Subject: Hillary For President News Briefing for Friday, May 16, 2008
From: "Bulletin News Network" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: 16 May 2008 06:29:49 -0400

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

TO: CLINTON CAMPAIGN

DATE: FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008 6:30 AM EDT

TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEN. CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN:

+ Clinton Criticizes McCain's Opposition To Farm Bill.

+ Clinton Campaigns In South Dakota.

+ Pro-Clinton Group To Work Against Obama.

+ Clinton Dismisses Edwards' Endorsement.

+ Clinton Said To Be Off Base In Claiming Popular Vote Lead.

+ New Republic Runs Clinton Post-Mortem.

+ Democrats Furious Over Bush's Remarks To Knesset.

+ McCain Predicts Most US Troops Will Leave Iraq Victorious By 2013.

Sen. Clinton's Campaign:

CLINTON CRITICIZES MCCAIN'S OPPOSITION TO FARM BILL. The AP (5/15, Kugler) reports "Hillary Rodham Clinton scolded John McCain Thursday for opposing the farm bill, attempting to maintain the sense that she is already competing against the certain Republican presidential nominee even as her chances for winning the Democratic nomination dim." Clinton "noted that...Bush has said he will veto the farm bill, which Congress passed Thursday. McCain also has said he would veto the bill if he were president. 'They're like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn't amount to much change, does it?' the New York senator said. 'I believe saying no to the farm bill is saying no to rural America.'"

In an editorial, the Washington Post (5/16, A18, 723K) writes, "While none of the presidential candidates left the campaign trail to vote on the bill, one -- Republican Sen. John McCain -- unequivocally opposed it. It may not be terribly surprising that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) hailed the bill's passage during a campaign swing through South Dakota. It's a bit more disappointing to hear Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), running on a promise to oppose politics as usual, say he applauded the bill. ... On this issue, Mr. McCain, not his likely Democratic opponent, was the apostle of change."

CLINTON CAMPAIGNS IN SOUTH DAKOTA. The Rapid City Journal (5/16, Woster) reports Sen. Hillary Clinton "pledged Thursday to fight any future efforts to close Ellsworth Air Force Base, much as her husband did while he was president more than a decade ago. 'I'm proud that the Clinton administration helped to keep the base open in 1994, when it was on the BRAC closing list, and my husband had it removed,' Clinton told the Journal in an interview after a brief campaign stop in Rapid City. 'Not only is the base vital to South Dakota's economic success, it's also vital to national security.'

The Rapid City Journal (5/16, Woster) reports, "The New York senator was more appropriately dressed and sedately behaved than the rowdy lead singer for the Rolling Stones. But in a place where brown sugar isn't just a song, she still stirred the spirits of an audience of 70 or so. Arriving from the Rapid City Regional Airport about 2:10 p.m., the New York senator stepped out of a black Suburban and strolled into Jerry's between the stern faces of U.S. Secret Service agents. Inside, she mingled with a mellower crowd, signed autographs, posed for pictures and impressed even a supporter of Barack Obama, the clear front-runner in an entertaining race for the Democratic nomination."

PRO-CLINTON GROUP TO WORK AGAINST OBAMA. The Politico (5/16, Smith) reports there are "grumblings from the almost-half of the" Democratic Party, "disproportionately women, whose candidate is losing. An Ohio-based group of Democratic Hillary Clinton supporters say they'll work actively against Sen. Barack Obama if he becomes the nominee, arguing that Clinton has been the subject of 'intense sexism' by party leaders and the media." Led by "Boomer-aged women, the group, Clinton Supporters Count Too, is holding a press conference in Columbus at noon to release this statement."

Clinton Said To Be Stereotyped As "Poor Hillary." The Washington Post (5/16, C1, Copeland, 723K) reports that at "some point along the way, Hillary Clinton became 'poor Hillary' and it stuck." Clinton "went up against a charmer who once made an audience cheer just by blowing his nose (poor Hillary), and she lost states and delegates and she bet on a filly that died (poor Hillary), and nobody cares that she won West Virginia because it's over, except she can't see it because she's...'Poor Hillary,' write the op-ed writers and the bloggers and the newspaper letter-writers." "Poor Hillary" "speaks volumes about an old truth: Clinton's wounds have always defined her. The haters are always on the lookout for her comeuppance, and the lovers love her more for what she has endured."

