Hillary Clinton

“You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?!”

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:02:56 +0200

Hillary Clinton snapped at a Congolese student on Monday after he asked her what her husband thought about an international matter.

On her first visit to Africa, Clinton made a stop in The Democratic Republic of Congo to highlight sexual abuse and corruption in the country. During a question and answer session at a university in Kinshasa on Monday, one student asked about former president Bill Clinton's view on Chinese contracts in Africa. Here's Clinton's response:

It later emerged that the student had wanted to know what President Obama thought about the issue, and that the translator had made a mistake. Too late - Clinton had already moved on to the next question.

Only a week ago Bill Clinton stole his wife's spotlight after negotiating the release of two US journalists on a secret mission to North Korea. Although the secretary of state applauded the work, she did add that it had nothing to do with her own business.

A worthy reaction? Tell us what you think.

In the booth with Hillary’s school friends

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:49:14 +0200

Our Observer Julissa Reynoso calls herself a "ferocious Hillary supporter". So it was only fitting that on Hillary Clinton's big night at the Democratic convention, when the former First Lady took to the floor to support Barack Obama's White House bid, Reynoso got a leg-up in the Pepsi Center seating order. In short, Reynoso was given a seat in an exclusive, private booth earmarked for close friends and supporters of Clinton - including her school friends and high school sweetheart.

Forget PUMAs, Latinos are saying no to 'Nobama'

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:25:13 +0200

During the long, bitter Democratic primary season, Latinos overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton. Despite the senator from New York's strong endorsement of Candidate Obama, there is still a small, die-hard group of Clinton supporters. In the lead-up to the convention, they were derisively dubbed "PUMAs" (short for Party Unity, My Ass). And they could be spotted in the crowd with their Hillary T-shirts and "Nobama" buttons. But in Denver these days, Democratic delegates - including the die-hard Hillary supporting Hispanic delegates - seem to be coming around to display some much-needed party unity.

At a Latino Leaders Network event at the Denver Arts Center Tuesday, around 400 prominent Hispanic American figures gathered to commemorate Frederico Pena, former Energy Secretary during Bill Clinton's presidency. Pena now serves as Obama's National Campaign Co-chair. Last year, Pena's endorsement of Obama over the wife of the president he once served under, raised eyebrows. But that acrimony, according to our Observer Julissa Reynoso, who was present at the Latino Leaders Network event, is all in the past now.

McCain eyes up Hillary supporters

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:31:22 +0200

Image posted on Flickr by Kim Baker.

In an obvious attempt to fracture the Democrats during their Denver convention, McCain's latest campaign videos are pushing the boundaries of political correctness.

The Democrat rivalry which marked the 2008 primaries is coming in more than useful for the McCain campaign team. The latest clips insist on his political proximity to Clinton, again bringing up her attacks on Obama. One of the videos even presents us with Debra Bartoshevich, a supposed Hillary hardliner who claims she's decided to vote Republican for the first time in her life.

It does indeed seem that much of Clinton's gang has yet to be convinced by Obama. The latest poll published by the Wall Street Journal shows that 21% of people that voted for the New York senator now support McCain and 27% remain undecided.

Clinton was fast to react to the ads. On stage at the New York delegation for the convention, she attempted to unite the crowds by directly asking people to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket. McCain's videos however, remain the most watched clips on the web...

Hillary for vice-president? - "Obama, please don’t make the mistake"

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:27:41 +0200

Photo: ishrona on Flickr

Hillary Clinton was finally dragged - kicking and screaming - out of the race to the White House on Tuesday. But she can still harbour hopes of reaching her target - if she's willing to accept second place. Our Observers tell us what could happen if presidential candidate Barack Obama picks the former First Lady as his number two.

There was both relief and disappointment on Tuesday when Barack Obama announced he had secured enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for the US presidential election. And although his long-time and fierce contender Clinton said last night that she is not "seeking" the post of vice-president, neither did she say she wasn't interested. With some party members mobilising to support the idea and others waving warning flags, the Democrats are in for yet another cliff hanger until Obama makes his choice. Meanwhile, observers weigh up the possible benefits and disadvantages of a pact between the former foes.

