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Hillary is Phat?

Amy Schatz reports on the presidential race. Of all the news releases we’ve gotten this morning, this may have been the least expected: Â“Kimora Lee Simmons Endorses Hillary Clinton.Â” Kimora Lee SimmonsNot that we have any doubt Hillary Clinton appeals to women voters, but we just didn’t realize the reality show diva was that into politics. Nevertheless, the Baby Phat founder (and former model/author/reality show star) endorsed Clinton noting she’d known her for many years and Â“have seen her work passionately on many issues, including poverty, education and prison reform.Â”Â“As a mother, I have learned that you must lead with your head, not just your heart, and I’m confident that Hillary will be the president to bring our country together and deliver a brighter future for all Americans,Â” Simmons continued in a statement.Simmons’ ex-husband, music mogul Russell Simmons, is supporting John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator (and occasional yoga partner).

Romney Zeros In on the Economy

Elizabeth Holmes reports from Miami on the presidential race. Fresh off his performance at the debate last night, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney continued his stump binge on the economy this morning at a meeting of the Latin Builders Association. After summarizing his economic-stimulus plan, Romney launched into the subprime housing crisis. Mortgage companies should have a stake in their investments, he said, adding that the current set-up allows for misinformation to be passed on to borrowers and permits mortgage companies to collect their fees and get off Â“scot-free.Â” Mitt Romney walks off the stage after speaking to the Latin Builders Association in Miami. (Associated Press)He continued to support loosening of the Federal Housing Administration loan requirements and suggested a private entity could profit off the current situation - a la the savings and loans troubles. 'There were various groups that went around and bought up the bad loans from the savings and loans,” he said. 'They made a fortune on them, because they were sold at such deep discounts.”Romney, a former venture capitalist and co-founder of Bain Capital, also pointed a finger at the rating agencies. Among the failures, he cited by name both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Â“They let a lot of people down,Â” he said. Â“And had they been doing the kind of effective due diligence at the arms length that they should have been doing, they would not have rated this paper triple-A type of ratings. They would’ve recognized the degree of risk.Â” To eliminate any further Â“misevaluation of the risk,Â” Romney encouraged involvement by the Securities and Exchange Commission or another government agency.

McCain Says He’s No Mere ‘Manager’

Alex Frangos reports from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on the presidential race.A combative Sen. John McCain belittled his main rival Mitt Romney’s business experience this morning, saying the former Massachusetts governor is a Â“manager,Â” while calling himself a Â“leader.Â”John and Cindy McCain listen as Sen. Lindsey Graham answers a question during a press conference in Fort Lauderdale. (Associated Press)McCain is suffering, at least rhetorically, as the focus of the campaign shifts from his strength - national security - to the economy, a natural topic for businessman Romney. McCain began this morning’s press event at a private-jet terminal in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., emphasizing his economic record. Â“I thought the debate was fine last night. We were able to make the points on the economy and other aspects of my leadership, not management. And I’d like to repeat I’ve been involved in every - many, many aspects of America’s economy for a number of years serving on the Commerce Committee and as chairman.Â” He said later, Â“Everyone knows the difference between leadership and management. You can hire managers all the time. People who do the mechanics, people who implement policies. People who are good with assets,Â” he said. Leadership, which of course he said he has plenty of, is found in Â“people who inspire, people like Ronald Reagan,Â” he said. Â“Leadership is people who have had the hands on experience and patriotism in service to our country and the nation.Â”About his rival, he said, Â“Gov. Romney is touting his qualifications and his experience and his resume as a manager. I am telling the American people, and they know it, that I am a leader.Â”Sensing that the polls are tight for Florida’s crucial primary on Tuesday, McCain, who formerly extolled the virtues of positive campaigning, didn’t need prompting to jab at Romney. Â“I would just examine his record. He has changed positions on literally every major issue no matter what it is. And I’m sure the voters will agree with that.Â”

