Clinton irked by Richardson endorsement

Original Article

By LAURA KURTZMAN
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Former President Clinton is still smarting over New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama.

During a private meeting with California Democrats this past weekend, Clinton grew red-faced as he talked about how he expected Richardson, who was a member of Clinton's Cabinet, to back Hillary Rodham Clinton for the presidential nomination or at least stay neutral, according to several people who attended.

Instead, Richardson endorsed Obama late last month, calling him a "once-in-a-lifetime leader."

"He sort of gets a little redder and redder and redder, but he wasn't off the deep end as I had seen him in the past," said Inola Henry, an uncommitted superdelegate. "It was sort of like, 'Gee, I'm a martyr.' He seemed more hurt than anything."

Clinton used his appearance at the state Democratic Party convention in San Jose to lobby California's 21 uncommitted superdelegates to support his wife.

After posing for a group photograph with the former president, superdelegate Rachel Binah told Clinton she was disappointed that one of his allies, strategist James Carville, had compared Richardson to Judas after he endorsed Obama.

Clinton, according to several people present, distanced himself from Carville's remarks. But he went on to say that he had not expected Richardson to endorse the Illinois senator, especially since the New Mexico governor had invited Clinton to Santa Fe to watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.

"He did say he certainly had been led to believe that he was going to get the endorsement," Henry said Wednesday. She was one of about 15 superdelegates - some uncommitted, others backing Clinton - who attended Sunday's meeting with Clinton before he addressed the convention.

Aleita Huguenin, another superdelegate, remembered Clinton saying, "We thought he'd let us know if he did an endorsement." But Huguenin said the comments about Richardson were "a minor blip in the whole meeting."

According superdelegate Chris Stampolis, Clinton said only that Richardson had promised not to endorse Obama, saying, "'He told me to my face five times he would not do that.'"

Binah did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but she previously told The Associated Press she supports Clinton. Other superdelegates interviewed by the AP said it was Binah's statement that prompted Clinton's comments about Richardson's decision.

Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for Richardson, said his boss never promised to endorse Hillary Clinton.

"He never told the president or anybody else, for that matter," Shipley said. "The governor respectfully disagrees with the president."

Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, endorsed Obama on March 21, shortly after the Illinois senator gave a speech about race. It was a blow to the Clintons because of their long association with Richardson, who served as Clinton's energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations.

Clinton's campaign declined to comment, except to say the former president was in California to promote his wife's candidacy.

"President Clinton discussed the importance of this election with Democratic Party members and how after 46 primaries and caucuses, by virtually every measure, this election remains a very close race," campaign spokesman Luis Vizcaino said in a statement. "President Clinton is incredibly popular in the Golden State, and the convention was a great opportunity for him to speak directly with members of the California Democratic Party."

Bob Mulholland, a spokesman for the state party who attended the private meeting, said Clinton expressed himself passionately but insisted the meeting was productive.

"I left the meeting feeling this was great," Mulholland said. "The guy had time to talk to us about the campaign."

Slate's Delegate Counter

http://www.slate.com/features/delegatecounter/

Thought some of you might find this interesting.

Democratic Debate on 2-26-07

Just in case some one wants to watch last night's Democratic debate, here it is in the entirety:

US rivals fight on after key day

US Republican John McCain moved closer to his party's presidential nomination after Super Tuesday's polls, while the Democratic race stayed finely balanced.

Mr McCain won the big states of California and New York, although Mike Huckabee did better than expected.

For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton won in New York and California, but rival Barack Obama also did well by winning in 13 states.

It was the biggest day in the race to pick candidates in November's election.

But the campaigns are already looking ahead to contests on Saturday in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state and 12 February primaries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.

Race not yet run

Mr McCain's gains seriously wounded his main rival, Mitt Romney, the BBC's James Coomerasamy in Washington says.

Mr McCain also won in Illinois, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Missouri, Connecticut, Delaware, and his home state of Arizona.

In many Republican races, the winner takes all the state delegates to the national party convention. New York alone comes with 87 delegates.

The Democratic race was as tight as forecast, although Mrs Clinton secured the two biggest prizes.

In New York, her home state, she captured about 57% of votes to Mr Obama's 40%.

In California, with most precincts counted, Mrs Clinton had won 52% of Democratic votes and Mr Obama about 42%.

Mrs Clinton also took Arizona, Massachusetts and New Jersey, as well as the southern, rural states of Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas.

However Mr Obama won a greater number of states, namely Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Utah and his home state of Illinois.

I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front-runner John McCain

The Democratic caucuses in New Mexico remained unsettled. Mrs Clinton had a 117-vote lead when the party shut down its counting operation until 1600 GMT on Wednesday.

Before the final results were in, Mr Obama told supporters: "We don't need the final results to know our time has come."

In terms of delegates captured, Mrs Clinton was only marginally ahead - under the Democrats' system of proportional distribution.

Both are still well short of the 2,025 needed to secure the party's nomination.

'All the way'

Overall, voters were choosing 42% of delegates on Super Tuesday.

