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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Suddenly, we have a Hillary Clinton pep rally
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As expected, without John Edwards’ leavening presence, Wednesday’s gathering of Democrats at the Georgia World Congress Center became a Hillary Clinton rally.
At 8:30 p.m. or so, hundreds of Clinton supporters, who paid $25 each to get in, were led to the stage to surround the candidate, who seemed pleased at the reception. A smaller crowd of Barack Obama supporters, who also purchased cheap seats, were left to cheer from the rear of the auditorium.
But we came across a pair of Obama operatives who seemed quite satisfied with themselves despite the spectacle. They said they’d bagged quite a few Edwards supporters today, and would release a list of their captured quarry on Thursday.
If there was one thing that Obama and Clinton supporters could agree on Wednesday, it was the size and energy of the crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner. More than 4,000.
Even more worrying to Republicans should be the racial make-up of the crowd. A good portion of crowd, perhaps more than a majority, were white. People who might have quietly voted for another party in other days.
Notes: Shirley Franklin on Obama; rural Dems courted by Clinton in person
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Notes from wandering around at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, while waiting for Hillary Clinton:
— Ran into Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who explained a little more about how Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pushed her out of neutral.
It was Obama’s victory speech in Iowa. “I was planning to stay out of it until that night. I was in my bedroom, cleaning out a stack of papers. It’s what I do — it’s a stress buster,” she said.
The speech simply bowled her over, Franklin said. “We need solutions, but we also need inspiration.”
She was complimentary about the Clintons, both of them. And denied that her “fairy tale” line in her Ebeneezer speech — which she wrote herself — was meant in anyway as a slap at the former president.
We scoffed, of course.
“Surely you don’t mean he’s the only one who can use the phrase ‘fairy tale,’” she replied in mock indignation.
— The Barack Obama campaign made an aborted attempt to address the largest gathering of Georgia Democrats in years by video. Technological problems proved too great.
— Then there was House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, a newspaper publisher down in Dublin who only last Sunday was hosting his candidate of choice, John Edwards.
Now Edwards is gone. And Porter had a personal, face-to-face appointment with Hillary Clinton after her speech this evening. “When they called, I said I’d love to meet with her,” he said.
But he said he would give any decision at least a few days, out of respect for Edwards.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, another Edwards supporter, said something similar. “Can’t we let John Edwards’ body get cold first?” he asked. With a smile, of course.
MLK III: ‘Maybe I’ll endorse in the Clinton-Obama race. Maybe I won’t.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Action has shifted away from the Baptists in the Georgia World Congress to the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner for Democrats.
The hall is packed. State Democratic Party chairman Jane Kidd put the crowd at 2,700 tickets sold at $250, and another 1,700 bleacher seats sold at $25. They’d been hoping to break 5,000, but the withdrawal of John Edwards this afternoon probably put a lid on turnout, Kidd said.
Even so, this is clearly the biggest gathering of Democrats since 2002, rivaling recent Republican bashes.
Among the first people we ran into was Martin Luther King III, who said he might possibly issue an endorsement in the presidential campaign now that it’s down to two people. He met only last week or so with John Edwards, and was complimentary about the North Carolinian’s campaign. But did not endorse.
“I think his message about poor people was so important,” King said. The two remaining candidates? Obama is good at building alliances, the diplomatic son of the slain civil rights leader said. Clinton’s got experience on her side.
A meeting with Clinton was possible this evening, King said, but there’s a lot of fund-raising going on. “I’ve continuously gotten calls from a number of people in both camps,” he said. “I’m getting close. I’m going to have to make a decision very shortly.”
Hillary Clinton: ‘Each day I keep trying to improve on my imperfections’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama played nice in front of thousands of African-American church-goers gathered in Atlanta on Wednesday.
The audience was the National Baptist Conventions of America.
