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Thomas says "Kennedy was a less polarizing figure than Nixon" which ignores the fact that Kennedy's decision to seek the Democratic nomination in 1968 only after Eugene McCarthy drew first-blood against LBJ in the New Hampshire primary caused outraged Liberals to consider Kennedy an opportunist who was splitting the anti-war vote, putting his personal ambition ahead of the need to end the Viet Nam war. In fact, in early 1968 Kennedy announced he would not oppose LBJ "under any foreseeable circumstances," further fueling the charge of opportunism when he "reassessed" his decision and jumped into the race a few days...

On the eve of the final pair of Democratic primaries, a new poll of South Dakota Democrats gives Hillary Clinton a 26-point lead over Barack Obama – a surprise, at least to me, in a state that had the early makings of an Obama stronghold. The survey, from the independent New Hampshire-based American Research Group, shows Clinton pounding Obama by a 60-34 percent spread. The only previous poll in the state, from about a month ago, had Obama up by 12. Because every other state around South Dakota previously went overwhelmingly for Obama, there had been little expectation in the...

[quote]Obama Draws Record Crowd in Oregon An estimated 75,000 gathered on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland on Sunday to see Barack Obama. “Wow! Wow! Wow!” were his first words, as he surveyed the multitude, which included people in kayaks and small pleasure craft on the river.[/quote] Two pictures were included to show Obama in a sea of people:

McCain Seeks to Change California Primary Sen. John McCain's campaign "is mounting a stealth effort to change Republican presidential nomination rules in California to allow independents to vote in the Feb. 5 primary, party and campaign officials in the state" said, the Washington Times reports. "The impact could be huge -- and potentially damaging to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney." Earlier, we noted Romney's game plan was to take advantage of the complicated rules governing how California awards its delegates.

Even as Barack Obama's campaign celebrated Tuesday's primary results, aides charged yesterday that they would have had an even stronger showing were it not for meddling by an unlikely booster of Hillary Rodham Clinton: the popular conservative radio host and longtime Clinton family nemesis Rush Limbaugh. The impact of Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" emerged as an intriguing point of debate, particularly in Indiana, where registered voters could participate in either party's primary, and where Clinton won by a mere 14,000 votes. As he had before several recent primaries, Limbaugh encouraged listeners to vote for Clinton to "bloody up Obama politically" and...

(English-language translation) (AP) - A religious organization called today for a boycott of the Democratic primary [in Puerto Rico on June 1] due to the liberal positions of the two pre-candidates for U.S. presidential nomination. Puerto Rico for the Family, which favors the controversial Resolution [99] which proposes giving constitutional sanction to heterosexual marriage, believes the best option for Christian voters is to support neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton. "We understand that both candidates assume positions against our Christian principles and values. They are pro-abortion and favor the homosexual agenda," the Reverend René Pereira, spokesman for the entity, pointed...

Hillary Clinton took the early lead in Indiana as polls closed Tuesday but it was still too early to call after she and Barack Obama made their final push to snatch up votes and boost their margins in two critical primaries. Polls in North Carolina close at 7:30 p.m. ET. The two states are the last big contests on the primary calendar and together offer the last chance for the candidates to make a serious dent in the delegate counts.

It’s almost over. Well, not quite. But the Democratic presidential primaries taking place on Tuesday in North Carolina and Indiana have more delegates up for grabs than any of the remaining contests. For political, demographic and mathematical reasons, those states have the potential to reshape the competition between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. It will be an opportunity for Mrs. Clinton to make the case that Democratic sentiment is swinging in her favor, and to slice into Mr. Obama’s lead in pledged delegates and in the popular vote (putting aside the disputed contests in Florida and Michigan). For...

Hillary Clinton, Ex-Arithmecrat Enough with the fake metrics.Hillary Clinton has every right to stay in the primary race for as long as she wishes. She would enjoy that right even if she hadn't won yesterday's Pennsylvania primary. The reason she enjoys that right is that Barack Obama is still 544 primary delegates shy of the 2,025 delegates he needs to nail down the Democratic nomination for president, according to the Associated Press' delegate tracker. ... Still, it's an arithmetic possibility. Arithmetic pedantry is practically the only friend Clinton has left. ... There's no chance anyone inside the Clinton campaign believes...

