Subject: Hillary For President News Briefing for Wednesday, February 27, 2008
From: "Bulletin News Network" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: 27 Feb 2008 06:32:53 -0500

HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT NEWS BRIEFING (Executive Version)
Full version is attached and available online at http://www.bulletinnews.com/clinton

TO: CLINTON CAMPAIGN

DATE: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 6:30 AM EST

TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEN. CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN:

+ Clinton, Obama Debate Trade, Healthcare In Cleveland.

+ Both Democrats Court Youngstown's Blue Collar Voters.

+ Complicated Texas Process Said To Hurt Clinton's Chances.

+ Clinton, Obama Both Said To Have Given Mixed Signals On NAFTA.

+ Clinton Superdelegates Rejecting Calls To Defect.

+ Bill Clinton Takes Lower Profile Role In Wife's Campaign.

+ Obama Downplays Dust-Up Over Photo.

+ McCain Leads Both Obama And Clinton In LATimes/Bloomberg Poll.

+ Dodd Endorses Obama.

+ Obama Speech At Church's National Meeting Draws IRS Scrutiny.

Sen. Clinton's Campaign:

CLINTON, OBAMA DEBATE TRADE, HEALTHCARE IN CLEVELAND. In the twentieth debate of the Democratic primary campaign, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off over healthcare and trade at Cleveland State University. Media reports characterized Clinton as the aggressor, attempting to portray Obama as a negative campaigner and questioning his healthcare plan. However, the media consensus is that Clinton's jabs failed to rattle Obama, who is said to have remained calm and collected. According to most analyses, neither candidate gained a significant edge during the forum, and the tie was seen as benefiting Obama.

The New York Times (2/27, Nagourney, 1.18M) reports Clinton "entered the final debate before Tuesday's critical primaries with two imperative goals: Challenge Senator Barack Obama's qualifications to lead the country and raise doubts about his ability to defeat a Republican opponent as experienced as Senator John McCain." For "most of 90 minutes, Mrs. Clinton grabbed at every opportunity to accomplish those goals." But by "the end of the night, there was little evidence that Mrs. Clinton had produced the kind of ground-moving moment she needed that might shift the course of a campaign that polls suggest has been moving inexorably in Mr. Obama's direction for weeks."

In a similar analysis piece, the Los Angeles Times (2/27, Braun, 881K) calls the debate a "nudge match," noting that it was "billed as" Clinton's "last chance to revive her flagging campaign, and she gave it her best shot." With "a week left to go before the critical primary votes in Ohio and Texas, Clinton had to do more than chip away at Obama. To shake up her faltering campaign, she needed to shake him up." Clinton "nudged him about his healthcare coverage. She questioned his judgment on backing unilateral raids on Al Qaeda in Pakistan. She even tried a subtle new tack to spin her controversial vote approving the invasion of Iraq by suggesting that Obama's opposition had come without consequences because he was not in federal public office." Yet "judging from Obama's unruffled composure and measured responses through much of the debate, that moment of truth never came." Obama was "playing out the clock, and while he did not walk away unscathed from the debate, the damage Clinton inflicted was minor."

The Washington Times (2/27, Miller, Bellantoni, 87K) reports Obama "weathered some 'glancing blows' as his rival and moderators challenged his experience in last night's debate, but he emerged relatively unscathed." Clinton had "been expected to unload a barrage of attacks on Mr. Obama, and even top Obama advisers conceded that the New York senator landed several blows last night, keeping the new Democratic front-runner on the defensive." However, Clinton "mispronounced the name of Vladimir Putin's presumptive successor as Russian president, smiling and saying 'whatever' after she had trouble with First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's last name, reminiscent of George W. Bush's bungling foreign leaders' names as a candidate in 2000."

The Hill (2/27, Youngman) reports neither Clinton nor Obama "appeared to score huge political blows, which works to the frontrunner Obama's political advantage." Both candidates "jumped out of the gate criticizing one another for their campaign tactics, with Clinton taking exception to Obama's mailers and phone calls attacking the former first lady's stance on" NAFTA. Obama "responded in kind, saying that Clinton's campaign had long engaged in circulating campaign literature that incorrectly described his healthcare plan."

