Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Wednesday Gorp

Bits and pieces from Wednesday’s campaign trail:

-- Hillary Clinton announced a North Carolina “leadership council” made up of more than 160 prominent Clinton supporters in the state. The list is full of old-line Democrats with strong ties to former Gov. Jim Hunt and the business community. It includes X people from Forsyth County: Bert Bennett, Janet Bennett, John Bennett, Kimberly Clark, Tom Lambeth, Ashley Thrift, Julianne Thrift and Emily Herring Wilson.

-- Elizabeth Edwards, in an interview with ABC News, praised Clinton’s health care plan as superior to Barack Obama’s. That might be the closest that she or John Edwards come to making an endorsement in the Democratic primary.

-- Kay Hagan is running her first TV ad in the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. The ad, which you can view here, is about her roots in North Carolina.

-- The Republican primary for governor, which has generally been quite tame, got a little feistier when Bob Orr sharply criticized Pat McCrory over McCrory’s record on immigration. Orr said that McCrory, as mayor of Charlotte, has allowed illegal immigrants to work on city projects. McCrory responded with a statement from Congresswoman Sue Myrick and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph saying that McCrory was instrumental in setting up the so-called 287(g) program, which gives local authorities more power to enforce immigration laws.

-- The N.C. Democratic Party announced provisions for the public to attend the proposed April 27 debate in Raleigh between Clinton and Obama.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Michelle Obama Draws Massive Crowd

RALEIGH — Michelle Obama is giving a speech right now at N.C. State University before a boisterous crowd of supporters, and Obama aides are describing it as by far the largest crowd to attend a campaign event at which she spoke on her own.

The fire marshal has estimated the crowd to be about 5,500, and a look around N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum, where Michelle Obama is speaking, confirms that estimate. The capacity of the coliseum is 12,000, and it is about half full right now. Obama spokesman Dan Leistikow said that before tonight, the largest crowd that Michelle Obama drew on her own was a crowd of about 2,500 at an event at Villanova University. Leistikow added that another previous event featuring Michelle Obama alongside Oprah Winfrey, Maria Shriver and Caroline Kennedy drew 8,000 people.

“This shows you why Barack Obama can win North Carolina in November,” Leistikow said. “This kind of showing really demonstrates how he can change the equation.”

Tonight’s crowd is big — and it is loud. When Michelle Obama said, “The thing we need to understand, North Carolina, is that Barack Obama is ready to lead,” the crowd burst into a defeaning chant of “Yes we can!”.

Michelle Obama is giving the standard stump speech she normally gives on the campaign trail for her husband, talking about how she and her husband rose from humble roots to get where they are. She also spoke earlier today in Winston-Salem, drawing a crowd of about 2,000. Coverage of that speech is here.

The photo above is from her speech in Winston this afternoon.

New Details, but No Certainty, on Debate

The N.C. Democratic Party has chosen a location for the proposed debate on April 27 between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But Obama has not agreed to the debate.

The party said this afternoon that it has picked the RBC Center in Raleigh to host the debate, which would be broadcast by CBS News. The party had considered sites in Raleigh and Charlotte for the debate.

But Obama has not officially agreed to the April 27 debate. Obama initially offered to debate Clinton in North Carolina before April 22 (which is the date of the Pennsylvania primary, where Clinton is favored); Clinton didn’t accept that offer and countered with the offer for April 27.

In an e-mail, Obama spokesman Dan Leistikow said:

“Senator Obama has debated Senator Clinton more than 20 times so far, and our campaign agreed to another debate in North Carolina that was proposed for the third week of April. Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign vetoed that date. We are still determining whether or not the later date works for Senator Obama’s schedule.”

Kerra Bolton, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Democratic Party, said in an e-mail that the party is “confident that Senator Obama will participate.”

If the debate occurs, it will be 90 minutes and it will air at 8 p.m., immediately after “60 Minutes.” It will be moderated by Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer.

Bolton said that the party is still working out details for public access to the debate.

