Election Watch

Clinton challenges Obama to Lincoln-Douglas style debate

04.26.08 -- 1:30 PM

By MIKE GLOVER and SARA KUGLER - AP

MARION, Ind. (AP) - Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton turned up the rhetoric Saturday in their increasingly heated primary battle as she issued a new debate challenge and he complained of a race that's largely been reduced to trivia while working families feel economic pain.

Clinton took the debate dispute to a new level, challenging Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style.

"Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions, we'll set whatever rules seem fair," Clinton said while campaigning in South Bend.

Her campaign made the offer formal with a letter to the Obama campaign. Obama aides said they were studying the letter.

Pitched Contest for Pa. Youth Vote

04.06.08 -- 2:24 PM

By Kimberly Hefling - AP

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are hustling for the youth vote in Pennsylvania as if they've never heard this is a state where the old hold sway.

Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucus in January.

How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the DMV so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.

And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.

Michigan Delegate Compromise Offered

03.31.08 -- 5:44 PM

By Ken Thomas - AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Michigan congressman proposed an alternate plan Monday for seating the state's delegates at the Democratic National Convention, awarding delegates based partly on Michigan's Jan. 15 primary results and partly on the popular vote in all the nation's presidential primaries.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, proposed that Michigan's 83 pledged delegates be chosen at congressional district conventions according to the results of the state's primary.

The party stripped both Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates that were earlier than party rules allowed.

Dem Chairman Dean wants party contest decided by July 1

03.28.08 -- 6:02 PM

By David Morgan - Reuters

The Democratic Party chairman said on Friday he hopes the increasingly contentious rivalry between presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton can be decided by July 1 to avoid a fight at the party's convention.

Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and a presidential candidate in 2004, urged the two candidates to focus on the November general election battle against Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican presidential nominee.

"I think it would be nice to have this all done by July 1," Dean said on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "If we can do it sooner than that, that's all the better.

Obama Sees Post-Wright Controversy Poll Edge Over Clinton

03.22.08 -- 2:51 PM

By Gallup

Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.

Obama's campaign clearly suffered in recent days from negative press, mostly centering around his association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Perhaps as a result, Clinton moved into the lead in Gallup's Wednesday release, covering March 16-18 polling.

But Obama has now edged back ahead of Clinton due to a strong showing for him in Friday night's polling, perhaps in response to the endorsement he received from well-respected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former rival for the nomination.

Obama Has Clear Money Advantage

03.21.08 -- 7:57 PM

By Jim Kuhnhenn - Associated Press

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lived hand to mouth during the rush of presidential primaries while Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama outspent her and put money in the bank.

New Federal Election Commission reports show Obama raised at a clip of nearly $2 million a day in February, an open spigot of money that left him with $30 million in the bank for March.

Clinton had her best fundraising month as well, at $34.5 million. But counting her debts to vendors she ended with a net $3 million. And that's not factoring the $5 million she lent her campaign and has not paid back.

The current respite between primaries - the next one is April 22 in Pennsylvania - may cut back on some of the spending. It also denies the two campaigns the head-to-head contests that drive fundraising.

For Democrats, Increased Fears of a Long Fight

03.16.08 -- 7:55 PM

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY - New York Times

Lacking a clear route to the selection of a Democratic presidential nominee, the party’s uncommitted superdelegates say they are growing increasingly concerned about the risks of a prolonged fight between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, and perplexed about how to resolve the conflict.

Interviews with dozens of undecided superdelegates — the elected officials and party leaders who could hold the balance of power for the nomination — found them uncertain about who, if anyone, would step in to fill a leadership vacuum and help guide the contest to a conclusion that would not weaken the Democratic ticket in the general election.

While many superdelegates said they intended to keep their options open as the race continued to play out over the next three months, the interviews suggested that the playing field was tilting slightly toward Mr. Obama in one potentially vital respect.

Whites Back Clinton, Blacks Obama in Mississipi

03.11.08 -- 6:26 PM

By Alan Fram - AP

Blacks gave Barack Obama overwhelming support while whites lined up strongly behind Hillary Rodham Clinton in Mississippi's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, making it one of the most racially divided of all the party's contests this year.

Nine in 10 blacks were backing Obama while seven in 10 whites were voting for Clinton, according to interviews with voters leaving polling places. That gave Obama the edge because those voting were split about evenly between the two races.

While Obama, an Illinois senator, has typically received lopsided numbers of black votes and Clinton, a New York senator, generally has won among whites, Tuesday's racial polarization was stark.

NY Gov. Spitzer linked to prostitute: report

03.10.08 -- 6:46 PM

By Daniel Trotta and Robert Campbell - Reuters

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the one-time "Sheriff" of Wall Street who campaigned on a promise to clean up state politics, was embroiled in a sex scandal on Monday that threatened to force his resignation.

A New York Times report linked him to a $1,000-an-hour prostitute, saying he was caught on a federal wiretap at least six times on February 12 and 13 arranging to meet with her at a Washington hotel last month.

The Times said he was the man described in court papers as Client 9 who patronized the Emperors Club, which federal investigators allege was a prostitution ring whose most expensive professionals charged more than $5,500 an hour.

Clinton Says She's Pushing Ahead

03.03.08 -- 5:39 PM

By MIKE GLOVER - AP

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Monday she'll press on with the campaign after Tuesday's crucial primaries, arguing that momentum is on her side despite 11 straight losses to rival Sen. Barack Obama.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Clinton told reporters, looking ahead to a busy day of campaigning in Ohio and Texas where polls show a close race.

Clinton's husband, former President Clinton, has asserted that his wife must win both Texas and Ohio to keep her campaign alive. On Friday, Hillary Clinton's advisers recast the stakes, saying if Obama lost any of the four presidential primaries - Rhode Island and Vermont also vote Tuesday - it would show Democrats are having second thoughts about him.

Hillary Clinton predicted success on Tuesday and looked ahead to the next big contest - Pennsylvania on April 22.

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