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Clinton stumps in North Carolina; Obama spends day in Indiana
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Published: May 4, 2008
Updated: 05/04/2008 01:50 am
WAKE FOREST
Hillary Clinton made an impassioned pitch to suburban North Carolinians yesterday, hoping to pare down Barack Obama's lead in the state before Tuesday's primary.
Obama, meanwhile, spent the entire day in Indiana, where he worked to erase the advantage most polls give Clinton heading into that state's equally important primary.
The two continued their weeklong battle over the wisdom of suspending the federal gas tax this summer, while both campaigns worked overtime in North Carolina and Indiana to get their supporters to the polls.
At stops in Wake Forest, Cary, Mooresville and Gastonia, Clinton once again called for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax, a move her campaign says would lower gas prices.
She talked about criticism from Obama, most energy economists and several key Democratic leaders in Congress who say that the plan would do nothing to lower prices while increasing oil-company profits.
"I think it's imperative that we try to obtain some immediate relief, and what I've proposed would do just that. There's a big disagreement in this campaign," she said at a rally in Wake Forest.
Later in the day, speaking at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Mooresville, Clinton frequently compared the North Carolina primary to a stock-car race, saying that she is the best person to get "back in that driver's seat" because she understands the hardships of ordinary workers.
Her gas-tax plan has become the chief example of that theme. But energy economists say that her plan represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how petroleum markets actually work.
Initially, suspending the 18.4-cents-a-gallon tax would bring prices down. But because supplies of gasoline are so tight -- particularly in the summer when drivers travel more -- oil companies would be able to quickly rebound prices to pre-tax levels, economists say.
But most voters are not familiar with the complexities of oil economics. Rising gas prices are of particular importance in the commuter-heavy suburbs Clinton visited yesterday. At the rally in Wake Forest, Clinton's mention of cutting the gas tax drew loud applause.
Like many in this rapidly expanding suburb, Tommy Barham spends 45 minutes commuting to Raleigh. His gas bill has doubled to $500 over the last few years.
"The gas tax is a good start. We've got to do something for the working man driving to work every day," he said after hearing Clinton.
Obama said yesterday that her proposal was full of "phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems," The Associated Press reported.
Obama is not scheduled to return to North Carolina today. Clinton is scheduled to be in Indiana today, but her campaign said yesterday that she would visit High Point and Greenville on Monday.
Ferrel Guillory, an expert on Southern politics at UNC Chapel Hill, said that it made sense for Clinton to spend the final Saturday before the primary in North Carolina, where she is trailing, just as it made sense for Obama to spend one of the last campaigning days in Indiana, where he is trailing.
Recent polls in North Carolina show Obama with a 5- to 10-point lead. In Indiana, a Zogby survey released yesterday showed Obama with a 1-point lead, though five other recent polls gave Clinton an advantage of between 5 and 10 points.
"It's a tactical call for all of these candidates," Guillory said of their decisions to focus on Indiana today. "I don't think North Carolina voters should see it as some kind of slight."
■ Sean Mussenden can be reached at 202-662-7668 or at smussenden
@mediageneral.com.
■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-833-9056 or at jromoser@wsjournal
.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( eznelson ) on May 4, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Is Hillary really for the common man and woman?
1) Hillary voted AGAINST the Vitter amendment which PREVENTS the government from confiscating guns from law abiding citizens during emergencies or martial law. Interestingly Obama voted for it and for the rights of gun owners.
2) The Clintons recently revealed on their tax returns that they had amassed fortunes of 109 million dollars.
3) Hillary was instrumental in pushing FOR and getting NAFTA passed which has been a disaster for American workers. According to documents released by the National Archives, Hillary in 1993 attended at least 5 meetings that were used to win approval of NAFTA by Congress and these documents detailed her role in promoting NAFTA while she was first lady.
4) Hillary along with the Republicans voted for the Iraq War which have taken billions of our tax paying dollars out of our pockets and put them into the pockets of oil companies and defense contractors.
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Posted by ( musicman27106 ) on May 4, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - America's presidential candidates, big money, media, governments and other sell-out U.S. institutions are deceiving our people. America is lost in hypocrisy and evil. Hold the presidential candidates and U.S. officials up to the following litmus test and they will prove to be hypocrites and liars. They swear vows of lies on the Bible to God. The Truth is not in them.