The Los Angeles Times (2/27, Barabak, Decker, 881K) reports "an aggrieved" Clinton "accused Barack Obama of distorting her record and called into question the fairness of tonight's forum by challenging the order of questioning in their nationally televised debate. Obama responded by defending the accuracy of his criticisms, and some in the audience jeered when Clinton cried foul." The "opening half-hour was dominated by two subjects that have consumed the most attention in the last few days: the candidates' approach to healthcare and their views, past and present, on the North American Free Trade Agreement."

The Washington Post (2/27, A1, Kornblut, 723K) reports in a front page story that Clinton and Obama "traded accusations over campaign tactics and engaged in a detailed dissection of their rival health-care plans in the opening moments of a critical debate." Clinton used "the opening moments of the debate" to "delve into health care, repeating her assertion that Obama's plan would leave 15 million people uncovered. She interrupted Obama and the debate moderators repeatedly to press her points and complained briefly that she had been repeatedly subjected to the toughest questioning in this and previous debates." Though "attention was expected to focus on Clinton as she waged a battle to keep her campaign alive, Obama did not shy away from pushing back -- saying that she had been misrepresenting his health-care plan throughout the race in mailings and ads that he said were 'simply not accurate.'"

The AP (2/27, Espo) reports Clinton and Obama "blamed each other for spreading false information about their respective health care plans Tuesday night in a high stakes debate one week before a quartet of primaries." The tone was "pointed yet polite in the early moments of the 90-minute encounter."

Hurt Says "Presidential" Obama Was Debate Winner. In his New York Post (2/27, 648K) column, Charles Hurt writes, "Devoid of any real fireworks, last night's debate was a victory for Barack Obama," who "was confident, gracious and even presidential. Perhaps more than in any of the other 19 Democratic primary debates that have come before, it was possible to imagine Obama sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office."

Halperin Assigns Obama "B+" For Debate Performance; Clinton Earns "B-." On the website of TIME (2/27, 4.03M), Mark Halperin grades the candidates' performances in last night's debate. Halperin assigns Obama an overall mark of B+, saying, "Avoided lofty rhetoric and focused on presenting himself as cool, deliberative and substantive. Well prepared and focused, he was also clearly bolstered by well-stoked confidence and what he sees as his looming, shiny victory. More than survived - even thrived at times - in what could be his final debate with Hillary Clinton."

Halperin gives Clinton an overall grade of B-, saying, "A performance that would have been adequate were she not struggling to stay in the game. Her conviction that the media is biased against her seemed to throw her off throughout, and she was too distracted by her frustration with Obama and the press to truly shine. Occasionally got caught up in jargon and Washington-speak but still delivered some detailed and decisive moments. Overall, veered between strong and effective, shrill and affronted."

Debate Seen As Ending In Draw. In an analysis published by Newsweek, the AP (2/27, Pickler) reports that the debate "seemed unlikely to alter the political calculus of the race," noting that many of their policy positions were similar, and that despite a series of "sometimes testy exchanges,...Neither one seemed to knock the other off stride." The piece continues to suggest that Clinton's reference to the "Saturday Night Live" skit about the media favoring Obama "might have undercut Clinton's own efforts to portray herself as a strong leader able to take on a range of challenges."

In an analysis on the website of Newsweek (2/26, 3.12M), Howard Fineman writes that Obama "fought Sen. Hillary Clinton to a draw. ... Bottom line, on my scorecard: a tie at best, and certainly not enough of a win for Clinton to change the dynamics of the nomination contest, which Obama is poised to lock up."

In a posting on "The Fix" blog on the website of the Washington Post (2/26, 723K), Chris Cillizza related, "Neither candidate scored a knockout or even a knockdown. That's probably good news for Obama, who came into the debate on a roll and simply wanted to make it through the night without breaking that momentum. Clinton dominated much of the debate -- for good or bad."

In a "First Read" report on the website of MSNBC (2/26), political analyst Chuck Todd related, "Overall, it's hard to see this debate as changing the trajectory of this race; Obama was a bit more defensive tonight than last week and had more stumbles tonight than in more recent encounters."

In an analysis headlined "Clinton fails to slow down Obama," columnist Lynn Sweet writes in the Chicago Sun-Times (2/27) that "Clinton, try as she did Tuesday night, could not throw" Obama "off the course he is on to win the Democratic nomination."

