Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > March > 03
Monday, March 3, 2008
Rhine McLin, media darling
Yup, that was Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin on the cover of today’s USA Today, talking about how she is torn about which candidate to support as a superdelegate.
McLin is one of 21 Ohioans who are superdelegates - party luminaries whose vote at the Democratic National Convention hold sway over who will receive the Democratic nomination. The eventual nominee will need 2,025 delegates to get the nod.
McLin, who has professed to being torn over whether to support Clinton or Obama, told USA Today - as she has told the Dayton Daily News - that she doesn’t plan on endorsing before the March 4 election. She said she wants to follow the will of the voters.
UPDATE: She got profiled in the Washington Post today. Describing her signature spectacles - one pane is round, the other square - she quipped, “That means Dayton is well rounded and you can get a square deal.”
Permalink | |
Eye on Ohio: “Leader” ad for Obama
Obama ad talks about leading America in a new direction
THE AD: “Leader,” 2 minutes.
WHERE TO SEE IT: Aired during nightly news programs in Ohio and Texas on Monday, March 3.
SCRIPT: “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.
“For years, we’ve watched politicians divide us, seen lobbyists put their interests ahead of ours, and heard our leaders tell us what we want to hear, instead of what we need to hear.
“The question you have to ask yourself is this: Who can take can take us in a fundamentally new direction? I’m running to finally solve problems we talk about year after year after year.
“To end the division, the obscene influence of lobbyists and the politics that value scoring points over making progress. We can’t afford more of that — not this year, not now.
“I’ve spent my life working for change that’s made a real difference in the lives of real people. That’s why I passed up a job on Wall Street — to fight joblessness and poverty on the streets of Chicago when the local steel plant closed.
“That’s why I turned down the corporate law firms to work as a civil-rights lawyer — to fight for those who have been denied opportunity. That’s why I fought for a tough new ethics law in Illinois and Washington — to cut the power of lobbyists — and I won.
“That’s why I brought Democrats and Republicans together to provide health care and tax relief to working families. And that’s why I opposed this war in Iraq from the start. It wasn’t popular, but it was right.
“This country is ready for a leader who will bring us together. That’s the only way we’re going to win this election. And that’s actually how we’ll fix health care and make college affordable, become energy independent and end this war.
“I’m reminded every day that I’m not a perfect man. And I won’t be a perfect president. But I can promise you this: I will always tell you where I stand and what I think. I will listen to you when we disagree. I will carry your voices to the White House and I will fight for you every day I’m there.
“On Tuesday, help change Washington; let’s bring Democrats, Republicans and Independents together, not just to win an election, but to transform a nation.”
VIDEO: The campaign put Obama in a dark gray suit, white shirt and red-patterned necktie. He speaks directly into a camera. He sits in an office-like environment with a soft glow of a brass table lamp over his shoulder. Although the camera rarely is off him, the viewer gets glimpses of graphics, including newspaper endorsements in Cleveland, Dayton, Canton and Toledo.
ANALYSIS: It’s extraordinarily rare for a campaign to buy two consecutive minutes of TV time. But it’s not rare for candidates to aim messages at people who watch the evening news; they vote. Polls in Ohio and Texas show Obama and Hillary Clinton within a few percentage points of each other.
The Obama camp calls this ad “Leader.” It should be called “Closer.”
Obama has to close the deal. He has to get those last few votes to swing his way. He twice mentions the word Republican — a naughty thing for a Democrat. And also reminds Independents that they can vote for him.
David Sartin is a reporter for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. E-mail: dsartin@plaind.com.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Eye on Ohio
Eye on Ohio: “Partner” ad for Clinton
Clinton ad talks about fighting for the American worker
THE AD: “Partner,” 30 seconds.
WHERE TO SEE IT: Began airing in Ohio Monday, March 3.
SCRIPT: Hillary Clinton: “I have talked with people from Cincinnati to Dayton to Parma.”
Man 1: “The economy in this part of the state is terrible.”
Man 2: “We need a leader who cares about the people.”
Clinton: “It’s time that the American worker had a partner in the White House.”
Woman 1: “She’s going to bring jobs back here to Ohio.”
Man 3: “And fight for working families here in the United States of America.”
Man 1: “Hillary Clinton can turn this country around.”
Clinton: “The wealthy and the well-connected have had a president. It’s time the middle class had a president, who will stand up for you. I’m Hillary Clinton and I approved this message.”
