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Sunday Morning Election News

By Jeralyn

Here's some early morning news items:

• A new Alabama poll shows McCain would sweep the state in November by double digits, and it might happen throughout the deep south.

Alabama has voted for the Republican nominee every year since 1980.

McCain's double-digit lead emerged even though poll respondents' biggest concern was the economy, an area not considered one of his strengths. The poll results also offered evidence that despite President Bush's slumping approval ratings, the GOP retains a tight grip on the region, at least in national races.

"My expectation is that Alabama and Georgia and maybe all of the Deep South is going to end up in the Republican column, regardless of who the players are," University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock said. "If they don't, it's going to be a massive Democratic blowout."

....McCain is well-known for his appeal to independents, about two-thirds of whom would support him over either Democrat, according to the Press-Register/USA poll.

• Hillary and Obama both spoke at the Founder's Gala dinner in Wisconsin last night. Here's where they differ:

Although Clinton acknowledged that they both could make great achievements, she argued that she could be the leader who could offer real solutions to the country's problems and said that, “I think that the choice is really whether we're going to have a fighter, a doer, and a champion again in the White House. Somebody who gets up every single day with determination, backbone, and yes, toughness. I know some people have said that I am tough. You know what? We need a tough president because we have tough problems waiting for us."

However, when the issue of solving problems came up, Obama said that he was the one to do it and stated that, "What we need is a president who's in the business of solving problems, and we will solve those problems by bringing the country together, and rallying the United States of America around a common purpose."

More differentiating quotes from the dinner:

``It will take more than just speeches to fulfill our dreams. It will take a lot of hard work,'' New York Senator Clinton, 60, said at a Wisconsin Democratic Party dinner in Milwaukee late yesterday.

``Don't tell me words don't matter,'' Obama, 46, said in a speech following Clinton's. ``If we don't inspire the country to believe again, then it doesn't matter how many policies and plans we have.''

• Obama is leaving Wisconsin to speak Tuesday in San Antonio and Houston. (Yesterday's media mostly reported only Hillary was leaving before Tuesday's vote.) In fact, according to her campaign, Hillary will be in Wisconsin all day Monday.

• Ted Kennedy will campaign Wednesday in Texas for Obama. Henry Cisneros will campaign there for Hillary. She also has the support of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

• Ohioans view hope differently. But Ted Kennedy, campaigning yesterday for Obama in Akron, thinks he can take Ohio. The Plain Dealer says Ohio's makeup favors Hillary. The paper has endorsed Obama, while the Columbus Dispatch has endorsed Hillary.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 17, 2008 (boomark / email).