In his Philadelphia Daily News (2/27, 107K) column, John Baer says that in last night's debate, Clinton "gave Democratic voters no solid, concrete reason why not to vote for Obama." Calling "Clinton's overall effort was scattered, ill-focused," Baer adds, "And the thing is? I don't think it's her. I don't think she's done much wrong."

BOTH DEMOCRATS COURT YOUNGSTOWN'S BLUE COLLAR VOTERS. The New York Times (2/27, Jacobs, 1.18M) reports the Clinton and Obama campaigns "are aware that winning the affection of Youngstown's lunch-bucket voters and the party faithful can make all the difference in taking Ohio, a swing state whose delegates almost always wind up in the pocket of the candidate who takes the White House." Although they "listen to such speeches with a jaundiced eye - and a good number dismiss such talk as little more than pandering - many Youngstown residents say are excited by pledges that speak to their anxieties. If there is any unanimity among voters here, it is that the Bush administration has fueled Youngstown's downward spiral by somehow encouraging corporate investment overseas." But for "every optimist here there are two or three hard-bitten cynics who dismiss the pledges and resent the politicians for using Youngstown as a showcase for economic distress. They remember the day Bill Clinton rode into town promising a Pentagon payroll processing center with room for 7,000 workers (it went elsewhere) and the time John Kerry set up his dais in front of a boarded-up building so the cameras would show Youngstown's ugly rump even though there was a new state office complex on the other side of the street."

The CBS Evening News (2/26, story 3, 2:45, Greenfield, 7.66M) reported, "For all the heated charges of dirty tricks in the pre-debate runup, when it comes to the number-one issue in Ohio, the contenders sound very much the same." Sen. Sherrod Brown, "who won his seat in 2006 with a strong attack on trade deals like NAFTA." Brown: "I mean, it really is the same old story. Laying off American workers, investment companies coming in from Wall Street, buying the plant, not living up to all their obligations to the workers, moving the plant overseas, shutting the plant down." Greenfield: "Like communities all over Ohio, Tiffin has seen a once- thriving working class devastated by the loss of jobs that have seemingly vanished from the face of the earth, only to reappear on the other side of the earth. And it is that issue more than any other that Ohio Democrats want their candidates for president to address."

Clinton, Obama Increase Criticism Of China. The Wall Street Journal (2/27, A10, Timiraos, 2.06M) reports, "As the debate between the Democratic candidates shifts focus to the economy and trade, China is emerging as their chief foreign bogeyman." Both Clinton and Obama "have heightened their antitrade, populist rhetoric as they fight for blue-collar votes in Ohio ahead of the state's March 4 primary." Both candidates also "have railed against safety lapses that resulted in product recalls of lead paint covered toys and tainted pet food." Obama "has gone one step further, criticizing President Clinton's administration for acceding to lax safety standards when the U.S. conferred permanent normal trade relations on China in 2000."

Bill Clinton Says Wife Will Win Ohio. On NBC Nightly News (2/26, story 3, 1:35,, 9.87M) Tim Russert said, "Two weeks ago" Bill Clinton said if Hillary Clinton "doesn't win Ohio and Texas she probably can't be the nominee. Today he raised the bar as high as you can get it. He said she is going to win Ohio. That is a very big mountain and challenge for Hillary Clinton one week out to have the former president say, slam dunk."

COMPLICATED TEXAS PROCESS SAID TO HURT CLINTON'S CHANCES. The Wall Street Journal (2/27, Kronholz, 2.06M) reports on the "irony" that Sen. Hillary Clinton, "the ultimate Democratic Party insider, is struggling in Texas, in large part because the political system is stacked against her." Opinion polls "show her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, inching up to Sen. Clinton or already passing her in Texas. But it is the complicated delegate nominating system -- the Texas two-step -- more than popular turnout that could stymie a Clinton victory Tuesday and perhaps cost the New York senator the nomination." Of the "2,025 delegates either candidate needs to win the nomination, Texas has 228. The primary, where the candidates are thought to be in a dead heat, will award 126 of those seats. Minutes after the polls close, Texas Democrats then will convene caucuses that will seat an additional 67 delegates, and here Sen. Obama's superior field operation is likely to work to his advantage." The "allegiances of the 35 superdelegates, who aren't bound by the results of the primary or the caucuses, are increasingly uncertain."

