OBAMA DAILY NEWS Tuesday March-04-2008

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WELCOME TO THE OBAMA DAILY NEWS THREAD

Tuesday March-04-2008


Senator Barack Obama at a briefing on Monday in San Antonio

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1. Millionairess Clinton, Walmart and Those Blood-Sucking Unions

About that $54 Million Question to Hillary and Why Hillary's Tax Returns May Never See the Light of Day

Did you ever wonder why Hillary Clinton doesn't ever cite her executive experience at WalMart?

~~~~~~~~~~~~I'm sure that would absolutely kill on the stump in Ohio.~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clinton Remained Silent As Wal-Mart Fought Unions

Tapes Reviewed by ABC News Show Clinton As a Loyal Company Woman



By BRIAN ROSS, MADDY SAUER and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
Jan. 31, 2008

In six years as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, between 1986 and 1992, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world's largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers.

Clinton has been endorsed for president by more than a dozen unions, according to her campaign Web site, which omits any reference to her role at Wal-Mart in its detailed biography of her.

Wal-Mart's anti-union efforts were headed by one of Clinton's fellow board members, John Tate, a Wal-Mart executive vice president who also served on the board with Clinton for four of her six years.

Tate was fond of repeating, as he did at a managers meeting in 2004 after his retirement, what he said was his favorite phrase, "Labor unions are nothing but blood-sucking parasites living off the productive labor of people who work for a living."

the rest of the article and videos at the link

Clinton was a corporate lawyer who sat on the board at WalMart for 6 years.

Hillary and Bill Clinton were broke when they left the White House, and now they're worth at least $54 Million.
You didn't think she was going to stay broke, did you?

Compare that to Barack Obama who was a Civil Rights Lawyer and organized communities. Obama has released his tax returns.

[grantcart]

35. Good morning kick

[grantcart]

46. add DNC Mary Long (GA) for Obama

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2. Obama Republicans Carry Weight

Obama Republicans Carry Weight

In Texas and Ohio, Non-Democrats Play Potentially Decisive Role
By NICK TIMIRAOS and AMY CHOZICK March 4, 2008; Page A6

SAN ANTONIO -- Sen. Barack Obama is courting an unlikely constituency to try to deliver a knockout blow to Sen. Hillary Clinton today: Republicans and independents who supported President Bush.

In the final days of his campaign, Sen. Obama has turned his attention to wringing extra votes out of big cities and their suburbs. Today's Democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio, as well as Texas' caucuses, are open to Republicans and independents, and with Arizona Sen. John McCain nearly wrapping up the Republican nomination, Republican voters may be looking more closely at the contested Democratic race.



There are plenty of reasons for the phenomenon, including Republican disenchantment with their party and their distrust of Sen. McCain, as well as their strong dislike for Sen. Clinton. To be sure, with the McCain nomination all but locked up, some Republicans may cross over in today's primaries just to support whichever candidate they think will be more beatable in November.

But then there are Republicans like Dale Gaubatz, who voted for President Bush twice. He says he has donated about $100 to the Obama campaign and signed up as a local volunteer. He says he supports Sen. Obama because of his foresight in predicting an expensive and costly war in Iraq. "We got into that with no long-term strategy," said the 34-year-old college enrollment director and military reservist from Boerne, Texas, at a rally in a San Antonio suburb last week.

...Carol Andrzejewski, 63, is such a voter. At an Obama event in Parma Heights, Ohio, on Saturday, the two-time Bush supporter said she was ready to vote tomorrow for Sen. Obama. "Please don't tell my husband," she said. "He'd be furious."

full story at the link

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3. Obama Top Choice in American University Survey (Youth Vote)

Obama Top Choice in American University Survey

By Sakina Rangwala aand Liz Anderson Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, March 3, 2008; 9:00 AM

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) emerged as the leading candidate among 128 young people surveyed online by American University last month.

The junior senator from Illinois received 71 percent of the vote among those who had voted or were planning to vote in a Democratic primary, while Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y) received 12 percent of their primary votes. Among Republican primary voters surveyed, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) received 41 percent of their votes, followed by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), a favorite among some young people, who garnered 18 percent of the respondents' votes; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney trailed with 15 percent and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee drew 10 percent of the respondents' votes.

When young voters in the survey were asked to volunteer the name the candidate they would vote for if the presidential election were held today, Obama came in first, with 54 percent of the respondents choosing him. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) came in second place, with 19 percent of the respondents selecting him as their presidential candidate of choice. Approximately 10 percent of the respondents chose Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as their presidential candidate. Reflecting national trends so far in voting by young people in primaries, Obama was the choice of both young men and young women in the AU online interviews, despite the fact that several of those surveyed said they admire Clinton as the first woman who could be elected president.

McCain's personal history as a war hero, along with his views and experience, were cited by a number of those surveyed as reasons why they would vote for him. Matt Grashoff, a senior at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, said, "If Obama is the Democratic nominee, I will vote for him. If Clinton is the nominee, I will vote for McCain-not because I necessarily dislike Clinton, but more because I have a great deal of respect for McCain."

more at the link

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4. Another Sobering Call - Taking the Call on Black Men

Another Sobering Call » Richard Cohen | "It is a subtle but pernicious form of racism to turn one's back on what is happening to young black men."

Taking the Call on Black Men

By Richard Cohen Tuesday, March 4, 2008; Page A19

What if the White House phone rang in the middle of the night and the president was told that one in every nine black men ages 20 to 34 was behind bars? What if the red phone rang at 3 a.m. and the president was told that among black men 18 or older, the figure was one in 15? If the president was like any of his (or her) predecessors, he'd pull the blankets over his face and go right back to sleep.

The hypothetical 3 a.m. phone call, used by Hillary Clinton in a campaign commercial last week, strongly suggests a foreign policy crisis in "a dangerous world." Lord knows there could be such a thing. But also last week, the Pew Center on the States issued a report on incarceration rates -- high for the nation as a whole but astoundingly high for young black men -- that was its own sort of wake-up call. Yet, predictably, as a news story it had the briefest of shelf lives. On to Prince Harry and his merry adventures in Afghanistan.

But those incarceration figures represent an enormous challenge to the next president. It is a challenge Barack Obama, for obvious reasons, is uniquely qualified to meet. This is not just because he can be a role model for young black men, who as a group are in a perilous state. It is because he sees himself playing exactly that role.

...Hillary Clinton has a point. This is a dangerous world. But all sorts of creeping crises are coming at our backs. High -- very high -- on that list has to be what has happened to poor and underclass black men. As a segment of society, they have proved impervious to progress -- whether it is the abatement of racism (Obama's success so far cannot be ignored) or the enlargement of opportunity through affirmative action and other programs that have made college, for example, available to everyone. Clearly, something new has to be tried. When that White House phone rings, for this most urgent among other reasons, it is Obama who should answer it.

