Vice President // Current TV

She's back! Clinton campaigns for Obama

Sen. Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance as a surrogate for Barack Obama on Thursday, in the process made a strong case to the Latino-American audience to which she spoke that the man who vanquished her in the Democratic primary was now the best choice to be elected president.

Appearing before the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials (NALEO), Clinton did not even mention Obama's opponent, John McCain. Instead she laid out a comprehensive case for why the Illinois Democrat was best suited to advance the issues of the Latino community, in the process evoking her own campaign experience.

"I know this was a hard fought primary campaign, and I am very grateful for the passion and determination of those who supported me," she said as an audience member screamed, "we love you Hillary!"

"But every issue you care about personally," she continued, "every issue your constituents care about and every issue NALEO is fighting for is really at risk. We cannot afford four more years of the same. It wouldn't be good for us. We have to chart a new course and we cannot do that without electing Senator Obama our next president."

The crowd was passionate in its approval. On several occasions cheers interrupted the Senator's roughly 15-minute speech. Nevertheless, Clinton seemed comfortable on the podium, only once appearing the least bit emotional over the defeat of her candidacy. The crowd, meanwhile, offered cheers at the mentioning of Obama's name, suggesting that the fissures created in the primary fight may be closer to being healed.

"I know Senator Obama," Clinton said. "I have served with him now for four years in the Senate I campaigned with him for 16 months on the campaign trail I have stood on the stage for 22 debates, but who is counting? ... In his own life he has lived the American dream and as a community organizer, state senator, and U.S. Senator he has worked to make that dream possible for others."

She went on: "Your passionate engagement moved our nation forward and I don't want to see that forgotten or overlooked I want to see participation by Latino voters continue to grow and more Hispanics join the ranks as elected members. I believe firmly the best way to continue this fight is to elect Barack Obama as our next president. The Latino community has felt the effects of the policies of the past eight years, president bush has set our nation backwards."

Clinton's appearance marks her reemergence on the campaign scene. In the Democratic primary, she racked up big wins over Obama among the Latino community. And with the Illinois Democrat hoping to contend in Western states like Nevada and Colorado her connection to that constituency will undoubtedly help.

Sen. Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance as a surrogate for Barack Obama... more

samanthadian
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Mccain may have already picked a VP: Gov. Tim Pawlenty

Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan drew praise on this morning's Chris Matthews Show for having called the nomination races for John McCain and Barack Obama early, and for prescient reasons. Matthews gave Sullivan a chance to issue another pronouncement on the 2008 Veepstakes, and the Daily Dish scribe didn't disappoint, not just predicting that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would be McCain's pick for vice president, but insisting that the decision to do so had been "already made."

Oh, and then Chris Matthews tells one of the worst puns you've ever heard. And yes, a small piece of you will die when you hear it

MATTHEWS: Welcome back. Andrew, let me tell you something you already know. Some of your predictions are right on the money. More than a year ago, you sat in that chair and predicted Obama. Let's watch.

SULLIVAN (taped): I think most people want to move on. I think that's Obama's fundamental strength. If you look at the polling this week, 72%, wrong track. The highest ever reported. Who is the candidate that most represents change? Obama.

MATTHEWS: Score, Andrew. And then, well before Iowa, when McCain was running fourth, you predicted McCain would be the winner.

SULLIVAN (taped): There will be a moment probably in New Hampshire when John McCain emerges as the John Kerry of this cycle when the Republican party panics with all the people they have and swoop back to the old war horse.

MATTHEWS: There are going to be some horseraces in Washington next week. So Andrew, tell me something again I don't know.

SULLIVAN: I think the vice-presidential picks are both going to be boring and underwhelming. We hope for a big moment, but actually...neither candidate wants to mix their brand up with another strong brand. I think that Pawlenty will probably be McCain's number two - I think he's already made that decision, actually - and I think Obama has yet to pick, but he doesn't want someone that will outshine him.

MATTHEWS: So that ticket is going to be known as good and Pawlenty.

Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan drew praise on this morning's Chris Matthews Show... more

pigmonkey
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Pelosi on McCain VP: Go Old

Nancy Pelosi advises John McCain on VP selection. Hmm.... TheRepublicant.org

TheRepublicant
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Obama needs a warrior to bring the smackdown

With economic distress so high, and with John McCain claiming national security as his trump card, Democrats may again be tempted to play down foreign affairs so they can turn the election into a fight over domestic questions about which McCain has had little to say.

Evading national security, says Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), would be a disastrous mistake. "The only way we lose this election is not to engage this issue head-on," Biden said during an interview in his Capitol office the day after Obama clinched the nomination. Democrats, Biden said, should be "proactive" and not "play defense on foreign affairs" because "the case against McCain and Bush on national security is so overwhelming. . . . It should be an essential part of the case for the Democratic nominee."

He should be at the top of any list of vice presidential picks for Obama. Why Biden? Few Democrats know more about foreign policy, and few would so relish the fight against McCain on international affairs. Few are better placed to argue that withdrawal from Iraq will strengthen rather than weaken the United States.

The worst thing in a running mate is the fear of muddying his or her image in political combat. Biden would be a happy warrior.

He was born in Scranton, Pa., an essential state for Democrats, and has been a regular in the Philadelphia media market. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, himself a plausible No. 2, has called Biden "a perfect fit." The senator has been through two of his own presidential campaigns, in which he experienced what an acquaintance of his called the "white-hot heat" of scrutiny.

Biden is Catholic and hails from a blue-collar world, two constituencies with which Obama needs help. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Biden speaks with real learning on international affairs and the judiciary -- the next vacancies on the Supreme Court should be a big issue in this campaign -- while never sounding like an elitist.

But the central reason to pick Biden is the message the choice would send about Obama's readiness to contest national security issues and his understanding that fixing American foreign policy must be one of the next president's highest priorities.

Biden has been critical of Bush's approach to Iraq and the world for the right reasons, and from the beginning. Even before the war began, Biden was warning of the costs of a lengthy occupation and predicting a decade-long intervention.

To restore its strength and influence, the United States needs to return to the realistic internationalism of FDR, Truman and, yes, the first President Bush. Whether or not Obama picks Biden, he should listen to what Biden is saying. Obama can't sidestep the foreign policy debate. He has to win it.With economic distress so high, and with John McCain claiming national security as his... more

smorrisey
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Obama/Clinton Hug It Out Behind Closed Doors

With nothing but a couple glasses of water and two plush chairs to sit in, Barack... more

mako2424
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Obama & Clinton have something to talk about

Hello, what's this?! Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama... more

videogirl_mai
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Who Should be Obama's pick for VP?

"Barack Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, has two options in his hunt for a... more

jostamey
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Possible Democratic Vice-Presidential canidates

Here is a list of some possible Democratic vice presidential canidates, in... more

lifestudentno83
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Joe Biden praises Obama; blasts Lieberman, McCain and Bush on diplomacy

'At the heart of this failure is an obsession with the "war on terrorism" that ignores larger forces shaping the world: the emergence of China, India, Russia and Europe; the spread of lethal weapons and dangerous diseases; uncertain supplies of energy, food and water; the persistence of poverty; ethnic animosities and state failures; a rapidly warming planet; the challenge to nation states from above and below.

Terrorism is a means, not an end, and very different groups and countries are using it toward very different goals. Messrs. Bush and McCain lump together, as a single threat, extremist groups and states more at odds with each other than with us: Sunnis and Shiites, Persians and Arabs, Iraq and Iran, al Qaeda and Shiite militias. If they can't identify the enemy or describe the war we're fighting, it's difficult to see how we will win.

Because of the policies Mr. Bush has pursued and Mr. McCain would continue, the entire Middle East is more dangerous. The United States and our allies, including Israel, are less secure.

The election in November is a vital opportunity for America to start anew. That will require more than a great soldier. It will require a wise leader.