Texas Hispanic Voters Seen As Still In Play. The Politico (2/27, Martinez) reports that despite perceptions that Hispanic voters in Texas are strongly supporting Clinton, "telling signs" suggest that they are largely "up for grabs. Some of these signs are more obvious than others, but Barack Obama is gaining traction among Hispanics and focusing resources in San Antonio and westward to the border with Mexico, areas that have been considered Clinton strongholds. The question is whether that will be enough to overcome 35 years of goodwill between Clinton and the Texas Hispanic community - and a deep sense of loyalty that dates back to her work on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign." The Politico suggests that Clinton's lead among Hispanics in a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Monday is offset by Obama's strong showing among African Americans.

Black Voters Could Give Obama Edge In Texas. The Houston Chronicle (2/27, Casimir, 524K) reports, "Hispanic voters may be a swing factor in next week's Democratic presidential primary, but an energized black electorate could decide this cliffhanger race. In state after state, exit polls show the Obama wave has wiped out Clinton from getting even close to the black electorate: 87 percent of the black vote in Georgia, for example."

CLINTON, OBAMA BOTH SAID TO HAVE GIVEN MIXED SIGNALS ON NAFTA. The AP (2/27, Woodward) runs a "Fact Check" feature on Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's expressed positions on NAFTA, suggesting that both "are paying a price" for equivocating on the issue, leaving them vulnerable to criticism. "The root of their ambivalence is their shared belief in 'free and fair trade,' which, on the surface, almost anyone can subscribe to," but the AP continues to argue that "free" trade and "fair" trade are somewhat incompatible. The piece continues to note that Obama "has been consistently ambivalent" on NAFTA, despite having said, "I don't think NAFTA has been good for Americans, and I never have." Moreover, "Obama is correct that Clinton has praised NAFTA in various ways, but he leaves out the qualifications she's expressed along the way." Meanwhile, Clinton's "implication that NAFTA was simply a spillover from the first President Bush and passively made law under President Clinton ignores the fierce lobbying Bill Clinton engaged in to get the deal ratified by Congress. Hillary Clinton helped him in that effort." This article was published by some 50 papers and websites, including the New York Times, the Washington Examiner, the El Paso Times, and the Houston Chronicle.

CLINTON SUPERDELEGATES REJECTING CALLS TO DEFECT. The Hill (2/27, Bolton) reports House Democrats "supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) are rejecting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (Calif.) plea that lawmakers not overrule voters should they be in a position to decide who will be the Democratic presidential nominee." Many Clinton backers "representing districts that voted for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) say they are not likely to change their mind should the contest come down to the superdelegates - the 796 Democratic lawmakers, governors and officials who may determine the nominee." Those lawmakers "say they should be able to vote however they want, even if it means giving the nod to the candidate who wins fewer delegates from more than 50 election contests conducted prior to the nominating convention. One member said the only way he wouldn't vote for Clinton is if he died." Such "devotion worries some party officials who say record turnout and excitement over Democratic candidates could fizzle if voters feel their voices do not count."

BILL CLINTON TAKES LOWER PROFILE ROLE IN WIFE'S CAMPAIGN. The New York Times (2/27, Broder, 1.18M) reports Bill Clinton "is dutifully traveling from state to state and small town to small town on behalf of his wife's presidential candidacy. But the growling and snapping Bill Clinton the nation saw before the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries has been muzzled and leashed. He is being kept as far from the news media as possible to prevent any more of the red-faced, finger-wagging tirades and freelance political commentary that polls say cost Hillary Rodham Clinton a lot of support, particularly among black voters." Audiences in "places like Lancaster, a working-class town of 33,000 about 30 miles southeast of Columbus, are seeing" a "subdued and substantive former president going on at length about Iraq, health care, education, job creation and what he portrays as the multiple sins of the Bush administration. What he lacks in passion he makes up for in sheer volume of words."

