Subject: Hillary For President News Briefing for Thursday, March 06, 2008
From: "Bulletin News Network" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: 6 Mar 2008 06:37:16 -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: THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008 6:30 AM EST

TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEN. CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN:

+ Clinton Revels In Ohio, Texas Wins As Obama Contemplates Harsher Edge.

+ Clinton Campaign Challenges Fairness Of Texas Caucuses.

+ Clinton Victories "Barely Dent" Obama's Delegate Lead.

+ Pennsylvania Seen As Fertile Territory For Clinton.

+ Clinton To Launch Fundraising Push To Tap Tuesday's Momentum.

+ Obama Fared Poorly With White Working-Class Voters In Ohio.

+ Despite Victories, Clinton Campaign's Infighting Intensifies.

+ Rezko Trial Draws Little Media Attention Despite Obama Link.

Sen. Clinton's Campaign:

CLINTON REVELS IN OHIO, TEXAS WINS AS OBAMA CONTEMPLATES HARSHER EDGE. Sen. Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took a victory lap on the morning talk shows after her big wins in Texas and Ohio. Media reports today suggest the lesson of the March 4 primaries is that Clinton's aggressive tactics fueled her unexpected rebound. Sen. Barack Obama, meanwhile, wasted no time in responding, questioning Clinton's experience. The media post-mortem also indicates that Democrats are growing concerned about how an extended, fractious primary between the evenly-matched candidates will affect the party in November. The AP (3/6, Espo) reports Clinton "declared Wednesday that her primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island had reordered the Democratic presidential race in her favor" while a "resilient Barack Obama countered with fresh pledges of support from superdelegates and said his lead remained intact." Obama "blamed negative attacks by the former first lady for his defeats and quickly made good on a promise to sharpen his criticism of her. But there was no disputing he had missed a chance to drive her from the race."

ABC World News (3/5, lead story, 3:10, Gibson, 8.78M) reported, "The Democratic race is, it appears, just like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going and going and going." ABC (Snow) added, "Today, it was all about momentum for Senator Clinton." What "turned things around? A combination, her campaign believes, of her message and Obama's weaknesses. Exit polls showed that voters who made up their minds in the final days, went for Clinton by 18 points in Ohio, 23 in Texas."

The CBS Evening News (3/5, lead story, 2:15, Axelrod, 7.66M) reported, "After her confetti shower in Ohio, Hillary Clinton is so confident she didn't even dodge a question this morning about a Clinton/Obama ticket a question she usually avoids." Sen. Hillary Clinton: "Well, that may be where this is headed but, of course, we have to decide who's on the top of the ticket. And I think that the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me." Axelrod: "Exit poll data reveals the source of her confidence. She regained her base."

NBC Nightly News (3/5, lead story, 3:30, Williams, 9.87M) reported, "Winning Ohio and Texas could help the Clintons stop superdelegates who may well decide this race from declaring for Obama for now." Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chairman: "I think everyone was thinking of endorsing is rethinking that today." Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker: "I think now is not the time for anybody to weigh in." Mitchell: "In strategy sessions, Clinton's advisors are talking about recycling what worked in Texas and Ohio." They'll "keep portraying her as a fighter for jobs and health care" and "throw everything at Obama like trying to create doubts about his readiness to be commander-in-chief."

The Washington Post (3/6, A1, Balz, Murray, 723K) reports in a front page story that Clinton's three wins "reinvigorated her once-shaky presidential candidacy and reshaped her debate" with Obama, "but those successes yielded only a modest gain in the battle for delegates, underscoring the daunting odds she faces in overtaking Obama before the end of the primary season in early June." Her advisers "sketched out a new scenario for overcoming Obama's delegate lead: a Clinton win in the Pennsylvania primary in April and then persuading the more than 300 uncommitted superdelegates who are poised to decide the race that she would be the stronger general-election nominee."

The Politico (3/6, Harris, VandeHei, Allen) reports Clinton and Obama "both won admiration from lots of people backing the other candidate. Well, forget all that." The "up-with-people phase of this contest is over. The clear-the-benches phase has begun - a brawl that now is more likely than not to continue until the Democratic nomination in late August."

