Obama to Appear on the Dreaded Fox

chris wallace did have an iota of smarts when he criticized fox and friends hosts recently for being a bunch of idiots-- they had a two hour obama slam fest.

It will be Obama's only appearance on a public affairs show, and comes five days after his defeat in the Pennsylvania primary. Wallace said Obama will be the only guest on the show, which will probably also have a segment with the regular panel.

Wallace, whose show airs on Fox Broadcasting stations coast to coast as well as Fox News Channel, started the feature in early March after multiple tries to get the Illinois senator on the program. But 772 days refers to how much time had elapsed since the 2006 Gridiron Dinner, when Obama first told Wallace that he would appear on the show. The "Obama Watch" had rankled the campaign, but Wallace said it wasn't just that that brought the candidate to the program.

"They realized they've got a problem after Pennsylvania," Wallace told the Hollywood Reporter. "In the end, they do it for their own reasons, not ours. But they realized he needs to be able to reach out to working-class, blue-collar Democrats, moderate to conservative, and that's our target audience."

Indianans Say Hillary is the Negative Candidate By Far

thank you indiana. that indianans recognize hillary's lousy disposition means obama has a good chance there.

south bend tribune: One thing Hoosiers have noticed is the tone of the campaign, according to the poll.

Some 48 percent said Clinton was running the more negative campaign of the two, compared to the 23 percent who pointed their finger at Obama. About 21 percent said both were equally negative and 8 percent weren’t sure.

And what do the campaigns think of that?

Clinton has answered Obama attacks, Swain said.

“You really can’t sit back and let misleading statements or attacks go unanswered,” he said. “And so from our campaign, it really is about setting the record straight, making sure that if there were questions about Senator Clinton’s record on an issue that the voters actually have the facts in front of them.”

Obama, on the other hand, has benefited from the perception that Clinton is more negative, even in Pennsylvania, said Griffis, his Indiana spokesman.

who can beat mccain in indiana (indiana hasn't voted for a democrat president in decades):

south bend tribune: The poll asked separate samples of voters who would win against John McCain - Clinton or Obama?

In either scenario, McCain wins Indiana, but Obama is slightly closer to beating him than is Clinton.

McCain would get 52 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 41 percent, said the sample of 600 likely voters from both parties.

McCain would get 51 percent to Obama’s 43 percent.

Engineers For Obama

washington post: The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents engineers, scientists and technicians at the departments of Defense and Energy and at NASA, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, the union announced yesterday.

The Illinois Democrat is the best candidate to address civil service, health care, outsourcing, trade and other issues important to the union, said Gregory Junemann, its president.

The union represents about 85,000 workers in the public and private sectors. It helped organize a labor coalition to oppose an attempt by the Bush administration to curb union rights at the Defense Department.

Obama's Long Primary Advantage

One of the advantages of this long primary process (fourteen months and counting) has been the opportunity it's provided for us to campaign and organize in all fifty states. In cities and towns across America we've seen record voter registration and participation, with many people finding their way to the political process for the first time. The end result: a radically altered electoral map that gives us the opportunity to compete across the country in November, in swing states and "red states" as well as "blue states."

Once case in point: Colorado.

In 2004, George W. Bush won the state of Colorado by less than 100,000 votes. Last winter, our grassroots supporters in the state spent months organizing, helped out at the end by field staff, multiple offices, and Barack himself. On February 5th Barack won the Colorado caucuses by a overwhelming margin, defeating Hillary Clinton 67% to 32%.

Two and a half months later, a recent Rassmussen poll shows that against Hillary Clinton, John McCain would easily carry the state right now, leading 50% to 36%. But in a head to head match-up, Barack leads McCain 46% to 43%, flipping the state and its nine electoral votes.

It's a pattern that we've seen repeat itself in states like Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin and more.

And our grassroots networks that are still at work, still organizing and still contributing, helping lay the groundwork for the general election against John McCain in November.

obama is set to launch a voter registration drive once he wins the nomination. i'm sure that's no surprise to anyone.:

chicago tribune: Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is planning to unveil a "massive" voter registration drive, one that will reach all 50 states and seeks to boost confidence in him as a potential general election candidate.