Clinton Said To Be "No Fun." The Wall Street Journal (5/16, A13, Queenan, 2.06M) reports, "Journalists, and especially humorists, need to come clean and admit that none of us ever really wanted to see Hillary Clinton in the White House. No, it isn't her hair or her know-it-all attitude or her inexplicable marriage or her pitiful attempts to portray herself as a tribune of the working class or the fact that she went to Wellesley that puts us off. She's just no fun, and politicians who are no fun are hard to write about."

Strauss Says Democrats Need To Focus On Unity Now. In a Washington Post (5/16, A19, 723K) op-ed, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert S. Strauss says, "Democrats should rally around our nominee as soon as possible so the general election campaign can begin and the contrast between John McCain and the Democratic Party can be drawn for the American people. Having put our party back together after the 1972 convention, I know that every week of delay tempts a hardening of irreconcilable differences. If we are to win for America, the Democratic Party has to unite now."

CLINTON DISMISSES EDWARDS' ENDORSEMENT. The AP (5/16, Ohlemacher) reports that Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Rapid City, South Dakota, "spoke for the first time about Edwards' endorsement. 'I have a great deal of respect for Senator Edwards,' she said in response to reporters' questions. 'He and I have a lot in common ... I imagine that Senator Edwards' endorsement will be of some help to Senator Obama in Kentucky, but I think that what matters are the people who actually vote.' Clinton said she had not spoken with Edwards but had spoken with his wife, Elizabeth, about the endorsement. Clinton declined to discuss their conversation."

The AP (5/16) reports, "Hillary Clinton won't say what was discussed, but she's talked with Elizabeth Edwards about her husband's endorsement of rival Barack Obama." Speaking in South Dakota, Clinton "said she has a great deal of respect for Elizabeth Edwards, and that they have a lot in common." She also acknowledged that John Edwards' "backing will help Obama a bit in next week's Kentucky primary," adding that it's about "the people who actually vote."

CLINTON SAID TO BE OFF BASE IN CLAIMING POPULAR VOTE LEAD. The AP (5/16, Woodward, Pace) examines Sen. Hillary Clinton's claim that she leads Sen. Barack Obama in the popular vote count, calling it "a stretch, at best." The AP said Clinton "is using such claims to shore up supporters and help justify why she's still in the Democratic presidential race despite trailing Obama in the number of convention delegates earned in primaries and caucuses. The argument is supported only by using dubious math on two fronts: by excluding several caucus states won by Obama and by including Florida and Michigan primary results that the Democratic Party, to date, is rejecting."

NEW REPUBLIC RUNS CLINTON POST-MORTEM. The New Republic (5/16, Cottle) runs an extensive analysis of the Clinton campaign today called "What Went Wrong?" which it describes as "The exclusive story of Hillary's fall, as told by the high-level advisors, staffers, fundraisers, and on-the-ground organizers who lived it." It includes (unnamed) contributors blaming various campaign officials, including Mark Penn and Patti Solis Doyle, and other saying Clinton wasn't "hungry enough."

DEMOCRATS FURIOUS OVER BUSH'S REMARKS TO KNESSET. President Bush's speech before the Knesset appears to have been well received in Israel. McClatchy (5/16, Nissenbaum, Lightman) notes his remarks "marked the high point" of his second visit" there "as president," and "Israeli leaders cheered the staunch support from the US president." However, his remarks have ignited a political firestorm that has landed Bush's Mideast visit right in the middle of the US presidential campaign. And according to some media commentators, that is exactly what the White House intended. NBC Nightly News (5/15, lead story, 3:10, Williams, 9.87M), which led with the story, noted that in his speech Bush devoted "one particular paragraph" to invoke "the fight against the horrors of Nazi Germany, and it was clear to those listening that it was in part to make a point about Barack Obama back home." It was, said NBC, "today's political shot heard around the world. The concussion was instantaneous. Upon hearing the news, one Democratic senator used a word we cannot use on this broadcast." Joseph Biden was later identified as the senator who "characterized the President's words with a word we can't use."

ABC World News (5/15, story 3, 2:05, Wright, 8.78M) said that Bush, addressing Israel's parliament, made a "statement almost guaranteed to provoke a firestorm of reaction." Bush was shown saying, "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals. ... We've heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared, 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.'" NBC noted "White House officials denied that the President was taking a swipe solely at...Obama, who has vowed he would negotiate Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other rogue leaders that the Bush Administration has shunned." But "the Obama campaign wasted no time accusing...Bush of mounting 'a false political attack. George Bush knows I have never supported engagement with terrorists,' the statement said." But "Obama's Republican rival begs to differ." Sen. John McCain was shown saying, He wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that said and says that Israel is a stinking corpse. That is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel. My question, is what does he want to talk about."