Obama, speaking via an unevenly streaming Internet connection, went first. Clinton appeared in person, her speech a prelude of an address she’ll make to Georgia Democrats who also gather at the Georgia World Congress Center this evening.
It’s the start of an all-Hillary night, given John Edwards’ withdrawal from the Democratic race today.
You can see details of his speech below, but Obama did make some veiled references to the back-and-forth between himself and both Clintons, decrying “politics that’s all about winning.” Though he did admit that Hillary Clinton’s candidacy had inspired women.
Clinton, for her part, spoke as if she and Obama hadn’t any differences at all.
During a 25-minute speech, the New York senator made only the barest references to the conflict that has polarized many of the black voters she’s been trying to reach.
“I should begin by acknowledging my husband is a Baptist. And I have learned from sitting around the kitchen, that Baptists have quite the tradition of disagreement. Sometimes the decibel level can rise, depending on the passion of the moment,” Clinton said at the outset.
At another point, she confessed, “So often, like all of us, I fall short. So each day I keep trying to improve my imperfections. that’s what I try to do not only in my personal life, but also in my public life.”
Her touchstones included John Lewis, who has endorsed her, the late Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. She also promised to double federal funding for traditional black colleges such as Spelman and Morehouse.
Any invective Clinton saved for the Bush administration. “For the past seven years, our leaders have gotten it wrong. They’ve gotten it upside-down and backwards,” she said. “They have lifted up the drug and insurance companies, but vetoed health care for millions of children in need.”
Where Obama gave multiple mentions to the disproportionate number of young black men in prison, Clinton emphasized “nooses in schoolyards” — a reference to the Jena situation of last summer — and the failure of the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“Our country deserves a president who rolls up his — or her — sleeves,” she said.
Clinton has ‘evoked a lot of passion’ among women, Obama says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama just finished his Internet-based address to the National Baptist Conventions in America.
The church meeting is at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta, where Georgia Democrats will gather tonight for their Jefferson-Jackson Day fund-raising dinner.
Hillary Clinton’s due to speak to the same largely African-American group, in person, in a few minutes. She’ll hit Democrats later, with a $1,000 fund-raiser in between.
In his speech, Obama had some veiled references to his rival and her husband, decrying “politics that’s all about winning.”
But he acknowledged that, with John Edwards now out of the race, Democrats are poised to make history whoever wins the nomination. He credited Clinton with “evoking a lot of passion among women.”
Obama tried to strike a chord with the religious group, many of whom are pastors, by reminding them of his beginnings as a young attorney, working with churches on Chicago’s south side.
“Pastors are pushing this movement forward. I need each and everyone of you in the fight,” Obama said.
Several of the delegates stood after Obama finished, then with the encouragement of convention officials on the stage, so did the rest.
On the stage in support of Obama was former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder, who is now mayor of Richmond, Va. But he couldn’t talk. Laryngitis, apparently.
Waiting for Obama, Clinton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re here at the National Baptist Convention of America, which has filled one of the lower halls at the Georgia World Congress Center.
It’s a mostly African-American group, with several thousand in attendance, and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is to address it. Hillary Clinton is due here at 4 p.m.
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McCain chasing endorsements from Isakson, Chambliss and Perdue?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We can’t vouch for the accuracy, but this blog post was allegedly filed from Republican John McCain’s plane, by someone called the Mad Irishman.
It’s a McCain-oriented site — that much we know.
The post drops the names of Isakson, Chambliss and Perdue:
Despite McCain’s talk, his allies were already working to quickly capitalize on his newfound front-runner status. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who said he was confident California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would endorse the senator within a matter of days, said he had already called Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to see if they were willing to endorse McCain before their state’s Feb. 5 primary.
“They’ll come as a package,” Graham said, adding he had told Chambliss — who is up for reelection this year — that backing McCain would prove to be an asset in the general election even if it would spark some criticism in the primary.