A senior campaign official is expected to provide details about the effort in a conference call Friday.

But the candidate himself — or his speechwriters — apparently slipped up and included a reference to the effort in an address to a union group Thursday in Chicago.

"That's why I'm so proud that today our campaign announced a massive volunteer-led voter registration drive in all 50 states to help ensure every single eligible voter takes part in this election so we can take back Washington for the American people," Obama said at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

The appearance came on a day Obama was supposed to be enjoying rare time away from campaigning. Still, it afforded him a chance to spread his message in Indiana without ever setting foot there.

A Glimmer in Pennsylvania

i'll admit it. i'm bitter about pennsylvania. it irks me that some people are still small minded. i'm bitter because something really good comes along and some people can't even see that. obama is not your ordinary politician. he's offering a new course for the country. but of course, all the naysayers and the cynics have to tear the obama camp down because where would they be without their cynicism.
anyway, here is an inspiring letter found at barackobama.com:

I am writing to tell you about my grandfather in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I read this morning, the dawn of the Pennsylvania primary, an article about the so-called age divide that has pervaded this primary election, with the Clinton campaign cleaning the pre-Internet, pinochle playing, elderly citizens of Pennsylvania and the Obama campaign sweeping the younger voting populations. I do not believe we, the American people, can be so neatly divided.

My grandfather, Frederick, 91, recognized a profound truth in Senator Barack Obama’s message of hope and exercise of change, a truth that for him transcended age, race, and even party lines. My grandfather has been a registered Republican his entire life. Even during these times, when the heavy weight of serious issues is upon us and our President has disheartened even those within his own party, my grandfather has sworn to go to his grave a registered Republican. Today, Frederick, 91, registered Democrat, is voting for Barack Obama.

... I recently watched an ad by the Clinton campaign evoking images of the Great Depression and World War II. These images are meant to remind voters, particularly those who remember and were shaped by those times of the fear and suffering that encompass our existence. My grandfather was raised, in Johnstown, by a widowed mother, of German descent during the Great Depression and served in World War II as an airplane mechanic in Texas and New Mexico. Other images also play in my grandfather’s memory: such as two Johnstown floods and stories of the 1889 Great Johnstown Flood when a young aunt and uncle on a rooftop, perished when the house foundation gave way, or memories of Bethlehem Steel Company closing (after the war he returned to Johnstown to work in the mill for 35 years) and later, along with other retirees, losing his benefits.

Today, my grandfather’s thoughts are on issues that will affect his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren: the war in Iraq, the weakening economy, the warming of our planet and our struggling healthcare and educational systems. My grandfather, body aged and bent, has his clear blue eyes focused on today’s horizon. He is no stranger to fear and suffering; yet, he has not surrendered to it. My grandfather is still hopeful. He is hopeful because a man, 44 years younger, is running for president on a platform of hope and change that is as old as this nation. Today, history continues to speak and Barack Obama gives voice to the dreams of our ancestors; dreams that ended the Great Depression, dreams that fought against the fear and divisions that marked the Second World War, dreams that helped a city rebuild after a great flood, and dreams that today can end the war in Iraq, rebuild our economy, and heal our country. It is these dreams, of my grandfather, his mother and his father (who as a young man immigrated to the United States from Germany), and the founding families of this country that will unite the American people to face the great challenges that affect us all: old and young, white and black, Democrat and Republican.

Sincerely, a devoted granddaughter,
Megan
Oak Hill, WV

Nancy Pelosi: No Joint Ticket

thank you. speaker of the house nancy pelosi is the only one that makes sense on this "dream ticket" nightmare:

For at least the fourth time in a little more than a month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear she thinks Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama shouldn't run together on a joint ticket this fall.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she told CNN’s Larry King Thursday. “First of all, the candidate, whoever he or she may be, should choose his or her own vice presidential candidate. I think that’s appropriate. That’s where you would see the comfort level, not only how to run but how to govern the country.

