Clinton Aims To Stop Obama From Regrouping

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The New York Sun

OAKLAND, Calif. — Polls may show that Senator Clinton has her leading rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Obama of Illinois, on the ropes, but Mrs. Clinton seems increasingly intent on denying Mr. Obama any chance to get back in the fight.

Last evening, Mrs. Clinton staged a campaign rally in this urban center long synonymous with African-American culture. In a bit of political bravado, she appeared in almost exactly the same spot Mr. Obama drew a crowd of 10,000 or more earlier this year.

“I believe that I have the experience and the qualifications to become president, to pull our country together,” Mrs. Clinton said, alluding to the chief concerns voters express about Mr. Obama. “Change is just a word if you do not have the strength and the experience to make it happen.”

While some of Mr. Obama’s supporters are clearly enthralled by the possibility of electing America’s first black president, Mrs. Clinton was quick to remind the crowd that her election would also make history. “I’m so proud that I might have the great honor of being the first woman president in the history of the United States,” she said.

President Clinton famously doted on the Golden State, visiting it more than 70 times during his two terms in office. Mrs. Clinton assured the crowd of similar treatment if she returns to the White House. “Just as my husband loved California, I love California and I will be here as often as I can be,” she said.

Mrs. Clinton’s rally came amid a dual-purpose Northern California campaign swing aimed at filling her coffers before the close of the third quarter and at eating into Mr. Obama’s most loyal constituency, African-Americans.

The outdoor Oakland “block party,” a speech Mrs. Clinton is to make on urban issues here today, and an appearance last week before a Congressional Black Caucus conference in Washington all signal that she is committed to challenging Mr. Obama’s hold on black voters. The speakers and the multiracial gospel choir that preceded Mrs. Clinton at her rally yesterday appeared to have been carefully selected to showcase her breadth of support, including among the African-American community.

One of Mrs. Clinton’s backers told the crowd yesterday that they numbered about 14,000. Mr. Obama’s staff said his rally last March drew 12,000 people, while news outlets estimated about 10,000 attended.

Whatever the numbers, yesterday’s crowd appeared to this reporter to be somewhat smaller than the turnout at Mr. Obama’s event. However, Mrs. Clinton’s advance team skillfully placed the audience in the center of a relatively narrow city street in a fashion that virtually guaranteed crowded camera shots.

National and California polls show Mrs. Clinton with a lead of about 20% over Mr. Obama, whose support seems to have receded a bit in recent months. Warming up the crowd yesterday, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco warned against complacency among Mrs. Clinton’s supporters. “Do not pay attention to the polls. Do not take things for granted,” he said.

Mrs. Clinton’s courtship of Mr. Obama’s backers was squeezed in amid a madcap fund-raising blitz that was to take her to six money-producing events in roughly 24 hours. Yesterday, the former first lady attended three high-dollar receptions and even scraped up $20 a ticket for people who wanted access to a VIP section closer to the stage at her Oakland rally.

Mrs. Clinton’s California fund-raising spree began yesterday with a $1,000-a-plate lunch at a Napa Valley vineyard owned by an attorney and former ambassador to Austria under Mr. Clinton, Kathryn Hall, and her real estate-investor husband, Craig. Among the hosts for that event was a former House minority leader who is sometimes mentioned as a possible vice presidential running mate for Mrs. Clinton, Richard Gephardt of Missouri.

The former first lady also stopped by a $2,300-a-head reception at Senator Feinstein’s San Francisco home. Last night, Mrs. Clinton was to attend a “Sunday supper” at the Atherton, Calif., home of a prominent Silicon Valley attorney, Steven Schatz. Tickets for supper started at $1,000 a person.

This morning, Mrs. Clinton is to zip across the Golden Gate bridge for a $500-a-person fundraising breakfast in scenic Tiburon, and then to head to a $1,000-a-plate luncheon in an Oakland suburb, Lafayette, before returning to Oakland for her “urban agenda” speech.


The New York Sun

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