OBAMA DOWNPLAYS DUST-UP OVER PHOTO. The New York Daily News (2/26, Saul, 729K) reported on its website that Sen. Barack Obama "dismissed the brouhaha over a photo of him in African garb as a minor dust-up, a day after his campaign manager accused Hillary Clinton's team of leaking the photo in 'the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering' tactic of the 2008 presidential race. ... Asked" at a press conference in Ohio "if he agreed with campaign manager David Plouffe's stinging rebuke of Team Clinton, Obama replied, 'I think that at this stage in the campaign there are going to be dust-ups particularly at the staff level.' 'Certainly, I don't think that that photograph was circulated to enhance my candidacy. I think that's fair to say,' Obama said. 'Do I think that it is reflective of Sen. Clinton's approach to the campaign? Probably not.' 'And, so, you know, at this point, you know, my interest is just moving forward and talking about the issues that are going to be helpful to the people of Ohio,' he concluded."

MCCAIN LEADS BOTH OBAMA AND CLINTON IN LATIMES/BLOOMBERG POLL. The Los Angeles Times (2/27, Wallsten, 881K) reports Sen. John McCain "presents a stiff challenge to either of his potential Democratic opponents in the general election," according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. McCain leads Sen. Hillary Clinton 46% to 40%; and Sen. Barack Obama 44% to 42%. McCain "also scored higher marks than Clinton or Obama for experience and strength. On the issue of 'honesty and integrity,' he beat Clinton and was tied by Obama. McCain is viewed favorably by 61% of all registered voters, including a plurality of Democrats." The Times also goes on to report that the poll "showed McCain's advantages extend even to some domestic issues. On the economy, a subject that McCain has joked about his own lack of expertise, voters picked him over...Obama as best able to lead by an 8-point margin -- 42% to 34%."

DODD ENDORSES OBAMA. The AP (2/27, Espo) reports Sen. Christopher Dodd "endorsed one-time presidential rival Barack Obama on Tuesday and said it is time for Democrats to join forces to defeat the Republicans in the fall campaign." Dodd "denied he was nudging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to end her candidacy," but he said, "I don't want a campaign that is divisive here, and there's a danger in that." The AP adds the "two men appeared together at a news conference. Dodd is the first of the Democratic campaign dropouts to endorse another candidate."

ABC World News (2/26, story 3, 2:25, Gibson, 8.78M) reported, "Dodd said it's time to bring the party together, though he did not call for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race." The Hill (2/27, Youngman) reports Dodd's endorsement, "along with his announcement that he plans to campaign for Obama in the key battleground state, delivered another blow to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who needs to win Ohio to salvage her struggling campaign." The CBS Evening News (2/26, story 2, 2:10, Axelrod, 7.66M) reported, "A five-term senator and former party chairman, Dodd warned that the campaign's nasty turn in the last few days must stop."

NBC Nightly News (2/26, lead story, 3:20, Mitchell, 9.87M) reported, "Obama started the day with an added advantage, an endorsement from a former rival." Sen. Christopher Dodd: "A moment of unity in our country a time when we need to come together as a Democratic Party." Mitchell: "In an interview with NBC News, Senator Dodd implicitly warned Clinton against attack politics." Dodd: "They need to make sure they don't engage in this kind of activity if you do you hurt yourselves, you hurt this party and your hurt our chances. The American people are sick of it. They're absolutely sick of it."

OBAMA SPEECH AT CHURCH'S NATIONAL MEETING DRAWS IRS SCRUTINY. The AP (2/27, Zoll) reports the IRS is "investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Sen. Barack Obama gave at its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president, the denomination said Tuesday." Obama "belongs to the 1.2 million-member Protestant group through his Chicago congregation. In a letter the denomination received Monday, the IRS said 'reasonable belief exists' that the circumstances surrounding the speech violated restrictions on political activity for tax-exempt organizations. The denomination has denied any wrongdoing."

The Wall Street Journal (2/27, Sataline, 2.06M) reports a lawyer for the church "denied that the denomination, or Sen. Obama, who is a UCC member, engaged in any political activity when he and others spoke before an audience of 10,000 at the church's 50th anniversary celebration in Hartford, Conn."

Copyright 2008 by the Bulletin News Network, Inc. Reproduction without permission prohibited. Editorial content is drawn from thousands of newspapers, national magazines, national and local television programs, and radio broadcasts. The Hillary For President News Briefing is published five days a week by BulletinNews, which creates custom news briefings for government and corporate leaders. We can be found on the Web at BulletinNews.com, [email-masked], or called at (703) 749-0040.