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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19 2016

CENTREDAILY.COM

MEXICO BORDER WALL

Pope: Trump not Christian

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
AND JULIE PACE

The Associated Press

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE

Thrusting himself into

the heated American presidential campaign, Pope
Francis declared Thursday
that Donald Trump is not
Christian if he wants to
address illegal immigration

only by building a wall

along the U.S.-Mexico
border.
Trump fired back ferociously, saying it was disgraceful for a religious
leader to question a persons faith.
The rare back-and-forth
between pontiff and presidential candidate was the
latest astonishing development in an American

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ The Associated Press, file

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks

on Monday in Reno, Nev. Bernie Sanders won big in New
Hampshire, but Clinton is still adding to her wide lead in
the delegates that will decide the Democrats presidential
nominee.

2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Superdelegates
help Clinton
expand her lead
BY HOPE YEN
AND STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

So much for Bernie

Sanders big win in New
Hampshire.
Since then, Hillary Clinton has picked up endorsements from 87 more superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention,
dwarfing Sanders gain
from the New Hampshire
primary, according to a
new Associated Press survey. Sanders has added just
11 superdelegate endorsements.
If these party insiders
continue to back Clinton
overwhelmingly and
they can change their
minds Sanders would
have to win the remaining
primaries by a landslide
just to catch up. He would
have to roll up big margins
because every Democratic
contest awards delegates in
proportion to the vote, so
even the loser can get
some.
After the contests in
Iowa and New Hampshire,
Sanders has a small 36-32
lead among delegates won
in primaries and caucuses.
But when superdelegates
are included, Clinton leads

481-55, according to the AP

count. Its essentially a
parallel election that underscores Clintons lopsided support from the Democratic establishment.
The disparity is sparking
a backlash among some
Sanders supporters, who
complain that the Democratic nominating process
is decidedly undemocratic,
rigged in favor of Clinton.
Some of them not part
of the campaign, Sanders
people say are contacting
superdelegates who have
publicly endorsed Clinton.
Their message isnt subtle,
or always welcome.
Im sick and tired of
them, Cordelia LewisBurks, a superdelegate
from Indiana, said of the
Sanders backers. Its very
aggravating to be bashed
on my own computer by
these people who its probably the first time theyve
ever voted. Ive been in the
trenches since I was 20.
Pressure tactics wont
sway Lacy Johnson, another Indiana superdelegate
who backs Clinton.
They were saying
Were not going to forget
this, Johnson said.
Im an African-American male who is in my
60s, Johnson said. I have

only about building walls,

wherever they may be, and
not building bridges, is not
Christian, he said. While
Francis said he would give
the benefit of the doubt
because he had not heard
Trumps border plans independently, he added, I say
only that this man is not a
Christian if he has said
things like that.

election already roiled by

Trumps free-wheeling
rhetoric and controversial
policy proposals, particularly on immigration. It also
underscored the popular
popes willingness to needle U.S. politicians on hotbutton issues.
Francis comments came
hours after he concluded a
visit to Mexico, where he

prayed at the border for

people who died trying to
reach the U.S. While speaking to reporters on the
papal plane, he was asked
what he thought of
Trumps campaign pledge
to build a wall along the
entire length of the border
and expel millions of people in the U.S. illegally.
A person who thinks

experienced the struggles.

The experiences they are
sharing dont faze me in
comparison.
Superdelegates arent
new. They have been part
of the Democratic Partys
nominating process since
1984.
They automatically attend the national convention and can support the
candidate of their choice,
regardless of whom primary voters back. They are
party leaders members
of Congress, party officials
and members of the Democratic National Committee.
There are 712 superdelegates, about 30 percent of
the 2,382 delegates needed
to claim the nomination.
The Republicans also
have some automatic delegates but not nearly as
many.
Clintons campaign expresses confidence that she
will maintain a strong lead
among superdelegates even
as she focuses on upcoming
voting. Our campaign
strategy is to build a lead
with pledged delegates
won in primaries and caucuses, spokesman Jesse
Ferguson said in an email.
The Sanders campaign,
meanwhile, doesnt consider the early superdelegate
count to be very meaningful.
I think that if we are
able to see our momentum
grow, if we are able to do
well in Nevada, do well in
other states on Super Tuesday, I think your average
superdelegate is going to
look and say, Hmm, I
started off this campaign
supporting Secretary Clinton, but you know what,
the most important point is
for us to defeat Republicans, Sanders said
Thursday.
In 2008, some superdelegates who initially supported Clinton did switch
to Barack Obama after he
started racking up victories
in primaries and caucuses.
But Obama is a Democrat
who had worked on campaigns and cultivated relationships with many of the
superdelegates. Sanders is
an independent.
To my knowledge there
has been zero outreach to
the New Hampshire automatic delegates from the
Sanders campaign, said
Kathleen Sullivan, a DNC
member from New Hampshire.