read the full article here

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5. Hillary Has Found Her Voice and It's Republican

Hillary isn't just using the Republican playbook, she's releasing her own edition.

Hillary Has Found Her Voice and It's Republican

by Bussta Brown. TPM March 3, 2008, 11:50PM

After months of chameleon-like changes with her campaign strategies, Hillary Clinton has finally found her true voice. Surprise, surprise, it's Republican! With all the venom of a Karl Rove or the late Lee Atwater, who to his credit sought forgiveness for his actions, Hillary has unleashed a barrage of innuendos, record distortions, fear-mongering, race-baiting, and flat out lies aimed towards Barack Obama, that would make most right-winged Republicans recoil.

Hillary isn't just using the Republican playbook, she's releasing her own edition. It's a win at any cost strategy that will surely cost Democratic Party unity in November. If Hillary benefits from her ill-advised tactics, in the fall a lot of people will have to decide which Republican candidate is more acceptable. Today in a vote between Hillary and John McCain, I choose McCain.

Right now for Democrats and voters at large, the choices couldn't be clearer. If we want more of the same old rhetoric, the same old Democrat/Republican partisanship, the same old Red State/Blue State mentality, the same old class/race/religion divisiveness, the same old war, the same old Machiavellian Clintonism, which has revealed its true stripes with an air of entitlement, then vote for Hillary Clinton.

more at the link

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6. Bush and Republicans expect - and hope, Hillary Clinton is the Dem Nominee

President Bush and the Republicans expect — and hope, they say — Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

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7. Oh, Krugman . . . The Part Krugman Leaves Out

Oh, Krugman....

The Part Krugman Leaves Out By chris - March 3, 2008

I'm guessing mine won't be the first diary hashing out Krugman's latest attack on Obama and it certainly won't be the last. Other diaries will hopefully offer the kind of point by point deconstruction that I provided back in December.

"Krugman is singling out Obama here but giving Hillary a pass. Hillary's campaign has never really emphasized progressive philosophy in any meaningful way"...

To Krugman this campaign is all about who talks a progressive game.Ironically, the person who Krugman believes best spoke that language -
Edwards - himself offered some very centrist things on health care, for example (he supported a neoliberal solution and pooh-poohed
single-payer).

But as we are left with two candidates - Edwards has been gone for over a month - it is reasonable to ask if Krugman's criticisms of Obama are
sufficient to suggest Obama would be a bad nominee.

...Perhaps Obama is guilty of some or all of these charges. But why single him out in a column, Krugman? By not pointing out how unprogressive Hillary is on the issues, he is doing his readers a significant disservice.

full blog at the link

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8. New Digest From Texas

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4855436&mesg_id=4872810

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9. Pictures from today's events with Michelle Obama

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4855436&mesg_id=4872646

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10. Excuse me, Ambassador Wilson (Bill Clinton knew ....)

Excuse me, Ambassador Wilson

By Christopher Williams - March 3, 2008

Bill Clinton knew the true intentions of the Bush administration. He wrote about them in his pro-Blair op-ed in the Guardian. So color me skeptical when Amb. Joe Wilson, whom I consider a great American hero, tells us that he and everyone else in Washington were snookered with disinformation by Bush. He should have read Bill Clinton's op-ed at the time. First Amb. Wilson today on the HuffPo:

"I was involved in that debate in every step of the effort to prevent this senseless war and I profoundly resent Obama's distortion of George Bush's folly into Hillary Clinton's responsibility. I was in the middle of the debate in Washington. Obama wasn't there. I remember what was said and done. In fact, the administration lied in order to secure support for its war of choice, including cooking the intelligence and misleading Congress about the intent of the authorization. Senator Clinton's position, stated in her floor speech, was in favor of allowing the United Nations weapons inspectors to complete their mission and to build a broad international coalition. Bush rejected her path. It was his war of choice."

Forgive me if I re-quote (as in a previous blog) Bill Clinton's own words in a Guardian op-ed prior to the war. The bold throughout this posting is mine.

"In the face of the foot dragging, hawks in America have been pushing for an immediate attack on Iraq. Some of them want regime change for reasons other than disarmament, and, therefore, they have discredited the inspection process from the beginning; they did not want it to succeed. Because military action probably will require only a few days, they believe the world community will quickly unite on rebuilding Iraq as soon as Saddam is deposed."

It was clear to Pres. Clinton, in his own words, that these "hawks" had other intentions. These same "hawks" were the ones running Bush's foreign policy. It is too much of a stretch to believe that Pres. Clinton actually did not foresee the consequences of handing war authority to such a win-at-all-costs pack. That he would be candid on the pages of the Guardian, but not share these views with his wife in the Senate is too ridiculous to fathom. Evidently, the prospect of the US prevailing victoriously, as he writes, may have had more to do with Senator Clinton's vote. After all, no one wants to vote against a military victory for America. They knew the stakes, but they instead chose, as Molly Ivins said, to triangulate.

read the full article at the link

And a great comment posted to the OP:

"there's this one big problem with Amb. Wilson's assertions: EVERYBODY who was following the debate at the time knew that Bush and company wanted to go to war. Those of us around the country who watched the Senate vote on the use of force knew the Senate was being asked to endorse a war. Is Wilson telling us that people in Washington DIDN'T KNOW AS MUCH AS WE DID???"

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. Texas preview: Demographic and county level analysis. Where are the Obama and Clinton Strongholds?

usregimechange posteds some charts and analysis here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4872513

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12. A Defining Moment

A Defining Moment

By DAVID BROOKS Published: March 4, 2008

The Democratic presidential primary campaign began around Christmas 2006, and it may end Tuesday night. But of all the days between then and now, the most important was Nov. 10, 2007.

On that day, the Democratic Party of Iowa held its Jefferson-Jackson dinner and invited the candidates to speak. ...Hillary Clinton gave a rousing partisan speech. ...She described how change was going to come about in this country: through fighting. She used the word “fight” or “fought” 15 times in one passage of the speech, fighting for health care, fighting for education and women’s rights. Then she vowed to “turn up the heat” on Republicans. “They deserve all the heat we can give them!” she roared.

...And Barack Obama leapt right in.

Then he made a broader attack on the political class, and without mentioning her, threw Clinton in with the decrepit old order. “The same old Washington textbook campaigns just won’t do,” he said, in a now familiar line. He said it was time to “finally tackle problems that George Bush made far worse but that had festered long before George Bush ever took office — the problems that we’ve talked about year after year after year.”

