By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

Posted Feb. 19, 2008 – On Monday, while delivering a speech in Madison, Wisconsin, Michelle Obama made the following statement:

“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction. And just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment I’ve seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic, common issues and it’s made me proud.”

Pundit and political watchers have gone crazy analyzing her comment, asking has she never been “proud” of her country?
In all fairness to the 44 year-old spouse of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D), she wasn’t “dissing”  America, or the American people.  She’s was speaking as a proud wife, not a seasoned politician.  I saw someone genuinely touched by the response of the American people to her husband

. 
 I’ve met Michelle Obama and recently interviewed her about the trials and tribulations of a political campaign.  Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago she told me like most Americans from working class families, sometimes “hope” is all you have.
             “It is not fairytale or fantasy, it is absolutely real, but hope is also not naïve, and its not passive, so what I tell people and what Barack tells people is that reaching these dreams require a whole lot of work, being able to have somebody like Barack Obama as our president is going to require a whole lot of work and sacrifice. It doesn’t happen just because we wish it so, and it’s not something that we would fear or be cynical about. It’s something that we can achieve if it’s something we believe we can do,” she said.
               If you hear all of her comments in the Wisconsin speech, she went on to say,   “Life for regular folks has gotten worse over the course of my lifetime, through Republican and Democratic administrations.”

             The interview with Michelle Obama will be posted on bet.com later this week. 
Do you think she was dissing or praising America?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

Posted Feb. 19, 2008 – Time has come for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to decide if he will remain the change agent in politics or fight back and go “negative.”  His opponent for the nomination Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has decided, and she’s going negative. 

The old school politics Obama professes to dislike and, are the “old” politics Clinton has adopted in hopes of netting a win in Wisconsin.  Clinton has released a negative television ad, accused Obama of plagiarism and  mailed a slew of not so flattering campaign material to Wisconsin voters.

Would a negative television ad or mailer by one candidate dissing another impact your vote?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

Posted Feb. 15, 2008 – Has the pressure on Black lawmakers who are backing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) – and holding “super” status – started to mount for them to move their support to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the candidate overwhelmingly picked by the people they represent?

According to the online publication The Nation, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said he will cast his super-delegate vote for Obama at the Democratic Convention, even though he will not formally switch his endorsement of Clinton at this time.

But that alone is enough to send a signal to others and get the ball rolling for other super delegates with the same thoughts, who didn’t want to be the first to follow the popular vote.  

Lewis, a respected civil rights leader and former aid to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., endorsed Clinton before the early primary contests.  This move could bring other Black naysayers from the old establishment  into Obama’s fold.

As you may remember, I  (see my Blog Feb. 11, 2008) asked how Black lawmakers would justify not following the will of the people they represent.  But Lewis is making a smart decision early, before the numbers game for delegates gets too close to call.  He’s standing by his endorsement as a “personal choice,” but at the same time he’s telling the folks who sent him to Washington, “I hear you, and your choice is Obama.”

On Thursday, David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager said it is “highly unlikely” that Clinton could earn enough votes in the remaining contests to win the nomination with pledged delegates, adding Clinton would “have to win Ohio, Texas and virtually all other remaining primaries by roughly 2-to-1 margins.” 

If he’s right, and super delegates start to shift, even in small numbers, Obama could be closer to the nomination than was originally thought. Plouffe believes even the most “creative math” won’t knock Obama out of the lead.

But Guy Celcil, Clinton’s political director, told reporters, ” Clinton should be within 25 delegates of Obama after March 4.” That’s when primaries take place in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

The Obama camp said in an email that he leads Clinton by 136 delegates, but other reports put the number as low as 25 delegates.  It’s hard to be exact because the number of pledged and undecided delegates changes daily. 

This battle for delegates could go all the way to the convention floor and leave a deeply divided Democratic Party.  It might be wise for more super delegates, who’ are elected officials, to stay with their personal choice, but pledge the people’s choice.

That’s what representative government is all about. 
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

Posted Feb. 13, 2008 — The momentum of the Obama campaign will be a stumbling block for his only remaining rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), for two reasons: It will be hard to raise cash when she’s losing and it will be difficult to stop “ bandwagon” supporters from jumping ship to join the apparent winner.  
 