NBC Nightly News (3/5, story 2, 2:30, Cowan, 9.87M) reported, "Obama strategists are now saying that they think the best way forward from here is if they can draw a clear sharper distinction between their candidate and Hillary Clinton and they said they blame the media in part for yesterday's losses." If Obama "thinks the kitchen sink strategy worked for Hillary Clinton, the next seven weeks could be an all-out appliance war."

The Hill (3/6, Bolton) reports lawmakers supporting Obama "are urging him to drop the gentleman act and get tougher with" Clinton, "whose attacks have placed Obama on the defensive and stemmed his momentum." Obama "supporters in Congress say that their candidate should respond with more passion and even anger to Clinton campaign charges. They have suggested he start by pressing Clinton on her refusal to make public tax returns." Obama has "responded to supporters' desire to see a more aggressive campaign by pledging to draw sharper contrasts with his rival in the coming weeks." The Hill adds Larrry Sabato of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics "said voters have begun to question whether Obama is aggressive enough to be president." Sabato said, "People will ask, 'Is he tough enough? Does he have a glass jaw? Is he aggressive enough to be president?' Nice guys truly finish last in politics."

CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES FAIRNESS OF TEXAS CAUCUSES. The Washington Post (3/6, A10, Saslow, 723K) reports on the "disasters" that "unfolded at many of the 8,000-plus caucuses in Texas. Democratic Party officials struggled to accommodate an estimated 1.1 million voters who participated in the second part of what became known 'the Texas two-step' to choose 67 of the 193 delegates the state will send to the Democratic National Convention in August." To participate "in the caucus, voters had to have already cast their ballots in the primary, but that was just the beginning." In Houston, "police monitored unruly crowds frustrated by three-hour delays," and in Dallas, "one caucus grew too big for its venue and conducted proceedings outside using car headlights. In Brownsville, confused organizers called a hotline for caucus instructions while a quarter of their voters left. Some were delayed because organizers forgot to bring pens and paper; others struggled to report results because of a jammed call center."

The Wall Street Journal (3/6, Kronholz, Casselman, Farnam, 2.06M) reports presidential nominating caucuses "are older, cheaper and more citizen-driven than primaries," but Clinton "is charging that they also are less fair, after her loss to Sen. Barack Obama Tuesday in the Texas caucuses despite winning the state's primary earlier in the day." The Clinton "complaints against the Obama campaign almost assure that the caucus system will be part of the fight between the two Democrats before the August nominating convention -- and just as surely will become part of a Democratic Party review of the nominating system after the November elections."

CLINTON VICTORIES "BARELY DENT" OBAMA'S DELEGATE LEAD. The New York Times (3/6, Nagourney, Hulse, 1.18M) reports Hillary Clinton's "victories in the primaries on Tuesday barely dented Senator Barack Obama's lead in delegates, but they seemed to slow the Democratic Party establishment's move in his direction while giving her campaign time to try to turn the race in her favor." Clinton's "victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island cut into Mr. Obama's delegate lead by 15 delegates at most, and by as few as 5, depending on the final accounting in Texas, which was expected Thursday afternoon." Obama now "has 1,299 delegates, compared with 1,180 for Mrs. Clinton, based on a count of pledged and projected delegates prepared by The New York Times."

ABC World News (3/5, story 3, 2:25, Gibson, 8.78M) reported, "Using our delegate calculator, in the unlikely event that Hillary Clinton sweeps all twelve contests with 55% of the vote, she will still be behind. And if Barack Obama sweeps them with 55% of the vote, also unlikely, he, too, will fall short." Steve McMahon, Democratic strategist: "It's going to come down to superdelegates."

NBC Nightly News (3/5, story 4, 1:55, Todd, 9.87M) reported, "To get to the magic number, Brian, Obama just needs 46% of all remaining delegates. Superdelegates and the 611 pledged delegates. Senator Clinton needs 56% to get to that magic number."

