Obama, Clinton Fight for Votes as Battle Rages to Take On McCain
by FOXNews.com
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The best political gift of the day for Barack Obama’s campaign has been served up by Iowa’s Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in the swing state that put the Illinois senator on top in possible head-to-head match-ups in the fall election.
The poll shows Obama ahead of Republican nominee John McCain by a substantial margin, 53-36. A head-to-head match between McCain and Hillary Clinton shows McCain is the preferred choice, 49-40.
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Out on the campaign trail Sunday, the candidates addressed the big buzz caused by Ralph Nader’s decision to enter the race. The famed consumer advocate announced he will again run for president — his third effort, one that is sure to anger Democrats who are still miffed over his role in the 2000 race that many believe cost Al Gore the election against George W. Bush.
Nader said Sunday he’s not the reason Gore lost the election and blamed everything from voter fraud in Miami to the Supreme Court. In any case, he said, that’s no reason why he shouldn’t run.
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Asked about the possible impact, Obama and Clinton both downplayed it while also criticizing Nader.
“Mr. Nader is somebody who if [you] don’t listen and adopt all of his policies, [he] thinks you’re not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work,” Obama said. “Historically, he is a singular figure in American politics and has done as much as just about anybody on behalf of consumers, so in many ways, he is a heroic figure and I don’t mean to diminish him, but I do think there’s a sense now that, you know, if somebody’s not hewing to the Ralph Nader agenda then you must be lacking in some way.”
Clinton was also less than enthusiastic.
“Obviously, it’s not helpful to whoever our Democratic nominee is. But it’s a free country. I don’t know what party he’ll run on. Where did he run on last time? Does anybody remember? Was it on the Green Party? Well, you know, his being on the Green Party prevented Al Gore from being the greenest president we could have had and I think that’s really unfortunate. I think we paid a big price for it,” she said.
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Clinton also hit again on Obama’s rhetorical flair, suggesting that while inspiring, he doesn’t solve problems.
“Now I could stand up here and say, let’s just get everybody together. Let’s get unified. The sky will open, the light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know that we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect. Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear,” Clinton said.
For his part, Obama, campaigning in Ohio where the two are set to debate Tuesday night, hit Clinton on her support for NAFTA, the free trade agreement signed into law by Bill Clinton.
NAFTA has cost 50,000 jobs in Ohio, Obama said, while acknowledging that a repeal of the trade deal “would probably result in more job losses than job gains in the United States.”
Still, speaking to factory workers in a working class community west of Cleveland, Obama continued to repeat his contention that Clinton supported the trade deal up until she decided to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. He added that Clinton can’t run from the Clinton administration record, of which she claims to have been a key part.
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