“And there’s plenty of talent to go around to draw upon for a good, strong ticket. I’m not one of those who thinks that that’s a good ticket.”

King asked whether that was because she thought there was too much animosity between the two.

"No," replied Pelosi. "I just think that — well, let’s put it this way: if they think it’s a good ticket, maybe it is. But I don’t think that we should thrust the vice presidential choice onto the presidential nominee. That’s her or his decision to make."

The Meaning Of Sam Nunn and David Boren For Obama

it means that obama will be the nominee because nunn and boren have sway, so says this wsj article, so to all you prospective $5 donors to the hillary campaign, save your money:

I believe the cement set around the Clinton coffin last Friday. The Obama campaign announced it had received the support of former Sens. Sam Nunn of Georgia and David Boren of Oklahoma.
Both are what some of us nostalgically call Serious Democrats. They represent what the party was, but is no more: sensible on national security, spending and middle-class values. Obama receiving their imprimatur is like hands reaching out from the graves of FDR, JFK and LBJ to announce: "Enough is enough. This man is your nominee. Go forth and fight with the Republicans." Make no mistake: Superdelegates with sway took notice.

Former Sen. Nunn is sometimes mentioned as a possible running mate for Sen. Obama. In a better world, Sam Nunn (or a David Boren) would have been the party's candidate for president. Such candidacies remain impossible under the iron law of Democratic primary politics: No centrist can secure the party's nomination in a primary system dominated by left-liberal activists. The iron law produces candidacies such as McGovern (1972), Mondale ('84), Dukakis ('88), Gore ('00) or Kerry ('04), who pay so many left-liberal obeisances to win in the primaries that they cannot attract sufficient moderates at the margins to win the general election.

Bill Clinton, who broke that law twice, knows all this. His 1996 triangulation campaign dangled welfare reform and spending restraint. It worked.

Obama Gets 43 Mayors and Superdelegate

obama has big-time support in north carolina, 43 mayors.
north carolina is like fresh air after pennsylvania. i wonder if hillary's summer cottage spot in scranton has been enshrined.
obama also gets the support of congressman david wu, superdelegate of oregon. that makes three supers to hillary's one since pennsylvania.

In a sign of Senator Obama’s broad, statewide organization, the Obama campaign today announced the endorsement of 43 North Carolina mayors, mayors pro tem, and former mayors, representing cities large and small, from Raleigh to Roper. To encourage North Carolinians to vote early, more than a dozen of these mayors will be voting early today at 1 p.m. at their local One Stop Early Voting locations.

"As a mayor, I’m on the front lines of local economic development," said Mayor Bill Bell of Durham. "We need a president who will work with us to solve the problems we face, help working Americans succeed, and usher in a new era of prosperity."

“I’m honored to have the support of so many mayors from across North Carolina who are committed to working hard to change America,” said Senator Obama. “These mayors understand what leadership is, and how important it is to bring people of diverse backgrounds together to make change happen for our working families and our communities. Their support is incredibly important to this campaign – and I look forward to working with them to build a stronger economy where Main Street thrives, not just Wall Street.”