Previously: Obama unsure on April 27 debate.

Poll Watch: Close Dem Races for Senate, Governor

Another poll shows Barack Obama with a healthy lead over Hillary Clinton in North Carolina. And the poll also shows the Democratic primaries for governor and U.S. Senate to be dead heats.

The tracking poll by SurveyUSA, released today, shows Obama with 49 percent and Clinton with 39 percent. That 10-point lead is smaller than the lead of more than 20 points that Obama had in two other recent polls.

The poll also surveyed voters on state races. In the Democratic primary for governor, it showed a tie: Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore both have 40 percent — good news for Moore, as it is more evidence of his recent comeback. In the Senate primary, Kay Hagan is listed with 21 percent and Jim Neal has 20 percent — good news for Neal, who has finished behind Hagan in other polls. Both Moore and Neal sent out press releases this evening touting the SurveyUSA results.

In the Republican primary for governor, Pat McCrory is solidifying his lead. The SurveyUSA poll lists McCrory with 38 percent and Fred Smith with 19 percent. Meanwhile, the weekly Republican tracking poll from Public Policy Polling, which also came out today, lists McCrory with 36 percent and Smith with 26 percent. Both polls showed the other two Republican candidates — Bill Graham and Bob Orr — with 10 percent or less.

Tuesday Potpourri

Around the campaign trail today:

-- Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama, makes her first campaign visit to North Carolina. She campaigned in the Charlotte area this morning and will be at Winston-Salem State University this afternoon. She is expected to speak on the economy at the university’s Clarence E. Gaines Center, on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, at 2:30 p.m. This evening, she’ll also hold an event in Raleigh.

-- Chambers of Commerce in the Triad area are hosting several candidates for governor at a forum today in Greensboro. Republican Pat McCrory, Libertarian Mike Munger, and Democrats Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore are attending. They will speak separately on their campaign platforms and then take questions. (A previous forum featured the other candidates: Republicans Fred Smith, Bill Graham and Bob Orr, and Democrat Dennis Nielsen.)

-- Fred Smith is following up his 100-county barbecue tour with a 10-stop tour of the state featuring country singer Lee Greenwood, who is known for singing “God Bless the U.S.A.” and who also wrote a campaign song about Smith entitled “From Good to Great.” (Listen to Greenwood’s anthem to Smith here.) Smith and Greenwood are campaigning in Winterville and Southern Pines today; they will be in Forsyth County on April 23.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Dodd Hopes for a ‘Game Over’ Soon

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut said today that “some adults have to take over at some point here and say ‘Game over’” in the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Dodd endorsed Obama in February after his own presidential bid failed to catch fire. He said in an interview with Trail Mix that the protracted fight for the Democratic nomination, if it is not settled soon, “could be devastating” and could cause the Democrats to lose the general election.

“This is not some sort of athletic contest,” Dodd said. If the nomination battle ends in a divided convention, he said, the bad feelings could cause many Democrats to stay home in November. That would also negatively affect Democrats in down-ballot races, like races for governor and Senate, he added.

Dodd stopped short of calling for Clinton to withdraw from the race, and he wouldn’t get specific on how exactly he believes that “some adults” — presumably meaning party elders, like DNC chairman Howard Dean — could bring about an end to the race before the summer. Here’s the full quote from Dodd:

“I think if you allow this to go on a whole lot longer, it’s a real mistake in my view. And I fully respect, having been a candidate myself, I know the desire to want to stay in, in particular if you’re doing what you perceive to be fairly well and making a case for yourself. But these decisions shouldn’t be left exclusively, at some point, to what the candidates want to do or their supporters want to do. Some adults have to take over at some point here and say ‘Game over, and this is where we are, and this is the result and we’re going forward.’ And start to patch it up in the spring, late spring, rather than to wait until the summer to try to do it.”

