White House applauds Clinton for Iowa win

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

President Obama’s top spokesman Tuesday congratulated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses, but warned that the race could be a long one.

“Obviously, Secretary Clinton has won. So congratulations to her. I am sure they feel good about that, they should,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

Clinton squeaked by rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday night to claim victory in the nation’s first presidential nominating contest. Despite her victory, many political observers pointed to her razor-thin margin of victory as a sign of weakness.

Earnest also applauded Sanders, saying the self-proclaimed democratic socialist’s “passionate following” fired up liberals and helped make the race close.


Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/267908-white-house-applauds-clinton-for-iowa-win

[onehandle]

1. Can't wait to see Obama on the campaign trail with Hillary.

[img][/img]

[KamaAina]

7. No way he goes that far

but his bias is beginning to show.

[oberliner]

12. In the general, obviously

Where he will certainly be a major campaign presence (and asset) for the Democrats.

[George II]

17. It's only a matter of time before he endorses Clinton and begins campaigning for her. Hopefully....

....that will come sooner rather than later.

[elias49]

29. Why? It'd be nice to let the primaries end, don't you think?

[NurseJackie]

44. I'm looking forward to that day!

[Iliyah]

2. K & R

[thereismore]

3. Applauds? No. Congratulates. Congratulations are in order. Also had very nice words

about Bernie's campaign.

[George II]

18. That's the word used in the headline of the article in the OP.

[DonCoquixote]

4. It breaks my heart

To see Obama having to smile and help the person that blew every dog whistle she could in 2008, mocked his policy in the book "hard choices", and yet is coasting along because of the efforts of those people who supported Obama. even as they were mocked and spat at by both the right and left wings of the party. Obama is a big enough man to do this, which is why, despite mistakes, the years will polish his legacy to a fine shine. The Clintons will always be the people that we admire for skill, but never ever trust, like those ex-con relatives you love, who can help you, but always leave with whatever valuables they can steal.

[msongs]

5. do you have a list of the valuables the clinton stole? thanks nt

[DonCoquixote]

9. SURE

Glass-Steagall, a valuable protection against us getting robbed.
The telecommuncations act: which kept our ears from having to hear rush limbaugh
Peace: stolen in both Libya and Syria, thanks to miss "we came, we saw,he died" and "assad must go"/

of course: if you mean literal, there is this little gem:
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/oct/01/viral-image/viral-image-wrongly-accuses-clinton-stealing/

"The president must report gifts over a certain value; during most of the Clinton years, the amount was $250, though today it is $350. When Bill Clinton completed his term, he submitted a final disclosure form that listed roughly $190,000 in gifts.

Clinton’s itemized list caught the eye of the Washington Post and provided plenty of fodder for the curious. People gave the president a notable quantity of golf clubs. Movie star Sylvester Stallone gave him a pair of boxing gloves. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg sent him china. And one Steve Mittman from New York gave him two sofas, an easy chair and ottoman worth $19,900."

It’s fine under the law to accept someone’s generosity, but you can’t tell them what you want. This came up in regards to a portion of the goods the Clintons kept -- about $38,000 worth of goods given to Hillary Clinton in December 2000. That was after she won her Senate race in New York, but before she took office, at which point accepting such gifts would have violated Senate rules. Clinton had created a gift registry at Borsheim’s Fine Jewelry and Gifts. This yielded 16 rimmed soup bowls worth $2,352 and a soup tureen worth $1,365, among other items."

See, when one opens a door, one never knows what may come, especially when I anticipate the "see, you had nothing" self appointed Clinton supporters wail upon anything that point to the character of their idol.

[Divernan]

21. 16 rimmed soup bowls worth $2,352 & $1,365 tureen!

Can't we all picture Hillary slaving away in a kitchen at one of her estates, preparing homemade soup for 16 guests!

By way of contrast, I volunteer with an organization which gets homeless veterans back on their feet, and able to transition from temporary shelter to individual, very modest living quarters. $200 is budgeted for bedding, towels, cookware and dishes for each vet.

FYI 20% of all homeless are vets, and as I heard Admiral Joe Sestak, USN-retired, who is running in the Dem primary in Pennsylvania for the U.S. Senate say, we are headed for a perfect storm of veterans in need of VA services - very elderly WWII vets, Korean vets and Vietnam vets are all senior citizens.

[notadmblnd]

26. Pitty the poor kitchen help if they break one of those plates

while waiting on the Clintons.

[elias49]

30. Hillary in the kitchen? Cracked me up.

Thanks for the chuckle.

[Divernan]

31. It could happen, if she needed a towel to wipe her server!

[DonCoquixote]

33. see, if someone did not try the old

"provide facts to back yourself up or else you are a liar" defense employed by some of Hill's supporters, I would not have had to point out the LITERAL graft of soup bowls and other nonsense. Instead, they wind up looking silly, and furthermore, unaware of what Hillary actually DOES in practice. If Hillary does win, I hope she knows her facts better than some of her supporters do.

[Divernan]

37. You won game & set w/ your factual answer.

Then when they can't defend against or spin the cold hard truth, they just vanish from the thread.

[brooklynite]

6. Right, just like he HAD to make her Secretary of State.

[DonCoquixote]

10. actually, that in hindisght was a mistake

but that does done as a peace offering to the Clinton supporters. Too Bad Hillary is very poor at making peace.

[Stuckinthebush]

11. Poor guy

That just breaks my heart that he had to make her SOS.

