FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 20, 2008

Contact: Sam Arora at media@voteboth.com [1]

MAJOR OBAMA, CLINTON BACKERS WANT DREAM TICKET

Reps. David Scott and Stephanie Tubbs Jones Want
Obama and Clinton to Unify for General Election
 
WASHINGTON, DC--Congressional supporters of Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton declared their support for a Democratic “dream ticket” Monday, adding to the growing chorus of prominent elected officials and Party leaders calling for the candidates to unite for the general election.  Representatives David Scott (GA) and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH), both outspoken advocates for Obama and Clinton, respectively, argued that a unity ticket was essential for victory in November.

“We cannot win with just black voters, college students and liberal voters,” Scott, who is African American, told The Hill newspaper. “We’ve got to have working-class whites; we’ve got to have the support of white women; we’ve got to have Hispanics, Jewish voters and Catholics. These are the very people that form the core of Hillary’s support.”

Rep. Scott, a Blue Dog Democrat, first endorsed Clinton and later changed to Obama after the Illinois senator carried his district, which covers portions of Cobb, Clayton, Douglas, Fulton, Henry and DeKalb counties.

“Obama can't win without Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator Clinton can't win without Obama,” Rep. Tubbs Jones told MSNBC when asked about reports of Clinton and Obama fundraisers meeting. “[T]here's no way it can happen if they don't join together.” An except of the interview follows below.

Rep. Tubbs Jones, a progressive Democrat representing parts of Cleveland and its suburbs, is National Co-chair of the Clinton campaign as well as the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives from Ohio. Ohio (20 Electoral Votes) is a must-win state for Democrats in the fall. In 2004, George W. Bush edged out John Kerry by a margin of 50.81%-48.71%--a mere 118,601 votes, just slightly more than can fit inside Ohio Stadium.

“Top Obama and Clinton supporters are saying what over 10,000 Democrats told us last week,” said VoteBoth.com founder Adam Parkhomenko. “Barack and Hillary have energized voters across the country and, united, they will take back the White House and have coattails down the ballot.”

“This may be like the Microsoft and Yahoo merger: massive and hard to imagine but ultimately necessary to take on the competition. Of course, Google is 60 years younger than John McCain.”

Reps. Scott and Tubbs Jones join the growing ranks of prominent Democrats supporting the dream ticket, including Governor Ed Rendell (PA), former Governor Mario M. Cuomo (NY), Senator Charles E. Schumer (NY), and DLC chairman and former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (TN).

An excerpt of Rep. Tubbs Jones’ interview follows:

TUBBS JONES: ...If they end up being the nominee and they want to win, they'd better get a wake-up call because Obama can't win without Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Clinton can't win without Obama. So, there's room at the table for everybody. I think it's going to be Hillary Clinton's table. They think it's going to be Barack Obama's table. But the reality is, we must come together and the people at the top have to set the example.
O'DONNELL: That is true, I think, Congresswoman. There are certainly sides on both sides of this that have donated a lot of money, and the party would be stronger if the forces joined together in order to beat John McCain.
TUBBS JONES: There's no way it can happen if -- there's no way it can happen if they don't join together.
O'DONNELL: You want them to run together.
TUBBS JONES: So, to all the Obama people that are scrappers, to all of those (inaudible) out there scrapping, they'd better get...
O'DONNELL: You want them to run together.
TUBBS JONES: Absolutely. And if they're scrapping now, they'd better get ready.
[Source: CQ Capital Transcripts]

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