Obama sketched out a different theory of social change than the one Clinton had implied earlier in the evening. Instead of relying on a president who fights for those who feel invisible, Obama, in the climactic passage of his speech, described how change bubbles from the bottom-up: “And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world!”

...more at the link

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13. Olbermann blasts Hillary over her republican tactics

Video here

"This week-end, Hillary Clinton just went Ronald Reagan one better...

3 months after telling Iowa Democrats that she should go after republicans instead of democrats...

Hillary released her own version of the "Daisy Ad"...Only she can be trusted with the nations safety."

....Olbermann: somebody answer the damn phone!

Clinton's advisors were asked about where Hillary has been tested by crises, and they had serious trouble answer.

"Her advisors did not name one foreign policy crisis..."

Echo of republican party tactics....Tactics denounced by (Bill Clinton)....

[grantcart]

14. Exhaustive review of Texas here

by USREGIMECHANGE


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4872513

[grantcart]

15. YOUR MORNING NEWS

* Test your Barack Obama IQ - Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama-quiz,1,4539575.triviaquiz
* Poll shows Dems tied in Texas - Fort Worth Star-Telegram http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/506131.html
* Barack Obama Texas primary night plans announced - KEYE CBS 42 http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=8f5e3e4b-3e7f-430a-b0d5-a628fbce86d0
* Youth turnout is about a lot more than Obama - Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5586394.html
* For some mixed-race couples, Obama is a symbol of acceptance - Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-interracialobama_03pol.ART.State.Edition1.461fccb.html
* El Paso experts say Obama should win in Texas - El Paso Times http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_8422593?source=most_viewed
* Why Texas is Obama Territory - Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/obama-texas-primary.html
* Clinton feminists frustrated at shift toward Obama - LA Times http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5586409.html
* Microtrends vs. Macrotrends: Why Obama Is Winning - AlterNet http://www.alternet.org/election08/78410/
* Obama Connects with Hispanic Evangelicals in Texas - Christian Post http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080303/31399_Obama_Connects_with_Hispanic_Evangelicals_in_Texas.htm
* Obama rides wave into Texas - Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/02/obama_rides_wave_into_texas/?page=1
* East Texas may hold key to Democratic primary - Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5585063.html
* Release of Democratic caucus results is at issue - Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/030108dntexconventions.3606f8b.html
* The Kitchen Sink - Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/id/76953
* Texas Democrats choose delegates in confusing way - Statesman http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/03/02/0302delegates.html
* Obama addresses poverty, immigration with religious leaders - Brownsville Herald http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/obama_84846___article.html/texas_questions.html


http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/news/02/WEB0217texdemdelegates.pdf

[grantcart]

16. 644

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4855436&mesg_id=4855555

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. Is Mark Penn Distancing Himself From Clinton Campaign (failures)?

Mark Penn's E-mail

03 Mar 2008 Marc Ambinder

There are important political stories of the day, and then there are the juicy stories of the day. Here's some of the that sweet nectar:

As the campaign faces a make-or-break moment, some high-level officials are trying to play down their role in the campaign. Penn said in an e-mail over the weekend that he had "no direct authority in the campaign," describing himself as merely "an outside message advisor with no campaign staff reporting to me."

"I have had no say or involvement in four key areas -- the financial budget and resource allocation, political or organizational sides. Those were the responsibility of Patti Solis Doyle, Harold Ickes and Mike Henry, and they met separately on all matters relating to those areas."

Howard Wolfson, the campaign's communications chief, answered that it was Penn who had top responsibility for both its strategy and message. Another aide said Penn spoke to Clinton routinely about the campaign's message and ran daily meetings on the topic.

First, giving a quote like this to a reporter while your candidate remains viable is like the NTSB issuing a report on an airplane before it's crashed.

Second -- Penn's statement is literally accurate but macroscopically misleading. He has no direct reports, but he has something worth 700 of them: Hillary's cell phone number and e-mail, and permission to call her whenever he wants. Also: Bill's cell phone and e-mail.

more at the link

[flor de jasmim]

18. If he has so little influence, she's paying him WAY too much! n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. $10 million n/t

[grantcart]

19. Our Future First Lady in Texas

http://blog.texansforobama.com /

Pictures from today's events with Michelle Obama
by: Ian
Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 22:37:56 PM CST
We had two great events today with Michelle Obama at our UT and East Austin volunteer offices. After Michelle spoke, we all went block-walking despite the bitter cold weather. Thanks to all our volunteers for your dedication. Needless to say, we didn't see any Clinton block-walkers out on the streets tonight.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

21. Team Clinton: Penn Skedaddle 'Disgusting' -- We'll Deal With Him Later

Tucker asking Tubbs Jones why Mark Penn is distancing himself from the Clinton Campaign!

Team Clinton: Penn Skedaddle 'Disgusting' -- We'll Deal With Him Later

By Mark Finkelstein | March 3, 2008

"We'll deal with him later." -- Clinton co-chair Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, on Mark Penn.

"It's disgusting for him to do this . . . that's just disgusting." -- Clinton supporter Hilary Rosen.

Mark Penn sleeps with the fishes. Metaphorically speaking only, of course.

On this evening's Tucker, Hillary's chief campaign strategist came in for some industrial-strength opprobrium from two prominent Clinton supporters for his attempt to flee what might be a sinking ship.

View video here.

Tucker says the Clinton campaign gave this guy (Penn) $10 million, so why is he (Penn) still there?

article linked here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. The Field: Hillary's "3 AM ad" BOMBED BIG TIME in Texas

posted by beachmom:

I prefer to wait for the actual results; however, I thought what he had to say about that "Be Scared!" ad and the reaction to it in TX was very interesting:

You heard it here, first: Clinton’s “3 a.m. ad” has backfired in the Lone Star state.

...On power-rotation on Texas TV, Mark Penn’s wet dream of finally getting to go full-powered nasty against Obama is not only the laughing stock of YouTube but also among most young Texans, including young Hispanic Texan voters, and no small number of elder ones, too.

more at the link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4870351&mesg_id=4870351

how about kicking and recommending this one!

[goclark]

28. k

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. $54 Million Question- Where Was Hillary's Kitchen Sink During Bush Cheney Reign of Terror?

The $54 Million Question - Where was Hillary's Kitchen Sink Strategy during Bush/Cheney Reign of Terror, and Why won't Hillary provide her tax returns before March primaries?

How did the Clintons, who left the White House in debt (because of Bill´s legal bills) end up with "UPWARDS OF $54 MILLION."

What does Hillary have to hide from Ohio's jobless victims of NAFTA?