The AP (3/6, Kuhnhenn, Woodward) reports Barack Obama "regained lost ground in the fierce competition for Democratic convention delegates on Wednesday based on results from the Texas caucuses, partially negating the impact of Hillary Rodham Clinton's string of comeback primary victories." Late returns "showed Clinton emerged from Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas and Ohio with a gain of 12 delegates on her rival for the night, with another dozen yet to be awarded in The Associated Press' count." That left Obama "with an overall lead of 101 delegates, 1,562-1,461 as the rivals look ahead to the final dozen contests on the calendar." Clinton has "the support of 241 superdelegates, and Obama 202. But more than 350 remain uncommitted, a large enough bloc to swing the nomination should they band together." There were "370 Democratic delegates at stake in Tuesday's contests, and nearly complete returns showed Clinton outpaced Obama in Ohio, 74-65, in Rhode Island, 13-8, and in the Texas primary, 65-61." Obama won "in Vermont, 9-6, and was ahead in the Texas caucuses, 30-27. Ten of the dozen that remained to be awarded were in Texas; the other two in Ohio."

Battle For Superdelegates Intensifies. Roll Call (3/6, Whittington, Billings) reports the "fight for uncommitted superdelegates intensified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with the realization that the Democratic presidential nomination might remain unsettled until the party's convention." On a "conference call with reporters Wednesday, the Clinton campaign argued that the New York Senator has momentum for the remaining contests that also would stop the surge of superdelegates from endorsing Obama. Top Clinton adviser Harold Ickes made the case that many of the outstanding superdelegates will be taking their time to review Obama's positions and his background." Roll Call adds Clinton "continues to lead in the overall superdelegate chase, but Obama recently racked up several big-name endorsements such as veteran Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), and Rep. John Lewis (Ga.), who switched from Clinton to Obama." But "many inside the Clinton campaign believe that movement will slow, and she could even win new endorsements in the coming weeks." Sources "close to Obama say the Illinois Senator has been planning a large rollout of endorsements in the coming days, possibly more than 30."

The Hill (3/6, Bolton) reports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer "are split over whether superdelegates - many of them lawmakers - should pick the Democratic presidential nominee or merely reflect the popular vote." Obama's "supporters argue that superdelegates should not overturn a candidate's lead won by popular vote in primaries and caucuses. Obama leads Clinton by about a hundred delegates." Pelosi "supported the Obama argument last month by declaring that superdelegates should not overturn the results of the nation's primaries and caucuses." This "stance suggests that superdelegates should step in only to break a tie or if the leading candidate becomes damaged irreparably by a late-breaking revelation." But Hoyer took "a different position Wednesday, defending the right of superdelegates to vote without feeling bound by popular election results."

Michigan, Florida Officials May Support "Do-Over" Primaries. The AP (3/6, Pickler) reports officials in Michigan and Florida "are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign." Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, "along with top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign and Florida's state party chair, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That's a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the their delegates are allocated." The Clinton campaign has "begun expressing openness to a do-over."

The CBS Evening News (3/5, story 3, 2:15, Greenfield, 7.66M) reported, "The Clinton campaign is thinking about asking for redo's in Florida and Michigan. Three-hundred and thirteen delegates in those two states were stripped from them because they jumped the gun on their primaries and a do over could change the whole complexion of this race." Right now, "both those states look like Clinton country. Think about Florida. A lot of older voters, a lot of Jewish voters, a lot of Hispanics. Just take a look at how well Clinton did with Hispanic voters in Texas last night. And Michigan has a lot of white working class voters, the kind of gave her a big win in Ohio. The Obama people say whatever the Democratic National Committee says, they'll play by those rules and just today the governors of Michigan and Florida said maybe a redo is a good idea."

On NBC Nightly News (3/5, story 5, 2:35, Williams, 9.87M), Washington bureau chief Tim Russert said, "Privately, both of the candidates, Clinton and Obama, talk about seating the delegations in Michigan and Florida. One of the compromises is have them split 50/50 between the two candidates. But Florida and Michigan are very, very important. There may in fact be do-overs in June. We are not there yet."

