DES MOINES, Iowa — Democrat Barack Obama was getting the support of two congressmen on Wednesday, while rival Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up the endorsement of a Pennsylvania union leader.
Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa planned to endorse Obama during an afternoon conference call. Indiana Rep. Baron Hill planned to announce his support for the Illinois senator later Wednesday at a rally in Bloomington, Ind.
Clinton trails Obama in the overall delegate count, but the New York senator added the backing of Bill George, a superdelegate and president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.
George said Clinton was the party’s best candidate to win his state and the White House in November.
“Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to jump-start the economy and rebuild the middle class,” George said in a written statement released by the Clinton campaign.
Obama’s quandary over preacher reflects supporters’ divide
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Thirteen hours after his former pastor startled some with a defiant performance that was televised nationwide, Barack Obama urged 18,000 supporters to stay calm and shrug off such “distractions.”
By the next afternoon, however, his tone was dramatically different.
The Illinois senator summoned reporters Tuesday to say he was outraged by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “divisive and destructive” remarks, scrambling to contain the flare-up in a controversy that has dogged him since clips of some of Wright’s most objectionable remarks began circulating on TV and the Internet.
Obama said he belatedly condemned Wright’s remarks because he did not see a transcript or video of Monday’s appearance until the next day.
Doubtless, too, campaign aides were inundated with calls and messages Tuesday urging a stronger reaction.
THE DELEGATE BREAKDOWN
Barack Obama: 1,730.5
Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,596.5
THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton discusses jobs with voters in Indiana. Barack Obama has lunch and holds meetings with local families in the Hoosier State.
THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain holds a meeting on health care in Allentown, Pa.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Seems like the three dimensional campaign has started — primary in some places, general in others and a little of both in a few more places.” — Evan Tracey, a nonpartisan political ad analyst.
STAT OF THE DAY:
John Kerry won 73 percent of the vote in Indiana’s 2004 Democratic presidential primary. The election’s turnout was 317,211.
Compiled by Ann Sanner.
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