Does Hillary's "Kitchen Sink Strategy" include throwing the Democratic Party under the bus? Many have said just that.


William Huges at the American Chronicle:

"At the moment, she running very badly for the Democratic Party´s presidential nomination.
Her negative, attack-dog campaign tactics are also dragging the party down with her.
Where was her kitchen sink during the Bush Cheney Reign of terror?"

Read it all at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. TRUE! Hilary keeps TX Press Corps in Mens Room

Posted at Daily Kos, this is unbelievable but it IS true.

Hilary keeps TX Press Corps in Mens Room

by gravity
Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 07:02:26 PM PST
At first I thought this was a joke.



It's no joke. Read about it on the TIME Magazine blog! Hilary's TX press corps filing room is in a men's bathroom in Austin's Berger Activity Center.

"These accommodations should in no way be taken as a commentary on the quality of our media coverage," said Clinton spokesman Doug Hattaway.

Gosh, thanks! And she has the gall to complain about media bias. Me, I think this is proof positive that she's really a Republican, complete with McCain endorsement.

please.. make it stop...

gravity's diary :: ::

more at the link
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/3/22057/14231/571/468276

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. TEXAS - Clinton draws 700, Obama draws 6,000

On a more serious note:

Senator Clinton flew from Ohio to Texas to do one single event in Texas (from where she will fly back to Ohio) and drew, according to the Austin American-Statesman, just 700 people to her event…
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/03/04/0304govote.html

Obama drew 6,000 in Houston tonight

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/03/obama_were_on_t.html

[ginnyinWI]

41. on TV it's a real competitive horse race, but

on the ground it's a way-out-in-front 7-length lead for Obama!

Sooner or later TV media is going to have to acknowledge the truth.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

26. Clinton supporter & womens rights advocate defects to Obama

Hillary Campaign supporter, fund raiser, and leading advocate on women's rights
defects to Obama over Hillary's deception on Obama's stance on womens rights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVuMYKs8iJs

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. OH MAN. Analyst on MSNBC just said Obama could net MORE DELEGATES out of VT than Clinton can from OH

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4875020

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

29. Clinton campaign's dying light

Clinton campaign's dying light

We've seen the rage. She should now go gentle into the political night. By Jonathan Chait March 4, 2008
'Do not go gentle into that good night. ... Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'

Clinton has almost no chance of winning the nomination. Going into today's big votes in Texas and Ohio, she trails by more than 150 pledged delegates.

If she has an unexpectedly great day, she might gain by a couple dozen, but her best chances to gain ground will all be behind her. She could, in theory, win the nomination with superdelegates if she could narrow the gap, but that's not going to happen. Barack Obama will bring a triple-digit delegate lead to the convention, and party elites won't dare overturn that.

Clinton and her supporters rage on anyway because, for so long, they had no inkling she might lose. For Obama to take what is rightfully hers must be unfair. The Clintonites rage against the media (though they didn't mind when reporters parroted her claims of inevitability a year ago), the unrepresentative caucus system (though they have expressed no objection to totally undemocratic superdelegates) or sexism (while ignoring the benefits of white racial bias and female gender solidarity). The real reason Clinton will lose is more prosaic: Obama is a far better politician.

... Bill Clinton defeated a recession-weakened president with some help from a third-party spoiler, stopped the GOP from cutting highly popular social programs, won reelection during an economic boom and rallied his own party to thwart a wildly partisan impeachment crusade. None of these triumphs required unusual political skill.

Hillary Clinton has tried to piggyback on her husband's ferocious reputation, boasting that she "beat the Republican attack machine." Of course, if anybody beat the Republican attack machine, it was Bill. Hillary Clinton wasn't on any ballot in the 1990s. True, her reputation was at stake, but that's a fight she lost: She ended that decade a highly unpopular figure. She remains one today, with about half of the public persistently telling pollsters they have an unfavorable view of her.

...Has Clinton been unfairly attacked? Without a doubt. But she's also a mediocre orator who delivers themeless and not-terribly-inspiring speeches. She's a good enough politician to get elected in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, but not good enough to get elected president.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. Hillary: ‘Ready to Lie From Day 1′ About Venezuela

Hillary: ‘Ready to Lie From Day 1′ About Venezuela

by Robert Naiman February 28, 2008 by The Huffington Post

Mark Penn might try out this new sound bite for Hillary Clinton: “Ready to lie from Day 1.”

Exhibit A, as noted in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal: this week she claimed that Venezuela is a dictatorship.The Journal reports:

In a major speech yesterday at George Washington University, Sen. Clinton drove the wedge deeper:

“If I am entrusted with the presidency, America will have the courage, once again, to meet with our adversaries.
But I will not be penciling in the leaders of Iran or North Korea or Venezuela or Cuba on the presidential calendar
without preconditions; until we have assessed, through lower-level diplomacy, the motivations and intentions of these dictators.”

So, according to Senator Hillary Clinton, the leader of Venezuela is a dictator.

It’s hard to imagine that Hillary is so uninformed — and has such incompetent foreign policy advisers —
that she doesn’t know that President Hugo Chávez and his government have won multiple elections that
were characterized as free and fair by international observers. But if she knows this, then she is lying.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

31. How We Arrived at this Endgame

How We Arrived at this Endgame

By E. J. Dionne Real Clear Politics March 04, 2008

Against anyone else but Obama, Clinton could have counted on strong support from African-Americans. Against an Adlai Stevenson-Gary Hart-Paul Tsongas-Bill Bradley sort of reformer, she would have assembled the "regular" Democratic coalition: blue-collar whites allied with black voters. This, more or less, is how Walter Mondale, Bill Clinton and Al Gore all prevailed in the primaries. Against a centrist, Clinton would have won the liberals. Her strength among women would have provided her with additional ballast.

Obama not only created an alliance between African-Americans and upscale reform voters, he also changed the composition of the Democratic electorate by drawing in hundreds of thousands of voters under the age of 30. If Obama prevails, historians will see him as the first Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt to bring a whole new constituency into the system. That, the political scientists tell us, is how realignments happen.

Obama changed the dynamic in another way: As my Brookings Institution colleague (and Clinton supporter) William Galston says, Clinton ran the last campaign of the 20th century while Obama ran the first campaign of the 21st century. Galston argues that Clinton ran a first-rate version of the last century's campaign -- her fundraising by past standards was impressive.

...Obama reached out to bloggers without pandering to them. In 2005, the blogosphere went after Sen. Pat Leahy for supporting the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice. Although Obama opposed Roberts, he defended Leahy against criticisms he called "knee-jerk," "unfair," and "dogmatic."