The vast majority of people in the world, who claim to be Christians, don't adhere even to the basic fundamentals of Christianity. For example, a beginning test in the extremely difficult task of finding a true Christian is to try to draw out a person's real religious doctrine. This is done in question and answer. A person will speak from the abundance of his heart. Good starting questions are; Do you believe war can be justified? Do you believe in executing people in some cases? If either of these questions is answered yes, the person's profession of Christianity is in vain. He does not trust in or know God and Jesus. God's Commandment is "Thou shalt not kill." The person, in answering yes, has spoken against the Holy Commandment of God. He has committed the sin of blasphemy which is equal to breaking any and all of God's Commandments. The Law of God is "Do not kill." (KJV Luke 18:20), (Mark 10:19), (James 2:11) The Law of God is "Love your enemies." (Matt. 5:44), (Luke 6:27) "Thou shalt not kill." (Romans 13:9) "Do violence to no man." (Luke 3:14) The servants of hypocrisy will attempt to argue that there is a difference of meaning in the translations of the words, kill and murder. Jesus put this lie to silence when he said, "Love your enemies." (Matt. 5:44), (Luke 6:27) To hit, shoot, bomb, execute, kill, etc. are not in the definition of love. True Christianity is nonviolent. "God is Love." (1.John 4:8,16)
Online version: http://BuenaVistaMall.com/Truth.htm
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Posted by ( musicman27106 ) on May 4, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - America's presidential candidates, big money, media, governments and other sell-out U.S. institutions are deceiving our people. America is lost in hypocrisy and evil. Hold the presidential candidates and U.S. officials up to the following litmus test and they will prove to be hypocrites and liars. They swear vows of lies on the Bible to God. The Truth is not in them.
The vast majority of people in the world, who claim to be Christians, don't adhere even to the basic fundamentals of Christianity. For example, a beginning test in the extremely difficult task of finding a true Christian is to try to draw out a person's real religious doctrine. This is done in question and answer. A person will speak from the abundance of his heart. Good starting questions are; Do you believe war can be justified? Do you believe in executing people in some cases? If either of these questions is answered yes, the person's profession of Christianity is in vain. He does not trust in or know God and Jesus. God's Commandment is "Thou shalt not kill." The person, in answering yes, has spoken against the Holy Commandment of God. He has committed the sin of blasphemy which is equal to breaking any and all of God's Commandments. The Law of God is "Do not kill." (KJV Luke 18:20), (Mark 10:19), (James 2:11) The Law of God is "Love your enemies." (Matt. 5:44), (Luke 6:27) "Thou shalt not kill." (Romans 13:9) "Do violence to no man." (Luke 3:14) The servants of hypocrisy will attempt to argue that there is a difference of meaning in the translations of the words, kill and murder. Jesus put this lie to silence when he said, "Love your enemies." (Matt. 5:44), (Luke 6:27) To hit, shoot, bomb, execute, kill, etc. are not in the definition of love. True Christianity is nonviolent. "God is Love." (1.John 4:8,16)
Online version: http://BuenaVistaMall.com/Truth.htm
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Posted by ( HeadsCarolinaTailsCA ) on May 4, 2008 at 11:49 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Obama has feet of clay.
Hillary has wheels. She can go the distance.
Get out the Vote, NC.
We need Hillary.
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Posted by ( justme819 ) on May 4, 2008 at 3:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Obama - The Same Old Wash. Politics!
1. BO voted for Cheney`s energy bill...Hillary voted against it!...this bill was written by energy lobbyists and has been called, "...the best energy bill corporations could buy..."
BO also took more money last month from oil company executives than any other candidate...while running an ad saying that he didn't take money from oil companies.
http://facts.hillaryhub.com/archive/?id=7318
click on blue lettering for ALL the PROOF!
2. BO supports Washington DC laws effectively banning guns.
http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/barack_obama_comments_on_shoot.html
and voted for the infamous assault weapons bans, voted to limit the number of handguns a person could buy, voted against lawsuit protections for gun manufacturers, supported a national ban on concealed carry, and voted against a bill protecting homeowners from being sued by burglars they shoot in their own homes.
3. Hillary gives about 10% of her income to charity...compared to the also-rich Obama, who gives less than 1% most yrs...Hillary pays another 33% in taxes...which is 12% above the avg in her tax bracket...she even proposes taxes on herself and others in her tax bracket!
4. Hillary is against NAFTA and was while Bill was Pres!
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=6892
BOTTOM LINE: Hillary`s for keeping jobs right here in the US!
5. When BO entered the race, his justification centered around alledged 'good judgment' on the Iraq War...but, associations with Rezko, Wright, Ayres, Odinga, etc...call into question BO`s judgment...so, if he got it so wrong in these situations, how did he get it right on the Iraq war?
Simple...he lied...BO wasn`t in the Sen and had the advantage of not being fed ALL the misleading intel to base judgment on...which misled MOST OF CONGRESS!...further, after BO got elected to the Sen, he and Hillary voted the same way on the war every time based on the same intel...except once...this includes voting 84 times for appropriations!
Then, in the Cleve debate...BO stated that he`d take action if intel showed that Al-Qaeda was building a base there...When the war started, the US had intel which showed that Al-Qaeda had bases in Iraq...the same condition Obama states he`d take action on...
Which means Obama was either lying in the debate or when he says he was against the war from the start.
So, his speech was meaningless...my 12-yr. old gave a speech against the war too...yet, no one`s claiming that he has the judgment necessary to run the most powerful country on earth...he doesn`t...and neither does BO!
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