Obama’s Victory Speech

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

Florida’s Crist Backs McCain

Alex Frangos reports from St. Petersburg, Fla., on the presidential race.Taking a break from the Democrats’ big night in South Carolina, Washington Wire turns to news that John McCain has picked up the big daddy of Florida endorsements, Gov. Charlie Crist. The popular Crist appeared alongside the Arizona senator tonight at a Republican dinner in St. Petersburg. 'I don’t think anybody would do better than the man standing next to me,” Crist said. 'That’s an endorsement,” he said. It’s not clear if a Crist endorsement so close to Tuesday’s primary will translate into votes for McCain. But it at least gives a psychological boost to the folks working McCain’s campaign. McCain got the endorsement yesterday of Florida’s other top Republican, Sen. Mel Martinez. Crist endorsed McCain even though the senator has been the most skeptical of the leading candidates about the creation of a so-called National Catastrophic Fund to pay for disaster relief, a key issue with voters here. Asked if McCain’s position on the fund was a hurdle to overcome, Crist said, 'Yeah, sure. But I trust the guy. I trust him. He’s not gonna say something to me just to try to garner support.”The endorsement comes late in the process - too late for instance for Crist to appear in McCain television ads here. 'I came to the voting conclusion earlier in the week,” he said. But it took him a few days to convert his voting preference into an endorsement. McCain campaigned for Crist early in Crist’s bid for governor.

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

S.C. Exit Polls: Breakdown by Race, Gender in Obama Win

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama talked with employees at Harper’s Restaurant as he campaigned in Columbia, S.C., Saturday. (Associated Press)The Associated Press dives into the exit poll data: The official vote tally is just starting to come in, but based on exit polls, the the AP is projecting that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s win is going to be a rout. The details from the AP: Black voters made up half the voters in Saturday’s contest, by far the biggest share in any presidential contest so far this year. As in Nevada’s Democratic contest last weekend, Obama won about eight in 10 of their votes, with black men and women supporting Obama by about that same margin, according to preliminary results from exit polls of Democratic voters conducted Saturday for the Associated Press and the television networks. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards split the white vote about equally, with each getting nearly four in 10 of their votes and Obama getting about a quarter.The gender breakdown was also heavily affected by race. Though Obama won eight in 10 votes of black females, Clinton led among white women, getting about four in 10 of their votes, slightly more than Edwards and about double Obama’s share. Edwards led among white men, garnering about four in 10 of their votes, with Clinton and Obama about equally sharing the rest.

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

South Carolina - Latest Polls, Reader Predictions

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is expected to win tonight’s South Carolina primary, where polls close at 7 p.m. ET. The key question is, by how much? With expectations set so high, as Amy Chozick noted in today’s Journal, Obama faces a dilemma: He will have to win by a double-digit margin in order for voters nationwide to perceive South Carolina as a significant victory and get crucial momentum ahead of Super Tuesday.The latest polls show show a healthy margin for Obama, but not necessarily in double digits. On Friday, an MSNBC/McClatchy poll of likely voters put Obama ahead with 38% of the vote, largely due to his strong support among African-American voters, who make up half of all registered Democrats in the state. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton followed with 30%, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was in third with 19%. Meanwhile, according to the final Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby daily telephone tracking poll, Obama wins 41% support in the state, compared with 26% for Clinton and 19% for Edwards. Pollster John Zogby says that Obama holds solid leads in every section of the state. He has big leads among voters under age 65, while Clinton has a narrow lead among voters over 65. You can see trend charts showing Obama’s recent rally at Real Clear Politics’ roundup of state polls. Obama’s chances of winning - though no indication of by how much - are reflected in prediction markets too. According to the latest WSJ Political Market/InTrade readings, Obama’s chances have ratcheted higher as primary has approached. (See chart above.) Readers: Will Obama win by a wide margin - and does it matter that much in the broader campaign? Will Clinton run surprisingly strong? Post your comments below.

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

Romney, McCain Trade Blows

Elizabeth Holmes reports from Land O’ Lakes, Fla., on the presidential race.With three days and counting until the Florida primary, Mitt Romney and John McCain have begun a vicious war of words and are using reporters to transmit their punches. The sparks began between the pair of poll leaders here on Friday morning, after talk at the debate the night was heavy on the economy. McCain went after Romney with his leader-versus-manager argument. Romney answered back at an event in Pensacola, reading quotes from McCain on the economy over the years. He gave several examples of when the veteran senator admitted it wasn’t his strong suit, including 'I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policies.”The fighting got ugly on Saturday with McCain in Fort Myers, Fla., reportedly comparing Romney to Hillary Clinton and accusing him of wanting to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq. When a member of the media told Romney about McCain’s comments, Romney grew agitated. 'I don’t know why he’s being dishonest,” he said. 'That is not the case. I have never said that.” Romney continued: 'I know he’s trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq. But to say something that’s not accurate is simply wrong and he knows better.”Polls show the pair in a statistical dead heat here. McCain, having won New Hampshire and South Carolina, and Romney, who carried Michigan, Nevada and Wyoming, would each like a Florida victory both for the delegates - 57 are at stake - as well as the momentum going into Super Tuesday Feb. 5.

