Subject: Hillary For President News Briefing for Tuesday, April 29, 2008
From: "Bulletin News Network" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: 29 Apr 2008 06:33:04 -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: TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008 6:30 AM EDT

TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEN. CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN:

+ Clinton Blasts Obama For Opposing Federal Gas Holiday.

+ Easley To Endorse Clinton.

+ Pro-Clinton 527 Launches Massive Indiana Ad Buy.

+ Clinton Seeking $2.3 Billion In Federal Earmarks.

+ Bill Clinton Role In Wife's Campaign Examined.

+ AP Poll Finds Big Jump In Support For Clinton.

+ Wright Repeats 9/11 Claims, Praises Farrakhan.

Sen. Clinton's Campaign:

CLINTON BLASTS OBAMA FOR OPPOSING FEDERAL GAS HOLIDAY. The AP (4/29, Kugler, Glover) reports Hillary Clinton "criticized Barack Obama on Monday for opposing proposals to suspend federal gas taxes this summer, a plan she and Republican John McCain have endorsed." But Obama "didn't take the bait. He ignored Clinton and focused on McCain." At a firehouse, Clinton said, "My opponent, Senator Obama, opposes giving consumers a break from the gas tax. I understand the American people need some relief." The AP adds Obama has "said motorists would not benefit significantly from suspending the gas tax."

The New York Times (4/29, Broder, 1.18M) reports as "angry truckers encircled the Capitol in a horn-blaring caravan and consumers across the country agonized over $60 fill-ups, the issue of high fuel prices flared on the campaign trail on Monday, sharply dividing the two Democratic candidates." Clinton "lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season." While Obama's "view is shared by environmentalists and many independent energy analysts, his position allowed Mrs. Clinton to draw a contrast with her opponent in appealing to the hard-hit middle-class families and older Americans who have proven to be the bedrock of her support."

EASLEY TO ENDORSE CLINTON. The AP (4/29, Fouhy, Robertson) reports Hillary Rodham Clinton "has won the endorsement of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, a surprise boost to her candidacy in a state where Barack Obama is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary." Easley was "expected to announce his endorsement formally on Tuesday morning in Raleigh, the state capital, one week before North Carolina's primary on May 6. Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told supporters about the endorsement Monday at a fundraiser in Charlotte." Clinton "spent Monday campaigning across North Carolina and has run a heavy television advertising campaign in the state. She was headed Tuesday to Indiana, whose May 6 primary is viewed as much more competitive."

The Politico (4/29, Smith, Kuhn) reports that Easley's "scheduled endorsement of" Clinton on Tuesday "offers her a potent symbolic and electoral boost in the biggest state left to vote. Easley is a meaningful ally in the culture war she's waging against Senator Barack Obama, as she seeks to cast him as a hopelessly unelectable liberal elitist and to persuade the Democratic Party leaders who will decide the nomination – the 'superdelegates' – to choose her instead. 'It's an incredibly strong endorsement because Easley is popular among the blue collar 'Bubba' voters who are Democrats,' said David 'Mudcat' Saunders, a Democratic consultant who advised former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on winning rural voters. ... 'He's clean in the culture. Easley's wrecked the Charlotte Motor Speedway doing 150 miles per hour, and Bubba likes that,' said Saunders, referring to NASCAR fan Easley's 2003 race car crash. 'He's a hunter. He's a strong Second Amendment guy. He gives her great cultural validation in the state of North Carolina.'"

ABC World News (4/28, story 5, 0:15, Stephanopoulos, 8.78M) reported, "Both candidates picked up superdelegates endorsements today. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley came out for Senator Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman for Obama." The CBS Evening News (4/28, story 3, 0:10, Couric, 7.66M) called Easley's endorsement "important."

Obama Up By Ten In North Carolina. An American Research Group poll of 600 likely North Carolina Democratic primary voters taken April 26-27 shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. Hillary Clinton 52%-42%. Obama held a similar 52%-41% lead in a poll taken April 14-15.

Clinton Stumps In Charlotte. The Charlotte Observer (4/29, Morrill, 226K) reports, "On the day her campaign announced an endorsement from N.C. Gov. Mike Easley, Sen. Hillary Clinton told voters in Charlotte to treat Tuesday's primary as a hiring decision. 'Think about it as if you're hiring a surgeon to perform an operation on a loved one,' she told more than 4,000 supporters at Time Warner Cable Arena. 'Hire somebody who is prepared on Day 1.' Clinton laced her 45-minute speech with policy initiatives on everything from health care to gas prices to ending the Iraq war. ... Trailing by double digits in most state polls, Clinton got a star's welcome to the uptown Charlotte arena. Greeted by Bobcats owner Bob Johnson, she entered to a darkened arena with spotlights dancing over a crowd cheering and waving signs."

