, but leadership also depends on having a vision, plans to pursue that vision, and an ability to inspire others to follow. On those grounds, Sen. Barack Obama is well-suited to lead, and The Morning Call recommends his nomination in the Democratic primary.

All of the myriad issues facing the next president of the United States coalesce into a single question: Who can best lead? For Pennsylvania Democrats, the best answer in the April 22 primary is Barack Obama.

In a nomination campaign that has defied convention, Mr. Obama has energized an entire generation of voters that, for the most part, otherwise had checked out of political participation. That, at least, portends a new approach to governance that can help to dissipate the political miasma that has engulfed Washington at least since the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is an extremely talented politician who already has secured a unique place in U.S. political history. She repeatedly has proved her political death notices to be premature. She also has demonstrated that she is a master of public policy. And — this is not and should not be taken lightly in an area that prides itself on family and a tradition of supporting its own — the Rodham family has deep Scranton roots.

But Mrs. Clinton also is a political lightning rod. There is little doubt that a second Clinton presidency would further the deep divisiveness that characterizes American politics — a divisiveness that dug itself deep during the Clinton presidency, and even deeper during the Bush-Cheney years.

The first task for the next president is to get past that. And it might not be possible if the presidential cycle goes Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton.

In a sense, Mr. Obama’s clear lead in the national race itself is proof of a changing party and a changing electorate. A generation ago, it would have been inconceivable for two history-making candidates — either the first African-American or first woman to be a major-party presidential nominee — to be locked in a nomination battle this late in the game. Party leaders simply would not have allowed it, and Mr. Obama would have had to “wait his turn.”

Mr. Obama decided not to wait his turn, however, and neither have Democratic voters. Democratic registration and voter turnout have soared in most of the states where he has been in play, including in Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Clinton has dismissed much of what Mr. Obama has had to say as “just words.” But they are words that millions find inspirational. Therefore, they are words that can be translated into action.

On policy matters, there are more similarities than differences between the candidates. The real difference lies in their likely ability to build the consensus needed to realize their vision. The advantage, in that regard, clearly lies with Mr. Obama.