At a stroke (as it were), Obama did two things at once. He established himself as a unifier capable of, as he likes to say, "disagreeing without being disagreeable." And he demonstrated his respect for the blogosphere by arguing with its members in their own space.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

32. Hillary, only you can save us - from yourself

Hillary, only you can save us - from yourself

By Margery Eagan. Boston Herald. Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Dear Hillary,

I need a favor. I know. If I were you, I’d tell me to drop dead after all my catty remarks about electric-yellow pantsuits and Botox (Did you or didn’t you?) and that non-stop nodding-your-head-up-and-down thing you do, like some marionette’s tic you’ve developed on the stump. What’s that about?

But here’s my favor nonetheless: If you don’t win big today (you may, we know, who dares count a Clinton out!) but if you don’t win big today, then please, PLEASE, step aside. Throw in the towel. Give it up.

For party unity, Democratic elders whisper louder every day. Me? Who cares about unity? I care about me, my sanity, my state of exhaustion as I hop out of bed at 2 a.m. to check the latest polls on RealClearPolitics.com, like some cokehead desperate for a line, or some blow, as Obama-O-Perfect might say.

...
Clearly, Hillary, you’ve proven you’re a fighter. The problem is, the rest of us are fighting, too. Over you. The problem is, we’ve been fighting over you, or Bill, or both, for 16 years. And I, for one, can’t take it anymore.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. How to Make Your Own Predictions on Election Night and Scoop the Networks–Ohio

How to Make Your Own Predictions on Election Night and Scoop the Networks–Ohio

Ralph Brauer at "The Strange Death of Liberal America" 03 Mar 2008

The “Make Your Own Prediction” guide now turns its attention to Ohio.

First, some background. Since yesterday, the Clinton campaign has become even coyer about what they will do if various scenarios play out. There are two known factors. First, as several commentators have pointed out, Hillary Clinton will still have a substantial amount of cash left after Tuesday. She can afford to continue the campaign. Second, unless Barack Obama wins big on Tuesday and then wins big the rest of the way, he will not control enough delegates to win the nomination. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has boxed itself into a corner with the superdelegates idea.

One way or another, it is becoming clear a bunch of Party officials will decide this race not the people. They could decide to ratify Obama’s lead and throw their votes to him or they could just as easily throw them to Clinton. With either scenario, neither side will be happy with the decision.

...For election night tracking Cuyahoga County’s problem will prove as troublesome as Texas’ primary/caucus system. Where the Texas polls closing at 7:00 will probably result in a huge crush at the end of the voting, Cuyahoga County will present the opposite problem. Because officials there will want to deflect any charges of a miscount, they will not be quick in counting ballots. That means where in Texas the data may come in one big gulp, in Ohio it may trickle in. Some predict Cuyahoga County will not be done counting until Wednesday, meaning we may not know the winner until then.

The latest polling data for Ohio are less volatile than Texas.



The Bottom Line

Clinton has to have Ohio. If she loses here, then she will have lost in a state that resembles the profile of the states she has won. At that point she should withdraw. However, if she wins–especially if she wins by a comfortable margin–this race is not over.

Ohio also has a tough voter ID law that will make registering at the polls difficult. Here is the Secretary of State on that issue:

Every voter will be required to provide proof of identity before voting. The form of identification that you may use includes your current and valid photo identification card, military identification, copy of utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or government document showing your name and current address.

Given Clinton’s lead and the tough ID law, it will be difficult for Obama to bring in the last-minute voters that have helped him in other campaigns.
....

Your Tally Sheet

Tune in tomorrow night. Let’s have some fun with this.



more analysis at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

34. Lone Star Liberals Are Back

Lone Star Liberals Are Back

By MIMI SWARTZ. New York Times. March 4, 2008

...Certainly, Barack Obama deserves ample credit for the Texas Democrats’ return from the dead. He has generated the inspirational enthusiasm here that he has elsewhere. Voter turnout in Texas is expected to be vastly higher than it’s been in years: the total turnout here in Harris County in the first four days of early voting — 50,997 — was more than the 35,381 total turnout for the entire early voting period of the 2004 primary.

These numbers, as just about everyone knows, aren’t exactly a tribute to the opportunity to elect the first woman to the presidency. In fact, when Senator Clinton evoked Ann Richards in the Austin debate a few weeks ago, I was reminded that both women were victims of trends they could do little about: in Ms. Richards’s case, the huge Republican shift in Texas, and in Senator Clinton’s case, the “Obamanon,” as my pithy editor, Evan Smith, likes to call it


...But within the national Republican Party, Mr. Rove’s clever analysis ran into ingrained attitudes. President Bush’s reform efforts spawned an anti-immigrant reaction among Republicans that Mexican-Americans found despicable, and helped put Texas in play again. Latinos may not come through for Senator Clinton on Tuesday as she had hoped — anecdotal evidence suggests Mexican-Americans are split now along generational lines between her and Senator Obama — but they have shown little to no enthusiasm for the Republican Party.

...As Hillary Clinton has learned, the Texas of today is a very different place from the one that elected Ann Richards and George Bush. We have also given more sons to an unpopular war than any other state, while here at home, life just isn’t that much better than it was back in 1994, when the Republicans made so many promises.

more at the link

[Coexist]

36. News for tomorrow: 50 more Superdelegates and February fundraising #s

as well as 1.5 million calls made from volunteers.

No matter what the outcome - Obama will OWN the newscycle tomorrow!
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Waiting_for_tomorrow.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

37. Are Conservatives in Canada Coordinating with US Right Wingers to Defeat the Dems?

Don't forget how Hillary is helping the conservatives either.

Are Conservatives in Canada Coordinating with US Right Wingers to Defeat the Dems?

Chris Bowers, Open Left March 4, 2008.

Is conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper trying to sabotage Barack Obama's campaign?

...So, the Canadian conservative prime minister is calling Barack Obama two-faced on NAFTA at the exact same moment that John McCain is indicating that Canada might pull out its troops on Afghanistan if we make too much a stink about NAFTA? That strikes me as more than a little suspicious. In fact, it strikes me as a directly coordinated attack by McCain and Harper to neutralize McCain on trade during the general election. It wouldn't be the first time Harper and Republican leaders have coordinated, given that Harper uses Republican pollsters and the conservative movements in both countries are deeply intertwined. Further, in addition to making Obama look like a two-face panderer who will anger key international allies, this attack serves a triple purpose of weakening Obama by extending the Democratic primary, which might (I emphasize might) further weaken Obama in the general election. Other conservatives, such as Rush Limbaugh, are already pushing supporters to vote for Clinton for exactly this same reason.

