Clinton begins "Every County Counts Tour": The Swamp

Posted December 16, 2007 4:29 PM

by Jason George

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Sen. Hillary Clinton kicked off a five-day blitz across Iowa Sunday, telling a crowd that her campaign was "energized and picking up momentum" in its final push toward the Jan. 3 caucus.

After a week of disappointing poll numbers and the in-state surge of Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's morning began on a high note, when 238,000 copies of The Des Moines Register hit the doorsteps of Iowa homes, featuring a front-page endorsement of Clinton for the Democrats and Sen. John McCain for the Republicans.

"It was an important event in this process and I am very grateful that they zeroed in on the work that needs to be done by the next president, by my vision of our country, my plans for change and my will to lead," she said in front of about 250 supporters at an Council Bluffs high school.

The Register editorial also focused on Clinton's "preparedness" to assume the responsibility of the presidency, contrasting her with Obama's "relative inexperience," a theme the Clinton campaign has highlighted recently here and in New Hampshire.

"It all comes down to one question," Clinton said. "Who is ready and able to make the changes we need, starting on day one, at the White House?"

"You are," the crowd shouted.

"Well, some people believe you make change by demanding it. Some people you make change by hoping for it," she in a veiled reference to Obama, whose name she did not mention during her 35-minute stump speech.

"I believe you make change by working hard for it."

Clinton's "Every County Counts Tour" runs from today through Thursday, and includes campaign stops in all 99 counties by Clinton and supporters. Clinton will travel to only 12 counties herself, buzzing across the state in a helicopter the campaign has dubbed the "Hill-a-Copter."

In Council Bluffs, former Sen. Bob Kerrey joined Clinton on stage, saying he was endorsing her candidacy because of her values and her political resolve.

"She has been standing up to the extreme wing of the Republican party as they tried to tear her down and she's still standing," he said.

Kerrey was the governor of Nebraska, just across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs, in the early 1980s and a U.S. Senator for the state from 1989 to 2001. He ran for the presidency in 1992, but lost in the primaries to another Clinton

Comments

Hillary Clinton Campaign is a sinking ship:
The most recent early states and national polls show that Hillary's campaign, which until her Philly debate fumble was a poll-dominant inevitability, is currently sinking lower every day. And there seem to be that no effort being make to stop the decline was working. Several of the efforts to save Hillary's campaign that has failed so far include CNN's rigged debate and after-debate spin; the gender card; Arm-twisting of the NY Gov to help her on immigration; Bill's daily show in Iowa; Accusation of the opponents; Novak's scandal rumor; Her current mud-slinging on Obama; Racking up thousand and one endorsements; Endorsement of NH's Gov's wife, Dr. Susan Lynch; Aggressively attacking Obama on healthcare; Kindergarten-gate (oh, it was a joke; so is the Clinton campaign also a joke?)

Below are Hillary's campaign new efforts that will not save it from crashing to the ground:
• DMR endorsement
• Maryland’s Governor endorsement
• Asking her attack dogs to throw dirt on Obama
• Hill-O-Copter
• Door Knocking in NH
• Bill Clinton’s new attack on Obama
• More endorsement from members of the democratic establishment to endorse her
• Getting Urban Magic Johnson to campaign in Iowa.
I know one solution that would stop Hillary’s poll slide and restore her chances of winning the nomination, but I’m not willing to give it to her unless……

Posted by: F.Igwealor | December 16, 2007 7:14 PM

Unmentioned in the above article: Bob Kerrey as college president appointed fugitive financier and top Hillary fundraiser Norm Hsu to the board of that college.

Thieves often help other thieves.

Posted by: Bruce | December 16, 2007 7:51 PM

This tour is a double-edged sword for Hillary because recent evidence shows that the more exposure she gets and the more that people get to hear her, the lower her polling numbers go. The glossy TV commercials are not what the public sees on the stump. And having Bob Kerry campaign for her risks bringing up the darker parts of his background.

Posted by: Jansen | December 16, 2007 9:07 PM

Anyone posting ignorant comments on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is an intellectual illiterate.

Facts don't lie.

Read and see the records of her political career since the 1960s to date.

When she was meeting with the great Martin Luther King.Jr, and protesting against the war in Vietnam and doing social services, where were you?
Smoking pot?

Posted by: Orikinla Osinachi | December 17, 2007 7:01 AM

CNN'S CANDY CROWLEY - 'THIS WAS A VERY PLEASANT, POSITIVE, PRESIDENTIAL-LOOKING HILLARY CLINTON' [CNN, 12/13/07]

UNDECIDED VOTER: 'I DECIDED TO GO TO FOR SEN. CLINTON. I THOUGHT SHE HIT SOME MAJOR HOME RUNS. SHE REALLY SHOWED SHE COULD BE A GREAT LEADER': "Absolutely, I decided to go to for Sen. Clinton. I thought she was terrific in the debate, I thought she hit some major home runs. She was so specific in all of her answers and I think she really showed she could be a great leader." [CNN, Focus group of undecided voters, 12/13/07]

DES MOINES REGISTER'S CAROL HUNTER - 'CLINTON'S HUMOR COMES THROUGH': "Clinton offered a humorous moment: Do you want us to raise our hands on global warming? she offered to Washburn. After yesterday, when some Republicans flat out refused to raise hands, everyone laughed. Clinton's humor comes through." [Des Moines Register, 12/13/07 ]

ABC NEW'S RICK KLEIN - HILLARY WAS 'BACK IN HER GROOVE': "Clinton seemed to get back into her groove for much of the afternoon -- good, strong close for her." [ABC News, Political Radar, 12/13/07 ]

THE ATLANTIC'S MARC AMBINDER - HILLARY WAS 'VERY STRONG': "Clinton's opening statement was very strong." [The Atlantic, 12/13/07 ]

NBC NEWS' CHUCK TODD - HILLARY DELIVERS 'PLENTY OF GOOD MOMENTS': [First Read, MSNBC, 12/13/07 ]

DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST STEPHANIE CUTTER - HILLARY 'DID VERY WELL TODAY. HER CLOSING ARGUMENT WAS FANTASTIC.' "I think that to the extent that you thought Hillary Clinton had lost her footing, she got it back today. I think that anytime you talk on substance, Hillary does very well and she did very well today, she had some good moments about energy independence, about the type of change she will achieve. And her closing argument was fantastic." [CNN, 12/13/07]

Posted by: Dave | December 17, 2007 7:31 AM

Obama is a person of real substance...substance abuse, that is.

;-)

Posted by: MeThinks | December 17, 2007 1:02 PM

Bruce calls Bob Kerrey, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, a thief with no basis or justification.

Bruce, why do you hate the military? Why do you hate Congressional Medal of Honor winners? Why are you such a lying scumbag?

Posted by: Luke | December 17, 2007 1:29 PM

Endorsements never hurt.

The demographic winter is here.

Aging workforce in the US.
geocities(dot)com/demographic_crash

Good information on the subject.
Welcome for a visit.

Posted by: Solange Miller | December 17, 2007 3:02 PM