VIDEO: The color video starts with people listening as Clinton delivers a speech in front of an American flag. Four people offer quick testimonials while standing outdoors in urban settings. Then three shots show Clinton greeting plant workers and shaking supporters’ hands at campaign rallies. It ends with Clinton, mic in hand with a giant flag as the backdrop.
ANALYSIS: Sen. Clinton is focusing on jobs and the economy, which polls show consistently rank as top concerns for Ohio Democrats. She pledges to be a partner with the American worker, but it’s the anonymous female supporter who makes the declarative statement: “She’s going to bring jobs back here to Ohio.”
In a 30-second commercial, Clinton doesn’t give details of how she’ll stand up for the middle class. But she has promised to reopen trade agreements to add stricter labor and environmental standards, provide universal health care, lower taxes for the middle class and create a $50 billion fund to develop green technologies, which she says will create 5 million new jobs.
Laura A. Bischoff is a reporter at the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: lbischoff@daytondailynews.com.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Eye on Ohio
Second poll shows Clinton with 9-point lead over Obama
Sen. HIllary Clinton has a nine-point lead over Sen. Barack Obama in a second poll released Monday, March 3 of likely votes in Ohio’s Democratic presidential primary.
The poll from Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C. shows Clinton ahead, 51-42 percent, a gain of four points since a PPP poll conducted last week. The results track closely with those in an Ohio Poll, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati, also released Monday which showed Clinton leading 51.3-42.3 percent.
Two other polls also were released Monday. A Quinnipiac University poll shows Clinton ahead, 49-45 percent. A poll conducted by Zogby and released by Reuters, C-SPAN and the Houston Chronicle shows Obama ahead, 47-45 percent.
The Public Policy Polling poll shows Obama not getting the level of support from young people in Ohio that he received in other states. He’s ahead of Clinton 49-46 percent among voters 18-29 years old and lags behind her 48-44 percent among voters 30-45 years old.
Among likely voters in the Republican presidential primary, also set for Tuesday, March 4, John McCain leads Mike Huckabee, 50-33 percent, with Ron Paul getting 10 percent.
PPP surveyed 1,112 likely Democratic primary voters and 612 likely GOP primary voters from March 1-March 2. The margin of error on the Democratic side is plus or minus 2.9 percent and plus or minus 4 percent on the Republican side.
Polls show Clinton ahead in Ohio
Two statewide polls released Monday morning show Sen. Hillary Clinton leading over Sen. Barack Obama among likely Democratic voters.
The Ohio Poll, conducted by the University of Cincinnati, has Clinton capturing 51.3 percent compared with Obama’s 42.3 percent. A Quinnipiac University poll shows Clinton at 49 percent compared with Obama at 45 percent.
The Quinnipiac poll was taken between Feb. 27 and March 2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. The Ohio Poll was taken between Feb. 28 and Mar. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
Another poll released Monday, conducted by Zogby and released by Reuters, C-SPAN and the Houston Chronicle, finds Obama holding on to a slim lead over Clinton in both Ohio and Texas, which is also voting March 4. Obama leads 47 percent to 44 percent in Texas and 47 percent to 45 percent in Ohio.
Polls: It’s neck-and-neck in Ohio
With less than 24 hours before polls in Ohio open, Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a narrow lead over Sen. Barack Obama among likely Democrats in the state, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday morning.
Clinton, who the Quinnipiac poll has consistently shown leading Obama, now holds a 49 to 45 percent lead over Obama. That’s a nail-biter compared to the 55 to 34 percent lead Clinton held in a Feb. 14 poll. In a Feb. 25 poll, she led Obama 51 to 40 percent.
The poll shows most of Clinton’s support is among women, while men are more likely to back Obama. Low-income voters also back Clinton 50 to 44 percent, as do older voters, who support her 55 percent to Obama’s 39 percent.
Obama, meanwhile, leads 58 to 37 percent among voters under 45.
Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute predicts that turnout will tell the tale on March 4.
“It’s not just whether it is higher than normal, which everyone expects it to be,” he said. “The key question is whether turnout is disproportionately higher among some demographic groups than others.”
The poll was taken between Feb. 27 and March 2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
A second poll released Monday morning, conducted by Zogby and released by Reuters, C-SPAN and the Houston Chronicle, finds Obama holding on to a slim lead over Clinton in both Ohio and Texas, which is also voting March 4. Obama leads 47 percent to 44 percent in Texas and 47 percent to 45 percent in Ohio. On Sunday, an earlier version of the poll gave Clinton a 1 point advantage in Ohio.
It also found Sen. John McCain holding an easy and consistent lead over fellow Republican, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
That poll has a margin of error of just under 4 percentage points.