Obama’s Mistruths1.) Selma Got Me Born - LIAR, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. Source: hotair.com 2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - LIAR, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government. Source: http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message504435/pg1 3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - LIAR, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had Source:http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/01/obamas-oginga-o.html 4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - LIAR, your cousin Raila Odinga...

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney jokes about the reasons he got out of the race. One of his targets: Al Gore. See #5. #7. There wasn't room in the campaign for two Christian leaders. #5. I'd rather get fat, grow a beard and try for the nobel prize. #3. Once my wife Anne realized I couldn't win, my fundraising dried up. #2. I took a bad fall at a campaign rally and broke my hair.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many of the Democratic superdelegates who are still undecided say the most important factor in their decision is simple — they just want a winner in November. Problem is, after nearly four months of primaries and caucuses in 46 states, territories and the District of Columbia, they still aren't sure who that is, don't seem be in any hurry to make up their minds and aren't interested in any artificial process that might force them to choose between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Most of the more than 100 undecided superdelegates who discussed their decision-making with...

Some Republicans groaned at Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that he plans to seek another term in 2010, but Mayor Bill White's camp reacted with glee. White has made no effort to hide the fact that he is looking to run for governor after being term-limited out of the mayor's office next year. And Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the biggest vote-getter in Texas history, has been more than hinting that she plans to "come home" to run for the same office. She outlined to Texas Monthly last November a plan to resign the Senate in 2009 to make the race, while...

Not a blog, so to speak.. a comment... Saw on Drudge yesterday, was a picture of Hillary doing shots and downing beer. No problem with that, but I fear she could probably drink anyone under a table, then steal your wallet, all while shouting.. "When I am president, I'm gonna take it anyway, might as well get it now.." Sorry, I thought this was funny as hell when I first wrote it. markbureau

Obama, speaking to a group of supporters in San Francisco, CA. , recently said: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment...

Table 1. Current and Projected Delegate Support for Democratic Candidates Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Current Pledged Delegates 1247 1414 Current Superdelegates 246 200 Total Current Delegates 1493 1614 Projected Additional Pledged Delegates 303 289 Projected Total Delegates 1796 1903 Additional Superdelegates Needed to Win 229 122 How likely is it that Hillary Clinton would be able to win the support of 66 percent of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates? This would require a substantial improvement on the 55 percent support level that she currently enjoys among superdelegates who have made an endorsement. Moreover, the data in Table 2 shows that 53...

Florida's congressional Democrats and the national Democratic Party are concerned about their November election prospects if the Florida delegation isn't seated at this summer's national convention...Howard Dean said... Whether the state's 210 delegates are seated "makes a difference" in the congressional races in Florida, where the party hopes to pick up one or two seats, and in the presidential race, Mr. Dean said. "I don't think we can have a vote in Denver about whether or not Florida is to be seated" without prompting a divisive floor fight that could damage the party in the November polls... Florida was stripped...

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has seized on a key feature of voters' economic concerns — rising fuel prices — and is casting himself as the candidate who could bring about energy independence because he is not beholden to energy companies. Last week, Obama aired a television ad in Pennsylvania called "Nothing's changed" that outlines his energy proposals while declaring, "I don't take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won't let them block change anymore." THE SPIN: In his ad, Obama states: "Since the gas lines of the '70's, Democrats and Republicans have talked about energy...

Indiana has 72 Delegates and is a pretty big prize. However, Media is acting like it doesn't really exist and its all about PA and NC. Anyone know anything how Hillary and Obama are running in Indiana? Any Polls? Local Polls? Who takes it? The Big Names in that State - are they behind Hillary or Obama?

I recently had a conversation with a young friend who expressed his displeasure at the lack of conservative candidates in this presidential election cycle. His feeling, shared my many on the right, is obviously that John McCain is not a “real” conservative. I’ve heard this sentiment from many conservatives in the past few months - from high profile squawkers like Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson to rank and file folks in my everyday life. I’m more than a little sympathetic to their complaints. I myself have spent no small amount of mental energy since the New Hampshire primary trying to...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sidestepped the superdelegate controversy as she opened the California Democratic Party convention tonight in San Jose, instead taking aim at likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain. Pelosi noted that McCain campaigned alongside Governor Schwarzenegger during the polarizing special election the governor called in 2005. Schwarzenegger tried to pass ballot measures aimed at weakening the power of public employee unions, changing teacher tenure rules and clamping down on state spending. Californians rejected those reforms and she predicted they'd reject McCain as well. The gathering at the San Jose Convention Center continues through...

