Ted Kennedy doing more than endorsing

[kpete]

Ted Kennedy doing more than endorsing
by maineiac
Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 12:31:03 PM PST

Ted Kennedy will be doing more than endorsing Obama. He will be out there campaigning for him in some really important states.

According to the Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/ted_kennedy_end.html

Kennedy plans to campaign actively for Obama, an aide said, and will focus particularly among Hispanics and labor union members, who are important voting blocks in several Feb. 5 states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona and New Mexico.

The Clintons really, really tried to prevent this from happening. Politico reports

The Clinton campaign launched a last-ditch effort over the last few days to stop Kennedy's move, orchestrating a flood of phone calls to Kennedy from sources ranging from union chiefs to his Massachusetts constituents.

The former president also called Kennedy in a vain attempt to keep him out of the race, a source familiar with the conversation said.

more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/ted_kennedy_end.html

[dkf]

1. whoa. WOWZA. Going on the campaign trail for Obama is huge.

[loveangelc]

2. Haaaaahaaaaaa. : )

Maybe Caroline will do townhall meetings for him as well.

[NJObamaWoman]

3. YAY NJ!!!! I think my state could really shock some people come Feb 5

There are alot of people in our main cities who are for Obama.

[adabfree]

10. NEW JERSEYAN HERE

GO BAMA!!!!

[NJObamaWoman]

22. hey Jersey. Have you been to the Obama HQ up in West Orange?

[tekisui]

21. And NJ has 107 pledged delegates up for grabs on BigTues.

[xultar]

4. The Clinton Campaign...Fuck Up central. They still have a chance to win it.

But man, If they don't get the fuck out of the way of themselves, they'll be the most embarrassed muthafuckas on the face of the earth.

[Tatiana]

7. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If they don't get the fuck out of the way of themselves, they'll be the most embarrassed muthafuckas on the face of the earth.
:rofl:
This is simply amazing. I NEVER expected anything like this to happen. They are supposed to be unstoppable.

[xultar]

9. What do you mean? I'm not a Clinton supporter, or a Obama nor an Eddwards supporter.

I support the nominee.

But I do call bullshit when fucked up shit is said about the Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton when necessary.

I pull no punches. I don't talk about Edwards much because unfortunately he isn't much of a factor.

[Tatiana]

13. Your comment was funny (genuinely).

I spit my coffee out when I read that statement. I'm not in favor of a particular candidate either. I suppose I'll pick someone by Super Tuesday.

What I meant was that the Clintons were supposed to be the pros and people like Obama and Edwards the amateurs. Hillary was the front-runner, Hillary had the money, Hillary had the connections and the big endorsements from the local politicians early on. I never would have expected her campaign to make these (really petty) mistakes. I thought they had more common sense than that.

[xultar]

16. Thanks....But Hillary is fucking sad too, I don't get how she is so fucking Dumb.

I mean dumb...and not off the mark dumb. Fucking dumb ass dumb. Maybe all those stories of her being so politically saavy are just that. Stories. And she's making mistakes in her campaign because she is a novice.

I mean calling and bugging the shit out of Edward Kennedy for gawd sake? WTF is that? That's like grade school shit. I'd endorse Obama if they bugged the shit out of me like that.

How fucking sad. They still could have won this thing.

And if they do win...the party will be fucked up for years to come because they forced the split.

I still believe though that America is generally racist and there is no way in hell Obama will win the GE. Not with the shit I see still going on day-to-day.

I don't know. This shit is nutz.

[Tatiana]

25. OMG... LMFAO!!!!!! You are a hot mess ;) But you are preaching some truth.

Make no mistake, they can *still* win this thing. But they have created a whole lot of unnecessary drama int he process.

And honestly, I guess if I felt someone who was influential in Democratic politics was going to endorse my opponent, I suppose I'd make a phone call and try to persuade them to abstain. However, Kennedy http://www.newsweek.com/id/96385">warned Bill Clinton early on to back off:

In recent weeks, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, both currently neutral in the Democratic contest, have told their old friend heatedly on the phone that he needs to change his tone and stop attacking Sen. Barack Obama, according to two sources familiar with the conversations who asked for anonymity because of their sensitive nature. Clinton, Kennedy and Emanuel all declined to comment.

They didn't listen to Ted, for whatever reason. And now Kennedy is bringing on the endorsement. This was a huge blunder on the part of the Clintons. So now we have http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/27/politics/politico/thecrypt/main3756412.shtml">this:

The Clinton campaign launched a last-ditch effort over the few days to stop Kennedy's move, orchestrating a flood of phone calls to Kennedy from sources ranging from union chiefs to his Massachusetts constituents.