Every pundit and political watcher is waiting to see how the Clinton machine will respond to yesterday’s impressive win for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)  in Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia.  Clinton left the nation’s capitol  for Texas before the polls closed, a move she seems to have perfected after her defeat in South Carolina. 

Clinton is now on the road in Texas with an “all or nothing” strategy” to beat back the gains by Obama in the delegate race. For the first time he in this campaign, Obama has more pledged delegates then Clinton.

So Clinton’s now betting on delegate-rich states to get her back in the race.  It sounds a lot like the plan tried by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Florida, which failed, and brought his campaign to an end.

Another obstacle for Clinton’s camp will be “spinning” expected losses in the Hawaii and Wisconsin primaries next Tuesday.  Obama is favored to win his other home state Hawaii, but Wisconsin is not a sure thing, so he’s there burning up the shoe leather the next few days, hoping to secure a win. Clinton opted to concentrate on Texas  and have the former President Bill Clinton do her bidding in the Badger State. 

Texas, along with Pennsylvania and Ohio, have primaries on March 4 are “must wins” for Clinton and she needs to win big.  The Potomac primary demonstrated signs  Obama is cutting into Clinton’s core voters -  and by healthy, double digit margins.

These three battleground states are where Clinton’s folks think she will do well among the working class, women and Latino voters.   But that’s not on lock-down any longer.  In the last eight contests, Obama managed to woo more women, more working class and more Latino’s to his camp which resulted in those substantial wins.

Clinton, campaigning in El Paso, Texas, Tuesday night told the crowd, “We’re going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks, bringing our message about what we need in America: The kind of president that will be required on day one to be commander in chief, to turn the economy around,” Clinton told a crowd of thousands. “I’m tested. I’m ready. Let’s make this happen.”

With the recent wins in Obama’s column, for the first time he has more pledged delegates than Clinton even if the ousted Florida delegates were re-instated and recognized by the Democratic National Committee. 

David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manger, said the  “the cold, hard reality of the math,” when it comes to delegates  is making it more and more difficult for the Clinton
Obama told the thousands gathered at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, after hearing the results in the night’s primaries, “This is the new American majority. This is what change looks like.”

It’s clear the strategy and the direction of the Clinton are also undergoing “change.”  Yesterday Clinton Deputy Campaign Manager, Mike Henry resigned, and if that’s not enough, the resignation of her former campaign manager Patti Solis Dole is coming under fire by two New York Latino lawmakers. 

New York Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Queens) and state Sen. Ruben Diaz, want to know why Doyle , whose parents are Mexican was forced out.  Diaz is quoted in the New York Daily News saying, “If I find out that she is being made a scapegoat for the mistakes of others involved in Hillary’s campaign, that would be unacceptable. “Diaz, a Bronx Democrat, hasn’t endorsed either candidate but admits he’s leaning towards Obama.

Solis Doyle has said it was her decision to move from that post.  And departing Henry say’s he wants to give the new campaign manger, Maggie Williams, room to do things her way.
 
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Poltical Producer 

(Posted Feb. 12, 2008) – Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) roundly defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the Potomac Primary tonight, adding Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to his growing list of victories. 

Obama’s wins added up to eight straight in seven days.

In the Republican race, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was also victorious.  McCain also swept Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, giving him a substantial lead in delegates for the GOP nomination.  His only remaining rival, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, says he’ll remain in the race and challenge McCain until he reaches the required number of delegates for the nomination.

 By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
Posted Feb. 12, 2008 – Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) isn’t taking anything for granted. On Monday, he campaigned hard in Maryland, wrapping up his tri-state campaign swing with a rally in Baltimore. 

He ignored the pollsters’ predictions that give him an edge today in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia primaries. 
 ”We are at a defining moment in our history,” Obama told an exuberant crowd at the University of Maryland, noting that there are 47 million people without healthcare, students going into life-long debt to pay for college, Black men going to prison in greater numbers than going to college, young people unable to compete in the international economy and Americans losing hope in the their dreams.”We cannot afford to wait,” he said.
  Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), whose campaign is re-working its strategy under newly appointed Campaign Manager Maggie Williams, said Monday that she is in the race for the long haul as she blanketed the three areas making up the Potomac Primary.  Williams steps into the top spot for Clinton with two goals: raise more cash fast and slow the role of her only remaining rival, Obama. 