Obamas Cuba
trip spurs GOP
skepticism
BY JOSH LEDERMAN

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obamas plans for a historymaking trip to Cuba drew

hopeful cheers in Havana
on Thursday but equally
emphatic condemnation
from many U.S. lawmakers
and Republican presidential candidates, who accused the president of
rewarding a dictatorial
regime.
Jeb Bush called the plans
appalling. Florida Rep.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, born
in Havana, deemed Obamas March 21-22 visit
absolutely shameful.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez a member of
Obamas party accused
him of ceding U.S. leverage
to the communist nation
90 miles south of Florida.
The president is again
prioritizing short-term
economic interests over
long-term and enduring
American values, said
Menendez, another CubanAmerican. He likened Obamas rapprochement with
Cuba to his nuclear deal
with Iran.
Not so, said Obama, who
pledged to press President
Raul Castro on human
rights and other thorny
issues during their sit-down
in the Cuban capital. The
White House said pointedly
that it had put Castros
government on notice that
Obama would also meet
with dissidents and activists a precondition the
president had laid out for a
visit.
We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise
directly, Obama said as he
announced the visit on
Twitter.
The trip will mark a watershed moment in U.S.Cuba relations, making
Obama the first sitting U.S.
president to set foot on the
island in nearly seven decades. The U.S. was estranged from the communist nation for over half a

century until Obama and

Castro moved toward detente more than a year ago.
Since then, the nations
have reopened embassies
in Washington and Havana
and moved to restore commercial flights, with a presidential visit seen as a key
next step.
Yosvany Martinez, a
36-year-old government
parking attendant in Havana, said hed seen changes
in his country since the
thaw in relations: more
tourism and happier people. But Cubans are still
struggling economically, he
said.
This visit for me and for
all Cubans will be an open
door to what we need,
which is that they finally
lift the blockade, which is
what hurts us, Martinez
said.
Obama hopes to persuade Congress to lift the
trade embargo Havanas
biggest request of the U.S.
Although short-term prospects have seemed unlikely, some Republicans
have suggested Congress
could pass legislation repealing sanctions by years
end.
Cuban Foreign Trade
Minister Rodrigo Malmierca, in Washington for business talks, told The Associated Press that Obamas
visit will be good news for
his country.
The president will be
welcomed, he said in
Spanish.
Though Obama sees the
re-launch with Cuba as a
major achievement of his
foreign policy, hes had to
strike a careful balance to
defend engaging with a
communist government
that still is seen as stifling
political opposition and
restricting free speech.
The White House pointed to Cubas recent release
of long-term political prisoners, expansion of Internet hotspots and easing
of restrictions on private
business.

5A

OBAMAS NOMINATION
TO SUPREME COURT

Toomey,
Senate
unlikely to
back pick
BY MARC LEVY

The Associated Press

ALLENTOWN

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat

Toomey, of Pennsylvania,
held firm to his view that
the next president should
fill the U.S. Supreme
Courts vacancy, and he
said Thursday that its very
unlikely that he or a Senate
majority would support
President Barack Obamas
nominee.
He also said it might be
better to not hold electionyear confirmation hearings
because senators would be
weighing more than just a
nominees qualifications.
He and other Republicans
would also consider how a
nominee from the Democratic president would
change the courts balance
in his favor before a new
president takes office,
Toomey said.
Its very unlikely that
any nominee, however well
qualified, could reach the
level that would be necessary to satisfy both sets of
criteria, Toomey told The
Associated Press. And for
that reason, it might be just
as well not to have a hearing that would, sort of,
might mislead the American people into thinking
that this is just about the
qualifications of the candidate, because its bigger
than that.
Toomey, who is running
for a second term in the
swing-state seat, backed
Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier
this week in arguing that a
nominee for Justice Antonin Scalias seat is best left
to the next president. That
stance has brought a barrage of criticism from
Democrats and Pennsylvania newspaper editorial
boards. One Democrat
running for the partys
Senate nomination, Joe
Sestak, accused Toomey on
Thursday of marching
lockstep with partisan obstructionists in Washington, D.C.
The Scranton TimesTribune editorial board
called Toomeys position
naked obstruction.
Toomey reiterated his
stance on Thursday.
I think the question
before us now is should
the outgoing president
fundamentally change the
balance of the court for the
next one or two generations? Toomey said.

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