The former president also called Kennedy in a vain attempt to keep him out of the race, a source familiar with the conversation said.

During his two terms in the White House, President Clinton made repeated overtures to the Kennedy family. So the senator’s rejection of his wife is at least as embarrassing as her 28-point loss in the South Carolina primary on Saturday.

Oh NOW they want to hear Kennedy out. Not smart at all.

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

31. Especially Bill's serial blunders

Bill in particular has been behaving like a drunken, petulant frat-boy. He's making an ass out of himself and the Clintons in general and destroying his own legacy-- and doing all of this with taxpayer dollars, paid for his Secret Service detail.

Sad to see Bill throw away his legacy in the service of naked narcissism.

[lurky]

15. Seriously!

Obama has been running a strong campaign, but let's not kid ourselves. He couldn't have done it without the Clinton campaign's help. She has gone from prohibitive favorite to vulnerable in a week.

Of course, anything could happen between now and Feb 5. It's still way too soon to count her out.

[xultar]

23. I think so. If someone near her they'd be smart and say look. You fucked up lady.

Here's what you need to do.

Call a press conference and say.
I acknowledge my campaign practices have been off mark and can be perceived as negative.
I'd like to take full responsibility for it and apologise to my supporters.

She needs to also say that she's decided to campaign on her own. She's a big girl and though she is happy that her husband has been an enthusiastic campaigner he may have stepped over bounds on some occasions. With that said he'll be taking a back seat. She should also say this should lay to rest rumors that a woman can't run for president without a man...because she has, can and will.

She needs to say that issues is where things stand and where she will take on Obama and win. Then she needs to list some issues where she feels she has the closest feel on the pulse of America.

She needs to say from here on out. She will have an eye first hand on what is said and done on her behalf and mistakes will no longer be made.

Simple.

Can someone get this to her campaign please.

[lurky]

26. I'm guessing they're already on it.

I'm leaning towards Obama at this point, but it's pretty painful to watch this, as someone who supported the Clintons throughout the '90s.

If Hillary's smart, she'll hide BC away somewhere until after the convention.

[babylonsister]

5. Now what does that tell any/everyone? The Clintons' power politics

failed to move Senator Kennedy. He's looking out for the best interests of our country. Gobama, and thank you, Senator! :patriot:

[havocmom]

6. Hm, trying to talk to Bill about acceptable limits on tactics seems to have gone badly

for Bill and Hillary.

Arrogance has a price.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. This is very important, I think

Endorsing a candidate is one thing, but going out on the campaign trail for him is quite another. Seems to me that Mr. Kennedy has thrown down the gauntlet as to who is running the Democratic Party.

[adabfree]

11. indeed

[dmr]

28. The gaunlet indeed!

Enough of this strangulation and triangulation.

Though Bill has been saying the words, I don't doubt that he is taking the heat by saying things Hillary can't say publicly, but would if she could (though by now, they may realize they've shot themselves in the foot). I say this because their history has shown us that both of them are very calculating and decisive. If she has been unhappy with what Bill has been saying, she would have reign him in long ago.

Senator Kennedy is an old school Democrat, who moves me to tears when he passionately speaks on Senate floor with regards to the welfare of us plain ol' Americans.

[BeyondGeography]

12. That's overwhelming...really

Few people can work it like Ted...His campaign speeches are must-see TV.

[dailykoff]

14. Fantastic!

What a day! What a family!

:thumbsup:

[BooScout]

17. OMG..the estaqblishment is campaigning for Obama......

how very old world politics.:eyes:

[MelissaB]

20. Well, he's an established liberal that I respect greatly, and no, Obama isn't my first choice.

His endorsement means a lot to me, though and makes me wonder what's going on inside the party.

[lurky]

18. Last I heard, HRC was way ahead in Massachusetts.

This will have to give Obama some kind of bump there. There are a lot of Irish-Americans around Boston who practically worship the Kennedys. These are the same kind of white, blue-collar voters who have been tending towards Clinton, too, so this will be interesting.

[Barack_America]

19. Well, you can't say that he didn't warn Bill Clinton...

He told him to tone it down and butt out, but he didn't listen.

I'm just glad that Obama's got himself a pit-bull too.

[populistdriven]

24. K&R! nt

[monmouth]

27. For me, still in the wilderness since Joe left and Edwards not progressing

as we hoped....This is huge. My first vote was JFK and got to know the Senator when he visited here in Palm Beach. I admire him greatly. I hate to sound like a "sheeple" but if Obama is what Uncle Teddy sees as best for the country, then I'm there man...GOBAMA!!

[alteredstate]

29. Woo Hoo!

This is great!

[WinkyDink]

30. I would think he'd recognize Edwards as more in line with his, Ted's, politics.