Both will be challenging.

Clinton’s folks are focusing on reinvigorating their supporters picking up enough steam to muscle the campaign through the March 4 primaries in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. 

No sooner than the pundits predicted that Clinton had an advantage in those states did Obama’s camp counter with the announcement  it was launching television ads in Ohio and Texas .  

This type of rapid response by the Obama camp is why Clinton needs such an immediate infusion of cash.  Without it, she won’t be able to go toe to toe with Obama in the contest over the next 30 days. 

 Obama out-raised Clinton in January, and it’s no secret she had to loan her campaign money before Super Tuesday, so the announcement by the Obama camp will put more pressure on Clinton’s team to raise the kind of cash she needs. 

There will be two other state contests before the big battles in March.  Hawaii, Obama’s other home state, and Wisconsin hold primaries on Feb. 19.  Some folks close to the Clinton camp are hoping Clinton can get a win in Wisconsin to avoid another clean sweep by Obama.

Big states like those holding primaries on March 4 could have been beauty contest if one candidate had been triumphant after Super Tuesday.  But these states are going to be able to make a difference, so predicting what they’ll do is going to be just that, a predication. 
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
… As if all the news about Obama’s big-gap victories in Washington state, Louisiana, Nebraska and Maine … his momentum sliding into Tuesday’s so-called Potomac Primary (Washington, D.C.; Maryland; and Virginia) … and his avalanche of cash weren’t enough, the Illinois senator had to grab just one more accolade before the weekend officially ended: He won a Grammy in the spoken-word category for his audio book, “The Audacity of Hope.”
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
Posted Feb. 11, 2008 – Sen. Barack Obama has proved his appeal across race, gender and geographical boundaries, but it won’t be enough for him to woo the popular vote if he can’t get those “super delegates” to follow.

That could be critical for him in besting his only remaining rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton.  Right now, Clinton leads Obama in the “super delegate” category, which includes elected state officials, Democratic Party hierarchy  and members of Congress.

One of the fringe benefits of being a member of Congress is being positioned as a “super delegate.”

But this raises an interesting dilemma for many African-American members of Congress who jumped on the Clinton bandwagon – before Obama became the hottest ticket since a free vacation in the Bahamas.

Among some of the most high-profile Black Clinton supporters are lawmakers like civil rights giant John Lewis, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), outspoken Los Angeles Rep. Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee  of Texas and Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.

But eight out of 10 Black folks in the recent contests have supported Obama.  These voters are the same people who put these super delegate Black lawmakers in office.  That means these lawmakers could find themselves jeopardizing their own re-election efforts if they make the wrong move with their “super support.” 

And the troubles don’t end there.

Another backlash could come if Black folks think their presidential pick was ignored. Black folks might just opt to stay home, which would almost certainly guarantee a Republican victory. 

The Clinton camp may be down, but not out.  The Clintons know how to play these super delegates, and they will.

Word is Hillary and former President/husband Bill Clinton, both notable powerhouses in the Democratic Party, have started flexing their muscles to exert pressure on super delegates