"I’ve got news for all of you – McCain will be the next US president"

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:12:13 +0200

The furious outburst of this Clinton-crazy campaigner will go down as the best bit of the closing stages of the Democratic trail. Harriet Christian is fed up with being overlooked because, as "an older American woman", she's like "a second class citizen". When the final vote comes round, she'll be voting for McCain.

The Democratic National Committee met in Washington on Saturday to decide what to do with the votes from the Florida and Michigan primaries, where neither Obama nor Clinton campaigned. The committee finally opted to count each vote as half; a decision that will almost definitely see Hillary out of the race.

Harriet Christian, a pro-Clinton activist from Manhattan, travelled to Washington to protest against the commission's decision. Enraged, she said perhaps a little loudly what Clinton fans usually keep quiet about.

On the ground, legless and armless, Hillary refuses to lay down her sword

Julien — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:42:44 +0200

Hillary Clinton is trailing in the number of pledged delegates. Everyone, or nearly everyone, considers her beaten for the nomination. But the senator from New York refuses to lay down her sword. This thirst for battle, whatever the cost, has inspired one of our observers in the U.S., who compared Hillary Clinton's attitude to that of the famous “black knight” from Monty Python.

Barack Obama is now credited with 1,957 delegates, and he needs 2,025 to win the nomination. Three primaries remain between now and June 3rd and for Hillary Clinton it is mathematically impossible to catch up to her rival in terms of pledged delegates. She can only count on the possibly of a massive turn of super-delegates in her favor.

Vote Clinton, not "Barack the Magic Negro"

Julien — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:27:33 +0200

In an attempt to stop Barack Obama from getting into the White House, a rightwing radio presenter has been encouraging Republican supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in the hope of getting the supposedly weaker candidate nominated to face John McCain.

Despite a landslide 56% to 42% win in North Carolina for Barack Obama yesterday, Clinton managed to clinch the Indiana primary by 51% to his 49%. The Obama camp is blaming the results on a radio campaign, called "Operation Chaos" by talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who asked his Republican listeners to stop "Barack the Magic Negro" getting into office by voting for the supposedly weaker candidate, Clinton, in the primaries. Because Indiana was an open primary, registered Republicans were able to walk into a Democratic polling booth and vote, and according to the media, they did. The scale of this operation and the real impact, however, is impossible to estimate.

Who are these power-snatching "super" delegates?

Julien — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:52:21 +0200

Photos: Cheryl Biren-Wright and "serlingrod"

With neither Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton reaching the minimum amount of delegates to be elected presidential nominee of the Democratic party, the final decision will be left to around 800 party members known as "superdelegates". Does that mean months of campaigning, vote counting and bickering were wasted on less than one percent of the Democratic electorate? A superdelegate answers. But first, a brief explanation for those of us who are left a little confused.

American political parties uses a tiered system to elect their presidential candidate. Firstly, party supporters vote in caucuses and primaries, as they're doing in the US now. These votes turn into delegate counts, of which there are 3,253 in the Democratic party and 2,380 in the Republican party. Each delegate represents around 10,000 individual voters. A frontrunner with a great lead usually emerges during this time, but this year neither has managed to do so, meaning the dual continues to the next round.

The result of the Democratic race now relies on the ballots of the superdelegates - party members. There are around 795 of these, which makes up around a fifth of all delegates. Adding the delegates and the superdelegates together comes to 4,048, and to win the final nomination, a candidate needs over 50% of this number. This equates to over 2,025 delegate votes. Obama is currently leading with 1,723.5, while Clinton lags behind with 1,592.5.

The Republican party does not have superdelegates.

Penn primary: a blue-collar worker tells us about his first time voting

Julien — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:24:43 +0200

A polling station in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Photo by Sandra Miller, a farmer who's following the primaries for the Observers.

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania yesterday, keeping her in the nomination race. Rather than speculate on the details of the results, (which you can find here), we give the account of Mike Ruddy, a mason, one of the much-talked about "blue-collar workers", who voted for the first time yesterday.