Clinton “Claims” Popular Vote Lead, ABC Refutes
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Democrats, Florida, Hillary, Media, Michigan
This from Clinton’s ironically titled “The Fact Hub” blog:
After last night’s decisive victory in Pennsylvania, more people have voted for Hillary than any other candidate, including Sen. Obama.Estimates vary slightly, but according to Real Clear Politics, Hillary has received 15,095,663 votes to Sen. Obama’s 14,973,720, a margin of more than 120,000 votes. ABC News reported this morning that “Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama” in the popular vote.
This count includes certified vote totals in Florida and Michigan.
Huh? Did ABC really say that “Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama” in the popular vote?
Well yes, but did they suggest she has credibly pulled ahead of Obama?
The answer, of course, is no…
In today’s edition of “The Note” ABC News’ Rick Klein wrote that “By one (rightly disputed) metric — the popular vote, including Florida and Michigan — Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama. But without the rogue states, Obama is still up by 500,000 — and if you can find another objective measurement by which she’s in the lead, let us know.”Including the popular votes from Florida and Michigan — which were not sanctioned Democratic National Committee primaries, where the candidates did not compete, where Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois was not even on the ballot in Michigan — is a sketchy notion, and Rick was conveying that with the proper air of skepticism.
Somehow, the Clinton campaign took his report and twisted it into this “ABC News reported this morning that ‘Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama’ in the popular vote.”
That is a false reflection of what ABC News reported.
Did Clinton’s people not think ABC would follow up on this?
How hacky…
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Democrats, Florida, Hillary, Media, Michigan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
What is ABC thinking? You proposing using facts to make a point? This is… so unamerican.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Lets talk about “facts”. It is a fact that Clinton, and Obama, and other Dem candidates agreed to not campaign and not count the MI and FL primaries for purposes of allocating pledged delegates. Stipulated. And as a result, Obama has a big pledged delegate lead and will keep it to the convention.
However, since Obama has failed to win on the basis of pledged delegates, and cannot win on the basis of pledged delegates, and has failed to deliver knockout blows in NH, OH, TX, and PA, pledged delegates are not a determinative factor. He has another chance to deliver a knockout blow – In Indiana. If he wins Indana, Clinton is done. However, if he fails again, then pledged delegates are not the game. Superdelegates are the game. Arguments to superdelegates are the game. And there are no Democratic Party rules agreed about what arguments can be made to superdelegates.
In that context, it is perfectly reasonable for Hillary Clinton to count every registered Democrat who voted for her in a certified election. And when she does that, it is an indisputable FACT, that 15,095,663 people voted for Hillary Clinton. That is a fact, and cannot be argued.A True Fact. And when you add up the people to voted for Obama, it is a smaller number. True Fact. Can’t be argued as a fact. By the time we get to Puerto Rico, the Clinton advantage in this arithmetic will be larger.
It can be farily argued, that it was not fair since Obama’s name was not on the Michigan ballot, as it was withdrawn at their own request. This is also a true fact. It strikes me that just points to very poor judgment on the part of the Obama campaign. They had an opportunity to correct that bad judgment, and support a re-vote in Michigan. Instead, the Obama campaign obstructed the re-vote in Michigan as was supported by the Clinton campaign. Another very bad judgment, on the part of the Obama campaign – leaving Clinton free and justified to make this argument to the superdelegates. This is a self-inflicted would by the Obama campaign. Because it is simply true that more people have voted for Clinton than Obama over the entire campaign season.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
My second grader voted in his class at school — did the Clinton campaign count those votes, too?
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Was your second grader a registered Democratic or independent voter in a certified Democratic primary or caucus? If so, then yes, your second grader was among the 15,095,663 who voted for Clinton.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
“Well this election, you know, it’s not going to count for anything.” – Hillary in re Michigan.
And yes, she did say anything. That means popular votes.
After she lost Iowa, she was claiming it’s all about the delegates. When that went out the window, it became about superdelegates. Now that her lead is about to evaporate, it’s about popular votes minus caucus states plus states that in her own words don’t count for anything.
It’s dumb, and it’s vile.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
mw sounds like a sore loser :/
April 24th, 2008 at 4:17 am
OK… What about the caucus states Hillary?
April 24th, 2008 at 6:06 am
55says
“It’s dumb, and it’s vile.” And it’s probably the biggest reason so many people are tired of the Clintons and their misdirection, dishonesty, and double talk ….politics at it’s finest.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:31 am
MW: ” It strikes me that just points to very poor judgment on the part of the Obama campaign”.
Speaking of facts, it’s a fact that Clinton signed a pledge not to “participate” in the Michigan primary. Obama signed the same petition. That’s why he removed his name from the ballot. She, however, lied and kept her name on the ballot.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:19 am
mitoe,
Actually, I am a good loser, but I am a really bad winner. It really is not my fault that Obama supporters prefer to pick and choose the Dem nomination rules they want to follow – They like the disenfranchising FL, MI, and TX caucus rules, but don’t like the superdelegate rules. I like all the rules. It is not my fault that Obama supporters don’t like the fact that more Democrats have voted for Clinton than Obama. Not my fault. I just prefer to deal in reality.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
MW : Not my fault. I just prefer to deal in reality.
me too, when do you want to start?
April 24th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Paul,
Lets start with this: 15,095,663 real live registered Democratic and Independent American voters walked into a voting booth and cast a vote for Hillary Clinton in elections that were certified by their state. Which ones do you want to disenfranchise again?
April 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
The Clinton Manifesto:
1. If the game doesn’t suit you, change the rules.
2. If the truth doesn’t suite you, lie (often).
3. If you get caught in a lie, it’s no big deal.
4. If it’s inevitable that your opponent is going to checkmate you in a few moves, do a fumble, and knock the table over. You won’t win, but he won’t either… And then tell everyone that you were actually about to win the game.
5. If you find yourself in second place in a long race, try to convince your opponent to let you win the race for the both of you.
6. Personal integrity is for the weak-minded and the faint of heart.
7. Ethics? Oh – That’s the good stuff you do/say/create in front of the camera that can’t or won’t be fact checked.
8. If you can’t best your opponent in a particular area, criticize him for being skilled in that way. Don’t try to improve your own skill set.