Obama conference call: "the West is ripe for his candidacy"

The Obama campaign held a conference call with former Colorado Governor and Democratic National Committee Chair Roy Romer to announce Romer’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign. Romer said he will cast his vote at the Democratic National Convention for Obama as the democratic nominee for president.

Romer said this had been a very vigorous campaign, and that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has been a strong opponent, but that he believes the math is controlling and that the race is over. He said it is time for the party to unify, get beyond the primary season, and get working on the general election.

Romer said it is up to Clinton to make the decision about staying in the race, and that knowing facts and information, such as where superdelegates stand, will help her make that decision. He said she is a strong asset to the party, and that this campaign was helpful for the Democratic Party because it got out new votes, but that it is time to end it and direct the focus to the general election.

Romer said Obama offers strong leadership on hope and change, and that the West is “ripe for his candidacy.” In the beginning of the campaign he had known Clinton better than Obama, but said that as he watched the campaign unfold he became convinced that Obama was more “elect-able.” He said Obama has the best possibility of winning in November and leading the country in an effective way.

Romer also said the Democratic Party needs to make decisions on delegates for Michigan and Florida. He said a compromise needs to be made that enforces following the rules for primaries but allows the states to be seated.

Hoyer: Bush is out of touch with economic reality

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) met with the press to discuss upcoming legislation and the economy. One House motion expected to come to the floor this week is the sense of the Congress in support of Georgia and Ukraine to begin actions
plans to enter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which is currently meeting in Romania to discuss expansion of the alliance.

The economic situation was topic number one and Hoyer outlined a report that his office published using data from the Joint Economic Committee, showing economic factors since the Bush administration took office. The report notes that 1.4 million people have become unemployed in the last 7 years, manufacturing jobs have deceased 3.4 million, the median household income is down $1,000, and inflation-adjusted tuition rates are up for four-year public colleges 36.3 percent.

The report also included data reported in the news about foreclosures in 2007 being double the 2006 rate as reported by Reuters and the March 31 report from the New York Times about an all time high of 28 million Americans receiving food stamps.

Hoyer said that the Bush administration is out of touch with economic reality and said that Republican deficits are the fastest growing part of the budget.



Hoyer also took the time to weigh in on the Democratic race for president, referencing superdelegates as "ex-oficio" delegates. He said that these delegates who are elected representatives of the Democratic party should use their judgement and experience to assist the party in selecting a nominee who can win the White House in November. Hoyer said that there is a long time between when the people of his state of Maryland voted on February 12 and the convention in August and that whatever happens in that space of time should be taken into account. He said that the fact that many superdelegates are up for election also plays into their decision as they will be held accountable by their constituency for the decision they make as superdelegates.

Before leaving for the NATO summit President Bush made a statement highlighting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Columbia Free Trade Agreement as his priorities for Congress. Hoyer said that the environment has changed on FISA and that he expects that the White House and the minority appear to be more open to compromise now that it appears the Democrats have the votes for a compromise bill. Hoyer said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would like to engage the administration in talks regarding the free trade agreement before it is sent up to the Hill for votes

Clinton Campaign: Obama thinks that the Democratic process is not in his best interest

The Clinton campaign held one of it's regular conference calls with Neera Tanden, senior policy advisor for Hillary Clinton, Howard Wolfson Communications Director and Phil Singer Deputy Communications Director.

Tanden started off summarizing Clinton's economic speech and her commitment to creating new jobs in the energy sector. A big emphasis of this was education and job training for workers to change into new, growing sectors of the economy and access to Pell grants for people who are working and studying.

When questioned about when the Clinton's tax returns would be made available Wolfson said that he had full confidence that the media would have everything they need to evaluate the Clintons within a week. When pressed about the delay, Wolfson said that Obama had delayed too when asked to produce tax returns.

When asked about Clinton's previous statement comparing the credentials for commander in chief to John McCain (i.e. Clinton saying I have experience in the senate and foreign policy, John McCain has experience in the senate and foreign policy, Obama has a speech he gave in 2002) the Clinton campaign reps said that there John McCain has credentials for foreign policy but he is wrong on the biggest foreign policy question of the day and that is the war in Iraq.

When asked about whether Hillary's comparisons to her credentials and John McCain's were a factor in recent Gallup polls that suggest that 28 percent of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain were the race to be between McCain and Obama. Wolfson answered that no, her comments have nothing to do with those numbers, which they discount because they are so close to the margin of error, and that the party will united around the Democratic nominee in the end.

The issue of the letter sent by Clinton donors to Nancy Pelosi came up. The letter told Pelosi to clarify her comments about superdelegates and emphasized the Clinton campaign's line that superdelegates should vote for whomever is best for the party and the country. The campaign reps on the call said that they did not help in drafting the letter and only received a heads up about it being send to the Speaker of the House.

The biggest criticisms of Obama from this conference call were:
-That Obama is not a creative thinker and he is a follower. He simply piggy backed on Clinton's $30 billion second stimulus idea.
- Obama believes that voter participation in the Democratic process is not in his best interest and he is the one standing in the way of the voices of Michigan and Florida voters being heard. Obama is the obstacle, not the legislatures or Democratic parties of these states.
- Obama, because he can not distinguish himself on policy matters, is resorting to pointed, intentional personal attacks on Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. The media is turning a blind eye to the hypocrisy of Obama's positive message about hope and unity.