FULL LIST OF MAYORS ENDORSING SENATOR OBAMA

Terry Bellamy, Mayor, Asheville
Leni Sinick, Former Mayor, Asheville
Linda Blackburn, Mayor, Ahoskie
Frank Wilson, Mayor, Bolton
Loretta Clawson, Mayor, Boone
Kevin Foy, Mayor, Chapel Hill
Mark Chilton, Mayor, Carrboro
Harold Weinbrecht, Mayor, Cary
Harvey Gantt, Former Mayor, Charlotte
Linda Ingram, Mayor, Conetoe
Darryl Moss, Mayor, Creedmoor
Malcolm Johnson, Mayor, Dover
N. Carnell Robinson, Mayor Pro Tem, Dunn
William Bell, Mayor, Durham
Cora McFadden, Mayor Pro Tem, Durham
Perry Blanks, Mayor, East Arcadia
Warnie Bishop, Mayor, Enfield
Roy Bell, Mayor, Garysburg
Yvonne Johnson, Mayor, Greensboro
Keith Holiday, Former Mayor, Greensboro
Mildred Council, Mayor Pro Tem, Greenville
Horace Reid, Mayor Pro Tem, Hertford
Matthew Block, Mayor, Laurinburg
Phil Bazemore, Mayor Pro Tem, Monroe
Eulis Willis, Mayor, Navassa
Lewis Brown, Former Mayor, Navassa
Jerry Merrick, Mayor Pro Tem, Navassa
James Knox, Mayor, Northwest
Randolph Voller, Mayor, Pittsboro
Charles Meeker, Mayor, Raleigh
James West, former Mayor Pro Tem, Raleigh
Estelle Sanders, Mayor, Roper
Perry Dixon, Mayor, Sandyfield
James Mill Sr., Mayor, Scotland Neck
Melvin Broadnax, Mayor, Seabord
Howard Morgan, Mayor, Sedalia
Wilbert Harrison, Mayor, Speed
Ethel Clark, Mayor, Spring Lake
Donald Davis, Mayor, Snow Hill
Betty Gholston, Mayor, Wagram
George Draper Jr., Mayor, Weldon
Robert Spivey, Mayor, Windsor
Vivian Burke, Mayor Pro Tem, Winston-Salem
Carl Lee Sr., Mayor, Lewiston Woodville

Today U.S. Congressman David Wu from Oregon announced his support for Senator Barack Obama for president, citing his ability to make real change:
"I think we are blessed to have two strong candidates for president," Congressman David Wu said. "I am endorsing Barack Obama for president today because I believe that he is best suited to turn the page on this sorry episode in American history. He and I both had the judgment to oppose the Iraq War from the very beginning.

"Every dollar that we have spent in Iraq—which adds up to over $500 billion so far—is a dollar not spent at home, a school not built, a bridge not repaired," continued Wu. "We need new policies both at home and abroad. Like Americans, the international community wants to see real change in America and I believe that Senator Obama embodies that change."

“I thank Congressman Wu for his support, and look forward to working with him to bring this war in Iraq to an end, strengthening our economy and addressing the issue of climate change,” said Senator Barack Obama.

Congressman Wu is in his fifth term representing Oregon’s First Congressional District.

Wu is Senator Obama’s 240th Superdelegate endorsement. Senator Obama is now 291 delegates away from winning the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Wright Talks as Repugnant NC Republicans Ready Attack

as north carolina republicans get set to aim an attack ad, and show just how ignorant, foolish and despicable they are, rev. jeremiah wright speaks out:

cnn: In an interview on PBS set to air Friday, Wright expressed frustration with how his sermons had been portrayed by the news media and critics of Obama's White House bid.

“I felt it was unfair,” he told PBS' Bill Moyers according to released excerpts. “I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt that those who were doing that, were doing it for some very devious reasons.”

Some of Wright's past sermons came under fire after a news report turned some of his most contentious comments into a YouTube phenomenon last month. In one, the minister said America had brought the September 11 attacks upon itself. In another, he said Clinton had an advantage over Obama because she is white. He also accused the U.S. government of adopting policies to systematically oppress African-Americans.

Meanwhile McCain is Saying All The Right Things

as hillary continues on her negative bent, john mccain is making a name for himself.

cnn: We know we didn't have the right kind of leadership ... where government agencies were getting information from watching cable television rather than have a flow of information," McCain said during an event at Xavier University in New Orleans.

"It was not only a perfect storm as far as its physical impact ... it was a perfect storm as far as the federal, state and local governments' inability."

"Never again will there be a mismanaged natural disaster," he said, later assuring the crowd that "it will never happen again in this country, you have my commitment and my promise."

McCain was in New Orleans on the fourth day of a tour through some economically struggling Democratic states, trying to convince voters he's not necessarily your typical Republican.

He made stops this week in Selma, Alabama; Youngstown, Ohio, and Inez, Kentucky.

and is looking like a pretty good guy.

cnn: As well as touring, McCain is trying to put out a political fire set by members of his own party -- a controversial ad slamming Sen. Barack Obama that is running in North Carolina.