...I generally agree with Josh Marshall on this one: the whole thing stinks of cross-border conservative coordination on the presidential campaign. The plus side is that not only is what Harper doing probably unpopular in Canada, but that in the general election Obama can probably appear with opposition leaders like Layton or Stephanie Dion to reinforce his position on the issue. That way, not only does Obama's position gain credibility, but his victory might even bring down the Canadian conservative government.

more at the link

[catgirl]

38. Tom Brokaw Says Obama Has 50 More Superdelegates in His BacK Pocket

NBC News superreporter cites a source “very close to the Obama campaign” who says the additional superdelegates are “ready to go public before too long.”

http://thepage.time.com/2008/03/04/tom-brokaw-says-obama-has-50-more-superdelegates-in-his-back-pocket/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

39. Hillary Goes Orwellian on Iraq

"The gift of freedom" is a curious way to describe an unprovoked invasion and occupation causing hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and leaving just about every aspect of life chaotic.

Hillary Goes Orwellian on Iraq

Andrew Gumbel, 03.04.2008

Hillary Clinton may fancy she opposes the war in Iraq, but she has a funny way of showing it. On Monday night in Austin, she had this to say about what the United States military has done over the past five years:

"We have given them the gift of freedom, the greatest gift you can give someone. Now it is really up to them to determine whether they will take that gift."

There was nothing accidental about this line. She delivered it in response to two Iraq veterans introduced at a town hall meeting at the Austin Convention Center by her friend and campaign surrogate Ted Danson. She liked the line enough that she delivered it again a couple of hours later, at a campaign-closing rally at a basketball arena in south Austin.

"The gift of freedom" is, of course, a curious way to describe an unprovoked invasion and occupation causing hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and leaving just about every aspect of life chaotic and fraught with daily dangers. To then lay responsibility for the mess on the Iraqis -- we did our bit, now you do yours -- is the worst kind of dishonesty, a complete abdication of moral principles. It's the sort of thing George Bush has said to justify his decision both to launch the invasion in the first place and then stay the course -- a course Hillary Clinton has spent many months telling primary and caucus voters she thinks was misconceived from the start.

Why, then, is she taking on the president's rhetorical tropes? Could it be she didn't -- and doesn't -- oppose the Iraq war quite as much as she's been letting on?

George Orwell rightly warned us about the way politicians use words like "freedom" when such usage begs more questions than it answers. "Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way," he wrote in his famous essay Politics and the English Language. "That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different."

more at the link

[ginnyinWI]

42. why is she starting to talk like Bush?

Why would anyone want to sound like Bush, even McCain? Crazy.

[catgirl]

40. Latest Rasmussen Poll (Texas) Obama 48% Clinton 47%

The winner of the Texas Presidential Primary will be determined by turnout and late deciders.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, conducted Sunday, finds Barack Obama with a statistically insignificant one-point lead over Hillary Clinton. It's Obama 48% Clinton 47%. Five percent (5%) are undecided and 6% say they could still change their mind.

These results show the race has gotten a bit closer in the past few days. Last week, Obama enjoyed a four-point lead and the Illinois Senator had been gaining ground steadily for two weeks. Now, it appears that Clinton has at least temporarily halted Obama's momentum. It remains to be seen whether she car reverse it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20080304/pl_rasmussen/texdemmarch20080304

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

43. Hillary Campaigns for John McCain, While Berating Barack

"At a certain point, which I believe we're at right now, the Democratic Party's general-election interests have to be taken into consideration by the candidates."

Hillary Campaigns for John McCain, While Berating Barack

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report. March 4, 2008.

Obama has never argued publicly that a leading GOP candidate brought a better background to the table than a leading Democratic candidate.

I can appreciate, when the pressure's on in a competitive primary, there must be a temptation for a presidential candidate to say literally anything to stop a rival. But if for no other reason than the strength of the party, that temptation has to be kept in check.

I'm afraid Hillary Clinton may have forgotten this point yesterday, when she praised John McCain while attacking Barack Obama.


OLBERMANN: Let me throw something out, (INAUDIBLE) I'd just saw on the Net, that is a couple of days old from Fort Worth, Texas. It's a CBS blog from a campaign when the eight million campaign stops. This is Senator Clinton saying, I only read it, I got to read about it in the computer, "I think you'd be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to stay', she's talking about the campaign against him, "He's never been the president but will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002."

Is it unfair to say that she just ranked Obama third on this topic behind the Republican that she and the Democrats are supposed to be blood oath sworn to defeat?

MADDOW: That's what you say when you want to be John McCain's vice presidential choice, that's not what you say when you're trying to become the Democratic nominee for president.

OLBERMANN: Unbelievable.

more including video at the link

[grantcart]

44. add DNC SuperDelegate Fowlder (SC) for Obama

[grantcart]

45. Texas Primary Projection Obama 65 Clinton 61 Delegates Exhaustive 31 District Breakdown

You have heard the pundits say it over and over that the delegate field favors Obama, but how and why?

Here are the answers;

1) What is at stake:
Primary 126
Caucus 67

The Texas Democratic Party uses a combination of two processes to select delegates and determine how they will be allocated to each presidential candidate. The Party uses the results of the primary process to determine how 126 of its 193 pledged delegates will be allocated to each candidate. The Party uses the caucus process to select its delegates and also to determine how many of the remaining 67 pledged delegates will be allocated to each candidate.<6><7>


2)How the Delegates are spread



As stated the 126 delegates allocated in the primary are divided among 31 state senatorial districts.

The basis of the distribution is based on how thtey voted in the 2004 presidential and 2006 Texas gubernatorial races.

The districts range from 2 to 8 delegates per district.

District 31 for example, cast 19.4% for Kerry and 14.8% for Bell and gets only 2 delegates.

District 14 on the other hand, 57.@% and 45.% gets 8 delegates.

3) Because of the way that the delegates are spread it really doesn't matter which of the recent polls you take it will not make any difference in the delegate outcome. A 6% increase or decrease by either candidate will mean only a 1 or 2 delegate difference. For example in a 3 delegate district it doesn't matter if the candidate wins by 51% or 62% it would still be split 2-1.