MIAMI -- A donor to the Democratic Party asked for a rebate out of frustration over the party's Florida delegate dilemma -- and he got it. Federal records show that Paul Cejas has given six-figure sums to the Democratic National Committee for years, NBC 6's Nick Bogert reported. Cejas asked for his last donation back. He said he was angry with the party, particularly party Chair Howard Dean, over the failure to resolve Florida's delegate dilemma. "Frankly, he's dropped the ball, and I told him, 'You're going to go down in history as the worst chairman of the Democratic Party...

I'm indebted to Hillary Clinton for the revelation that my global wanderings when my dad was president qualify me to run for the presidency myself. Mrs. Clinton has been insisting that her global junkets as first lady, and her meetings with foreign leaders, qualify her to be president of these United States. I never thought of it that way, but if she is correct then I am eminently qualified to follow my father's footsteps and take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., not merely as a member of the president's family, but as president in my own right. Hillary, who...

You'll recall Hillary Clinton's recent speech in which she attempted to play up her foreign policy experience by recounting her "harrowing" 1996 trip to Bosnia. "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Well, mainstream media has discounted that account, and such luminaries as comedian Sinbad have chimed in as well. It appears, however, that Clinton caved in too soon when she admitted overstating the dangers, as Barely Political...

It was just after the 2000 GOP Michigan Primary, and George W. Bush was peeved. Apparently, a band of saboteur Democrats had switched flags and voted for Senator John McCain in the GOP nominating contest. As a result, then Governor Bush was forced into a harder and more protracted battle for the 2000 Presidential nomination. Governor Bush did something the Ohio Democrats of 2008 seem utterly incapable. He accepted that political parties indulge in all sorts skullduggery and that “politics ain’t beanbag.” He moved on in a way that no liberal in MoveOn.org is capable of, and continued his march...

Maybe, just maybe, it’s now worth at least asking whether Hillary Clinton might wind up as the Democratic candidate for vice president. When the chatter about a Democratic “dream ticket” began last year, it was easy to dismiss. Either Clinton or Obama would win a clear victory in the primaries and, after what inevitably would be a contentious campaign, each would want as little to do with the other as possible. Clinton, if she emerged victorious, would instead choose some kind of national security graybeard to her political right, a retired general perhaps, or maybe even a Republican. Likewise, Obama...

In some ways, Barack Obama's speech on race last week was as brilliant as it was nuanced. But for all its rhetorical beauty, it was also an enormous step backward and, in the end, a rather self-serving call for more discussion about racial grievance in a country that has already done way too much talking. Until last week, so much of Obama's appeal lay in the fact that he was not asking us to talk about the racial divide. Instead, he offered himself as a living and breathing symbol of racial reconciliation; his very origins pointed to the goal of...

When Democrats contemplate the apocalypse these days, they have visions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slugging it out à la Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter at the 1980 convention. The campaign's current trajectory is, in fact, alarmingly similar to the one that produced that disastrous affair. Back then, Carter had built up a delegate lead with early wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, and several Southern states. But, as the primary season dragged on, Kennedy began pocketing big states and gaining momentum. Once all the voting ended and Kennedy came up short, he eyed the New York convention as a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Barack Obama's speech last week, hastily prepared to extinguish the firestorm over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, won critical praise for style and substance but failed politically. By elevating the question of race in America, the front-running Democratic presidential candidate has deepened the dilemma created by his campaign's success against the party establishment's anointed choice, Hillary Clinton. In rejecting the racist views of his longtime spiritual mentor but not disowning him, Obama has unwittingly enhanced his image as the African-American candidate -- not just a remarkable candidate who happens to be black. That poses a racial dilemma for...

It is a tribute to Hillary Clinton that even though, rationally, political soothsayers think she can no longer win, irrationally, they wonder how she will pull it off. It's impossible to imagine The Terminator, as a former aide calls her, giving up. Unless every circuit is out, she'll regenerate enough to claw her way out of the grave, crawl through the Rezko Memorial Lawn and up Obama's wall, hurl her torso into the house and brutally haunt his dreams. "It's like one of those movies where you think you know the end, but then you watch with your fingers over...

