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Clinton campaigns in the South

Posted by pnealon January 30, 2008 09:28 PM

By Michael Kranish
Globe Staff

ATLANTA -- Hillary Clinton, seeking to take advantage of John Edwards' withdrawal from the Democratic presidential contest, campaigned today in two of the four Southern states that will hold primaries on Super Tuesday. Clinton's first stop was in Arkansas, where she served as first lady when her husband was governor -- and where her campaign hopes to win next week.

Clinton then traveled to Georgia, where Barack Obama has a strong campaign in a state that is demographically similar to South Carolina, where Obama beat Clinton handily last week. Clinton has previously traveled to the two other Southern states holding primaries on Super Tuesday, Alabama and Tennessee.
Speaking to successive audiences in Atlanta -- first to Baptists from across the country, and then to Georgia Democrats -- Clinton urged voters to help her end what she called "an epidemic of indifference" in Washington during the last seven years. During a somewhat subdued appearance before the Baptists, she noted that she and her husband have not always been in agreement. She made the comment amid reports that there is disagreement within the campaign about whether former President Clinton's outspoken criticism of Obama has hurt Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

"Bill and I have been talking and debating since we first met 35 years ago," Senator Clinton told the Baptists. "Sometimes the decibel level can rise. That is how we learn to explore our differences."

Later, in an ebullient appearance before several thousand Democrats, Clinton heaped praise on Edwards, hoping to attract his former supporters by promising to continue his fight against of poverty. While she never mentioned Obama in her speech, she called herself best-qualified to serve from the start.

"The decision facing Georgia on Tuesday and all of the Super Tuesday states is who will be the best president on Day One to meet those challenges and seize the opportunities." The crowd, with many waving "Hillary" signs, applauded enthusiastically. Obama's failure to make an appearance at the dinner disappointed some Democrats, who spent part of the evening discussing whether his absence was a sign that he is confident of a victory here.

8 comments so far...
  1. Hillary has been part of the epidemic of corruption in Washington. Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton won't change a thing (except rising decibel levels)

    Posted by CarolynB January 31, 08 01:55 AM
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  1. So now we know where Hillary gets her 35 year figure for her experience in public office....when she started debating Bill in law school.

    Posted by Mitchell in New York January 31, 08 02:23 AM
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  1. Hillary Clinton is very strong candidate. She also is a great communicator. People should know that they will vote for her - not hers husband. She is very confident and well known around the world. The Americans should take this big opportunity and support her in 2008 election. I wish her luck tomorrow.

    Posted by Krzysztof Bryniuk January 31, 08 02:35 AM
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  1. I can't speak for Obama but I would understand if he gave preference to campaigning at this critical time. The idea that Hillary Clinton's name is well known across the country might give him some disadvantage, and as soon as voters attend his rallies or town meetings, they become avid supporters, so he needs to campaign diligently till Super Tuesday to give voters in these states an opportunity to know what he stands for.

    Posted by Samantha January 31, 08 02:39 AM
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  1. "I've been trying to keep this on a level where the contrasts and comparisons are certainly fair, this is an election after all," said Clinton. "I've been trying very hard to set the right tone, to be focused on bringing the party together, bringing the country together but around specific goals."

    While Mrs. Clinton's "tries" have been effective at dividing party and country, her "tries" have done little else. At every turn she demonstrates why she should return to private practice. She is not a person "of the people". In her total of seven years of elected office, Mrs. Clinton has only passed one bill; that being a million dollar monument in upstate NY for Woodstock. As of now, one of McCain's commercials shows the entire Republican panel of candidates laughing at his conversation over that piece of legislation.

    Mr. Obama has served twelve years in elected public office, more than Mrs. Clinton ever has. Since serving as a United States Senator, he has gotten two bills to the President's desk and signed; one a lobbyist reform bill, the other usaspending.gov, a bipartisan piece with Senator Tom Coburn who will barely speak to Democrats, which illuminates ALL earmark spending and what legislator sponsored it.

    While Mrs. Clinton "tries", Mr. Obama takes action.

    Posted by Vote On Paper January 31, 08 03:32 PM
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  1. So Obama got two bills passed in 12 years. That hardly gives him enough experience to run this country. Hillary was in the White House for 8 years as the First Lady. She got to see first hand how to turn a deficit into a surplus. She didn't sit there in the White House eating bon bons. She got in there and worked too. I hope she breaks with the party and runs as an Independent. She is the best and most qualified candidate to fix America. Obama runs on change and uniting this country. So did George Bush and we all know how that turns out!

    Posted by Clyde January 31, 08 05:44 PM
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  1. "She is not a person "of the people"
    Meaning she doesn't try to sell a coaches "Rah-rah" speech that only sheople buy into?"Mrs. Clinton has only passed one bill"
    Check your facts, better, as that is inaccurate. She has sponsored many bills, and been a part of many more bills than Obama. Obama's ability to penetrate Tom Coburn's coldness, only further proves that the two(Tom n He) think alike. Listening to Obama speak of the bi-partisanship that he has worked, is like listening to a semistar, taking credit for their winning the Superbowl.
    Day one, of the presidency, starts when the primaries end, and McCain starts lying. Obama hasn't the heart, or patience to deal with it and will be sent packing. Hillary will torch McCain, win the presidency and lead the country, positively, into the future.
    +SW->

    Posted by Shadow Walker January 31, 08 06:31 PM
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  1. With his claim of being a "uniter" and his slogan of "Change You Can Believe In," Senator Obama's campaign has about it the smell of the presidential race he came of age in, that is, of the Reagan campaign of 1980. As made quite clear in the interview with the editors of the Reno Gazette-Journal, Reagan's simplistic feel-good appeal to the electorate of that time represents for Obama the touchstone of successful politicking. In this respect, Obama hardly represents the break with the politics of the past he says is needed today. As his relationships with "Tony" Rezko also indicate, Obama has been quite adept at using the worst of the "old politics" for his public and private advancement. I'd rather take the less self-righteous devil that I know.

    Posted by Citizen.K February 1, 08 02:14 AM
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About political intelligence Field reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors covering the 2008 presidential campaign and the national maneuvering of Bay State politicians.

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