Here are my projections 4 districts 8,13,14,19 appear to be near a threshold amount that would change a delegate account

Obama 65 Clinton 61

District by district breakdown

District 1 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 2 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 3 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 4 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 5 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 6 3 Delegates Projected 2 Clinton 1 Obama split
District 7 3 Delegates Projected 2 Obama 1 Clinton split
District 8 4 Delegates Projected 3 Obama 1 Clinton split (Obama needs 62.5% to get 3)
District 9 3 Delegates Projected 2 Obama 1 Clinton split
District 10 5 Delegates projected 3 Obama 2 Clinton split
District 11 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split
District 12 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 splilt
District 13 7 Delegates Projected 5 Obama - Clinton 2 split
District 14 8 Delegates Projected split 5 Obama Clinton 3
District 15 4 Delegates Projected split 2 Obama 2 Clinton
District 16 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split
District 17 5 Delegates projected 3 Obama - 2 split
District 18 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split
District 19 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split (district could go 3-1 Clinton)
District 20 4 Delegates projected 3 Clinton 1 Obama split
District 21 4 Delegates projected 2-2 (possible 3-1 Clinton)
District 22 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 23 6 Delegated projected 4-2 Obama
District 24 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 25 6 Delegate projected 3-3 split
District 26 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split
District 27 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 28 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 29 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 30 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton
District 31 2 Delegates projected 1-1 splilt


The above reflects an analysis that was prepared by MattTX a few weeks ago and can be found here:

http://blog.texansforobama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=891

It is really an outstanding job and he deserves a lot of credit for it.

His projections show 63-63 but his polling data was a couple of weeks ago.

In any case the primary in Texas is not going to benefit either candidate more than 5 delegates. The significant difference will be, if any, in the caucuses. Vermont could mean a bigger plus or minus in delegates than Texas.

And Here are the details


District 1 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 2 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 3 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 4 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 5 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 6 3 Delegates Projected 2 Clinton 1 Obama split




District 7 3 Delegates Projected 2 Obama 1 Clinton split



District 8 4 Delegates Projected 3 Obama 1 Clinton split (Obama needs 62.5% to get 3)



District 9 3 Delegates Projected 2 Obama 1 Clinton split



District 10 5 Delegates projected 3 Obama 2 Clinton split



District 11 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 split



District 12 4 Delegates Projected 2-2 splilt



District 13 7 Delegates Projected 5 Obama - Clinton 2 split



District 13 is a Democratic district which is half African American. However, African Americans should be overrepresented among Democratic primary voters, and will probably make up about 80% of those who vote in District 13. Combine that with a slightly greater than average percentage of college students and voters with at least a bachelors degree, and you have a recipe for an Obama goldmine. Clinton must rely on Hispanic support, some white voters, her ~15-20% of the AA vote, and a handful of votes from Asian Americans to secure more than a single delegate. My model has Obama taking District 13 5 delegates to 2, but the cutoffs for 6 or 7 Obama delegates, respectively, are 78.58% and 85.01%. Neither is out of reach with exceptional African American turnout and exceptional Obama support among African Americans. On the other hand, my model has Obama perilously close to the 64.30% cutoff that would turn this district 4-3 for Obama, particularly under the increased Hispanic turnout scenario. Hillary might also hope that the fairly substantial "Other race" vote leans her way and helps limit the damage.

District 14 8 Delegates Projected split 5 Obama Clinton 3



District 14 consists of most of Travis County (Austin), and includes the University of Texas. There is a heavy "creative class" contingent to be found, with tech jobs, > 50K voters, college educated voters, etc. But it also has a substantial Hispanic population, which - if it both turns out and breaks strongly for Hillary, could potentially save her in District 14. Obama drew a crowd of 20,000 people one year ago in Austin, yet my model has him splitting the delegates. I would guess that my model is wrong here, and that Austin's unique liberal culture in the heart of Red Texas cannot be fully explained simply by demographic categories like college degrees and household incomes in excess of $50,000. Still, Obama is close under my model to the 56.26% he would need for a 5-3 split. 68.76% and a 6-2 split seems like a reach, unless I am right to suspect that my model could be particularly off here

District 15 4 Delegates Projected split 2 Obama 2 Clinton



District 16 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split



District 17 5 Delegates projected 3 Obama - 2 split



District 18 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split



District 19 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split (district could go 3-1 Clinton)



District 20 4 Delegates projected 3 Clinton 1 Obama split



District 20 is another heavily Hispanic district, which includes parts of Corpus Christi and McAllen, and a sliver of land connecting the two. It is not so much a question of whether Obama loses in a landslide, but of how big the landslide is. Early voting has been high in both McAllen and Corpus Christi, and that is quite normal in Rio Grande Valley machine politics. The real question is whether Hillary really does take the actual (as opposed to the polled) Hispanic vote by about 2-1. If she does, she probably gets 3 delegates. If not, she gets 2.

District 21 4 Delegates projected 2-2 (possible 3-1 Clinton)



District 22 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 23 6 Delegated projected 4-2 Obama



District 24 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 25 6 Delegate projected 3-3 split



District 26 4 Delegates projected 2-2 split



District 27 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 28 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 29 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 30 3 Delegates projected 2-1 Clinton



District 31 2 Delegates projected 1-1 splilt

[4_Legs_Good]

48. Wow!

Now that's a lot of work.

Very nice. Let's hope the caucuses pay off!!

David

[Scurrilous]

47. Kick

:kick:

[grantcart]

49. Obama’s Delegate Bomb

http://slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/03/04/obama-s-delegate-bomb.aspx


Obama’s Delegate Bomb
The 2008 presidential race has seen some creative campaign strategies, most notably the infamous Ron Paul money bomb. But if Tom Brokaw is correct, the Obama campaign may have something else up its sleeve: a superdelegate bomb.


Here’s how it might work. The likeliest of scenarios today is a split decision: Clinton wins Ohio, Obama wins Texas. In which case, expect spin chaos. Obama’s people will point to the overall pledged delegate count. The Clinton camp will direct your attention to the popular votes and claim the Texas caucus doesn’t matter.


But the Obama campaign has two secret weapons: money and superdelegates. On the money front, the Obama campaign can finally reveal its February fundraising totals. Clinton announced last week that she had raised $35 million that month; estimates put Obama’s number somewhere north of $50 million. But they’ve waited to announce it, presumably because they wanted to get the timing just right.

After unveiling the cash, send in the superdelegates. Since Super Tuesday, Obama has netted a total of more than 36 new superdelegates, whereas Clinton has lost six. (They continued to trickle Obama-ward today.) If today’s contests are tight, all eyes will turn to superdelegates for guidance on who’s winning. Normally, it matters who's doing the endorsing. But, at this point, big names like Al Gore and Jimmy Carter won’t endorse until a candidate is locked in. Same with party leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean, who don’t benefit from choosing sides. So it’s not about who endorses butabout how many people do. Were the Obama campaign to drop a 50-ton superdelegate bomb on the Clinton campaign’s head the day after a tie, it’s not hard to see where momentum would swing.