PENNSYLVANIA SEEN AS FERTILE TERRITORY FOR CLINTON. The AP (3/6, Jackson) reports Pennsylvania's "12.4 million diverse residents like the kind of face-to-face interaction with candidates more often seen in small caucus states such as Iowa and they're likely to get just that during the seven weeks until they vote in a primary to allocate 158 delegates to the Democratic national convention." The nation's "sixth most populous state, Pennsylvania bears many similarities to Ohio, where Clinton defeated Obama handily." The CBS Evening News (3/5, story 3, 2:15, Greenfield, 7.66M) reported Pennsylvania's "working class older demographics suggest fertile ground for Clinton. Another advantage: she has the backing of the powerful Governor Ed Rendell."

The Wall Street Journal (3/6, Timiraos, 2.06M) reports Clinton has "more good news to follow her election wins in Texas and Ohio: The next big contest comes in a state where she goes in with several advantages." At stake "in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary are 158 delegates and 29 superdelegates. The vote is closed to independents and Republicans -- who have favored Sen. Barack Obama so far. The state has fewer African-American voters than Ohio, where that group went heavily for Sen. Obama, by a margin of 87% to 13%." In "many ways, Pennsylvania could serve up an encore to Ohio."

The New York Times (3/6, Seelye, 1.18M) reports, speaking to a "crowd of a few hundred people huddled in the cold at an outdoor question-and-answer session at the University of Pennsylvania," Chelsea Clinton said, "I hope you don't get tired of seeing me or seeing my family, because I have a feeling we'll be here a lot over the next number of weeks." The Times adds Clinton is "due in the state on Sunday, starting with a visit to Scranton, where her father grew up and where she was baptized." Barack Obama "is heading first to what he perceives as friendlier territory in Wyoming, which votes Saturday, and Mississippi, which votes Tuesday, before focusing on Pennsylvania."

Pro-Clinton 527 Readying To Air Ads In Pennsylvania. The Politico (3/6, Vogel) reports, "A new pro-Hillary Clinton group spent $864,000 making and airing ads in Texas and Ohio in the run-up to her victory in the March 4 primaries. And the group has at least $200,000 in the bank toward an expected air war on her behalf in Pennsylvania and the subsequent states. American Leadership Project raised a total of $1.2 million – $1 million of which came from AFSCME, which has endorsed Clinton – since Feb. 21, according to a report it filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. ... A former speechwriter and spokesman for former California Gov. Gray Davis," Jason Kinney of Sacramento "is listed on the FEC filing as among two people 'exercising control' of ALP." The other is "Sacramento-based political consultant Roger Salazar, who worked in Bill Clinton's White House press shop." Salazar "asserted ALP would have enough cash to air ads in not only Pennsylvania, which holds its potentially decisive primary April 22, but also in Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia and Kentucky - the last of which votes May 20."

CLINTON TO LAUNCH FUNDRAISING PUSH TO TAP TUESDAY'S MOMENTUM. In an article on the website of BusinessWeek (3/6), Eamon Javers writes that Sen. Hillary Clinton is planning to attempt to capitalize on her Tuesday wins with "a big fund-raising push. As a national finance chair for [Clinton's] Presidential campaign, Hassan Nemazee has to wrangle the biggest fund-raisers, people who can bring in $250,000 or more in contributions from their networks of contacts. That means Nemazee plans high-level dinners at which Senator Clinton or her husband, the former President, meet and greet big-dollar contributors. Clinton's victories in Ohio and Texas primaries on Mar. 4 have her supporters giddy with optimism that they can supercharge fund-raising and raise the millions they need to stay competitive in a campaign that has gone on much longer, and has been much more expensive, than many pundits predicted. And while deep-pocketed contributors like those nurtured by Nemazee will play a large role, Clinton's team is optimistic it can rev up online fund-raising as well." The article suggests that Clinton will attempt to tap smaller internet-based donors, a group with which Sen. Barack Obama has met with large success.