Clinton Campaigns In Salisbury. The Salisbury (NC) Post (4/28, Wineka) reported on its website that speaking in Salisbury, Clinton "had tough words...for big oil, China, the wealthy, insurance companies and the federally mandated No Child Left Behind program. ... The Salisbury crowd applauded often after points and promises Clinton made, with the loudest, most sustained ovations coming after she said she would put an end to the No Child Left Behind program in schools and set out a plan to bring troops home and end the United States' military involvement in Iraq."

Clinton Campaigns In Concord. Under the headline, "Hillary Clinton visits Concord; enjoys barbecue," the Concord (NC) Independent Tribune (4/29, Deines) reports, "A crowd of Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters stood through a downpour of rain Monday afternoon for the opportunity to hear the presidential hopeful speak in downtown Concord. And in a moment of campaign luck, beams of sunshine broke through the clouds just as Clinton's caravan arrived outside Troutman's Bar-B-Que in downtown Concord." The piece notes that Clinton spoke about bringing back manufacturing jobs to the state, but that they would be green collar jobs.

Clinton Draws 500 In Graham. The Burlington (NC) Times-News (4/28, Boyer) reported on its website that Clinton promised "to 'invest in the people who build America'" in Graham, where she "spoke to about 500 enthusiastic supporters who crowded inside and outside the fire station on Pine Street. She touted reforms in health care and energy, including a temporary tax on big oil companies that Clinton said will ease high gas and diesel prices through the summer during her roughly 30-minute talk."

PRO-CLINTON 527 LAUNCHES MASSIVE INDIANA AD BUY. The AP (4/29, Kuhnhenn) reports that the American Leadership Project, a 527 "consisting of backers of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign was to begin spending at least $700,000 Tuesday in an Indiana advertising blitz calling on Sen. Barack Obama to address the economic plight of Americans. The Indiana ad campaign would be the biggest single expenditure in a state for the mostly union financed group" which "spent more than $1 million running ads in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania."

Clinton Up Nine In Indiana. A SurveyUSA automated poll of 628 likely Indiana Democratic primary voters taken April 25-27 for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama 52%-43%.

CLINTON SEEKING $2.3 BILLION IN FEDERAL EARMARKS. The Hill (4/29, Raju, Bogardus) reports Hillary Clinton "has requested nearly $2.3 billion in federal earmarks for 2009, almost three times the largest amount received by a single senator this year." Clinton's "staggering request comes at a time when Congress remains engaged in a heated debate over spending federal dollars on parochial projects." Sen. John McCain has "called for eliminating what he dubs 'wasteful Washington spending,'" and Barack Obama "has spurned earmarks, seeking no funds for pet projects in the upcoming fiscal year." Yet Clinton is "continuing to request billions for earmarks, most of which will go to her home state."

BILL CLINTON ROLE IN WIFE'S CAMPAIGN EXAMINED. The New York Times (4/29, Leibovich, 1.18M) reports at the "end of a week in which Bill Clinton's stumping for his wife was again overshadowed by a 'distraction,' many Democrats were asking: Is this method, or madness?" There were "those who concluded that a politician as canny as Mr. Clinton, one who had exhibited a special talent for navigating the strains of race and social values within his party, knew precisely what he was doing when he asserted that Senator Barack Obama's campaign had 'played the race card on me.'" With Hillary Clinton's "hopes of defeating Mr. Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination resting heavily on working-class white voters, Mr. Clinton was seen by this camp as deliberately exploiting those tensions." Rep. James Clyburn said, "Nothing in this campaign has been by accident." Clyburn "went on to suggest that Mr. Clinton, the leading Democratic political strategist of his generation, has been a mastermind of a strategy bent on marginalizing Mr. Obama," asking, "Do you remember Sister Souljah?" The Times adds inside the Clinton campaign, "the general view is that Mr. Clinton's more provocative statements are not calculated as Mr. Clyburn and others have suggested."

AP POLL FINDS BIG JUMP IN SUPPORT FOR CLINTON. The AP (4/29, Sidoti) reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton leads Sen. John McCain "by 9 points in a head-to-head presidential matchup, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that bolsters her argument that she is more electable than" Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton "leads McCain, 50 percent to 41 percent, while Obama remains virtually tied with McCain, 46 percent to 44 percent. Both Democrats were roughly even with McCain in the previous poll about three weeks ago." The AP adds that "when pitted against McCain, Clinton now wins among independents, 50 percent to 34 percent, when just a few weeks ago she ran about even with him with this crucial group of voters. ... Clinton has a newfound edge among seniors, too, 51 percent to 39 percent; McCain had previously had the advantage. And, Clinton has improved her margin over McCain among people under age 30; two-thirds of them now side with her. McCain leads Obama among seniors, while Obama leads McCain among those under 30 but by a smaller margin than Clinton does." The poll, "taken April 23-27, questioned 1,001 adults nationally, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. Included were interviews with 457 Democratic voters and people leaning Democratic, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.6 points, and 346 Republicans or GOP-leaning voters, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.3 points."