After McCain had effectively clinched the Republican nomination, he called on his party to run a respectful, above the fray campaign.

But the ad, conceived by local North Carolina Republicans, appears to defy that call.

"For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his cube listening to his pastor," the TV ad says.

The ad then airs comments from Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who says: "And then wants us to sing "God Bless America?" No, no, no. Not "God Bless America," God [expletive] America."

McCain's campaign released an e-mail he sent North Carolina's GOP chairwoman Linda Daves that asked her not to run the ad.

"In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement," he wrote. "This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign."

North Carolina Republicans refused to pull the ad.

"I can't dictate to them. But I want to be the candidate of everybody. I want to be the candidate of Republicans and Democrats and independents," he said Wednesday.

if he could modernize his views on war, he might just be the next president.

Bill Richardson: Clintons Clinging to the Throne

as you may recall, james carville, a clinton loyalist to his detriment, called bill richardson a traitor for not endorsing hillary. last night they faced each other on larry king. carville is pathetically petty and transparent:
part 1

part 2

part 3

North Carolina Gives More To Obama

nc newsobserver: North Carolinians voted with their wallets last month, giving Sen. Barack Obama nearly three times as much money as they gave his rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
An analysis by the Charlotte Observer found that Obama raised more than $600,000 from North Carolinians in March, compared to just over $200,000 for Clinton.

Obama got a big boost from the Triangle, particularly donors in Durham and Chapel Hill.

He also tapped supporters of former N.C. Sen. John Edwards, who dropped his own presidential campaign in January.

north carolina pollsindiana polls

Hello Indiana

ugh.

nyt: “We are manufacturing workers, farmers, beer drinkers, gun owners, pickup drivers,” said Karen Lasley, 64, who was volunteering on Wednesday morning in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s field office in Kokomo (one of 28 Mrs. Clinton has opened around the state along with Senator Barack Obama’s 22, including one just down the street). “We are full of pride for this country.”

these people are fooling themselves to think hillary is anything like them. this is what makes the clintons so cunning. they are able to exploit people for votes by morphing into shot-drinking, gun-toting, pick-up driving folks. bill is playing up the "bubba factor" in north carolina.
it's called pandering, folks.

Obama Attack Ads in North Carolina

in pennsylvania, hillary had the strong base of older people and working class, both groups less inclined to vote for a black person, give her a boost.

in north carolina, obama's black voters and young voters and educated voters are strong.

cnn: Since the beginning of January, nearly 65,000 new voters between the ages of 18 and 24 have registered in the state as Democrats or unaffiliated voters. More than 67,000 new African-American voters have registered over the same period.

The metrics don't bode well for a Clinton victory.

"It would take a monumental event in next two weeks for that to happen," said Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. "But can she shave an Obama victory to five or six points? Possibly."

African-Americans are expected to make up around 40 percent of the primary electorate, giving Obama a healthy starting point in his chase for a large share of the state's 115 pledged delegates.

Obama should capture votes in the Research Triangle, a thriving swath of counties in and around the Raleigh-Durham area filled with highly-educated tech workers and medical researchers.

North Carolina also happens to be sandwiched between two demographically similar states -- Virginia and South Carolina -- that already held nominating contests, exposing thousands of Tar Heels to campaign advertising and news coverage of two Obama blowout victories in January and February.

so how is hillary going to cut into obama's lead?
hmmmmm. republicans to the rescue!

time: An old right-wing attack dog has returned with a new target: Barack Obama.

Starting Tuesday, a group of conservative activists led by Floyd Brown, author of the famous Willie Horton ad used so effectively against Michael Dukakis in 1988, will begin a campaign to tar Obama as weak on crime and terrorism, a strategy that aims to upend Obama's relatively strong reputation among Republican voters.

"The campaign by Hillary Clinton has not been able to raise Obama's negatives," said Brown on Monday. "It is absolutely critical that Obama's negatives go up with Republicans."

