Hillary Rodham
Clinton was jolted Thursday by the defection of one of her
longtime superdelegate supporters, a former national party
chairman who urged fellow Democrats to ''reject the
old negative politics'' and unify behind Barack Obama.
''A vote for
Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue'' a long,
self-destructive Democratic campaign, Joe Andrew added in a
letter designed to have an impact on the turbulent
race nationally as well as in his home state of
Indiana, site of a primary next week.
''A vote to
continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain,''
Andrew wrote.
In response,
Clinton told ABC's Nightline. ''I think this
has been good for the Democratic Party. ... People can
decide however they want to decide. That's up to them. But
anyone who believes this is bad for the party I just
think is not paying attention, because the level of
enthusiasm to be part of this process is, from my
perspective, helping us build a stronger and deeper
Democratic base.''
Andrew's
defection came at a particularly opportune time for Obama.
The front-runner in the race, he has won more states
than his rival as well as more of the popular vote,
and he has an overall lead in delegates,
1736.5-1602.5. It takes 2,025 to clinch the nomination.
But he has
struggled in recent days to limit the political damage
caused by controversial comments by his former pastor,
Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Clinton's hopes
of stalling Obama's drive to the nomination rest on a
strong showing in the remaining primaries, beginning Tuesday
in Indiana. At the same time, she hopes to persuade
superdelegates that she would be a stronger candidate
for the party this fall against McCain and the
Republicans.
A top aide to the
former first lady, Harold Ickes, sent a memo to
superdelegates during the day making the case. Among the
polls cited was a recent Associated Press-Ipsos survey
that found Clinton leading McCain by nine percentage
points, while Obama was virtually tied with the
Republican.
Andrew was one of
five superdelegates to swing behind Obama during the
day, compared to four Clinton netted. The result was to trim
the former first lady's once-imposing advantage among
party luminaries who will attend the convention to
268-248.
In his letter,
Andrew not only challenged Clinton's claims about
electability but also bluntly denounced the type of campaign
tactics practiced by some in the Clinton circle.
''If the
campaign's surrogates called Governor Bill Richardson, a
respected former member of President Clinton's cabinet, a
'Judas' for endorsing Senator Obama, we can all
imagine how they will treat somebody like me,'' he
wrote. ''They are the best practitioners of the old
politics, so they will no doubt call me a traitor, an
opportunist, and a hypocrite. I will be branded as
disloyal, power-hungry, but most importantly, they
will use the exact words that Republicans used to
attack me when I was defending President Clinton.''
Andrew was far
gentler on Clinton and her husband, both of whom he
praised. But at one point he wrote: ''In an accident of
timing, Indiana has been given the opportunity to
truly make a difference. Hoosiers should grab that
power and do what in their heart they know is right.
They should reject the old negative politics and vote for
true change.''
Andrew made his
move on a day in which Obama and Clinton campaigned
across Indiana, where 72 convention delegates will be at
stake. Polls point toward a close race in a state that
even some of Clinton's supporters concede is critical
to her campaign.
Clinton was
joined by her mother, Dorothy Rodham, and her daughter,
Chelsea, in Brownsburg, Ind., where she proposed allowing
the federal and state governments to fund paid family
leave. Her plan calls for a $3,000 tax credit to an
individual with substantial long-term care needs or
their caregivers as well as a tax credit to cover 75% of
long-term care insurance premiums. She also favors
expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover
workers at smaller firms.
Obama appeared
before senior citizens as well as farm families on a day
in which he continued to criticize Clinton and McCain for
proposing a summertime suspension of the federal
gasoline tax.
He said the
average voter would save ''a quarter and a nickel'' a day,
not enough to buy a cup of coffee at a convenience store,
without making an appreciable impact on the nation's
energy problems.
North Carolina,
with 115 delegates at stake, shares the primary date with
Indiana. Obama has long held a lead in North Carolina, in
part because black voters are expected to account for
as much as one third of the ballots cast.
But a poll
released during the day reported Clinton has closed the gap
to single digits, and her campaign launched a
television ad that features Gov. Mike Easley.
Former president
Bill Clinton was in West Virginia on his wife's behalf.
In Clarksburg he called her a scrapper and contrasted her
appeal among working-class voters with the elitists he
said support Obama.
''The great
divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's
by those who think they are better than everyone else
and think they should play by a different set of
rules,'' he said. ''In West Virginia and Arkansas we
know that when we see it.'' (David Espo, AP)