ABC News
Then the lawsuit threat:Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., debuted a campaign ad on Friday with ominous undertones.
"It's 3:00am and your children are asleep," a voice over says in the ad entitled "Children". "There's a phone in the White House, and it's ringing. Something is happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call."
"Whether someone knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead. It's 3am and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?" the ad concludes.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., pushed back hard against the new ad, which ABC News' George Stephanopoulos described as "the nuclear option" on Friday's "Good Morning America".
Addressing a group of veterans at an American Legion post in Houston, Obama said: "We've seen these ads before. They're the kind that play on peoples' fears to scare up votes."
The tone of the ad -- which echoes the infamous Daisy Ad from the 1964 Johnson-Goldwater presidential race and the red phone ad former Vice President Walter Mondale ran against Gary Hart in their '84 race for the Democratic nomination -- indicates that the Clinton campaign is pulling out the all the stops leading into the Ohio and Texas primaries.
Mondale's ad, where a red phone rang threateningly in the middle of the night while a voiceover asked voters what kind of leader they wanted to "answer that phone", ultimately worked in his favor: Mondale defeated Hart and secured the party nomination, though he lost in November to Ronald Reagan.
"The question is not about picking up the phone," Obama said. "The question is: what kind of judgment will you make when you answer? We've had a 'red phone moment'. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer."
The Clinton campaign rejected any comparison to the LBJ "Daisy Ad" saying Clinton's ad was a "positive ad" that featured "very soft images" and was not at all like the Johnson ad.
Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson responded to Obama's accusations of campaign scare tactics by saying, "It is an absolute insult to voters to suggest that a discussion of national security constitutes fear mongering."
"It's a legitimate question," Wolfson said of the "Who do you want answering the phone" ending note of Clinton's ad, pointing out that Obama had agreed on that point in a Friday morning speech at the American Legion. (In fact, Obama did say it was a "legitimate question" quickly following to clarify "the question is not about picking up the phone, the question is 'what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone? In fact, we have had a red phone moment: it was the decision to invade Iraq. Sen Clinton gave the wrong answer.")
It seems Roy Spence, the creator of Mondale's red phone ad, borrowed from his own portfolio in creating Clinton's latest ad. Spence joined the New York senator's presidential campaign after New Hampshire.
The Obama campaign also set aside the traditional game of lowering expectations ahead of Tuesday's vote and instead predicted doom and gloom for Camp Clinton.
"They're going to fail and fail miserably," campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters on a conference call.
The Obama campaign says, given the closeness of the polls in Ohio and Texas, it's unlikely Clinton will be able to close the gap among pledged delegates.
According to the Obama campaign math, if Clinton fails to win both states by a comfortable margin -- 10 points or more -- Clinton would need to win 74% of the 611 remaining delegates in order to close the gap.
Officials with the Clinton campaign dispute the Obama math, noting that this scenario does not take into account superdelegates, party leaders who are free to vote for whomever they like.
Clinton officials accuse the Obama campaign of setting an "artificial standard," arguing that neither candidate will reach the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination without the help of superdelegates.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
AUSTIN -- The Texas Democratic Party is warning that its primary night caucuses could be delayed or disrupted after aides to White House hopeful Hillary Clinton raised the specter of an "imminent" lawsuit over its complicated delegate selection process, officials said Thursday night.
In a letter sent late Thursday to both the Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns, Texas Democratic Party attorney Chad Dunn warned that a lawsuit could ruin the Democrats' effort to re-energize voters just as they are turning out in record numbers.
Spokesmen from both campaigns maintained that there were no plans to sue before the primary on Tuesday.
"It has been brought to my attention that one or both of your campaigns may already be planning or intending to pursue litigation against the Texas Democratic Party," Dunn said in the letter, obtained by the Star-Telegram. "Such action could prove to be a tragedy for a reinvigorated Democratic process."
Democratic Party sources who asked not to be identified because of the potential for litigation said that representatives from both campaigns had made it clear they are keeping all their options open but that the Clinton campaign in particular had warned of an impending lawsuit.
'Imminent threat'
"Both campaigns have made it clear that they would go there if they had to, but I think the imminent threat is coming from one campaign," said one top Democratic official, referring to the Clinton campaign. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another Democratic source who was privy to the often intense discussions confirmed that representatives of the New York senator's campaign had issued veiled threats in a telephone call this week.
"Officials from Sen. Clinton's campaign at several times throughout the call raised the specter of 'challenging the process,'" the official said. "The call consisted of representatives from both campaigns and the Democratic Party."
The source, who was not authorized to speak about the matter on the record, said Clinton's political director, Guy Cecil, had pointedly raised the possibility of a courtroom battle.
Seeking agreement
But Adrienne Elrod, Clinton's top Texas spokeswoman, said that campaign and party officials had merely discussed primary night procedures and that the campaign was seeking a written agreement in advance. She could not elaborate on the details of the agreement the Clinton campaign is seeking. "It is our campaign's standard operating procedure that we need to see what we are agreeing to in writing before we agree to it," Elrod said. "No legal action is being taken. We have no reason to take any legal action."
Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the campaign had no plans to sue.
"We're confident that by working closely with the Texas Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign we'll have a caucus that Texans can be proud of -- because every eligible voter will be allowed to participate and have their vote counted in a timely manner," Earnest said.
The letter to the two campaigns did not specify what procedures or rules might trigger a lawsuit. But one party official said the campaigns were most concerned about the caucus process, or, as the party refers to it, the "precinct conventions." Texas has 228 delegates, the biggest single cache remaining.
But only 126 delegates are doled out based on the selection voters make at the ballot box. Sixty-seven delegates -- more than many states' entire share -- are to be apportioned based on the number of people who participate in the caucuses that begin in over 8,000 precincts once the polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The remaining 35 are so-called superdelegates, high-ranking party officials free to support whomever they choose and can switch votes when they wish.
Every delegate counts
The intense competition between Obama and Clinton has made every delegate a precious commodity. In past years, the caucuses generated little attention or interest. Now, questions are being raised about procedures, whether there's enough space to accommodate participants and how the results will be recorded and reported. Democrats have described the enthusiasm in Texas, as evidenced by the record turnout among early voters in the most populous counties, as a sign that the party is undergoing a revival after years of decline under virtually unchallenged Republican rule.
Dunn, the Democratic Party attorney, said it could all be for naught if the Texas nomination battle winds up in court.
We need to see what we are agreeing to in writing before we agree to it. No legal action is being taken. We have no reason to take any legal action.
JAY ROOT REPORTS FROM THE STAR- TELEGRAM'S AUSTIN BUREAU. 512-476-4294
jroot@star-telegram.com
Between the ad that could have been lifted from Bush's 2004 campaign to the possible lawsuit in Texas, the smell of desparation is getting stronger.
