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 Americas & Beyond | June 2008 
Obama Gets Right To Work
 Brian Knowlton - International Herald Tribune
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| | Delegates clap for Barack Obama, on screen, at a conference for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) | | |
Washington - Barack Obama stood at a historic juncture Wednesday after a grueling but finally victorious five-month primary battle that crowned him as the first black presidential candidate of a major party. His triumph over Hillary Rodham Clinton put him five months away from a general election against John McCain.
"Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another - a journey that will bring a new and better day to America," Obama told supporters in St. Paul, Minnesota. "Because of you, tonight I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States of America."
On the heels of a victory in Montana and a surge in superdelegate support that helped him withstand a loss to Clinton in South Dakota, Obama - the son of a black father from Kenya and of a white mother from Kansas - did not bask in his accomplishment. He opened this new chapter by addressing one of the constituencies where his weaknesses will need to be overcome if he hopes to defeat McCain on Nov. 4, in this case Jewish voters.
But while Obama defeated Clinton, she remained an unavoidable presence on the political stage. A day after a speech Tuesday by the New York senator that appeared more defiant than conciliatory, her top aides continued to sidestep questions about when she would suspend her campaign, even as some of her supporters began increasing pressure on Obama to take her on as his running mate.
Obama said Wednesday, after a visit to the Senate, that he had spoken to Clinton earlier. "I just spoke to her today and we're going to be having a conversation in coming weeks," he said. "And I'm very confident how unified the Democratic Party's going to be to win in November."
Obama's triumph closed a 16-month primary campaign that broke records: the number of voters who participated, the amount of money raised and spent, and the sheer length of the fight. He ultimately prevailed over Clinton, who just a year ago appeared destined to become the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major American party.
Robert Johnson, a Clinton backer and the founder of Black Entertainment Television, said on CNN that he planned to enlist members of the Congressional Black Caucus to push Obama to accept Clinton as his vice presidential nominee. He said that Clinton had not directed his efforts but was aware of them. Lanny Davis, a longtime Clinton associate, was circulating a petition to the same end, saying he was doing so on his own.
But later, Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton campaign chairman, said on CNN that there had been "absolutely zero discussions" about whether she would accept an invitation to be Obama's vice presidential choice. McAuliffe said Clinton would talk things over with her supporters Wednesday, adding, "There is plenty of time."
The Obama campaign announced Wednesday that it had picked three people to vet possible vice presidential choices. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, will be part of the team, as will Jim Johnson, a leading Democratic Party figure, and Eric Holder, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and an Obama legal adviser.
Obama, in a speech Wednesday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential lobbying group, vowed "an unshakable commitment to Israel's security." He said that if elected, he would work hard on Middle East peace from the start of his presidency, a slap at the administration of President George W. Bush, who distanced himself from the issue during his first term.
McCain wasted no time in turning his fire on Obama, issuing a statement even before the Illinois senator spoke that criticized his position on Iran.
The months ahead will see a generational battle of personalities and contrasting styles. McCain, 71 - who would be the oldest president ever by the end of a second term - is portraying Obama, 46, as an inexperienced young man untested in foreign policy.
But McCain's aides also released a letter inviting Obama to join the Arizona senator in a series of hall-town meetings. An Obama spokesman called the idea "appealing" but said the senator favored a "less structured" approach.
Obama, anticipating the McCain line of attack on the Middle East, said that Iran had become more dangerous partly because of "the failure of a policy" he said McCain would continue - his support for the Iraq war. Rebutting McCain's criticism of his offer to meet with the leaders of Iran, he said he would undertake only "tough and principled talks at a time and place of my choosing."
The challenges ahead for Obama were underscored by the speaker who followed him at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting: a weary-looking Clinton. She spoke Wednesday of the "honor" of appearing with, and having done battle against, Obama, but said nothing else about her intentions. Rather more expansively, Obama called her "an extraordinary candidate and an extraordinary public servant."
Analysts said that Clinton was probably looking to gain maximum return, in eventual talks with the Obama campaign, for the support of the millions of Americans who voted for her. Those talks could cover the retiring of her campaign debt, policy issues, possible jobs for her supporters and, of course, the identity of Obama's running mate. But if she waits too long, the analysts said, her leverage will wane.
On a conference call Tuesday with members of the New York congressional delegation, Clinton was asked whether she would be open to joining a ticket with Obama. She replied that she would do whatever she could - including running as his No. 2 - to help Democrats win the White House.
But Obama's team is said to be less than thrilled that Clinton did not pick the moment of Obama's triumph on Tuesday to bow out.
Exit polls from Montana and South Dakota, meanwhile, underlined some of Obama's electoral challenges.
Exit polling in both states found that one-third of Clinton supporters said they would not vote for Obama, according to the Washington Web site Politico. The polls demonstrate that after months of political battle, Democrats remain divided by class, race and gender.
About 1 in 4 Clinton voters in Montana said they would vote for McCain in November if Obama were the Democratic nominee, Politico reported. One in 10 said they would not vote. White women largely provided victory for Clinton in South Dakota.
At the Aipac conference, Obama alluded to "provocative e-mails" circulating in the U.S. Jewish community that he said made him sound "pretty scary." He used the words jokingly, but his remark brought only a slight titter from the mostly supportive audience.
Among the rumors to which he alluded, none of them true, are that Obama is Muslim, that he is part of Chicago's large Palestinian community and that Al Qaeda is backing him.
Such rumors have prevented him from consolidating support among Jewish voters who have traditionally been strong Democratic supporters and have played crucial roles in battleground states like Florida.
Those gaps in support made more tantalizing, for some Democrats, the possibility of an Obama-Clinton ticket, on the theory that she would deliver the voters he has been unable to attract and that they would prove a fund-raising powerhouse.
"Senator Obama's probably the most prolific fund-raiser ever in this country," said Governor Ed Rendell, a Pennsylvania Democrat who supports Clinton, on CNN. He said that Obama might help Clinton retire her campaign debt of more than $20 million by holding fund-raising events, but added, "He can't write her a check."
Obama and Clinton talked early Wednesday by telephone. He again offered to "sit down when it makes sense for you," said an Obama spokesman, Robert Gibbs.
Clinton responded positively, Gibbs said, but added: "There are no plans to meet tomorrow."
Jeff Zeleny and Michael Luo contributed reporting from New York. |
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