If Mr. McCain has ruled out talking, we're stuck with an ineffectual policy or military strikes that could quickly spiral out of control. Here, the controversy over engaging Iran is especially instructive.

Sen. Obama is right that the U.S. should be willing to engage Iran on its nuclear program without "preconditions" – i.e. without insisting that Iran first freeze the program, which is the very subject of any negotiations. He has been clear that he would not become personally involved until the necessary preparations had been made and unless he was convinced his engagement would advance our interests.

President Nixon didn't demand that China end military support to the Vietnamese killing Americans before meeting with Mao. President Reagan didn't insist that the Soviets freeze their nuclear arsenal before sitting down with Mikhail Gorbachev. Even George W. Bush – whose initial disengagement allowed dangers to proliferate – didn't demand that Libya relinquish its nuclear program, that North Korea give up its plutonium, or even that Iran stop aiding those attacking our soldiers in Iraq before authorizing talks.

Our allies and partners need to know that the U.S. will go the extra diplomatic mile – if we do, they are much more likely to stand with us if diplomacy fails and force proves necessary.

It's amazing how little faith George Bush, Joe Lieberman and John McCain have in themselves – and in America.''At the heart of this failure is an obsession with the "war on... more

smorrisey
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The Little Rally That Grew

The voting is over in Oregon, where Senator Barack Obama decisively won the primary on Tuesday. But people there and elsewhere are still buzzing about Mr. Obama’s Sunday rally in Portland, which drew 75,000 people — the largest crowd not just of Mr. Obama’s campaign but probably, according to local politicos, in Oregon campaign history.

The event‘s elated organizers say, however, that they did not deliberately set out to shatter records. It was only on Wednesday night, less than 100 hours before the start of the rally, that they decided to risk holding it outdoors, and after that choice was made, they had trust that word would spread quick enough, through media traditional and new, to justify their decision to eschew a smaller indoor arena.

“People in Portland are very wired, in both the Internet sense and otherwise,” Nick Shapiro, the Oregon communications director for the Obama campaign, said in an interview after the rally. “On Thursday, we sent e-mails to key supporters who we knew would spread the news, but we also relied on television and the newspapers and radio to get word out.” Flyers were also posted at restaurants and stores around town.

Mr. Obama was making his fourth appearance in the state, but his first at a large venue in Portland since a rally in March at the local coliseum, where Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico endorsed him. His campaign had announced Saturday that he would watch the primary results come in Tuesday night in Iowa, not Oregon, so for both the faithful and the merely curious, it was their last opportunity to see and hear the candidate before the vote.

Interviews with people at the rally made it clear that many of them were energized by a political climate rarely seen in Oregon. Usually the presidential nominations have been sewn up by the time the state holds its primary in late May, but not this year: voter after voter expressed satisfaction at being able to participate in an election in which the vote of Oregonians would mean something.

Some older voters even referred nostalgically back to what they called “the last primary here that mattered”: 1968, in which Senator Eugene McCarthy defeated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated a week later in California. And while the vast majority of those attending were already committed Obama supporters, some said they were still trying to decide between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and wanted to hear him speak.

Even the weather cooperated: in a state whose residents complain that it is almost always raining, the afternoon was sunny and clear, with temperatures that were positively steamy by Oregon standards. So what better place to spend a Sunday afternoon than with like-minded friends on the grassy banks of the Willamette River?

Portland has had big turnouts for political rallies before, of course: in 2004, John Kerry drew an estimated 50,000 people to the same site. But the presence of a couple of big show business names, Leonardo diCaprio and Jon Bongiovi, probably helped swell the attendance at that event.

In contrast, opening for Mr. Obama on Sunday were The Decemberists, a rising but hardly arena-drawing Portland-based indie-pop band, and Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Late word that Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle, and their two daughters would be in attendance may also have helped bring people out, but the main attraction was clearly Mr. Obama himself.

[Credit: Larry Rohter, New York Times]
The voting is over in Oregon, where Senator Barack Obama decisively won the primary on... more