Obama, Clinton Campaigns Deny Discussions to End Race
By Jonathan D. Salant
19 minutes ago
news.yahoo.com
May 23 (Bloomberg) -- The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama denied a report they are discussing ways of ending the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, including a possible offer to Clinton to be her rival's vice presidential running mate.
CNN reported that aides to the candidates were talking about a resolution to the contest that would assure the presidential nomination for Obama, the Illinois senator who has a commanding delegate lead. A spot on the ticket for New York Senator Clinton is one possibility, CNN said.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs called the report ``completely untrue'' while Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee called it ``absurd.''
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Obama had put together a group of advisers, including former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer James Johnson, to begin looking at potential running mates. The New York Times reported today that former President Bill Clinton has talked about the possibility of his wife running as vice president on a ticket led by Obama.
Rather than discuss bowing out of the race, aides to Clinton cited a new Quinnipiac University poll showing her beating presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, with Obama winning only Pennsylvania. No one since John F. Kennedy in 1960 has been elected without winning at least two of those three battleground states.
``Senator Clinton has the winning map against Senator John McCain,'' spokesman Howard Wolfson said, adding that Clinton could add Arkansas, West Virginia, Florida and Ohio, and perhaps Nevada and Iowa, to the states that John Kerry won in 2004.
Rising Prices
Clinton today plans to talk about rising food and gasoline prices in South Dakota. Spokesman Doug Hattaway said the campaign is also making the case to uncommitted elected officials and party leaders, the superdelegates to the national convention, that Clinton has won more states and delegates than Obama since March.
Obama picked up the support of two more superdelegates today, California Representatives Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa. Cardoza initially endorsed Clinton. That brings Obama's total to 310.5, compared with 279.5 for Clinton.
``While I continue to greatly respect and admire Senator Clinton and feel she has made history with her campaign, I believe that Senator Obama will inevitably be our party's nominee for president,'' Cardoza said in a statement released by the Obama campaign.
Obama is spending another day in South Florida where he will deliver what his campaign calls a ``major foreign policy address'' about Latin America before the Cuban American National Foundation Luncheon in Miami.
Yesterday, speaking at a synagogue in Boca Raton, he stressed his support for Israel's security and asked that he not be judged by the comments of some of his supporters.
``The tradition of the Jewish people is to judge me by what I say and what I've done,'' he said.
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