The CBS Evening News (5/15, story 2, 2:10, Couric, 7.66M) also reported on a "two-pronged Republican attack today on...Obama." CBS (Reid) added, "The Republican barrage began in Jerusalem," and while "a White House spokesman denied that Obama was the target," when McCain "jumped into the fray, there was no doubt where he was aiming." McCain was shown saying, "Why does Barack Obama, Senator Obama, want to sit down with a state-sponsor of terrorism? It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama. It shows naiveté and inexperience." CBS added, "Obama, who has said he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, and Cuba noted that presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and even Reagan also negotiated directly with America's enemies. Even Hillary Clinton came to his defense." Clinton was shown saying, "President Bush's comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous." USA Today (5/16, 2.28M), however, notes "Obama has said in the past he would meet with heads of state in places like Cuba, Iran and North Korea," and that Clinton has said "those meetings could be used for propaganda and her first response would be outreach through other diplomatic channels."

MCCAIN PREDICTS MOST US TROOPS WILL LEAVE IRAQ VICTORIOUS BY 2013. In a speech in Ohio, Sen. John McCain yesterday predicted that, as president, he would oversee a US victory in Iraq that would allow most American troops to leave that country by 2013. McCain's remarks are being cast as somewhat of a reversal because, as the New York Times (5/16, Bumiller, 1.18M) put it, they were "a striking departure from Mr. McCain's refusal so far to set a date for an American withdrawal." The speech "offered no proposals for how Mr. McCain would achieve that vision," and were "an attempt by the presumptive Republican nominee to define himself and the rationale of his candidacy to voters before he has a single Democratic rival who will try to do it for him." Likewise, the Wall Street Journal (5/16, Meckler, 2.06M) says McCain offered "his first date for withdrawal" while "refuting Democratic charges he would keep the US mired" in Iraq "indefinitely." The Journal notes McCain "said that by the end of his first term, there would be only 'spasmodic' violence in Iraq and a small contingent of US forces would remain in a noncombat role. Until now, he had repeatedly refused to attach any sort of date for the end to combat operations."

The Los Angeles Times (5/16, Neuman, Reston, 833K) reports "the prediction marks a major departure for McCain, who railed against rival Mitt Romney shortly before the Florida primary for his remark in April 2007 that he thought President Bush and Iraqi leaders should privately discuss a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq." Back then, "McCain suggested that the comment would embolden America's foes in Iraq. The Arizona senator leveled the same criticism at Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, stating that their advocacy for withdrawing troops from Iraq amounted to setting a date for surrender.'"

NBC Nightly News (5/15, story 2, 2:20, Williams, 9.87M) said McCain "has been tagged as you may know with that comment he once made about US troops staying in Iraq for 100 years if need be. Today he revised that number way down." ABC (O'Donnell) added that "when other candidates of both parties have talked about a date or timetable for getting out of Iraq, McCain has accused them of surrender. Today he argued that with his plan there is a difference." McCain was shown saying, "I'm saying the troops will come home when we achieve victory. That's my goal. I did not in any way set a date for withdrawal." NBC went on report, "McCain's biggest challenge may that be he has to beat two opponents, the Democrat and the trouble surrounding his own party." The CBS Evening News (5/15, story 2, 2:10, Reid noted "Democrats say McCain's crystal ball must be clouded. Their crystal ball, they say, not surprisingly, shows a Democrat in the White House for the next four years, and the troops home from Iraq long before 2013."

Clinton Dismisses Speech. Sen. Clinton's response to McCain "Victory" Comment was covered by Judy Woodruff on the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Woodruff reported, "Democrat Hillary Clinton dismissed the pledge of victory in Iraq. Instead, she said, '(McCain) promises more of the same Bush policies that have weakened our military...and our standing in the world."

FNC's Hannity And Colmes (5/15, Colmes, Hannity) touched on Hillary Clinton's response to Bush's comments at Israel's 60th Anniversary, running a clip of her saying "This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address and certainly to use an important moment like the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel to make a political point seems terribly misplaced." No analysis of her remarks was given.

On MSNBC's Hardball (5/15), Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden defended Clinton's "obliterate" comment, saying, "In fairness to her, she said, if they attack Israel, we would respond...I think a better word could have been chosen, but she stated a rational policy." Iran, he said, "should understand that if they use a nuclear weapon against any other power they run the risk of being obliterated."

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