Hillary Clinton may not have filled out an NCAA bracket this year — telling basketball-obsessed reporters on her press plane that she’s just been too busy to follow the sport this year. But she’s certainly kept up enough to know when the tournament trumps politics, as it did at a stop in Winston-Salem, NC.

Running more than an hour behind schedule, Sen Clinton arrived at the event just 30 minutes before the tip-off of the North Carolina Tarheels Sweet Sixteen match-up against Washington State. In hoops-crazed North Carolina, that meant rushing through her speech in record time or risking a mass exodus during her riff on No Child Left Behind. She joked that she hoped to keep her audience until halftime — but made sure to wrap things up expeditiously.

Always one to know her audience, Clinton worked the sports theme into her economic speech in Raleigh as well. Watch her dropping March Madness references below — and try to imagine a young HRC during her days of playing half court basketball in Park Ridge, IL.

As she prepares to go back to Indiana, Sen Clinton can at least be thankful that the bracketology worked out relatively well for her campaign; had the Hoosiers not lost their first game of the tournament (to Bill Clinton’s Arkansas Razorbacks), they would have been matched up against North Carolina — forcing Hillary to face some potentially awkward questions about where her sporting loyalties lie when it comes to the two May 6th states.

done

done

Denver, CO — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney downplayed speculation about being a possible Vice Presidential pick Thursday during a media availability aboard Sen. McCain’s campaign plane.

“I really don’t think there’s much interest in that on the part of the electorate at this point. It’s way early,” Romney told reporters during a flight from Salt Lake City to Denver–where he is accompanying McCain to multiple fundraisers. “You know, there are probably 20 and maybe even more…people who I think could be excellent Vice-Presidential nominees from our party and that’s a process the Senator will probably carry out. I am not going to engage in the sort of speculation on that.”

The press availability came after a press conference in Salt Lake City where the two men were joined by another potential VP, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.

Asked what it feels like to be back out on the trail, Romney said, “it’s kind of fun again. It’s nice not to feel any pressure at all. I don’t have to worry about goofing up. I can just stand behind my nominee and do my very best to support his campaign.”

New York, NY—

In the heart of the nation’s financial capital and using the same podium that Abraham Lincoln once spoke from, Barack Obama unveiled an economic policy today calling for a 30 billion dollar stimulus plan to revive the struggling economy–including tighter government regulation and transparency. He stated that providing relief to people struggling from home foreclosures is imperative. He blamed the Bush administration for it’s “inaction” and compared his Republican rival, John McCain to the president:

“After months of inaction, the President spoke here in New York and warned against doing too much. His main proposal – extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans – is completely divorced from the reality that people are facing around the country,” Obama said to cheers, “John McCain recently announced his own plan, and it amounts to little more than watching this crisis happen. While this is consistent with Senator McCain’s determination to run for George Bush’s third term, it won’t help families who are suffering, and it won’t help lift our economy out of recession.”

The McCain campaign responded immediately with the Republican nominee-in-waiting lashing out at both Obama and Clinton calling their plans bailouts:

“ I believe the role of government is to help the truly needy, prevent systemic economic risk, and enact reforms that prevent the kind of crisis we are currently experiencing from ever happening again. Those reforms should focus on improving transparency and accountability in our capital markets — both of which were lacking in the lead-up to the current situation,” McCain said in an e mail statement, “However, what is not necessary is a multi-billion dollar bailout for big banks and speculators, as Senators Clinton and Obama have proposed. There is a tendency for liberals to seek big government programs that sock it to American taxpayers while failing to solve the very real problems we face.”

Obama’s six-step plan ranged from greater financial institution regulation and reform to restraining illegal trading activity and market manipulation. He also called for the creation of a commission that would advise the President and Congress on the state of the economy to try and “anticipate risks before they erupt into a crisis. ” He stressed that Wall Street and Main Street are intertwined:

“What was bad for Main Street was bad for Wall Street. Pain trickled up,” Obama said, “There is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. The decisions made in New York’s high-rises have consequences for Americans across the country.”

(more…)

The Clinton campaign lashed out today at both her Democratic and Republican rivals on the economy — calling Senator Obama a vague copycat and Senator McCain an inexperienced Bush-lite.

In a statement, Clinton policy director Neera Tanden said “The contrast could not be clearer - on Monday, Senator Clinton announced a detailed, specific plan to address the housing and credit crisis.  On Tuesday, Senator McCain announced that he had no plan.  And today, Senator Obama offered just words,” calling Obama’s speech “a series of broad, vague principles” that offer no new concrete solutions.

And on a conference call, Tanden accused Sen Obama of stealing a policy plan for a $30 billion “second stimulus” laid out just a week ago by Senator Clinton.  “Senator Obama can’t come up with real proposals on his own to address people’s problems on the campaign trail. How’s he going to address people’s problems were he to be president?” she said.

Communications Director Howard Wolfson said Obama has failed to connect with voters concerned about the economy and is desperately playing catch-up. “In offering a second stimulus of $30 billion, he’s following our proposal by a week. That’s not leadership. That’s followership.”

