WASHINGTON (CNN) - It’s now time for the remaining voters to speak out. The first of those will have their chance in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday. The following Tuesday, May 13, they will make themselves heard in West Virginia. And a week later, on May 20, they will add their voices in Kentucky and Oregon. This could easily continue until the final contests in Montana and South Dakota on June 3. Only then will all the primaries and caucuses have taken place.
Since neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama is even by then expected to have accumulated enough pledged delegates to guarantee his or her nomination, it will almost certainly be up to the superdelegates to weigh in.
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, wants the remaining undecided super delegates to make up their minds as quickly as possible but certainly in June after the final two contests. Many other top Democratic leaders are recommending the same thing. They fear that uncertainty going into the Democratic convention at the end of August will merely help John McCain consolidate his Republican base and win over independents and moderate Democrats.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Over the course of the campaign American's views of the top three candidates have changed some. According to a Gallup poll done in late April, here are some of the qualities associated with each:
John McCain-he's "too old, he's a "good man–likable," he would give the country more of the same-be another George Bush, and he has a "good military background." And the number of people who view him favorably are about equal to the number who don't like him.
When it comes to Hillary Clinton, the most common perceptions are that she is dishonest or not trustworthy, past scandals or baggage associated with her husband, the former president, that she is qualified, capable, and strong.
But the number of people who have a negative view of her-55 percent is almost twice the number that view her favorably–30 percent. Barack Obama is viewed slightly more positively than negatively-42 percent to 39 percent.
To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here
(CNN) – Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign said Friday that movie clips on the Internet which show former administration official and current supporter Mickey Kantor allegedly using a racial slur, and an expletive to refer to Indiana residents, are a “total fabrication.”
The footage was drawn from the 1992 documentary ‘The War Room’ - but the actual language used by Kantor is inaudible in both cases.
In one clip circulating on the Web, Kantor appears to say to James Carville, “Look at Indiana, wait, wait – look at Indiana. 42-40. It doesn’t matter if we win. Those people are s-. Excuse me."
Kantor today told the Huffington Post that he "was talking about the polling and not the people." The film’s director, D.A. Pennebaker, said in an interview with the Politico that, "he says they must be s-ing in the White House."
Another clip drawn from the film features racially derogatory language which was not heard in the original footage, and which Kantor and the filmmaker both said was added later.
The Clinton campaign also said Friday that the clip had been “doctored.”
(CNN) - The standoff over a summer gas tax holiday continued Friday, as Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s campaign said Barack Obama did not understand the pain ordinary Americans were suffering at the pump, and the Illinois senator accused both his rivals of political pandering on the issue.
“…[O]n this issue, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are reading from the same political playbook,” Obama said at an Indiana campaign stop.
“This isn't a real solution. It's a political stunt. This is what Washington does whenever there's a big problem. Politicians pretend that they're looking out for you, but they're just looking out for their poll numbers.” He also referred to recent comments by Clinton campaign adviser Geoff Garin, saying “they put her campaign pollster on the phone to talk about how the [tax holiday] idea polls well.”
(CNN) – Seven former Democratic National Committee chairs who support Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid, and the family of one who is deceased, released a letter Friday arguing that she is the candidate best-equipped to beat John McCain in November.
The letter was signed by former party leaders Kenneth Curtis, Charles Manatt, Debra DeLee, Don Fowler, Steve Grossman, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, and Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe. It was also signed by the family of the late Ron Brown, who served in the Clinton administration.
They write that “if the election were held today, Hillary would beat Senator McCain, but Senator Obama would lose to the presumptive GOP nominee.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush asked Congress Friday for $70 billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan amid a developing dispute between the White House and congressional Democrats over Iraq spending.
INDIANANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) - A new poll indicates that the economy remains issue number one with American voters, now more than ever.
Forty-nine percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday said the economy is the top issue in their vote for president, seven points higher than in a March survey.
It's granny versus granny in this clip from American Morning.
(CNN) – Even though the high turnout among young voters may be getting a lot of attention this primary season, senior citizens also have strong feelings about the long, tight nomination race between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
In this clip from American Morning, watch Jean Weiss, an Obama supporter made famous by Obama’s offer to make her his No. 2 on the Democratic ticket, as she faces off against Clinton supporter Margaret O’Brien.
(CNN) – The Obama campaign released another Indiana response ad Friday to a Hillary Clinton spot that takes aim at his opposition to a gas tax holiday.
“Pennies” – his second ad on the issue - includes quotes from critics who accuse the Clinton campaign of “political pandering.”
On a Thursday conference call with reporters, Clinton senior adviser Geoff Garin said that internal polling suggested her proposal was resonating with primary voters reeling from the impact of rising gas prices.
(Full script follows after the jump)
(CNN) - A new sign a growing numbers of Democratic primary voters may think the campaign season has passed its sell-by date: in a new survey, almost two out of three people think that the marathon campaign is doing the party more harm than good.
In a Gallup poll released Friday, 62 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the fact that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still battling while the Republican nomination has been settled for weeks is making it less likely that either of them will be able to win in the fall – twice as many as the 30 percent who say the extended primary season is actually helping Democratic odds of re-taking the White House.
In a similar March survey, just over half of Democratic primary voters polled by Gallup – 56 percent - said the lengthy campaign was harming the party.
The Gallup poll of 1,008 Americans was conducted April 25-27, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
From CNN Politics
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