Is Sen. Hillary Clinton running for the United Blue States of America?

Amos Ajo

Governor Kathleen Sebelius today called on Senator Clinton and her campaign surrogates to stop discounting the votes of Red State Democrats.

“Senator Clinton and her campaign surrogates keep deriding Senator Obama’s wins in red states by saying that her victories in the ‘big states’ are the ones that matter,” Governor Sebelius said. “ The right Democrat, like Barack Obama, can carry red states, just like the 14 Democratic governors elected in states won by George Bush in 2004. We can’t tell people their votes don’t matter and then expect their support against John McCain in November. Senator Obama is reaching to Independents and Republicans because they desperately want to change our politics. I hope Senator Clinton will follow his lead and stop dismissing Democrats that don’t live in New York or California.”

Clinton Criticism of Red States
Clinton Said She Was Winning The Big States Democrats Had To Win And Said “We Are Never Going To Carry Alaska, Idaho, It’s Just Not Going To Happen.” Clinton, on the states she has been winning in the primary, said “I have been winning the big states we have to win. With all due respect, unless there is a tsunami change in America, we are never going to carry Alaska, North Dakota, Idaho, it’s just not going to happen, but we have to carry the states I’ve been carrying, the primary states, the states that have to be in the winning Democratic column. And if you look at my vote there, it is the voters we have to have: People making less than $50,000, women, Latinos.” [Politico Forum, 2/11/07]

Clinton Downplayed Red State Wins, Said “It is Highly Unlikely” Democrats Will Win Alaska, North Dakota, Idaho or Nebraska. “She also downplayed many of Obama's Super Tuesday victories, describing them as states that Democrats should not expect to win in November. "It is highly unlikely we will win Alaska or North Dakota or Idaho or Nebraska," she said, naming several of Obama's red state wins. "But we have to win Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Michigan … And we've got to be competitive in places like Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma." [CNN, 2/11/08]

Mark Penn Minimized Obama Wins In Red States. “Sen. Obama, in contrast, won with large margins in Alabama and Georgia, two states that have been in the Republican column in the last two elections. He also won with large margins in a string of caucus states with comparatively fewer voters - Alaska, Idaho, Utah, and Kansas - and have also been in the Republican column. Of course, he won his home state.” [Mark Penn memo, 2/6/08]

Harold Ickes said Idaho, Nebraska and Kansas will not vote for a Democratic president. “In response to a question from NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Ickes acknowledged Obama has done well in some smaller contests like Idaho, Nebraska and Kansas, but said those Republican strongholds will never flip in November. ‘I agree he’s done well in those caucus states – we didn’t make as much of an effort as we probably should have,’ Ickes said. ‘But those states simply are not going to vote this year for a Democratic president, Andrea.’” [Politico, 2/16/08]