WRIGHT REPEATS 9/11 CLAIMS, PRAISES FARRAKHAN. The public reemergence of Rev. Jeremiah Wright dominated last night's cable news broadcasts and was covered in-depth by each of the three networks, which gave very little attention to any other aspect of the Democratic primary campaign. This morning's major newspapers, likewise, are reporting on the controversial pastor at length. The New York Times (4/29, Zeleny, 1.18M) notes that in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, Wright "suggested that the attacks of Sept. 11 were at least in part a response by terrorists to terrorism practiced by the United States abroad. 'You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you,' he said." He "stood by his suggestion that the United States might have invented HIV, the virus that causes AIDS," and "suggested that Mr. Obama's speech in which he distanced himself from some of Mr. Wright's more controversial remarks was politically motivated."

The Washington Times (4/29, Miller, 87K) reports Wright also "refused to apologize for his infamous 'God damn America' sermon, saying the US government owed blacks an apology for slavery. The pastor stood firm in his praise of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. ... 'Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy,' he said. 'He did not put me in chains, he did not put me in slavery, and he didn't make me this color.'" According to the Los Angeles Times (4/29, Nicholas, 881K), "Asked about his prior suggestion that the government created AIDS to harm black people, Wright said that 'based on the Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything.' He was referring to an infamous experiment conducted over decades in which the government allowed blacks to go untreated in order to study syphilis."

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank (4/29, A3) writes, "From the moment he entered the room, Wright seemed to be looking to stir controversy; he was escorted by Jamil Muhammad, a leader of the Nation of Islam, which contributed to the minister's prominent security detail. Speaking before an audience that included Marion Barry, Cornel West, the New Black Panther Party's Malik Zulu Shabazz and Nation of Islam protocol director Claudette Muhammad, Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, defended the view that Zionism is racism, accused the United States of terrorism, repeated his belief that the government created AIDS to extinguish racial minorities, and stood by his suggestion that 'God damn America.'"

In a shift, much of the coverage characterized Wright as an existential threat to Obama's campaign – whereas in previous weeks his controversial statements were portrayed as more of a "distraction" Obama had dealt with effectively. ABC World News (4/28, story 3, 2:30, Stephanopoulos, 8.78M) reported on "the controversy that Barack Obama just can't seem to shake. His former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright was speaking out again today this time at the National Press Club in Washington. Wright didn't back down from any of his controversial remarks. As Obama made clear one more time that his former pastor does not speak for him." Wright was shown saying, "I served six years in the military. Does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?" ABC also noted that yesterday Wright "compared US troops to the Roman legions who killed Christ" and "expressed admiration for the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan." ABC added that Sen. Hillary Clinton "held her punches," while Sen. John McCain "took the high road." Sen. McCain: "Senator Obama doesn't reflect the extremist statements that Reverend Wright has given."

NBC Nightly News (4/28, story 5, 3:30, Williams, 9.87M) showed Obama saying of Wright, "He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign. And so, you know, he may make statements in the future that don't reflect my values or concerns." Former Sen. Bill Bradley, an Obama supporter, was shown saying, "Obviously Barack Obama has no control whatsoever over Reverend Wright. So the legitimate question we should be asking is why did Reverend Wright do this at this time?" The CBS Evening News (4/28, story 2, 2:55, Couric, 7.66M) added that Wright's "reemergence now just as the Illinois senator seeks to regain some momentum, is a gift to the political opposition which has stressed Obama's difference from the mainstream. ... Wright's inflammatory rhetoric and the endless recycling of his statements on the internet and television had already knocked Obama's presidential campaign off stride."

Clinton Blasts McCain For Reaction To Wright, But Treads Lightly On Issue. Fox News' Special Report (4/28, Hume) also reported Sen. Hillary Clinton "criticized Obama's continued attendance at Wright's church and the GOP's efforts to inject Wright into the political dialogue." Sen. Clinton "I have said that that was a personal decision of his. ... I would not have stayed in that church under those circumstances, but I regret the efforts by the Republicans to politicize this matter." Sen. John McCain "was drawn into the controversy over the Reverend Jeremiah Wright today. ... Touring a hospital of the battleground state of Florida as part of his health care push, John McCain instead got peppered with questions about...Wright." Sen. McCain "I've said again and again, I do not believe that Sen. Obama shares Reverend Wright's extremist views. ... One of them comparing the United States Marine Corps with Roman legionnaires responsible for the death of our savior, I mean, being involved in that, it's -- it's beyond belief, and then, of course, saying that al-Qaeda and the American flag were the same flags."

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