Bill Clinton: 'Cover up' hiding Hillary Clinton's chances

[Saguaro]

CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats were more likely to lose in November if Hillary Clinton is not the nominee, and suggested some were trying to "push and pressure and bully" superdelegates to make up their minds prematurely.

"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by "ABC News."

Clinton also suggested some were trying to "cover up" Sen. Clinton's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.

" 'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.' "


The former president added that his wife had not been given the respect she deserved as a legitimate presidential candidate.

"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."

"Her only position was, 'Look, if I lose I'll be a good team player. We will all try to win, but let's let everybody vote, and count every vote,' " he said.

The former president suggested that if the New York senator ended the primary season with an edge in the popular vote, it would be a significant development.

"If you vote for her and she does well in Montana and she does well in Puerto Rico, when this is over she will be ahead in the popular vote," Clinton said.

"And they're trying to get her to cry uncle before the Democratic Party has to decide what to do in Florida and Michigan," which Clinton said the party would need to do "unless we want to lose the election."

The current requirement to claim the Democratic presidential nomination is 2,026 delegates, a formula that does not take into account delegates from Florida and Michigan, whose contests were not sanctioned by the party because they moved them up earlier on the primary calendar.

But if those votes were counted as cast, Hillary Clinton would still trail rival Barack Obama in the overall delegate count.

The former president said Sunday that the media had unfairly attacked his wife since the Iowa caucuses, repeating an often-used charge that press coverage had made him feel as though he were living in a "fun house."

"If you notice, there hasn't been a lot of publicity on these polls I just told you about," he said. "It is the first time you've heard it? Why do you think that is? Why do you think? Don't you think if the polls were the reverse and he was winning the Electoral College against Senator McCain and Hillary was losing it, it would be blasted on every television station?"

He added, "You would know it wouldn't you? It wouldn't be a little secret. And there is another Electoral College poll that I saw yesterday had her over 300 electoral votes. ... She will win the general election if you nominate her. They're just trying to make sure you don't."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/26/bill.clinton.mon/index.html

[jim]

CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats were more likely to lose in November if Hillary Clinton is not the nominee, and suggested some were trying to "push and pressure and bully" superdelegates to make up their minds prematurely.

"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by "ABC News."

Clinton also suggested some were trying to "cover up" Sen. Clinton's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.

" 'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.' "


The former president added that his wife had not been given the respect she deserved as a legitimate presidential candidate.

"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."

"Her only position was, 'Look, if I lose I'll be a good team player. We will all try to win, but let's let everybody vote, and count every vote,' " he said.

The former president suggested that if the New York senator ended the primary season with an edge in the popular vote, it would be a significant development.

"If you vote for her and she does well in Montana and she does well in Puerto Rico, when this is over she will be ahead in the popular vote," Clinton said.

"And they're trying to get her to cry uncle before the Democratic Party has to decide what to do in Florida and Michigan," which Clinton said the party would need to do "unless we want to lose the election."

The current requirement to claim the Democratic presidential nomination is 2,026 delegates, a formula that does not take into account delegates from Florida and Michigan, whose contests were not sanctioned by the party because they moved them up earlier on the primary calendar.

But if those votes were counted as cast, Hillary Clinton would still trail rival Barack Obama in the overall delegate count.

The former president said Sunday that the media had unfairly attacked his wife since the Iowa caucuses, repeating an often-used charge that press coverage had made him feel as though he were living in a "fun house."

"If you notice, there hasn't been a lot of publicity on these polls I just told you about," he said. "It is the first time you've heard it? Why do you think that is? Why do you think? Don't you think if the polls were the reverse and he was winning the Electoral College against Senator McCain and Hillary was losing it, it would be blasted on every television station?"

He added, "You would know it wouldn't you? It wouldn't be a little secret. And there is another Electoral College poll that I saw yesterday had her over 300 electoral votes. ... She will win the general election if you nominate her. They're just trying to make sure you don't."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/26/bill.clinton.mon/index.html


Hell: I never saw anyone thrown out at third base and insist that it should be a home run either because the throw was bad or another party can't make it home...Not before now:ringo:headshake:mw

[issac the dragon]

Since there really is no way for Clinton to win, why doesn't Obama man up and let the Florida and Michigan votes be counted? He has nothing to lose except looking like a jerk Republican trying to deny Democratic votes.

I truly wish he would do that so that both Clintons would shut up. They are beginning to sound like they are on drugs.

[Saguaro]

Speaking of completely unfair .

