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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Obama endorsed by an Indiana superdelegate [Clinton is put to shame for gastax gimmick, Goldilox is mentioned] Obama endorsed by an Indiana superdelegate Joe Andrew, who formerly had endorsed Hillary Clinton, switches to Obama, saying the Illinois senator has a willingness to do 'the right thing.' Sparring over gasoline taxes continues. Saying he believes Obama's rival Hillary Rodham Clinton will "go down in history as a great public servant," Andrew said that her proposal for a federal gas tax holiday was just the kind of "expedient" solution that politicians are known for. Clinton has called for a suspension of the 18.4-cent federal tax on gas for the summer, while Obama has argued that the idea is a "political gimmick" that would only hurt long-term energy policy. "I'm proud of this tough decision ... to divorce myself from that old political theater," Andrew said. "Barack Obama has shown that he has a willingness not to do the politically expedient thing but the right thing." Andrew first endorsed New York Sen. Clinton on Nov. 8, citing her "strength and experience to compete and win across this country," according to the campaign's website. But today, in a news conference in Indianapolis, he said that Obama's stance on the gas tax persuaded him to make the change. "I've been part of the problem, I understand that kind of political theater," said Andrew, former head of the Democratic Party in Indiana. With Indiana going to the polls next Tuesday, he said he doubts Hoosiers "will be fooled into voting for Hillary Clinton for a half a tank of gas." "It's easy to blame George Bush," Andrew said. But, he added, Democrats have been equally guilty of engaging "in the same politics" and that what's needed is not "giving $28 to each person in order to get their votes" but "a significant and serious energy policy." Despite the fact that he is "unbelievably indebted and grateful to President Clinton," Andrew said, "I don't want to look my kids in the eye and say I'm part of that problem." Andrew also said a protracted race among Democrats is only helping the Republicans. "The ship is taking on water right now," he said. "We need to patch those holes, heal the rift and go forward to beat John McCain." As polls indicated a tightening race for Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, where working-class voters could hold the margin of victory, Obama and his wife Michelle went on NBC's "Today Show" this morning to discuss the race. Asked about the controversy caused by the comments of his former pastor, Obama said that when video of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons first came out -- detailing his fiery accusations that the United States spread AIDS among African-Americans and merited the 9/11 terrorist attacks because of its own foreign policy -- he tried to give the benefit of the doubt to the man who had officiated at his wedding and baptized his daughters. "When those first snippets came out, I thought it was important to give him the benefit of the doubt. Because if I had wanted to be politically expedient, I would have distanced myself and denounced him right away, right? That would have been the easy thing to do," he said. But when Wright repeated and embellished his comments this week, Obama felt he had to denounce him for "giving comfort to those who prey on hate." Michelle Obama added that "we both hear time and time again voters are tired of this. They don't want to hear about this division, they want to know what are we going to do to move beyond these issues. And what made me feel proud of Barack in this situation is that he is trying to move us as a nation beyond these conversations that divide." As the Democrats battled for votes in Indiana and North Carolina, Republican John McCain campaigned at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, part of his weeklong focus on healthcare costs. "No American should go to bed tonight having to make a decision between eating and getting prescription drugs," the Arizona senator said. Asked about increasing gas prices, McCain defended his call for a summertime federal gas tax holiday. "You'd have thought it was the end of the world," he said, in reference to near-unanimous disapproval by economists, who note that summer relief will only increase U.S. dependence on imported oil. "In all due respect to those who drive around in chauffeured limousines, this is astonishing to me," McCain said of the criticism. "I don't pretend it eliminates our dependence on foreign oil," he said, but he argued, would give low-income Americans a break. Clinton agreed, telling a group of voters in South Bend, Ind., that she finds it "frankly a little offensive" that those who don't have to worry abut high gas prices think it's "somehow illegitimate to provide relief for millions of Americans." Acknowledging that a summer federal gas tax holiday is not an answer to the nation's energy problems, Clinton insisted that unlike McCain, she plans to pay for the holiday with taxes on oil company profits. . "Sometimes I feel like the Goldilocks of this campaign -- not too much, not too little," she said. "Nobody is arguing it's an answer" but it says, "we're paying attention to how much you're suffering." On another campaign front, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty contradicted McCain -- whom he is supporting for president -- for saying that the collapse of the Interstate 35W in Minneapolis that killed 13 people last summer was attributable to wasteful pork-barrel spending. "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money," McCain told reporters Wednesday while campaigning in Pennsylvania. "The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects." Pawlenty, co-chair of McCain's presidential campaign and a possible running mate, said today that McCain's views are his own opinions, and that judgment should be reserved until federal investigators complete their work later this year.
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#2. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#0)
Two words: Billy Carter.
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