Obama fields questions with SF Chronicle's editorial board (VIDEO)

[jefferson_dem]

Sen. Barack Obama fielded questions on a variety of topics in a meeting with The Chronicle's editorial board Thursday, Jan. 17 at the St. Francis Hotel. Duration: 53 min. File size: 336 MB Camera: Frederic Larson, Chronicle Staff

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/MNSNUH7GC.DTL&o=0&type=politics

[Adelante]

1. About the Nevada caucus lawsuit and the Clintons

But in his meeting with The Chronicle, Obama didn’t limit his challenges to Sen. Clinton; he directly took on former President Bill Clinton when asked his reaction to a U.S. District Court ruling Thursday rejecting arguments that special “at large” caucus sites for casino and culinary workers were discriminatory to other Nevada voters.

The ruling went against a union tied to Sen. Clinton, the teachers union. It was seen as a victory for Obama, who has been endorsed by the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, which represents the majority of the workers who will use those locations.

Asked his reaction to an angry outburst by the former president - who in Oakland Wednesday suggested the at-large system was “rigged” - Obama laughed.

“This caucus process was designed by the Democratic Party of Nevada in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee,” said Obama. “I, as somebody who’s not part of the establishment of the Democratic Party, had no say in the rules … (but) individuals like Harold Ickes, Clinton’s key adviser, were a part of making these rules. And some of the people who filed the lawsuit were a part of making these rules.

“President Clinton now suggests they didn’t understand the rules that they designed,” Obama said. “This is coming from the campaign of extraordinary detail and thoroughness and experience.

“But somehow, they didn’t know what these rules were,” Obama said. “Six days before the caucus - two days after I received the endorsement of the Culinary Workers (Union), suddenly these rules are grossly unfair and a violation of ‘one person, one vote.’ And a lawsuit is filed that would disenfranchise mostly Latino maids, dishwashers and bellhops.”

Obama said that was “an implausible argument before the court rules. I am glad the court bought none of it. I think it took about an hour for the court to decide that this lawsuit had no merit.

“And I think at this point we should go out and persuade the caucus-goers of Nevada who the best candidate is,” he said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/MNSNUH7GC.DTL&type=politics


Very interesting interview.