As for McCain, Sen Clinton dismissed his economic speech from Monday in her own address in Raleigh today. Using that now-infamous 3am phone call image, she said “I read the speech that Senator McCain gave the other day which set forth his plan which does virtually nothing to ease the credit crisis or the housing crisis. It seems like if the phone were ringing he would just let it ring and ring and ring.”

Watch the rest of her remarks below.

done

Hillary Clinton makes her first campaign stop in North Carolina today, kicking off a 6-day “Solutions for the American Economy” tour in Raleigh with a speech outlining a new $12.5 billion job retraining agenda.

The state, which votes two weeks after Clinton must-win Pennsylvania, presents a challenge for Hillary’s campaign. Advisers note that the demographics are similar to its neighbor to the south, where the campaign took a monumental beating at the hands of Barack Obama.

Spokesman Mo Elleithee concedes that the state represents “a bit of an uphill battle,” but says the senator expect to compete and win her share of delegates. The campaign is still ramping up its North Carolina operation, adding staff and offices in major cities acros the state; the Raleigh office opens tomorrow.

Check out excerpts of the speech below — in which Sen Clinton uses the image of that 3am phone call to rip into John McCain on his economic plan.  (more…)

Hillary Clinton says she’s listening to the will of the people who want her to stay in this race despite a shaky path to the nomination — and is willing to take her fight for delegates all the way to the Democratic National Convention.

In an exclusive interview with Fox SuperAnchor Greta Van Susteren, Senator Clinton argued that the race is far from finished. “People don’t want this to be over,” she said. “That is what people are telling me.”

“Nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over,” she said. “What I’ve seen in my last 14 months on the campaign trail is that every time people count me out — you know, pundits say it’s over, it should be over — the voters bring me back… because they believe that I will actually get up every day in that White House and work my heart out for all of our people.”

Those pundits who argue that the Democratic race is all but done cite Obama’s leads in overall delegates, pledged delegates, and the popular vote - with precious few opportunities for Clinton to make up ground now that Michigan and Florida are unlikely to hold revotes. Hillary blamed her rival Barack Obama for disenfranchising voters in those two states, who went for her in primaries that have since been discounted.

“The Democratic National Committee and I and my campaign, said to the leadership of Michigan, we’re willing to have a revote. I don’t know how that would have turned out,” she said. “Senator Obama said no. He basically turned his back. Here’s somebody who runs a campaign about empowerment, and all of that. Well, hello, what about giving the people of Michigan a chance to have their voices and votes heard?”

Asked about her options for getting those votes counted, the New York Senator raised the specter of a convention battle — a scenario few Democrats can be excited about. “You can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Lets have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election? I don’t think that will happen. I think they will be seated. So that’s where we’re headed if we don’t get this worked out.”

(more…)

New York, NY—

Barack Obama made an impromptu trip to the back of his plane today greeting reporters after his quick retreat to the Virgin Islands with his family, which he stressed was more of a “long weekend” than a vacation. Even though he told the journalists aboard that he just came back to “say hi” and he was “just chillin’,” the visit quickly turned in to a brief press conference.

He admitted to speaking to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright since the controversy surrounding some of Wright’s more inflammatory preachings came to light, “I have talked to him. I have not asked him to do anything.” He also responded to President Clinton’s comments earlier today when he said that “If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office. “ He agreed with the former President saying it is a “tough business,” but added that he is “proud” of how he has acted during the campaign referring to personal attacks and that he wants to “maintain” that “tone” throughout the campaign:

“I’ve been trying to do in this campaign is to see if we can change the tenor a little bit so that it’s more productive. I have no problem with having pretty fierce arguments about policy. President Clinton was the one who I think is the one that decried the politics of personal destruction, so obviously he recognizes that there is a line that can be crossed. I’m not suggesting it’s been crossed in this campaign but a line can be crossed when you stop focusing on the American people’s business, and it becomes just sport. It all becomes about winning as opposed to getting stuff done. And that’s part of the political culture I’d like to change. I’m not naive to think that it changes is entirely.” Obama told reporters on the flight from Greensboro, N.C. to New York City, “And as much as possible I want to maintain that tone not just through the primary but if I’m fortunate enough though the general election.”

done

The topic of the seemingly never-ending nomination battle came up and Obama said that Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen’s proposal of wrapping up the Democratic contest in June was “a good one” adding that more time for the Democratic nominee will help the Democrats in November, “If that has to involve some formal meeting as opposed to everybody saying it’s time for us to make a decision. I think giving whoever the nominee is two or three months to pivot into the general election is extremely helpful as opposed to having this drag on for two more months all the way up to the convention. I think that would be disruptive and hard on the party as well as the nominee. “

The Democratic frontrunner will be delivering a speech on the economy tomorrow morning in New York and hinted that he will cover what “helped trigger the financial crisis and financial problems” and offer “some very specific prescriptions” to try and remedy the situation.

