Clinton Insists Democratic Race Is ‘Long Way’ From Over, Looks Toward Convention
Hillary Clinton, shown here campaigning Monday at a community college in Blue Bell, Pa., tells FOX News the race is a "long way from being over." (AP Photo)
The Democratic race is a “long way from being over,” Hillary Clinton told FOX News on Wednesday, and she has no qualms about taking the primary fight all the way to the convention floor.
In a sit-down interview with FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren, which aired Wednesday night, Clinton said not to write her candidacy’s obituary yet, even though she’s trailing Barack Obama by 157 pledged delegates with opportunities dwindling to make up that gap.
“Sixty-two percent said let it go on,” Clinton said, referring to a new Rasmussen survey that found that portion of Democrats aren’t ready for either candidate to leave the race. “That is what people are telling me. That is what we have to do. Let the voters have a chance to be heard. Nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over.”
The Democratic race has taken unexpected twists and turns in the last two weeks, from the controversy over Obama’s long-time pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. to criticism of Clinton’s claims that she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire.
But neither candidate is expected to lock down the pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the August convention. And although Democratic leaders are scrambling to avoid a prolonged fight that could give GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain a decided advantage, Clinton said Wednesday there are too many ifs for the matter to be settled yet.
“Well this is a really close election. Despite what some might say, it is a very close election in the popular vote and in the delegates,” she said. “We have 10 contests ahead of us, plus, don’t forget, Florida and Michigan. You know, I keep beating this drum … millions of people are going to be voting in the next three months, and I hope that will include Florida and Michigan.”
Clinton’s campaign has argued for seating the Michigan and Florida delegations, which were stripped after those states held early primaries in violation of party rules. Recent efforts to hold re-votes in those states have fallen through.
Clinton won both of those states’ primaries in January, though none of the candidates campaigned. Obama was not even on the ballot in Michigan.
Clinton said, barring a resolution on Florida and Michigan, the fight goes to convention.
“You know, you can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Let’s have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election? I don’t think that will happen. I think they will be seated. So that’s where we’re headed if we don’t get this worked out.”
Clinton also has weighed in this week on the controversy over Wright, whose anti-U.S. sermons have raised questions about Obama’s judgment in choosing his associates. Clinton said she would have left Wright’s church.
“I was asked point blank yesterday what I would have done had I been in a position where someone was making those kinds of comments, and I said I would have left,” she told FOX News on Wednesday. “I’ve spoken out against all kinds of words that I thought were inappropriate. … You know, you don’t get to pick your family, but you do get to pick the church or synagogue you attend.”
Obama’s campaign on Tuesday blasted Clinton for trying wedge her way out of the fallout over her Bosnia claims by breaking her silence on Wright. Obama said Wednesday that he already has condemned Wright’s most offensive statements, and “we can’t afford to be distracted” from the real issues in the election.
Likewise, when Clinton was asked Wednesday about the Bosnia flap, she said that’s not what voters care about.
“I’m a human being. I made a mistake and owned up to it,” she said. “But that’s not what people talk to me about. When I’m out campaigning … people want to talk about the economy and health care, and they want to know what are you going to do to get fix our country and get it back on track, and help my family and me.
“And that what I’m really engaged in. Because, you know, when you’ve been on a campaign for 14 months there’s all kinds of other distractions, but at the end of the day this is a hiring decision,” she said.
“I made a mistake about Bosnia and I owned up to it.”
Baloney.
Translation:
“I got caught lying about Bosnia so, being a lawyer, I changed the semantics to read “I misspoke.”
What a dirtbag.
Of course, she is not required to bow out until the Convention. The thing I have the churning of the stomach about is that she seems willing to subvert the voters’ choice so she can be the nominee. I see that as unprincipled ambition. It, to me, smacks of the refusal to accept facts - as in the 2000 election recount saga, and the threatened 2004 recount saga. Although it seems amazing to liberals perhaps that their side may not be the most supported, reality rules. It will be the same way this election if this time the libs do have more support and their candidate gets elected.
Fair elections must be fair elections. Personal ambition stops at the will of the people if you wish to serve as our leader or representative. That’s my take. We vote, with the belief that our vote is supposed to mean something. If you have more votes than me, you win, but if I have more than you, I win.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s just how it is!
God bless the USA!
Of course Hillary isn’t ready to drop out of the race! She needs more time to find a way to steal the nomination from Obama.
Good, let this battle go right to the convention floor.
That means that both Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama will be spending even more millions of dolars, depleating a limited amount of money they can raise before the general election. And as the battle between them gets even dirtier John McCain can sit back and watch as the American public finds out more and more what they truly represent and what their hidden histories contain. Let the dirt fly!