Combined with the moneybomb, the superdelegate bomb could decide the race. But like any bomb, it’s something you don’t use unless you have to. To that end, the Obama campaign might have leaked the news to Brokaw to try to scare Hillary into dropping out. That way, she would avoid an embarrassing exodus of superdelegates. But if the threat doesn’t work, and the results of March 4 are close, Obama will waste no time in pushing the red button.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

50. Obama wins Vermont Democratic presidential contest !!!!!!

Obama wins Vermont Democratic presidential contest

Tue Mar 4, 2008 7:01pm EST

BOSTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the Vermont Democratic contest to pick a U.S. presidential candidate on Tuesday, adding to his lead over rival Hillary Clinton in the race to be the party's nominee for the November general election, media projected.

Obama has won a string of state contests over the past month, catapulting him into the lead in the race for delegates to the party's nominating contest this summer.

Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, needs victories in the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio on Tuesday in order to catch up, analysts say.

link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

51. No Regrets From Obama

Primaries
No Regrets From Obama

By Shailagh Murray
SAN ANTONIO -- Sen. Barack Obama was checking for bruises.

"They have run a pretty negative campaign over the last couple of weeks," the Illinois senator conceded of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, during a brief press conference on his campaign plane this afternoon. But he said he had no regrets about not returning fire with fire. Day after day, as Clinton questioned his toughness and candor, Obama brushed the furor aside, offering mild observations about her "tenacious" campaign style.

"I have said consistently that we do things differently," Obama said. "It's worked for us so far. And I'm not going to do things that I'm not comfortable in doing."

He could pay a price tonight. "There's no doubt that if you're being attacked every day, it creates a sense of turbulence," Obama said. Or maybe not. "Just remember that what we've been doing has worked," he added. "It's put us in a position now where I am confident that we can maintain a pledged delegate lead," all the way to the Democratic convention -- if it comes to that.

"So there's no reason why we would want to change our approach," Obama said.

He doesn't expect Clinton to change her approach, either. "I think she is going to push this as hard as she can," he said, to "deploy the kitchen-sink strategy and see if it works. Our job is to keep playing our game."

.... rest of article at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

52. Ohio too close to call, one county's polls will stay open till 9 PM eastern

watching MSNBC.

Its going to be a long night. Olbermann was discussing with Tom Brokaw earlier,
they were describing Hillary as Rovian or Nixonian something like that.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

53. Hillary’s Math Problem - Forget tonight. She could win 16 straight and still lose

Hillary’s Math Problem
Forget tonight. She could win 16 straight and still lose.

Mar 4, 2008 | Updated: 11:23 a.m. ET Mar 4, 2008

Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There's only one problem with this analysis: they can't count.

...


So no matter how you cut it, Obama will almost certainly end the primaries with a pledged-delegate lead, courtesy of all those landslides in February. Hillary would then have to convince the uncommitted superdelegates to reverse the will of the people. Even coming off a big Hillary winning streak, few if any superdelegates will be inclined to do so. For politicians to upend what the voters have decided might be a tad, well, suicidal.

For all of those who have been trashing me for saying this thing is over, please feel free to do your own math. Give Hillary 75 percent in Kentucky and Indiana. Give her a blowout in Oregon. You will still have a hard time getting her through the process with a pledged-delegate lead.

The Clintonites can spin to their heart's content about how Obama can't carry any large states besides Illinois. How he can't close the deal. How they've got the Big Mo now.

Tell it to Slate's http://slate.com/id/2185278/">Delegate Calculator.

link to the full article (much more detail and state comparisons)

[grantcart]

55. I sent them a email outlining how the methodology was skewed because it

was based on states and not on disticts and i was surprised that they answered back

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

54. Obama asks Ohio to keep Sandusky and Cuyahoga polls open 2 more hours

they ran out of paper ballots. IDIOTS!

My state prints 1 ballot per registered voter so that this never happens!!!

AGH. We knew something stupid like this would happen.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

56. PLEASE HELP: write updates for Scoop's Texas/Ohio Primary coverage

Your help needed over here in the Election Reform forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x498434

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

57. Exit Polls: "Change" Beating "Experience" By Big Margins In Ohio And Texas

Exit Polls: "Change" Beating "Experience" By Big Margins In Ohio And Texas

By Greg Sargent - March 4, 2008, 7:34PM

Some info from the exit polls that will lend comfort to the Obama camp:

The ability to "bring needed change" beats "experience" as the most important quality in a candidate by about a 20-point margin in Ohio and by about 15 points in Texas, according to preliminary exit poll results.

A possible harbinger of a closer-than-expected outcome in Ohio and who-knows-what in Texas...

link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

58. Dem Fight Continues: Good News for McCain - Michael Hirsh, Newsweek

Dem Fight Continues: Good News for McCain - Michael Hirsh, Newsweek
Game of Survivor
Hillary takes Texas and Ohio, setting back Obama and staying alive. But with McCain securing the Republican nomination, will the continuing battle between the two Democrats cost them the White House?

By Michael Hirsh | Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 12:14 a.m. ET Mar 5, 2008

...

The mixed results, however, did not bode well for the Democrats in the general election, especially after John McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee Tuesday night with the departure of his last GOP rival, Mike Huckabee, from the race. McCain, who was scheduled to meet with George W. Bush in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, quickly took advantage of the Democratic disarray, saying Americans no longer had patience for an "uncivil brawl over the spoils of power." McCain declared: "The contest begins tonight."

For McCain it certainly will. And he knows that the fierce rivalry between Obama and Clinton-which is likely to continue through the Pennsylvania primary on April 22 and could potentially last until the final primary in Puerto Rico in June—opens the way for him to define the terms of the fall campaign. That's what happened to John Kerry in 2004. In that election Kerry actually secured the Democratic nomination in March, but stayed silent while the Republican machine branded him a flip-flopper—waiting for what one of his aides called the "regular campaign season." By the time of that summer's Democratic convention, Kerry had been painted into a corner from which he never emerged.

The problem for Obama and Clinton: by ratcheting up their attacks on each other, they risk weakening the eventual nominee in the general election against McCain. They are certainly supplying the Republicans with a priceless amount of free advertising. Clinton's "red phone" ads raising questions about Obama's preparedness to be commander-in-chief, and Obama's counterattack commercials challenging Clinton's judgment, are likely to be re-aired by GOP politicos into the fall if she somehow manages to emerge as the nominee. Indeed, one reason for Clinton's success on Tuesday appeared to be her campaign's decision to attack Obama's integrity and honesty—raising questions about his relationship with a Chicago real estate magnate charged with extortion and his reported waffling over the NAFTA trade pact-as well as his readiness; exit polls showed that late deciders broke decisively for the New York senator.

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