Bill Clinton: A Clinton-Obama ticket would be 'unstoppable'
(CNN) - Even as Hillary Clinton's campaign attacked her rival, Barack Obama, for failing to "deliver on his promises," her husband, former President Bill Clinton said Saturday that a joint ticket pairing the two would be "almost unstoppable."
The former president referred to his wife's own comments that indicated a willingness to consider the prospect. "She said yesterday and she said the day after her big wins in Texas and Ohio and Rhode Island that she was very open to that and I think she answered explicitly 'Yes' yesterday," said Clinton during a Mississippi campaign appearance.
"I know that she has always been open to it, because she believes that if you can unite the energy and the new people that he's brought in and the people in these vast swaths of small town and rural America that she's carried overwhelmingly, if you had those two things together she thinks it'd be hard to beat."
He added that, in his view, Obama would win the "urban areas and the upscale voters" while Clinton claims "the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president. If you put those two things together, you'd have an almost unstoppable force."
Hillary Clinton told a CBS interviewer earlier this week, shortly after she ended a string of 11 losses with wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, that a joint ticket "may be where this is headed. But of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me."
The New York senator has made the suggestion in other interviews, as have her campaign surrogates. On Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told the National Journal that it was important for the winner of the Democratic nomination to make the offer to the runner-up this year.
The Obama team has largely avoided making similar statements.
UPDATE: In an interview with CNN affiliate KTVQ in Billings, Montana, Obama called the notion "premature," saying he has won twice as many states as Clinton and a greater share of the popular vote, and he believes he can maintain a delegate lead.
"You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate, you know, I'm running for president," said Obama.
–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
CNN projects Obama wins Wyoming Democratic caucuses
With 91 percent of the caucus sites reporting, Obama is leading Clinton 58 to 41 percent.
Update: Obama leading in Wyoming caucuses
CHEYENNE, Wyoming (CNN) - With more than three-fourths of precincts reporting, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois held a strong lead Saturday in the Wyoming Democratic caucus over his main rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
Obama led Clinton 59 percent to 40 percent, with 78 percent of precincts reporting.
The caucus thrust the state - which has only 12 delegates - into the spotlight because of the close race between Obama and Clinton, in which every delegate counts. Although Wyoming typically is not a stop for Democrats looking for delegates to clinch the party's presidential nomination, its numbers could make a different this year because of the delegate deadlock.
Seven delegates will be apportioned based on caucus results, according to John Millin, head of the state Democratic Party. The remaining five will be allocated at the state convention, which will happen Memorial Day weekend in Jackson.
Track county-by-county results here.
Clinton, Obama campaigns spar over Iraq
(CNN) - The Clinton and Obama campaigns continued to tangle Saturday over comments on Iraq policy made by a former adviser to the Illinois senator's campaign, who seemed to suggest in an interview that he would not be bound by specific policy proposals he had made during his presidential campaign.
"Once again, it looks like Senator (Barack) Obama is telling voters one thing while his campaign says those words should not to be mistaken for serious action," New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign said in a memo sent to reporters.
The Obama campaign immediately responded with a memo of their own that said the "real Commander-in-chief test" is about "whether the American people will be able to trust in the judgment and the honesty of their next President."
On Friday, the Clinton campaign seized on remarks made by Samantha Power, who told a BBC interviewer that Obama "will of course not rely upon some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or U.S. senator" to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
On Saturday, the Clinton campaign continued to highlight those remarks, saying Obama's entire campaign was based on his attempts to contrast his early opposition to the Iraq war with Clinton's vote in favor of a resolution authorizing the use of force in that conflict - and fatally weakened by any suggestion that he might alter his current position.
Obama leads in Wyoming Democratic caucuses
With 57 percent of precincts reporting, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton 58 to 41 percent.
Track county-by-county results here.
Clinton, Obama square off in Wyoming caucuses
(CNN) - Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were in Wyoming Friday, wrangling last-minute votes before Saturday's caucuses.
Clinton, speaking at a town rally at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, criticized Obama's campaign speeches - and said the country doesn't have any time to waste.
"What you heard from me in this campaign is very specific. I know that there's a difference between speeches and solutions, and I want you to know what I will do if given the great honor of serving you as your president, because I want you to hold me accountable," she said. "I don't want there to be any mistakes here. I don't want there to be any false impressions. I don't think we have any time to waste."
Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in Casper, criticized Clinton's 2002 vote on Iraq. Video Watch him speak at the Casper rally »
"I will bring this war to an end in 2009, so don't be confused ... when Sen. Clinton is not willing to acknowledge that she voted for war," he said. "I don't want to play politics on this issue, because she doesn't have standing to question my position on this issue."
Wyoming is not typically a stop for Democrats looking for delegates in order to clinch the nomination, but because of the delegate deadlock this year, the numbers could make a difference.
Pete's pistols pilfered by secret service
LARAMIE, Wyoming (CNN) – It may sound like a tongue twister—but it's for real.
For this one Friday night, Pistol Pete—the University of Wyoming's gun-totin' larger than life cowboy mascot—was without his holster and western-style cap guns at Barack Obama's evening event at the campus' Arena Auditorium.
After thanking Pete for rallying the troops around the arena with his trademark yellow, over-sized cowboy flag and giant foam hat, the Illinois senator informed the crowd that Pete wasn't quite the same and that secret service had confiscated his pistols.
"So he's only Pete tonight," Obama said laughing. "It's just Pete—just plain Pete."
Pete—who, by day, is a 23-year-old senior named Chris Carroll—said the secret service had removed the weapons from his costume's storage room after dogs discovered the immitation Colt 45's in an afternoon sweep of the building.
Seeing the humor with the rest of the crowd and press corps, traveling spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, "It turns out Pistol Pete's fake guns posed an immediate threat to hope in Wyoming, thus making it essential that we confiscate his fake weapons."
It probably goes without saying, but hope has been a central theme of Obama's campaign for the presidency.
-CNN Political Producer Chris Welch
Huckabee: Battle is far from over
(CNN) – In a letter to supporters Friday, Mike Huckabee said that despite no longer being in the race, he doesn’t plan on forfeiting his role in political dialogue.
“You have worked too hard and made too many sacrifices for us to just "quit." That's not an option for any of us,” the letter reads. “The reason we all worked so hard is to make a better future for coming generations–as I often said, this isn't about just the next election, but the next generation. That battle is far from over.”
Huckabee has long insisted he doesn’t think John McCain would ask him to join the ticket as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, telling CNN’s Larry King on Wednesday that he’s not “sitting by the phone waiting on that call.”
So what will his role be? “We are trying to formulate the plans for transitioning into an effort to work to help the cause in this year's elections and then to continue having an impact on policy and issues beyond,” said Huckabee.
The letter says that he hopes to be able to soon detail those plans, adding, “I do not for one moment believe that our mission has been accomplished–just started. I hope you feel the same. We may be delayed, but not deterred!”
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