FOX, on your Fox News radio report this morning, you reported that our Senator Bill Nelson is proposing a major change in the primary system - proposing a series of regional primaries around the U.S. in rotating order (rotating the states that go first, not Iowa and New Hampshire always first). Sen. Nelson has been foremost among our Representatives in trying to have our Florida primary votes counted, and also proposed a re-vote that was opposed by our Democratic Congressional Delegation, Gov. Charlie Christ (the mastermind behind moving up the Florida primary against DNC rules), and the Democratic candidates, notably Mr. Barack Obama who already lost Florida in the first primary and is afraid he will lose again.
In your report, you also mentioned that Sen. Nelson is a Hillary supporter (suggesting that that was a motivation for his efforts), however Sen. Nelson was an Obama supporter first. Actually, I wrote to him a long time ago, as probably many Floridians did, about my concerns about Obama as a candidate. I wrote, as I have written often on this site, that Obama simply does not have the experience or the track record to be President of the United States and leader of the free world. I also wrote that as a nominee he would be a joke compared to Senator McCain, who is an American hero, a leader of the Senate, a reformer who has bucked his own party time and again at great personal cost, an achiever who has actually made change in the form of proposals and legislation in the U.S. Congress and a man of independent mind and integrity. I also think that Sen. Nelson is an American hero (an Astronaut), a great representative of Florida and a real leader. So we should have more John McCains and Bill Nelsons representing our country. Obama is not up to and ready for the task. Sorry, that is just the truth. If we are really stuck with Hillary or Obama, Hillary is the better choice and, in my view, it does matter that Bill is there at 3AM or 3PM because he has been there before. Neither Hillary nor Bill are perfect but — remember the “balanced budget”? The economic revival after the Bush 1 recession? The time when we our allies liked us? Hillary needs to stay in it. Otherwise, the Democrats are handing the election on a silver platter to the Republicans without a contest.
Time for “Fair & Balanced” from all the media. You won’t see this in many (if any) articles or newscasts, but it is also impossible for BARACK OBAMA to get the Democratic nomination without the SUPER-DELEGATES, just like this is true of HILLARY CLINTON. So why isn’t it reported as “NEITHER candidate can gather enough pledged delegates to achieve the nomination of their party and will need the Super-Delegate’s votes to cinch the nomination” - which would be the truer statement?
Interestingly enough, the only way, at this point, for OBAMA to achieve the 2025 delegate count needed is IF CLINTON drops out. Maybe that’s why they are calling for her to drop out.
She is a liar just like her husband. How can anyone want to vote for a person who lies about being shot at while exiting Air Force 2 in Bosnia. Nobody forgets or misspeaks with regards to being shot at. This is a complete and utter premeditated lie to gain support of a certain political base. Standby there is more to come from the absolutely disgraceful Clinton Camp.
I’m not even a Democrat and I can’t wait to see Obama go down. I don’t trust Clinton but Obama is way worse.
Hillary is: 1) a liar, 2) power hungry; and 3) willing to drag out her personal crusade at the expense of the party. To use her own words: “Shame on you, Hillary Clinton!”
Fox, as a Democrat who has not usually looked at your News Channel much, I must say, I find comfort now in watching you regularly. Now I have my TV most of the time at Fox. Tell your advertisers. That should make them very happy.
I used to be watching Kieth Olbermann, in fact, I was a fan of his and used to enjoy his jabs at Bill O’Rielly. Now I just can’t stand the guy and I will never return to his show. And BTW, I find Mr O’Rielly very refreshing!
The Elite Liberal’s bias for Sen Obama is so palpable and their bias against my candidate, Sen Clinton so unfair, that I suffocate just seeing their shows advertised on TV during the day.
I thank you for giving Sen Clinton a chance. This campaign has opened my eyes to one thing about myself and the Democratic party, that there are two factions of my party, the elite far left Liberals and the working class moderate Democrat. I have discovered that I am the later and that I loathed the former. We are world’s apart.
No, it’s not Sen Clinton who is dividing this party, it is their obvious Bias for Senator Obama and their insistence on heaping scorn upon her every day and night. I would urge her to stay in the race, insist on Florida and Michigan getting counted or a revote and win. That should send the latte Liberal scuttling back into their girlie-little enclaves!
Glad to finally get to know you, Fox. I know that we won’t always agree on the issues, but you’ve got yourself a viewer who will now tune in once or two times a day and some days even more from now on. You’ve got my word on it!
Thanks!
PS. I am a Black woman who lives in Jamaica Queens, New York and a steadfast supporter of Sen Clinton. How’s that for a show?