Other Republicans on Graham’s wish list? Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
Competing for the Edwards vote: The Big Guy says Obama people have been ringing, but he’s sitting tight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Associated Press report was barely a hum on the wire when the competition for John Edwards votes began.
Given the tight races between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the South, Edwards’ supporters — who generally are white and more conservative Democrats — could make the difference in several states, including Georgia.
In essence, Ewdards supporters could become the brokers that their candidate never will be at this summer’s Denver convention.
Clinton’s web site has already posted an ode to Edwards. Obama supporters have been particularly busy in Georgia.
Mark Taylor, the former lieutenant governor, was one of Edwards’ biggest supporters in Georgia. “The Obama people are ringing my phone, but I’m just going to sit back and take it all in,” he said.
Now, if you know Taylor, you know he’s never been satisfied with playing the spectator. And it sounded like he was still angling for a trophy for his candidate.
“I’d like to see [Edwards] as attorney general. He could right a lot of the wrongs in the Bush administration,” Taylor said. “We need an aggressive attorney general.”
Happy, or at least mollified, Democrats are essential for a race that could be closer than many think, the lieutenant governor said — especially if Republicans nominate John McCain.
“He hates Lockheed, he hates the peanut program,” Taylor said, meaning that rural Georgia and parts of suburban could be up for grabs.
McCain in Cobb County on Saturday, Mike Huckabee to preach in Marietta on Sunday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia will see at least two of the three top remaining Republican candidates for president over the weekend.
Fresh from his Florida victory, John McCain has a 5:30 p.m. Saturday rally in a ballroom at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in the Vinings area, off U.S. 41 near its intersection with I-285.
And we’ve just learned that Mike Huckabee, who finished fourth Tuesday but is focusing on Southern states, will preach at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta on Sunday. The church is one of the most politically active Southern Baptist churches in the state, and for a time was one of the largest.
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Ron Paul rally at the state Capitol on Saturday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just in case things start moving too fast, allow us to go ahead and tell you that the Republican campaign of Ron Paul has got a state Capitol rally planned for noon Saturday, Groundhog Day.
Participants include Rand Paul, son of the candidate, and the Ron Paul blimp. Plus many Georgia libertarians, including Garrett Michael Hayes. Music will be provided.
The Paul event conflicts with the Saturday gathering of the Georgia Christian Alliance, another Republican-oriented activity leading up to Super Tuesday. But somehow, we don’t think they’ll draw from the same pool of voters.
Isakson won’t join Georgia revolt against economic stimulus package
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s seven Republican congressmen all voted against the 146 billion economic stimulus package passed by the Democratically controlled House and endorsed by President Bush.
The G-7, as they call themselves, wanted tax cuts, not rebates. “Sending out checks in a couple of months isn’t going to expand the economy, it’s just going to expand the deficit,” said U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County.
But as the seven Georgia House members were churning out their press releases, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson was on live TV, putting himself on the opposite side.
Isakson appeared on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,” representing the Republican side. With him was U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas).
See the full transcript and audio here. A few Isakson bits:
“I certainly have introduced some legislation today which will be focused on tomorrow in terms of overall reform in terms of the mortgage market and targeting tax credit to buy those homes that are staggering and are staggering our marketplace and depressing our prices.
“However, I must say, the House bill, agreed upon with the White House, is strategically surgical. It does put money in the hands of the consumer. It does advance both expensing and depreciation to small business. And it does partially address the mortgage industry problem by raising Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA limits.
“In the end, we should not protract the debate. We should move swiftly because in the end the people want the Congress of the United States to come to a bipartisan agreement…..
“I don’t think it serves either the economy well or quite frankly the Congress well for us to get into bits-and-piece arguments and protract the debate on this particular legislation.
“We probably should go ahead, adopt the House version, then move forward and open up phase two, which is looking at the things Blanche has talked about, looking at the mortgage market, look at invigorating business, look at empowering the free enterprise system, which, once and for all, as it always has, will be our savior in this situation.”