Let Hillary have Fla, Obama can have Mich.or they can spilt the delgates

[issac the dragon]

Obama took his name off the ballot in Mi. because the polls showed him getting his ass kicked. That way he could claim he lost because his name wasn't on the ballot, rather than Clinton kicked his ass. Nothing will change that.

[Saguaro]

Obama never had his name on the ballot in Mich

[Saguaro]

CBS/AP) Four Democratic candidates have withdrawn from Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary, leaving what amounts to a beauty contest to front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and a handful of lesser-knowns.

Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson filed paperwork Tuesday, the deadline to withdraw from the ballot, said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's office.

A fourth candidate, Joe Biden, said in a statement that he was bypassing Michigan's primary, calling it a beauty contest.

Later in the day, the Clinton campaign issued a statement saying the New York senator will remain on the ballot.

"We're honoring the pledge and we won't campaign or spend money in states that aren't in compliance with the DNC calendar," said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson. "We don't think it's necessary to remove ourselves from the ballot."

"Today's decision reaffirms our pledge to respect the primary calendar as established by the DNC and makes it clear that we will not play into the politics of money and Republican machinations that only serve to interfere with the primary calendar," said Biden for President Campaign Manager Luis Navarro.

Chris Dodd also said he would remain on the ballot. Hari Sevugan, Dodd's communications director, suggested in a statement that the potential of alienating voters in a state expected to be a 2008 battleground played a role in the campaign's decision.

"We are committed to the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire going first, and we signed the four-state pledge to hopefully prevail upon the DNC and the state parties to add clarity to that situation," Sevugan said. "However, it does not benefit any of us if we are the nominee to pull our name off the ballot and slight Michigan voters."

All of the Democratic candidates already have agreed not to campaign in Michigan because it broke Democratic National Committee rules when it moved its primary ahead of Feb. 5.

Other Democratic candidates had until the end of the day to decide if they'll stay on the ballot.

Party rules say states cannot hold their 2008 primary contests before Feb. 5, except for Iowa on Jan. 14, Nevada on Jan. 19, New Hampshire on Jan. 22 and South Carolina on Jan. 29.

The calendar was designed to preserve the traditional role that Iowa and New Hampshire have played in selecting the nominee, while adding two states with more racial and geographic diversity to influential early slots.

As punishment, the DNC has vowed to strip Michigan and Florida, which scheduled its contest on Jan. 29, of their delegates.

"We're very disappointed and this is another example of why the monopoly that Iowa and New Hampshire have needs to end," said Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Jason Moon.

He declined to speculate about whether the party may decide to move back its primary, or to hold a caucus instead.

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis said the decision by the Democrats just opens Michigan to more campaigning by Republicans hoping to win the state and its electoral votes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/09/politics/main3348176.shtml

[Trueblue]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17958423

Richardson also pulled his name from the ballot.

[Yellowdogtexan]

Since there really is no way for Clinton to win, why doesn't Obama man up and let the Florida and Michigan votes be counted? He has nothing to lose except looking like a jerk Republican trying to deny Democratic votes.Did you see Lanny Davis' proposal to give 100+ delegates from Michigan to Clinton and 27 to Obama. There has been several proposals that are fairer but the clinton forces want to use this to take the nomination away from the voters and give it to clinton. Lanny is pushing and there is no way that the DNC will buy his position but he Florida and Michigan delegations would have been resolved but for the clinton insistence that they get all of the delegates because that is the only way that they will win

[Yellowdogtexan]

Obama took his name off the ballot in Mi. because the polls showed him getting his ass kicked. That way he could claim he lost because his name wasn't on the ballot, rather than Clinton kicked his ass. Nothing will change that.I have been following a new model called the Poblano model that has proven to be very accurate. If Obama was on the ballot in Michigan and it was a real contest, he would probably take the state.

There was no re-vote in Michigan because the clintonites block any re-vote that would be fair. A large number of democrats voted in the Michigan primary for Romney because the michigan primary was not suppose to count. The clintonites wanted to exclude these voters from any re-vote and that is why there is no re-vote in michigan

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is an article on the Poblano model and Michiganhttp://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/05/michigan-what-would-have-happened.htmlOverall, we project that Obama would have carried Michigan by a narrow margin -- about 4.0 percentage points or 80,000 votes. After accounting for delegates awarded at the statewide level, we project him to win 65 Michigan delegates to Clinton's 63. Certainly, there is some margin for error in these calculations, and Clinton could certainly have won the state herself. But it would undoubtedly have been very close. Interestingly, if you take the average of the winning margins in Indiana (Clinton by 1.2 points), Ohio (Clinton by 8.7) and Wisconsin (Obama by 17.3), you come up with an average of Obama by 2.5 points, which is very close to our estimate.