Reply #77: You must not have been listening! [View All]

[FrenchieCat]

Hillary says she’ll be Democratic nominee by Feb 5th
December 13, 2007
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is anticipating that she will not have to wait long to become the Democratic presidential nominee, privately telling campaign donors in California that the race "is all going to be over by Feb. 5."

Though the focus of the 2008 presidential campaign is on Iowa and New Hampshire, the states with the earliest contests, Clinton suggested that California's influence might be larger than was commonly believed.

"You've got to realize that people in California will start voting absentee about the time Iowa and New Hampshire happen," the senator from New York said at a closed-door fundraising reception Tuesday evening. "In fact, more people will have voted absentee by the middle of January than will have voted in New Hampshire, Iowa and a lot of other places combined."

On Friday, California absentee ballots began going out to members of the military and others living abroad.

California's remaining absentee ballots will be sent out beginning Jan. 7, one day before the New Hampshire primary and four days after the Iowa precinct caucuses.

California holds its primary Feb. 5, along with 21 other states and American Samoa.

"California, Texas, New York, New Jersey — you've got way more than half the country," Clinton said at the fundraising event at a Sacramento restaurant. "And we're going to be ready, thanks to all of you. We're running a vigorous campaign here in California."

Voters in 22 states will vote after Feb. 5, as will those in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The fundraising reception was closed to the news media, but an audio recording of Clinton's speech was made available to the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-clinton13dec13,1,2613727.story