Will President Bush’s support help or hurt McCain?
President George W. Bush shakes hands with Senator John McCain at a Victory 2004 rally at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Central Point, Oregon. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
John McCain is a "true conservative"... so says President Bush.
However, the president acknowledges that the likely Republican presidential nominee may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he's one of them.
In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Bush ticked through McCain's conservative credentials, saying he's strong on national defense, tough fiscally, believes in making the tax cuts permanent, and he's "pro-life."
When asked about criticism coming from conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh, President Bush said McCain "has got some convincing to do", and added he'd be glad to help him if the Arizona senator is the nominee.
The president's comments were as close to an endorsement as McCain will get at this stage because there are still other Republicans in the race. It was also something new for Mr. Bush, who up until this point has refused to be drawn into commenting on the race.
Many conservatives still don't trust McCain and his aides are hoping that the head of the party, President Bush, could help bring the fractured groups together.
Of course, it's worth noting that Mr. Bush remains largely unpopular, hovering around some of the worst approval ratings of his presidency. A poll out last week showed even Mr. Bush's support among Republicans is at an all-time low.
Here’s my question to you: How will President Bush's support affect John McCain’s candidacy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Hillary Clinton’s campaign in trouble?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/02/11/art.hillary.gi.jpg caption=" Hillary Clinton takes the stage for a campaign rally at Washington Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Barack Obama has some serious momentum.
He swept Hillary Clinton in this weekend's contests in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington State, Maine and the Virgin Islands. His winning margins ranged from large to crushing. Obama has now won about two-thirds of the state contests decided so far. In fact, he has now taken the lead over Clinton in pledged delegates, 986 to 924, and trails Hillary by only 27 when you include the superdelegates.
Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign had its biggest shakeup yet over the weekend, as she replaced Patti Solis Doyle, her campaign manager and longtime aide. The switch came during a rough patch for Clinton – after the split decision on Super Tuesday last week, the weekend losses to Obama and a setback over money. After Hillary acknowledged loaning her own campaign $5 million last month, her campaign has since been pointing to a $10 million month and many new donors. But Clinton's campaign has never been able to build the online donor base that Doyle had promised.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's Potomac primaries, polls suggest Obama has a commanding lead. Clinton's strategists have said they're pessimistic about her chances in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Clinton is looking toward March 4th and what she hopes is a firewall in the delegate rich states of Ohio and Texas. But if Obama continues to build on the momentum he has now by raking up additional victories, it may be too late.
Here’s my question to you: Is Hillary Clinton's campaign in trouble?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
More valuable spouse: Bill Clinton or Michelle Obama?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not that far apart on many of the issues. But when it comes to their spouses, the differences couldn't be more glaring.
The Wall Street Journal reports today about the evolving role of Michelle Obama. The Princeton and Harvard Law-educated wife of the democratic front-runner has become an influential adviser. She's been nicknamed "the closer" because she often pushes harder to seal the deal with voters than Barack does. She generally stays away from discussing policy and strategy, but gets very involved with issues that affect her personally, like being a working mom.
Michelle has also given people a peek into their personal lives: Barack snores and doesn't put the butter back in the refrigerator.
She says part of her role is to "give people yet another slice of who Barack is, making him even more multidimensional." She says her comments about his foibles were so people wouldn't "deify" him.
Then there is the other spouse in the race. That would be the 42nd president of the United States. Quoting the Journal story, Bill Clinton has "come across at times as the empathetic, seasoned onetime leader of the free world – but at other times as the red-faced, argumentative attack-dog-in-chief."
Some suggest he may have hurt Hillary, especially with some of the things he said in South Carolina. Since then, it seems like the campaign has toned down Clinton's role, and he hasn't been going on the attack against Obama.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the candidates’ spouses, who is more valuable: Bill Clinton or Michelle Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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