OBAMA FARED POORLY WITH WHITE WORKING-CLASS VOTERS IN OHIO. The Washington Post (3/6, A11, MacGillis, 723K) reports Barack Obama "had a simple answer for those who doubted he could expand his support beyond upper-income voters and African Americans: The more people saw of him, the better they would like him." But "that argument fell flat Tuesday in Ohio. The senator from Illinois spent a week in Ohio and blanketed the state with ads, but he fared poorly with white working-class voters, a crucial demographic in which he had been consistently gaining ground elsewhere." As Obama "heads toward his next big showdown with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Pennsylvania -- and as his party contemplates whether he would be a strong general-election candidate in November -- Obama aides are being forced to confront the question of whether Ohio is an outlier or if he has a serious problem with a key constituency." In Ohio, "for all Obama's efforts there, many voters felt as though they did not know enough about the rookie senator with an exotic name -- or thought they knew things about him that were simply not true."

The Wall Street Journal (3/6, Kaufman, 2.06M) reports, "About one in five Democratic primary voters in Ohio said race was an important factor in their decision -- and they voted 60% to 40% for Sen. Clinton. By contrast, in Texas, roughly the same percentage of Democratic primary voters said race was important, but Sen. Clinton won them more narrowly by 52% to 47%." That "suggests to some analysts that concern over Sen. Barack Obama's race is playing a role in the minds of some working-class voters." John Russo, a professor at Youngstown State University in Ohio, said, "Race still matters. White working-class voters tend to be more conservative in terms of social beliefs and that is going to spill over."

DESPITE VICTORIES, CLINTON CAMPAIGN'S INFIGHTING INTENSIFIES. The Washington Post (3/6, A1, Baker, Kornblut, 723K) reports in a front page story that for the "bruised and bitter staff around Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tuesday's death-defying victories in the Democratic presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas proved sweet indeed." After savoring the wins, "Clinton's advisers turned to their other goal: denying Mark Penn credit." With a "flurry of phone calls and e-mail messages that began before polls closed, campaign officials made clear to friends, colleagues and reporters that they did not view the wins as validation for the candidate's chief strategist." A senior adviser said, "A lot of people would still like to see him go." The Post adds the "depth of hostility toward Penn even in a time of triumph illustrates the combustible environment within the Clinton campaign, an operation where internal strife and warring camps have undercut a candidate once seemingly destined for the Democratic nomination. Clinton now faces the challenge of exploiting this moment of opportunity while at the same time deciding whether the squabbling at her Arlington headquarters has become a distraction that requires her intervention." Many of Clinton's "advisers are waging a two-front war, one against Sen. Barack Obama and the second against one another, but their most pressing challenge is figuring out why Clinton won in Ohio and Texas and trying to duplicate it." While Penn "sees his strategy as a reason for the victories that have kept her candidacy alive, other advisers attribute the wins to her perseverance, favorable demographics and a new campaign manager."

REZKO TRIAL DRAWS LITTLE MEDIA ATTENTION DESPITE OBAMA LINK. The Politico (3/6, Vogel) reports, "Four lonesome television cameramen lounged on folding chairs, read newspapers and idly chatted on cell phones in the sprawling marble lobby of the federal courthouse here, hoping to catch the players in the just-underway trial of former Barack Obama fundraiser Antoin 'Tony' Rezko." The scene was "quite a contrast from the circus atmosphere they recalled in the same lobby during the early stages of two other recent high-profile trials - those of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan and newspaper magnate Conrad Black." There are "a number of reasons why those cases might have garnered more attention than Rezko's trial. Those defendants were marquee attractions, and Obama is playing only a bit role in this case." Still, his "inability to knock out Hillary Rodham Clinton in Tuesday's primaries will surely provide her campaign with more opportunities to call attention to Obama's relationship with Rezko."

The Wall Street Journal (3/6, Brat, 2.06M) reports Obama "hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing in the case. But in recent days, the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, has leveraged the opening of the trial to spotlight Sen. Obama's ties to Mr. Rezko." An Obama campaign spokesman said "Sen. Obama knew Tony Rezko for two decades in very different circumstances, none of which involve the actions with which Mr. Rezko has been charged." The Journal adds Rezko, "a longtime fixture in Illinois politics, is under indictment for extortion and wire fraud. Prosecutors allege he used connections with state politicians and appointees to arrange kickback schemes."

The AP (3/6) reports, "U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve says she's not releasing the jurors' names or numbers. She has left the door open to releasing some information later."

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.