Dodd also expressed concern that the 2008 Democratic national convention would become a repeat of the convention in 1980, when Dodd was first elected to the U.S. Senate. That year, Democrats were divided between Jimmy Carter and Edward Kennedy. They settled on Carter, but Dodd said that the lingering bad feelings from the split were one factor in the election of Ronald Reagan that year, and also helped Republicans unseat a number of Democratic incumbents in Congress.

Trail Mix isn’t sure how Dodd or Dean or anyone else could force Clinton and Obama to make nice before they’re good and ready. One idea: Dodd could call in some laser cats.

Poll Watch: Obama Still Leads; Moore Loses Ground

Two new show Barack Obama with a large lead over Hillary Clinton in North Carolina.

A Rasmussen poll released over the weekend shows Obama leading Clinton in the state, 56 percent to 33 percent. That 23-point lead for Obama is a big jump from the 7-point lead he had in the Rasmussen poll a month ago.

The new Democratic tracking poll by Public Policy Polling, released today, shows nearly identical numbers in the presidential race. PPP has Obama leading Clinton 54 to 33 in North Carolina — similar numbers to last week.

PPP also has Beverly Perdue regaining her lead in the Democratic primary for governor. Today’s numbers have Perdue leading Richard Moore 41 to 33. A week ago, Moore had closed the gap with a big March comeback, but Tom Jensen writes on the PPP blog that Perdue has made gains with black voters over the last week by touting her endorsement of Obama.

PPP also says that Kay Hagan is leading Jim Neal in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, but undecided voters continue to dominate that race.

Full results of the PPP tracking poll can be found here (PDF).

Obama Focuses on Youth Registration

The Barack Obama campaign is intensifying its voter-registration efforts this week.

“We plan to make yet another last-minute, very aggressive push across the state,” said Steve Hildebrand, Obama’s deputy national campaign manager.

Last weekend, Obama volunteers canvassed across the state to sign up new voters. This week, they will continue voter-registration drives at malls, high schools, colleges and door-to-door. The actress and singer Tatyana Ali will attend several voter-registration drives, including ones in Greensboro at Bennett College and N.C. A&T State University.

The campaign is placing a particular emphasis on young voters, who have turned out for Obama in record-breaking numbers in other states. One target for the campaign is 17-year-olds. If they will turn 18 by the Nov. 4 general election, 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in North Carolina’s primary.

On a conference call today, the campaign announced a “Carolina Change Challenge,” in which the 10 volunteers who register the most voters will get to meet with Obama. The five high school students who register the most fellow high school students will also get to meet with him.

If you want to vote in the May 6 primary and you are not registered to vote, the deadline to register in the traditional way is this Friday, April 11. Under a new state law, you can also register to vote (and then immediately cast your ballot) at early voting locations, which will be available between April 17 and May 3.

In Print Today: Local Field Offices

From today’s print edition: The Hillary Clinton campaign opens its Winston-Salem field office at 704 Brookstown Ave., off Broad Street. (Two days earlier, the Barack Obama campaign opened its own Winston office at the corner of Main Street and West Third Street.)

And in case you missed it from Sunday’s paper: A hard look at the fuzzy issue of “electability.” Although both Clinton and Obama argue strongly that they would be most electable in November, it’s a tough thing to measure — and some voters and superdelegates say it doesn’t even matter much. Mike Easley, governor and undecided superdelegate, says he’s not thinking about “electability,” despite the campaigns’ attention to the issue:

“I think the focus really ought to be who would be the best president,” Easley said. “Who would get the things done that I think are important?”

Friday, April 04, 2008

Michelle Obama Will Visit Winston-Salem

Michelle Obama, the wife of Barack Obama, will make her first campaign visit to North Carolina on Tuesday, the Obama campaign announced this morning.

She will hold events in Winston-Salem and Raleigh, and will focus on the economy. More details to come.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is campaigning on behalf of his wife today in four North Carolina cities. He was in Pembroke earlier this morning, and is expected any minute in Laurinburg (where Trail Mix, at this very moment, is sitting patiently outside the library of St. Andrews Presbyterian College). Later today, Bill Clinton will travel to Monroe and Charlotte.