Listen to Audio Report (2:51)

Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama made a campaign stop in midtown Manhattan last night. Obama spoke at a fundraising event attended by many supporters of former rival Hillary Clinton. The two high-profile Democrats appeared at a fundraising breakfast in New York today.

Obama’s speech emphasized unity and party loyalty. Obama took great care to mention and reiterate how similar he and Senator Clinton are on most policy issues. Obama also addressed recent criticism of his centrist posturing. He reminded the audience that he is still dedicated to withdrawing from Iraq, health care reform, and reducing carbon emissions.

After the speech, Obama made a move that recalled Steve Jobs’ famous rhetorical “one more thing” trick: he asked doners to remember Senator Clinton’s campaign debt and contribute to her repayment efforts. Obama claimed that helping Senator Clinton is akin to party unity.

 

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The Clinton campaign held a State of the Race conference call today to discuss last night’s victory and the road ahead. (1:05:47)

 

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Today the Clinton campaign held a “State of the Race” conference call. Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman and Phil Singer, Deputy Communications Director, were both on hand to comment. McAuliffe started off by discussing last night and the scope of their victory. He stated that Clinton won by 41 percent and that, “we are in this thing.” The campaign also posted a seven figure plus day for online contributions and the top forty to fifty financial contributors to the campaign were going to meet with the campaign today. McAuliffe made sure to say that there is tremendous enthusiasm within the campaign and that the issue is, “who is it that can best win the general election?” (more…)

(27:36)

 

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Announcing his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination for president, Bob Barr explains his dissatisfaction with the current administration and with the current major-party candidates for president. (2:10)

 

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This morning the Clinton Campaign held a conference call discussing the State of the Race. They discussed last night’s primaries and the road ahead for the campaign. (59:01)

 

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In a conference call with reporters, Clinton Chief Strategist Geoff Garin says that the suspension of the gas tax would not cause an increase in demand. He says that people aren’t going joyriding and would not do so. Most gas consumption, he says, is due to people driving to work and doing other necessary trips, so there would not be an increase. (0:59)

 

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The Obama campaign held a conference call today to announce the endorsement of Congressman Bruce Braley (D-IA). This was the third superdelegate vote Obama received today. (14:18)

 

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Congressman Bruce Braley (D-IA) announced his endorsement for Barack Obama today adding another superdelegate to Obama’s list. This was the third superdelegate vote from a member of Congress that Obama received today alone, making this lead 140 and on their way to the 285 delegate votes they need.

Braley was introduced as a champion for workers and families. His work to raise minimum wage and trade laws that benefit workers was also noted. Braley said that he initially pledged his superdelegate vote to John Edwards, but when he dropped out of the race, Braley decided he would take his time on making his decision as to who his vote would go to. After much deliberation, he decided to endorse Obama, making him the 19th superdelegate that had supported Edwards and now supports Obama.

The Obama Campaign held a conference call today to talk about their FEC complaint against a pro-Clinton group called the ALP, or American Leadership Project. The campaign claims that they are a “so-called” 527 political group that is run by Jason Kinney, who happens to be the son of a Hillary Clinton Indiana state co-chair. (more…)