REPORTS FROM THE CAMPS

In each state's primary or caucus, successful candidates are awarded delegates who formally choose the party's nominee at the national convention in six months' time.

In Arizona, Mr McCain's told supporters: "We must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front-runner for the presidency of the United States."

However it was Mr Huckabee who took the first state to announce a result, West Virginia.

WHAT IS SUPER TUESDAY? 24 states holding simultaneous contests to help decide the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations About 40% of each party's delegates - who will choose the candidate - are up for grabs Key states electing large numbers of delegates include California, New York and Illinois

Overall, he went on to confound the polls, which had put him in a distant third, and came not far behind Mr Romney.

He won across the south, in Arkansas, where he used to be governor, as well as Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

"We are still on our feet and much to the amazement of many we are getting there folks," he told supporters in Arkansas.

Mr Romney won in Colorado, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Alaska and Utah.

The former Massachusetts governor said he was not about to drop out of the race and was "going all the way to the White House".

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7229895.stm

Clinton wins Democratic primary

Democrat Hillary Clinton has won New Hampshire's presidential primary, beating rival candidate Barack Obama into second place.

Earlier, John McCain won the Republican presidential primary with a substantial lead, media projections indicated.

Observers say it seems to have been a record-breaking turnout, with some half a million people having cast ballots.

Candidates are aiming to build momentum before more than 20 states hold polls on 5 February, known as Super Tuesday.

Mrs Clinton told a cheering crowd of supporters that: "I come tonight with a very, very full heart.

Now together let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me Hillary Clinton

"I want especially to thank New Hampshire. Over the last week I listened to you and in the process I found my own voice. I felt like we all spoke from our hearts and I am so gratified that you responded."

She echoed her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who in New Hampshire's primary in 1992 called himself the "comeback kid".

"Now together let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me," she said.

Turning point?

In conceding victory Mr Obama said: "I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard fought victory here in New Hampshire. She did an outstanding job, give her a big round of applause."

Mr Obama had gone into the vote with leads of up to 13% in opinion polls following his impressive victory in Thursday's Iowa caucuses.

McCain supporters chanted "Mac is back, Mac is back". McCain victory speech

He achieved a surge in the polls after trailing Mrs Clinton's lead for much of the campaign.

Mrs Clinton having closed that gap may, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in New Hampshire, be down to an extraordinary moment during her campaigning on Monday when she appeared close to tears as she talked about how much public service meant to her.

John Edwards, who came third in the Democrat contest, reminded supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, that there were "48 states left to go".

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney came second in the Republican race with 32% compared to Mr McCain's 37%, according to ABC.

'Fighting on'

Former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani came in with 11% and 9% of the vote for the Republicans, according to ABC projections.

REPUBLICAN RACE John McCain - 37% Mitt Romney - 32% Mike Huckabee - 11% Rudy Giuliani - 9% Source: ABC

Mr Giuliani said he planned to stay in the race and was looking forward to Florida's 29 January primary.

Mr McCain has staged an impressive fight back after seeing his campaign nearly derail several months ago.

At his campaign headquarters, Mr McCain thanked his supporters, saying: "My friends, you know I'm passed the age where I can claim the noun 'kid', no matter what adjective precedes it. But tonight we sure showed 'em what a comeback looks like."

Mr Romney conceded victory and congratulated Mr McCain.

"Well another silver... I'd rather have a gold, but I got another silver.

"But tonight congratulations go to Senator John McCain for running a first class race. Congratulations for the gold senator, great job, let's give him a round of applause."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7178168.stm

About Iowa...

Bits and pieces taken from the Politico.com forum

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Obama had 38 percent, while John Edwards narrowly defeated Clinton in the race for second, 30 percent to 29 percent...

The Iowa results also began winnowing the Democratic field. Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who moved his family to Iowa in an effort to make a strong showing, ended his campaign after a dismal finish. Dodd was tied for sixth place with 0 percent. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden also quit the race after finishing in fifth place with 1 percent.

Huckabee was declared the winner at 9 p.m. Eastern time, easily besting Mitt Romney — a storyline that was unthinkable just weeks ago. With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Huckabee led Romney 34 percent to 25 percent...

Roughly 60 percent of Republican caucus-goers were evangelicals, according to entrance surveys — approximately double the evangelical turnout in the 2004 general election...

So, how do you feel about the results here? I am somewhat surprised. Surprised both in a fairly pleasant way and a frightened way. First the Republicans: I do not like basically any of Mike Huckabee's stances on the issues, of course I feel that way about all the Republican candidates, except Ron Paul. Huckabee is everything I do not want in a president, except he is a decent speaker. A win for Ron Paul on the Republican side would have been nice (pipe dreams I know) but even Guiliani or McCain would have been less scary. Now the Dems: Obama beat Clinton... well good. I like him a whole lot more than her, though he is no Kucinich. I am glad to see Edwards edging her out too. Perhaps an Obama-Edwards ticket would work well for the dems? Or Edwards-Obama depending on how the next few states go. Anyway, in summation: Rep results = frightening, Dems results = nominally good.