Brown says the initial effort, a 60-second spot called "Victims" will be aired later this month in North Carolina and e-mailed to between 3 and 7 million conservatives this week, with a plea for more funding to further spread the message. "All of the efforts I have ever done in my life have been significantly funded," Brown claimed, though he declined to describe the size of the purchase. "This is going to be the most Internet-intensive effort for an ad debut ever."

The new ad recounts the deaths of three Chicago residents in 2001 at the hands of criminal gangs. "That same year, a Chicago state senator named Barack Obama voted against expanding the death penalty for gang-related murders," an ominous female narrator intones. "So the question is, can a man so weak in the war on gangs be trusted in the war on terror?"

Brown is funding the initial ad campaign through a political action committee called the National Campaign Fund, which had $14,027 in the bank at the end of March. Brown said he had established several other front groups to fund a long-range effort to erode Obama's support, including a second PAC, called The Legacy Committee, a 527 organization called Citizens for a Safe and Prosperous America and a so-called "social welfare" 501(c)4 nonprofit called the Policy Issues Institute.

john mccain, reportedly, has denounced the ads, set to run, for playing on racial antagonisms, according to npr.

In an e-mail to state GOP chairwoman Linda Daves, McCain said the advertisement was "offensive" and urged party leaders to withhold the ad.
"I don't know why they do it," McCain told reporters on his campaign bus Wednesday in Kentucky. "Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it."
McCain said he hasn't seen the ad but it has been described to him, "and I hope that I don't see it."
The advertisement raises the specter of Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright, beginning with a photo of Obama and Wright together and a clip of Wright's contentious remarks about America.
"He's just too extreme for North Carolina," the narrator says in the 30-second spot.
Daves said the ad presents a question of patriotism and judgment.
"It is entirely appropriate for voters to evaluate candidates based on their past associations," she said.
The ad will begin running statewide on Monday, a week before the state's crucial May 6 primary.
GOP spokesman Brent Woodcox argued that despite the ad's overwhelming focus on Obama, the spot is targeted at Democratic gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Bev Perdue, who have both endorsed the Illinois senator.
"We have a great relation with the RNC and we fully support John McCain for president," Woodcox said. "But this is an ad about two North Carolina candidates for governor. The ad is going to run."
Asked about the ad during an appearance in New Albany, Ind., Obama said: "My understanding is that the Republican National Committee and John McCain have both said that the ad's inappropriate.

Hillary's Iran Comment Cause for the Boot

we don't need a runner up threatening countries of obliteration.

who does she think she is?
and how do her supporters defend her on this one? it seemed to slip by them.

isn't this exactly what we're trying to get away from. haven't we had enough of george bush running around threatening everyone? soon she'll be singing harmony with john mccain.
in case you missed it, she launched her thoughtless bomb right before the pennsylvania vote. but it really hasn't gotten the scrutiny it deserves.

reuters: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Tehran on Tuesday that if she were president, the United States could "totally obliterate" Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.

On the day of a crucial vote in her nomination battle against fellow Democrat Barack Obama, the New York senator said she wanted to make clear to Tehran what she was prepared to do as president in hopes that this warning would deter any Iranian nuclear attack against the Jewish state.

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel)," Clinton said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she said.

"That's a terrible thing to say but those people who run Iran need to understand that because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic," Clinton said.

Her comments appeared harder than a week ago, when during a presidential debate she promised "massive retaliation" against any Iranian attack on Israel.

Obama rejected Clinton's rhetoric as saber rattling on a day when Pennsylvania Democrats voted in a party primary contest that could help decide which Democrat will face Republican John McCain for the White House in the November general election.

Dismiss Hillary's Popular Vote Argument

better yet, just dismiss her.
if only it were that easy. anyway, her camp is arguing popular vote! popular vote! and as we've already stated here, like her bogus "big states" argument, popular vote is also bogus because you can't get an accurate count for caucus turnouts and the missing michigan and florida. a reader did however come up with some numbers here using cnn's caucus numbers.
here's some analysis at newsweek:

Here's the math. To date, 41 of the 47 states or territories to hold primaries or caucuses have released precise, undisputed popular-vote totals. In this count, according to RealClear Politics, Obama leads Clinton by 501,138 votes (14,397,506 to 13,896,368). So far, so good. But what, you ask, about the remaining six states? That's where we get into trouble.

