Hillary Clinton has told the audience in Dover, NH today that they should choose other candidates if the war is of uttermost importance to them.

"If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to chose from," Mrs. Clinton told an audience in Dover, N.H., a veiled reference to two rivals for the nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

Her decision not to apologize is regarded so seriously within her campaign that some advisers believe it will be remembered as a turning point in the race: either ultimately galvanizing voters against her (if she loses the nomination), or highlighting her resolve and her willingness to buck Democratic conventional wisdom (if she wins).

Two black leaders in SC, State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson, endorsed Hillary Clinton today. Although the endorsement itself was a little surprising considering that they endorsed John Edwards in 2004, I was more shocked by the harsh words that they used to describe Obama's candidacy.

(AP Wire) "Then everybody else on the ballot is doomed," Ford said. "Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he's black and he's at the top of the ticket, we'd lose the House, the Senate and the governors and everything."

"I'm a gambling man. I love Obama," Ford said. "But I'm not going to kill myself."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/13/ap/politics/mainD8N909A80.shtml

Those words are pretty blunt. I wonder if their sentiments are reflective of the prevalent attitudes among black voters in the south or simply a figment of their imagination. Either way, Obama still has some work to do.

Here's an interesting poll released by Fox News today.

"If Clinton were out of the running, the results show Obama would benefit the most, as his support increases by 15 percentage points -- double his initial vote percentage. The support for Edwards and Gore also increases, with both capturing another 8 points without Clinton in the race.

"Most of the distribution is simply based on name recognition," said Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman. "Senator Clinton is one of the few candidates who has personal, strong support."

"Without Obama in the running, the only candidate who really benefits is Clinton. Her percent of the vote increases by 11 points, while Edwards and Gore each gain 2 points.

"With Edwards out, Obama gains the most, with an additional 5 percentage points and Clinton gains 3 points.

Which Democratic candidate would be your second choice?
-------------- Among Democrats (±5%) --------------
                  All   Without   Without  Without   Without
                  Run   Clinton   Obama    Edwards   Gore
Hillary Clinton   43%   -%        54%      46%       50%
Barack Obama      15    30        -        20        17
John Edwards      12    20        14       -         13
Al Gore           11    19        13       12        -
Joseph Biden      4     5         4        5         4
Bill Richardson   2     3         3        3         3
Tom Vilsack       -     -         -        1         -
Dennis Kucinich   -     -         -        -         -
Chris Dodd        -     -         -        -         -

Here's the link to the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,2511 78,00.html

Link to the poll results:
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/0209 07_second_choice_web.pdf