Hello, Hillary? Hate to wake you, but it's 3 o'clock in the morning, and we have a real crisis. It's your campaign, senator. It's Hail Mary time. You've lost the bid for a revote in Florida and, it seems, in Michigan, which means your prospects for prevailing over Barack Obama in the primary popular vote by June are vanishing fast. The Illinois senator, meanwhile, has just delivered a JFK-like speech on race in America--a savvy move that may well have stanched the hemorrhaging of his campaign over the controversial remarks made by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. The mood could be...

There are 186 people in this country who ultimately could select the Democratic presidential nominee. Most of them do not know they'll soon wield such power. They will be picked by their state parties or by the party's national chairman to be on the Credentials Committee to the Democratic National Convention. It's normally a political reward, but this year the job could seem more like punishment. Four Georgians will be among the chosen. If the dispute over what to do about Florida and Michigan — whose Democratic primary results have not been recognized by the party — is not settled...

WASHINGTON -It is already easy to imagine the Republican attack ads against Barack Obama. They open with video of his wife, Michelle, saying she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult lifetime" because of her husband's presidential candidacy. Cut to the Illinois Senator explaining that he doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin because it is a "substitute for true patriotism." Then flash a clip of Obama explaining that his Caucasian grandmother was a "typical white person" because she uttered racial epithets and was afraid of black people. Finally, the coup de grace, pictures of Obama's...

Watching the “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright gesticulate like a horny peacock and spew out ignorance, hatred, and bitterness towards America truly inspired my religious faith. Once Wright pointed out that he was “still in Bible country,” I began to “love the hell out of” rich, white people just as much as Wright does. How could so many people not understand that white people have caused all the world’s problems? As Wright pointed out to his congregation, the Bible says it’s so. I’m not sure what verse actually says that, but I’m now betting that rich, white people are responsible for my...

Some 50 delegates were reportedly poised to unite behind Barack Obama if he had won by even 1 point in Texas. He lost the popular vote by 100,000 ballots, and now we learn that 100,000 Republicans voted for Hillary Clinton, probably not because of some change in party allegiance but because they thought she would be the easier candidate to beat. This kind of strategic voting often backfires (think Ralph Nader). The Texas crossovers are winners. By helping to prolong the Democratic race, they can claim credit for weakening the eventual nominee, whoever it turns out to be. Obama has...

Mr. Obama’s Philadelphia speech, in spite of its eloquent passages expressing his hope for better racial relations in America, is a mastery example of literary subterfuge, the broadening of the scenery whereby an object of inquiry becomes blurred and lost in the background, or more bluntly, the escaping of a slippery fish from a pond into a lake to hide in a wider expanse of water. His speech is essentially a sophisticated lawyerly defense of Rev Wright’s sin on the basis of self-defense. While Mr. Obama’s understanding on the root causes of America’s racial problems is quite apt, he attempts...

Any constitutional lawyers want to explain how making schoolkids swear loyalty to the United States violates the First Amendment but not making adult voters swear loyalty to their new party? The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has launched an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched parties for the March 4 presidential primary.Elections workers will look for evidence that voters lied when they signed affidavits pledging allegiance to their new party…After the election, some local Republicans admitted they changed parties only to influence which Democrat would face presumed Republican nominee John McCain in November. One...

Funny, it was okay when Democrats "crossvoted" for John McCain to screw Mitt Romney, but when the Rush Limbaugh/Ann Coulter strategy of voting for Hillary to avoid Obama worked, all hell is breaking loose... Even this year, Democrats have moved across the aisle to vote. During the Michigan GOP primary, Daily Kos leader Markos Moulitsas urged his blogger army to vote for Mitt Romney. There, Democrats constituted 7% of the Republican primary vote. In New Hampshire, John McCain won in part thanks to Democrat crossovers. McCain himself urged Democrats to crossover (different sentiment, but crossing over, still). Even back in...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama suffered in the polls Thursday after a much-acclaimed speech on race that, pundits said, had failed to defuse voters' anger over rage-filled sermons by his former pastor. Waging an acrimonious battle against Hillary Clinton for the Democrats' White House nomination, Obama confessed to being bruised by the controversy surrounding his longtime Chicago preacher, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. "In some ways this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that, you know, the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional...