First, there's Florida. Despite warnings from the Democratic National Committee, the Sunshine State scheduled its primary before Feb. 5--and true to its word, the party stripped the state of its delegates. That said, we're not talking about delegates; we're talking about votes. In Florida, where both Obama and Clinton were on the ballot, Clinton won by 294,772 (870,986 to 576,214). It's an open question, of course, whether a primary in which both candidates refrained from campaigning should even count. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that it should--which reduces Obama's popular-vote advantage to 206,366. Unfortunately, this doesn't help us much.

Next up is Florida's fellow gun-jumper, Michigan, where Clinton racked up 328,309 votes. Obama's total? Zero. That's because his name wasn't even listed on the ballot. On Jan. 19, Michiganders had two choices: Clinton or "uncommitted." And while "uncommitted" earned about 45 percent of the vote, it's impossible to determine what portion of that bloc backed Obama and what portion backed John Edwards, whose name was also absent. Ignoring the fact that Clinton herself said Michigan wouldn't "count for anything," this murkiness alone makes an overall popular-vote tally impractical: either you award all of the "uncommitted" votes to Obama, which would be grossly inaccurate; count Clinton's votes and leave Obama at zero, which would undoubtedly disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters; or don't include Michigan at all, which would disenfranchise even more, both pro-Clinton and pro-Obama.

That said, the worst is yet to come. The final four states--Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington--all held caucuses. But unlike Florida and Michigan, none of them even kept track of how many people voted for each candidate. (This is standard operating procedure in some caucuses, where delegates are awarded proportionally in thousands of precincts.) Wonks can devise equations to estimate the popular vote all they want, but mixing precise vote totals from other states with caucus approximations--which are, by definition, inaccurate--is mixing apples and oranges. Besides, thousands of voters in Iowa entered the caucuses intending to support Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich, but were forced to jump to Obama, Edwards or Clinton once their preferred candidate didn't reach the 15-percent viability threshold; in Nevada, the same thing happened to Edwards supporters. How can you possibly pretend to count people required to resort to their second choices?

The fact is, the Democratic Party has only one mechanism in place for deciding the nomination: delegates. The system is simply not equipped to produce an accurate tally of popular votes.

Obama Outdoors in Blue Bell

i almost don't want to post this video because it's done in pennsylvania and i'm still seething, but it's outdoors and it is a good primer for those who aren't familiar with obama on the issues. he's been drowned out as of late by a bitter hillary, mad cause obama didn't wait his turn.
and this story, hillary r. clinton will you please go now, is a fun read.

Nebraska Superdelegate for Obama

obama's second superdelegate today.

LINCOLN, Neb. – Audra Ostergard, Associate Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and member of the Democratic National Committee, publicly announced her support for Senator Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

“I have carefully weighed input from Democrats across Nebraska and closely watched results from primaries and caucuses across the country,” said Ostergard. “There are compelling arguments for supporting both candidates, but my decision came down to what’s best for our country and for Nebraska. In that regard, I am confident in my decision to endorse Senator Obama. He has a proven ability to activate Democrats in Nebraska.”

“The gravity of this decision has weighed on me heavily,” Ostergard added. “I don’t want to use my position to influence the process, but at the same time I agree with Howard Dean that our party needs a nominee. Senator Obama’s prohibitive lead in pledged delegates was a major factor in my decision.”
Ostergard, 41, is a publishing representative in Lincoln. By virtue of her position as Associate Chair in the Nebraska Democratic Party, she is a member of the Democratic National Committee and therefore automatically a delegate to the Democratic Party’s National Convention in August.

All six of Nebraska’s Unpledged Party Leaders and Elected Official Delegates (also known as “superdelegates”) have now endorsed Senator Obama. U.S. Senator Ben Nelson, Committeman Vince Powers, Committeewoman Kathleen Fahey, and Committeman Frank La Mere all endorsed prior to Nebraska’s February 9th Caucus. NDP Chairman Steve Achelpohl announced his support last week.

