by Mark Silva
Evan Bayh, senator from Indiana, stars in Sen. Hillary Clinton’s premier campaign TV ad in Indiana. So he speaks from a certain point of view when he says that Sen. Barack Obama’s comments about bitterness are “subject to interpretation.’’
And when he says that Obama’s words about the bitterness of working class voters, should he win the Democratic presidential nomination, will hand Republicans “a stick to beat us with.’’
“I like Barack Obama,’’ Bayh told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Late Edition today. “I think he's a good person. But these comments are subject to misinterpretation.
“Aand you remember, remember John Kerry when he said -- I don't think John Kerry is a chronic flip-flopper – but you remember when he said he voted against the $87 billion before he voted for the $87 billion (for the war in Iraq)? And they took that one sound-bite and just beat it and beat it and beat it.
“And this is the kind of -- look at what the Republicans did here in the last 48 hours,’’ Bayh said. “They're calling on everyone who's received contributions from Sen. Obama's political committee to give the money back. They're calling upon people to disavow his remarks all across red-state America.
“This is the kind of thing… I think our super-delegates and our voters have to ask themselves, you know, who is in the best position to win the fall election, to deliver the kind of change that we need in this country?’’ Bayh said. “And I'm afraid that this gives the Republicans a stick to beat us with. ‘’
Obama has suggested that the upcoming primary in Indiana on May 6 could be a “tiebreaker’’ for him and Clinton – with the senator from New York holding an apparent advantage in the Pennsylvania primary April 22 over the senator from Illinois, and Obama favored in North Carolina's primary the same day as Indiana's.
“I hope we are the tiebreaker,’’ Bayh said today on Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer. “And it's just nice that we matter. We haven't had a primary that mattered in 40 years. So it's a good thing that we're going to have our say.
“It’s going to be hard fought. It's going to be very close,’’ Bayh said of the Clinton-Obama contest in Indiana. “He comes from next door. He has a little bit of a home court advantage, because about 25 percent to 30 percent of Democrats in our state watch Chicago TV on a daily basis. I assume he'll continue to outspend her by 3 or 4 to 1, which gives him a little bit of an advantage.
“But Wolf, I think at the end of this, particularly for those blue-collar workers, the people who have the greatest stake in this election, because they're not doing as well as they would like, I think her strength, her seasoning, her focus on those kitchen-table, bread-and-butter issues, not just, you know, speaking about it or, you know, hoping about it, but actually delivering for them, I think that will stand her in good stead,’’ he said. “And while he started off ahead in the polls in our state, I think she's going to win a narrow election at the end in the state of Indiana.
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Comments
I've lost count now on the number of posts we've been subjected to about this unnecessary flap, with two reporters even reporting the same thing. Don't you guys have anything better to write about? Hillary keeps making these attacks and then sinks more in the polls and the race. We don't need another person who is incapable of learning in the White House.
Posted by: DD | April 13, 2008 3:55 PM
I don't think Obama has a prayer in Indiana given the heavy presence of the KKK.
Posted by: annjilly | April 13, 2008 4:03 PM
Hillary is not sinking in the polls. She is rising!
Like the great Maya Angelou said,
"Rise, Hillary, rise!"
Posted by: Ellen | April 13, 2008 4:06 PM
Didn't anyone have anything better to write about when they all attacked Hillary over the Bosnia thing? What's good for the goose is good for the gander my friend.
Posted by: Ellie | April 13, 2008 4:18 PM
John Mellencamp - Small Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eDkAG3R0h8
In Support of Obama!
Posted by: Raven daxadooshu | April 13, 2008 4:23 PM
Obama, he did try to help those small towns, I quess they very happy of where they at.
Posted by: Abdul Muhammad | April 13, 2008 4:49 PM
Obama misspeaks and Hillary lies!
Bill takes money from every side!
McCain seems in pain.
And Ralph Nader again?
Will this election year NEVER end?