On September 16, 2001, I was driving through Chicago with my wife. We were on our way back from visiting family in Wisconsin for a week. Obviously, this vacation was more than marred by the events of 9-11. As we drove through a toll booth outside of the city, I was struck by what I saw on the electronic signs. They said simply, “God Bless America.” There was very little traffic that day, in part because of the fact that it was late on a Sunday morning, but much more because of the horrors that had occurred just days before....

DETROIT, (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly challenged Barack Obama to agree to new primaries in Michigan and Florida on Wednesday and said it was "wrong, and frankly un-American" not to have the two delegations seated at the Democratic National Convention. "Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people," said the former first lady, who trails her rival in delegates won to date. "Today I am asking him to match those words with actions." Obama has yet to declare his support or opposition, although his campaign has raised a number of procedural and legal...

In his biography of Barack Obama, David Mendell writes about Obama’s life as a “secret smoker” and how he “went to great lengths to conceal the habit.” But what about Obama’s secret political life? It turns out that Obama’s childhood mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a communist. In his books, Obama admits attending “socialist conferences” and coming into contact with Marxist literature. (snip) The Nature Of The Threat Both communism and socialism trace their roots to Karl Marx, co-author of the Communist Manifesto, who endorsed the first meeting of the Socialist International, then called the “First International.” According to Pierre...

I have been troubled by Former President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton's "presumptuous" offer to Senator Barack Obama to serve as vice-president during her presidency. Her assumption is that she would be more electable by the public at large and become the nation's first female president. While we would be ecstatic to have Barack as vice president, all of this is totally ignoring the fact that he is clearly the Democratic frontrunner in the race. After listening to the Clintons, I had a chance to talk to my dear friend Rev. Art Forbes when he came by the office to...

Democrats spent 40 years engineering the perfect presidential nomination system. Instead we engineered a perfect train wreck. We now are in perfect position to blow an election that should be ours. We have two strong, popular candidates for the nomination. Neither has put the race away. They are tired, frustrated and getting madder at each other every day. Their supporters are getting more and more bitter. And the party is about to fracture on racial and gender lines. Here is how we got here: * After the 1968 Chicago convention, the party went on a reform bender: Cut the bosses’...

The recent Hillary Clinton campaign advertisement asking who Americans want answering the phone in the White House when a crisis erupts at 3 a.m. has sparked a national debate about which candidate would best handle such a phone call. But while the ad was designed to boost the Clinton candidacy, likely voters nationwide say they would feel more secure having Republican John McCain answering the call of a crisis, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows. Given the choice between Clinton and McCain, 55% preferred McCain while 37% would want Clinton to answer the phone, while 9% said they were...

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana's May primary will have meaning in the race for president. Both democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have scheduled stops in the Hoosier state. It all starts on Saturday when Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting at Plainfield High School. "We're very excited. Senator Obama will...be in Plainfield tomorrow bringing his message of hope and change to the voters of Indiana because Indiana, for the first time in my adult life, is going to matter in the presidential primary season," said Obama campaign chairman Kip Tew. Indiana has 72 delegates up for grabs and...

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright thinks that, given their treatment by white America, black Americans have no reason to sing "God Bless America." "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America," he told his congregation. "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human." I'm not a believer in guilt by association, or the campaign vaudeville of rival politicians insisting this or that candidate dissociate himself from remarks by some fellow he had a 30-second grip'n'greet with a decade...

Referencing the recent uproar over his former minister's controversial sermons, Barack Obama on Saturday denounced the "forces of division" that he says have become part of the Democratic race for the White House. Speaking to a sold-out crowd in Plainfield, Indiana, Obama again said he sharply disagreed with the some of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's past statements, saying they remind him of the country's "tragic history when it comes to race." "I knew him and know him as somebody in my church who talked to me about Jesus and family and friendships but clearly had – if all I knew...

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I don’t get it. Like Karl says, neither one of them has a rational interest in compromising; I’d go a step further and say neither one of them (but especially Obama) has an interest in holding new elections. Hillary has more of an interest, of course, since she’ll likely win and pick up delegates, but as we’ve discussed, the pick-up will be marginal and Obama’s likely to do better in the popular vote this time around now that he’s the frontrunner. The popular vote is what she cares about since it buttresses her moral case for the nomination before the...