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

Obama Earns an Endorsement from Camelot

Susan Davis reports from Columbia, S.C., on the presidential race.Hours after Sen. Barack Obama achieved a historic victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary, he also nabbed an endorsement from former President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline. By any estimation, it was a good night for the Illinois senator. In a New York Times op-ed entitled Â“A President Like My Father,Â” Caroline Kennedy offers perhaps the most stirring pitch for Obama’s candidacy so far this election season. Â“Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible,Â” she writes, Â“We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama.Â” In a message echoed by Obama’s campaign and his supporters, she argues that in this election the message he offers is more powerful than the policy differences between the candidates. She does not reference by name either Sen. Hillary Clinton or former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in the article. In the most glowing terms she writes: Â“I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.Â” There has been heightened speculation in Washington recently over where her uncle, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, is leaning. It was reported recently that Kennedy was one of a handful of senior Democrats who phoned former President Bill Clinton to express their displeasure with his increasingly prominent attack dog role in his wife’s campaign against Obama. Massachusetts junior senator and former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has already endorsed Obama. Parallels between Obama and Kennedy are not new in this race, and his rhetorical talents are often aligned with JFK’s. Â“And what we’ve seen in these last weeks is that we’re also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation. It’s the politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon,Â” Obama said in his victory speech tonight. Â“But we are here tonight to say that this is not the America we believe in.Â” Obama landed a decisive victory - 55%-27% - over Clinton, with Edwards earning 18% of the vote. More than 530,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, which was 100,000 more votes than were cast in the Republican primary here a week earlier. The race was overshadowed by discussion of racial divisions highlighted by having a black man and a white woman at the top of the ticket in a state where black voters comprise nearly half of Democratic primary voters. Obama’s supporters said his victory here proves his appeal across racial lines, and prominent South Carolina Democrats hoped for an end to the discussion of a race divide in the Democratic primary season. Â“I hope this closes the book,Â” said Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Read more : 27.01.2008 00:00:00

Looking, Sounding, Acting the Part

Elizabeth Holmes reports from Sweetwater, Fla., on the presidential raceRepublican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney added some Latino flare to his typical stump fare during a stop here Sunday afternoon.Before speaking to a crowd at the Jorge Mas Canosa Cente, Romney shed his usual shirt and tie to don a traditional Cuban shirt called a guayabera. (He wore the four pocket with a familiar pair of gray-blue trousers.) It was a gift from Luis Arrizurieta, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion brigade #2506, whom Romney met last summer.Â“I have a feeling I won’t be wearing it throughout the campaign,Â” Romney later said. Â“But I sure am proud and happy to wear it on such a warm day in Miami.Â” Romney continued his attempt to appeal to Florida’s Hispanic base - about 20% of the state’s 18 million residents are Hispanic, according to the American Community Survey. During his remarks to roughly 200 supporters, he yelled, Â“I learned that when Fidel Castro has money, bad things happenÂ” prompting a Â“Go Mitt Go!Â” chant.When talking to reporters afterwards, Romney paraded out Josefina Carvajal, a teacher in the Miami-Dade system. He used Carvajal as support for his plan to eliminate payroll tax for people 65 years and older (mentioned in his economic stimulus plan). Â“Believe it or not she is 65,Â” Romney said of Caravajal.Â“More!Â” the short woman piped up. Â“More? More!Â” Romney said. Â“She does not look it, but she is 65.Â” Carvajal, is, in fact, 72 but didn’t seem to mind Romney’s slip on her age. Â“I am very happy to know that Governor Romney wants to help, ehh, older Americans who works,Â” she said with a thick accent. Â“Thank you Governor Romney. God Bless You!Â”