Posted by: Groucho | April 13, 2008 4:50 PM
If the Repubs are looking for "sticks", then Big Bill has a closet full of Louisville Sluggers to hand them. Khazakstan, China, Columbia, $109 Million - just for starters. Being impeached, Whitewater, NAFTA, anything else? Interesting to see what the Billary Machine has promised Evan. Great Dem state that Indiana - bowing to Big Oil and keeping EPA standards at horrific lows while they pour continuing amounts of toxins into Lake Michigan. It's not even Steel anymore, It's BP. What's that hypocrisy smell like? ...... Indiana.
Posted by: karl | April 13, 2008 5:02 PM
They cover this story because IT IS HUGE!
I wish he'd kept his mouth shut. Or--if he were going to open it--why couldn't he have opened it back during Iowa.
Answer: He did! But big corporate media ignored it so they could chase Edwards out of the race.
But now Hilary has adopted most of the Edwards platform.
So big media is giving Obama another do-over--like they did with Rev. I hate White Wright, Rezko, the war hypocrisy, you name it.
Ay Carumba!
Posted by: realist | April 13, 2008 5:15 PM
This perpetual running to the superdelegates by the Clintonistas is reminiscent of a five-year-old's "I'm gonna tell..."
I hope, in any case, the voters (regular or super) are less concerned by an essentially true statement, albeit hamhandedly said, than they are by a "co-president" who is in the pocket of multiple governments with positions diametrically opposite from what his wife claims to stand for..
Posted by: I'm here because of Ashley | April 13, 2008 5:43 PM
"I don't think Obama has a prayer in Indiana given the heavy presence of the KKK."
Really? I've lived in Indiana a couple years now, and haven't seen one KKK rally, recruitment station, flier, or TV ad. No cross burnings in the front yards. Come to think of, on my street, we have whites, Hispanics, blacks, Pakistanis. That was a lot more diverse then when I lived in Chicago, where each group has its enclave, block by block.
The point here, annjilly, is that you are stereotyping, which makes you no better then those invisible Klan battalions you think reside in Indiana.
For shame.
Posted by: el diablo | April 13, 2008 6:03 PM
Evan Bayh carries a lot of weight among Indiana Dems (a lot of moderate republicans too).
Obama was already seriously damaged goods with the Rev. Wright crap, the 'I'm too cool for the hand over my heart' stupidity, and the refusal to don the 'non-cool' ag booties at the barn in PA. See this poll from PA:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/
Polls like these matter, unlike the national gallup--BECAUSE THIS IS HOW AND WHERE WE VOTE.
The question isn't when Obama gets defeated, it's whether he takes the whole darn party down with him.
How arrogant.
How uncaring.
How elitist indeed.
Posted by: golden oldie | April 13, 2008 6:13 PM
They cover this story because IT IS HUGE!
Posted by: realist | April 13, 2008 5:15 PM
No, it is not HUGE. It's small-minded and overblown. Now this, my friend, should have been the huge story from our friend George "We do not torture" Bush. Not even a blip in the Swamp radar.
http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/492943.html
Posted by: DD | April 13, 2008 7:25 PM
Didn't anyone have anything better to write about when they all attacked Hillary over the Bosnia thing? What's good for the goose is good for the gander my friend.
Posted by: Ellie | April 13, 2008 4:18 PM
Hillary repeated that story several times and it wasn't true. Then claims she was tired even though she says she's the one who'd be clear of mind at 3 AM. Obama speaks frankly and, I might addd, truthfully and takes a much bigger beating.
Posted by: DD | April 13, 2008 7:31 PM
Ann Jilly,
I believe you would be one of those "liveral elites" that is being talked about.
Eeveryperson that lives in a major metrolpolitan area is not a member a the KKK.
Posted by: Terry | April 13, 2008 8:08 PM
Bayh seems to be joining the Clinton full court press on cue, though somewhat half-heartedly. This is not the year that Rove tactics wil win the day. The full text of Obama’s comments were right on the money. In the part that Clinton is attempting to exploit, Obama is obviously referring to what the less direct politicians refer to obliquely as "One Issue Voters". People who are so ticked off, and disillusioned by politics that they look for one dimensional issues as outlets for their frustration. He was not condescending to working people, but reflecting on the dynamics of their issues in elections. Clinton is insulting our intelligence if she thinks us working people are too stupid to see the difference.
Posted by: Mark Flanders | April 14, 2008 12:54 AM