He also weighed in on a letter that several Clinton supporters and Democratic Party donors sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticizing her statements on the roles of super delegates in choosing the Democratic nominee, “As far as I can tell Speaker Pelosi has staked her claim, she hasn’t made an endorsement in the campaign. She like many others have expressed an opinion about how this might ultimately get resolved and obviously her primary concern is making sure that she maintains and ultimately builds her majority in the house. “

Before returning to the front of the plane he told the reporters that he didn’t watch any television in the Virgin Islands and therefore didn’t catch the footage of Hillary Clinton landing in Bosnia as First Lady which discredited her earlier statements saying she ran from the plane while “under sniper fire.” Clinton has since said that she misspoke.

Greensboro, NC—

Barack Obama returned to the trail today after vacationing in the Virgin Islands with his family. At a town hall, he went after both his Democratic and Republican rivals slamming Hillary Clinton for taking donations from lobbyists and John McCain on his economic policy.

Obama called Clinton “smart” and “capable,” but quickly dug into her over lobbyist money:

“She said awhile back that she didn’t think that lobbyists aren’t a problem–she said you know they represent real people. Well, they don’t represent you,” Obama said, “When she takes more money from lobbyists and special interests than any candidate including John McCain that shows that she doesn’t have a sense that we have got to change how business is done in Washington.”

Obama then attacked McCain on his economic plan saying “he offered not one policy, not one idea” in his speech yesterday on the current housing crisis. Obama claimed that McCain wants to “just sit back” while people are “losing their homes” and compared the presumptive Republican nominee to President Bush:

“Now we’ve been down this road before. It’s the road George Bush has taken for the last eight years. It’s the idea that the government has no rule at all in solving the challenges facing working families. That all we can do is hand out tax breaks to the wealthiest people and let the chips fall where they may. George Bush called this the ownership society but what he really meant is you’re on your own society. If you lose your jobs your on your own. If you’re a child in poverty pull yourself up by your bootstraps you’re on your own. If you were lured in by deceptive mortgage practices you’re on your own,” Obama said. “John McCain apparently wants to continue this, while the rest of America is struggling with rising tuition, skyrocketing healthcare costs, plant closings, failing schools your on your own. Well we can’t afford another four years of Bush economics.”

The McCain campaign quickly responded to Obama’s criticisms, “Senator Obama’s blatant mischaracterizations aren’t the new politics he’s promised America, they’re the old attack and smear tactics that Americans are tired of. Barack Obama’s diagnosis for our housing market is clearly that Barack Obama knows best — raise taxes on hardworking Americans and give government a prescription to spend. John McCain has called for an immediate and balanced approach to provide transparency and accountability in an effort to help homeowners who are hurting, while Barack Obama has made a $10 billion election-year promise that is sure to raise taxes and handcuff an already struggling economy.”

During the question and answer period a student at a Baptist college asked Obama about his relationship with Jesus Christ. He brought up the controversy surrounding his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright and said his church service at the Trinity United Church of Christ is like many other services and that it is “welcoming.” He again condemned Wright’s more extreme comments, but did defend him:

“I do have to remind people though this is somebody who was preaching three sermons at least a week for 30 years and got boiled down and found five or six of his most offensive statements and boiled that down to…half minute sound clip and just played it over and over again partly because it spoke to some of the racial divisions that we have in this country and tapped into those divisions. “

The Democratic frontrunner said that he hopes people don’t get “distracted” by the Wright controversy and instead focus on issues facing the country, “If every time somebody somewhere says something stupid that everybody gets up in arms and we forget about the war in Iraq or the economy or we forget about things that are going to make a difference in our children’s’ lives I don’t want that kind of politics. I want the politics that gets stuff done,” Obama said to cheers.

Watch part of Senator Obama’s speech here:

done

done

Sen. McCain hit back at Obama after the IL Democrat attacked the mortgage plan he announced yesterday.

Speaking to the press aboard his plane Wednesday during a flight to Monterey, CA, he said, “I know that Senator Obama wants to raise taxes. He’s a - If he wants to do that, fine, but I think that’s the worst thing that we can do to the American people right now in this very difficult economic challenges. But I’ll do whatever’s necessary to help the homeowner and that legitimate homeowner and we may have to do more, but to raise taxes as Senator Obama wants to do or some kind of massive bail out that is a needless expenditure of taxpayer’s dollars is something that I don’t support. This is sort of in a way the classic contrast between a far left, liberal Democrat and a conservative republican. Senator Obama believes that the government should do everything, I believe that the government should do as little as possible.”

Sen. McCain’s selection of the University of Connecticut Huskies to be in the NCAA Mens Basketball championship game in his bracket caused a few heads to turn last week. UConn, a 4-seed in the West, lost their first round game to 13-seeded University of San Diego.

Asked about the selection today, he quipped, “that just shows why every year I am the laughing stock of everybody in the pool.”

He may still have a shot to earn some points though since he selected the University of North Carolina to win it all. His full bracket can be viewed on his website.