2008 and counting

Obama seizes opportunity, stays on offensive

From jostling with former President Clinton to appearing on “Saturday Night Live,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has found a number of different ways to keep pressure on Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) since last week’s debate.

Obama signaled his intention to be more aggressive in going after Clinton in an interview with The New York Times just before the Oct. 30 debate in Philadelphia.

{mosads}Despite a skeptical press corps, Obama seems to have done just that after Clinton stumbled in her debate performance.

The freshman senator has been a steady presence on the Drudge Report as he has lambasted Clinton for her ambition, her so-called attempts to play the gender card and even her age — saying, for example, that a baby boomer like Clinton is still fighting the battles of the 1960s.

On “The Today Show” Nov. 2, Obama put the Clinton campaign on notice that the gender card was not in play, saying, “So it doesn’t make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says, ‘Don’t pick on me.’ ”

That same day, during MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show with Joe Scarborough, Obama said that “there is a very real difference between myself and Sen. Clinton on [Iran].”

Obama also waded into what could be dangerous territory in Democratic circles as he criticized former President Bill Clinton on Nov. 6 for likening his wife’s detractors to “Swift-Boat” style tactics.

Through it all, Obama, like his rivals, has maintained a steady presence on the campaign trail, spending much of his week in the early-voting state of Iowa.

Obama, however, faces a televised rite of passage that is generally more demanding than a “Saturday Night Live” appearance: He is set to go on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this Sunday.

The heavyweight Sunday news show is known to boost or bust a candidate, especially as the calendar gets shorter.

Some of Obama’s efforts in the last week have been a product of fortuitous timing. Both “Meet the Press” and the “Saturday Night Live” appearance were scheduled before the debate, according to the campaign.

A few polls indicate that the Obama offensive was working, as Clinton’s lead, though still substantial in most state and national polls, has slipped.
— Sam Youngman

RNC chairman doesn’t see a Feb. 5 nominee

Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said he doesn’t think the GOP nominee will be decided “on or by” Super Tuesday, Feb. 5.

On a conference call with reporters, Duncan said he has studied the calendar, the number of delegates and polling and concluded that it is not “mathematically” possible to have a nominee before or on the big day that includes New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California.

“I don’t share that view,” Duncan said. “I think it’s going to take longer than that.”

Duncan held the call to announce that he is issuing the formal “call to the convention” Friday, which will include five states being penalized for holding their nominating contest outside of the RNC-approved window.

New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan, South Carolina and Florida will all lose 50 percent of their delegates for violating RNC rules by holding their contests before Feb. 5.

“No one wants to be in a position to punish anyone, but our rules are self-enforcing,” Duncan said.
— Sam Youngman

Baldwin: No ‘piling on’ on Clinton

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) male competitors did not “pile on” criticism during last week’s debate, as some of her most ardent supporters have alleged, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said on Thursday during an interview on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

“She’s getting more attention and critiques because she’s established a credible campaign that is doing well … so she is the target of her competitors’ attention,” Baldwin, the only lesbian in the House, said.

Baldwin has endorsed Clinton, but it is unclear now how big a role Wisconsin will play in the Democratic primary because its primary is scheduled for Feb. 19, two weeks after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. If a winner does not emerge after that, however, Wisconsin could become an important state.

The C-SPAN interview will air this weekend.
— Jonathan E. Kaplan

Clinton launches ‘Fact Hub’

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign launched a new website Thursday aimed at setting the record straight on what is being said about its candidate.

The campaign is saying The Fact Hub is a companion site to Hillaryhub.com, the site that has featured Clinton’s ads and other video performances.

The Fact Hub was launched with fortuitous timing, as one of the first misunderstandings the campaign sought to clarify was over the case of an Iowa waitress who allegedly got stiffed.

After a waitress said Clinton did not leave a tip after a campaign stop at the Maid-Rite restaurant in Iowa, the Fact Hub used other media accounts to correct the initial reports.

The restaurant’s manager said Clinton’s campaign did in fact leave a generous tip. Campaign staffers left $100 on a $157 tab.
 — S.Y.