Let's Call In the Superdelegates!

it's time to push hillary out. she can't win, so why let her drag everyone down with her. even the new york times, which endorsed hillary, has written a scathing review of her rotten campaign.

nyt: It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Why Hillary Makes Us Scream

this story says it all. this blog makes me feel better.
but first, here's why hillary makes me scream. she exploits the people whose support she seeks (and they don't even realize it, how cunning), she's mean and dastardly, her voice is shrill, she promises, promises, promises things she'll never be able to keep, she's an exaggerator at best and a liar at worst, she's fake, she bores me, she's a power-hungry maven who's trying to destroy obama, who could be this country's best hope for meaningful change. lastly, she's got bill attached to her and it wasn't long ago when bill really let this country down. if it wasn't for bill, we probably wouldn't have gotten dick cheney and sidekick george bush to start.

this is a must-read:

the nation: ....But as the Obama campaign gained momentum, Hillary began morphing into the persona that has my pacifist wife screaming at the television set.

Going negative doesn't begin to describe what has happened. Hillary is going over the edge. Even worse are the flacks she sends before the cameras on her behalf, like that Kiki person, who smirks and shakes her head at the camera every time she fields a question. Or the real carnivores, like Howard Wolfson, Lanny Davis and James Carville, whose sneering smugness prevents countless women like my wife from considering Hillary at all.

To use the current terminology, Hillary people are bitter people, even more bitter than the white working-class voters Barack has talked about. Because they circle the wagons so tightly, they don't recognize how identical, self-reinforcing and out-of-touch they are.

To take just one example, the imagined association between Barack Obama and Bill Ayers will suffice. Hillary is blind to her own roots in the sixties. In one college speech she spoke of ecstatic transcendence; in another, she said, "Our social indictment has broadened. Where once we exposed the quality of life in the world of the South and the ghettos, now we condemn the quality of work in factories and corporations. Where once we assaulted the exploitation of man, now we decry the destruction of nature as well. How much long can we let corporations run us?"

She was in Chicago for three nights during the 1968 street confrontations. She chaired the 1970 Yale law school meeting where students voted to join a national student strike again an "unconscionable expansion of a war that should never have been waged." She was involved in the New Haven defense of Bobby Seale during his murder trial in 1970, as the lead scheduler of student monitors. She surely agreed with Yale president Kingman Brewster that a black revolutionary couldn't get a fair trial in America. She wrote that abused children were citizens with the same rights as their parents.

Most significantly in terms of her recent attacks on Barack, after Yale law school, Hillary went to work for the left-wing Bay Area law firm of Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein, which specialized in Black Panthers and West Coast labor leaders prosecuted for being communists. Two of the firm's partners, according to Treuhaft, were communists and the two others "tolerated communists". Then she went on to Washington to help impeach Richard Nixon, whose career was built on smearing and destroying the careers of people through vague insinuations about their backgrounds and associates. (All these citations can be found in Carl Bernstein's sympathetic 2007 Clinton biography, A Woman in Charge.)

All these were honorable words and associations in my mind, but doesn't she see how the Hillary of today would accuse the Hillary of the sixties of associating with black revolutionaries who fought gun battles with police officers, and defending pro-communist lawyers who backed communists? Doesn't the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whom Hillary attacks today, represent the very essence of the black radicals Hillary was associating with in those days? And isn't the Hillary of today becoming the same kind of guilt-by-association insinuator as the Richard Nixon she worked to impeach?

It is as if Hillary Clinton is engaged in a toxic transmission onto Barack Obama of every outrageous insult and accusation ever inflicted on her by the American right over the decades. She is running against what she might have become. Too much politics dries the soul of the idealist.

It is abundantly clear that the Clintons, working with FOX News and manipulating old Clinton staffers like George Stephanopoulos, are trying, at least unconsciously, to so damage Barack Obama that he will be perceived as "unelectable" to Democratic superdelegates. It is also clear that the campaign of defamation against Obama has resulted in higher negative ratings for Hillary Clinton. She therefore is threatening the Democratic Party's chances for the White House, whether or not she is the nominee. more