Monday, May 19, 2008

Hillary Makes Her Case in the Bluegrass State

In today’s New York Times, a confident Hillary Clinton campaigns in Kentucky in the run up to the primary in the Bluegrass state tomorrow.

(Be sure to read my footnote to the Times article on the underhanded strategy of Obama and Edwards in Michigan and of the Obama campaign in Florida.)

The Times article reports:

“Mrs. Clinton has continued to make the case that she is a better candidate than Mr. Obama, delivering a stump speech in Bowling Green that highlighted many familiar points: that she will be ready on Day 1, will be a more capable commander in chief, and is more experienced in foreign policy matters.

““I’m going to get to work as soon as I’m inaugurated to make sure that we do build a strong and prosperous middle class,” she told a crowd at the Maker’s Mark distillery in Loretto, Ky.

“And she has argued to audiences here that she is leading in the popular vote, based on a count that includes the elections in Florida and Michigan, whose votes were moved up in violation of Democratic Party rules. (Mr. Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan; neither candidate campaigned in Florida.)*

‘“I’ll tell you where this race stands right now,” Mrs. Clinton told a crowd in Mayfield on Sunday. “Right now I am leading in the popular vote. More Americans have voted for me. And the states that I have won are states that a Democrat has to win to be elected in the fall.”’

*What the Times article fails to mention above is that Mr. Obama chose to take his name off the ballot in Michigan, and he and John Edwards both urged residents of the Wolverine state to vote uncommitted to humiliate Clinton. Despite the “old politics” style strategy of those two young men, Clinton won handily in Michigan. The Times article also fails to report that even though the party forbade candidates to campaign in either Michigan or Florida, the Obama campaign ran ads in Florida prior to the primary. Hillary followed the rules, and the voters turned out in force to support her.

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