This past weekend wasn’t a good one for the Clinton campaign.  Obama made a clean sweep, winning all three primaries and two caucuses – from Washington state to Maine.  Clinton’s closest confidante and campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, was forced to resign and Maggie Williams, an African American and longtime political ally to the Clintons, has taken over the job.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Feb. 8, 2008 – The dueling Democratic frontrunners now have to decide whether to continue the “beat down” on each other or move on to the inevitable Republican nominee, John McCain. That’s a tough call, but with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney out of the race, it’s time to a decide.
          Romney, the main Republican challenging McCain, announced his decision during a scheduled speech to the Conservative Action Conference in Washington.  The folks attending expected to hear his pledge to fight on. Instead, Romney dropped the bomb that he was “suspending” his campaign.
          “I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America,” he said. “I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.”
          The folks in the Omni Hotel weren’t the only ones surprised by the announcement.  I received his public appearance schedule via e-mail from the campaign for an event in Baltimore that evening that was quickly cancelled.
          But Romney’s departure has less impact on the Republican race and more impact on Democrats.    Republicans know how to close ranks, and they will around the indisputable frontrunner, McCain of Arizona. 
          McCain can now coast his way to the nomination, and focus his attention on wooing the conservative base, without wasting energy countering a tough Republican rival.  But things are different for senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who are still in battle for delegates. 
          While they are in a dead heat for state delegates, Clinton leads Obama with “super delegates,” which are made up of elected officials who’ll commit at the Democratic Convention.  The last thing the Dems want to do is have the nominee decided behind closed doors, by other elected politicians.
          This week Clinton disclosed that she loaned her campaign $5 million leading into Super Tuesday. She’s also stepped up her demand that Obama do more debates. Some political insiders say this is her attempt to maximize her own exposure with little financial cost to her campaign. She’s also reduced the role of her political partner President Bill Clinton on the campaign trail; you may have noticed that he’s far less visible these days. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has reported raising $32 million in January and $7 million since Super Tuesday. (Clinton raised $4 million since Tuesday.) Also, while Obama has said he will engage in a  a couple more debates, it’s unlikely that he’s do what he can to aid in Clinton’s need of free exposure. 
          This battle could get bloody for the Dems, if so, the two candidates could defeat themselves before McCain get’s a shot at them.
Romney said his decision to leave the race was necessary to “ensure” that neither Clinton nor Obama gets elected president, already starting to level his partisan attacks.
          Now the Dems will have to figure out how to run this race without destroying each other and alienating each other’s base.  If the last two standing Democrats don’t keep this race clean, it will get ugly at the National Convention in Denver, and the nominee will leave the convention with only half of the party’s support. 
          That won’t be enough to win in November.

 Should Clinton and Obama call a truce and becoming running mates?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

CHICAGO (Posted Jan. 6, 2008) – Super Tuesday may be over but the race for the White House is on.  It’s clear from Tuesday night’s vote tallies that the Democratic contenders are competing in a marathon that ends at Pennsylvania Avenue.

 Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) handily won his home state as well as “red states” often off limits to Democrats, such as Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas,  North Dakota and Utah. 

Obama won 13 states, Clinton nine.

Obama was able to win with big margins in Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Connecticut, Illinois and Idaho.  But Clinton nailed the juiciest states, capturing biggies like Massachusetts (despite the endorsement blitz by the powerful Kennedy family, John Kerry and Gov. Deval Patrick), California (despite the Kennedys, many of the Hollywood elite and the Queen of all TV, Oprah Winfrey) and some key red states, Arizona and Tennessee.

Pundits tried to tie Obama’s victories to the Black vote, but that notion faded as the night dissolved into early morning.  By then, Obama had racked up wins in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah.

Obama told the cheering crowd, “This fall we owe the American people real choice. We have to choose between change and more of the same. We have to choose between looking backward and looking forward. We have to choose between our future and our past.

 “All parties from all backgrounds, from all races, from all religions around a common purpose,” is the way to win,” he said.

According to exit polling conducted by The Associated Press, Obama’s inclusive formula is working.  He was able to get more White men, more Blacks and more Independents in those states in which he defeated Clinton. 

Clinton also won her home states Arkansas and New York as well as New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. 

  The crowd in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel cheered and chanted, “Yes we can,” each time a state delivered a victory for Obama. 

“This is great, I’m just so excited, he’s just got us all so excited and I love it,” Mack Hollowell, from the south side of Chicago, told me.
Clinton, who won 584 delegates to Obama’s 563, told supporters in her New York headquarters, “It’s not over yet. Tonight, in record numbers, you voted not just to make history, but to remake America.”
Last night, 1,681 delegates that were up for grabs in 22 states and American Samoa. By the night’s end, counting super delegates pledged to the candidates before Super Tuesday, Clinton had 845 delegates, to 765 for Obama.
 Some 2,025 delegates are required for the grand prize: the Democratic nomination, which will be announced in Denver this summer at the convention.