[DonCoquixote]

35. actually it stopped the hearts

of the American soldiers still cleaning up messes in Syria and Libya. Eh, what's one more war dead?

[Stuckinthebush]

41. Oy

Vey

[trillion]

40. Check out todays DemocracyNow.org - Minute 22 second 34. Hillary shows her flexible side!

And hey she talks about Climate Change right after!

And she talks about college affordability right after that.

Hillary plays Bernie! Do ya believe her?

[penndragon69]

8. She's NOT a winner,

She only got the most delegates because of 2 coin tosses...this is NOT democracy !

She will get her ass trounced in the NH PRIMARY !

Caucasus are a joke.

[oberliner]

14. That is not true

The results of the coin tosses did not make any difference in the final totals.

[trillion]

42. Link?

[oberliner]

45. This is from the Des Moines Register

As a result of the coin toss, Clinton was awarded an additional delegate, meaning she took five of the precinct’s eight, while Sanders received three.

Similar situations played out at various precincts across the state, but had an extremely small effect on the overall outcome, in which Clinton won 49.9 percent of statewide delegate equivalents, while Sanders won 49.5 percent. The delegates that were decided by coin flips were delegates to the party's county conventions, of which there are thousands selected across the state from 1,681 separate precincts. They were not the statewide delegate equivalents that are reported in the final results.

The statewide delegate equivalents that determine the outcome on caucus night are derived from the county-level delegates, but are aggregated across the state and weighted in a manner that makes individual county delegate selections at a handful of precincts count for a tiny fraction of the ultimate result.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/sometimes-iowa-democrats-award-caucus-delegates-coin-flip/79680342/

Edit to Add: Skinner actually explains it even better here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511123143

[leftynyc]

20. Read this post from Skinner

and stop embarrassing yourself.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511123143

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. We should be respectful of those new to the political process

Obviously, there are a lot of them.

If, after being educated, they continue to complain, then let it go.

[leftynyc]

24. Just because a poster is new-ish here

doesn't mean they're new to the process. And that poster is hardly the only one making that same claim - I've been reading it all freeking day.

[Wibly]

13. Be Careful Dems

The Democratic Party ought to be very careful. They don't want to cause a situation where Sanders runs as an independent, because if they do they'll likely be putting someone other than Clinton in the Whitehouse.
A Sanders independent run would crush Clinton's chances of winning.
Better to not be seen siding up to one candidate or another.
And shame on Obama for allowing himself to be played, or to play in this manner. This was no win for either candidate. It was basically a tie. All Obama or the DNC should be saying is: Now we have a genuine race.
And leave it at that.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

23. Wow

You wrote that as someone talking not as a "Dem" but some other party.

[notadmblnd]

28. He wrote that as someone making sense.

But good try trying to imply he's a Republican.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

32. Except Bernie Sanders has said he's not running as an independant because HE KNOWS.....

.....that will happen.

So the "making sense" has already been acknowledged and rendered moot by the candidate himself.

[notadmblnd]

34. The point is, if HRC wins the nomination, she will need Sander's supporters votes to win.

nt

[Pathwalker]

47. As will Bernie. Alienating Hillary supporters could hurt him too.

n/y

[jen63]

25. FFS

Sanders will NOT run as a spoiler.

[trillion]

43. I spent lunch on the phone with friends who refuse to vote at all if it's not Bernie.

I would vote because of Supreme court Justices and minority rights - gay, womens, black and immigrant, but that is the only thing she offers us. I don't believe a word she says after that because she keeps contradicting herself. She's turned into quite the Bernie parrot - check out democracynow.org 's daily show today, minute 22 and watch for a few minutes. She's completely coping Bernies agenda now. Anything to get elected. She will say ANYTHING. And there are people on this thread who believe her after her record! If they're into that you'd think they'd vote for the guy saying the same first and who has the record of doing behind him.

[Pathwalker]

48. I have friends who say the same thing about Bernie, too.

so they're both meaningless. Alienating Hillary supports only helps Republicans, not Bernie.

[ViseGrip]

15. Earnest called it close...more than that.

[Roy Rolling]

16. Back-handed compliment

That was kinda smarmy.

"Bernie's passionate following" fired up the liberals."
Meaning: The temporary emotion of angry liberals motivated Sanders voters to make it close. Not, people support the issues Sanders finds important, but just "fired up liberals".(it will pass)

When the term "liberal" is, in 2016, used by conservatives as a nasty and pejorative term, use of the word is intentionally careless.

But really, it shouldn't bother Bernie. He would welcome the votes from the constituency who hates president Obama and will do the exact opposite of he says to do.


So really, I guess the statement is neutral. I don't know what the real effect of an Obama endorsement would be.

But it still smarmy "spokesmaning".

[TryLogic]

36. Yes, a little backhanded. And "Obviously, Secretary Clinton has won."

"Obviously"???

[Gothmog]

19. Clinton is going to continue and expand on the legacy of President Obama

[randys1]

27. WH would have congratulated Bernie, had he won. BTW, all of you, ALL of you are gonna miss

Obama when he is gone.

[trillion]

39. I hope we don't end up missing him if he's gone. It means we'll be

dealing with worse. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy. I just don't like all those campaign promises he broke.

[trillion]

38. I hear Wall Street is really happy for her too.

[Ino]

46. Make no mistake...

that was said with tongue firmly planted in cheek.