Congressional leaders promise that Hillary won't go negative on Obama

Yeah, that'll be the day. The first negative comment about Obama from Hillary and her people, and we'll be sending our readers to demand that the congressional leadership keep their word and put an end to Hillary's petulant fairy tale. From the NYT:

Top Democratic officials said privately that Congressional leaders were content to have the race play out as long as it did not take on a negative tone. Attacks on Mr. Obama by the Clinton campaign or its surrogates could lead to a leadership push for superdelegates to show their hand and bring the race to a close, said aides, who did not want be identified discussing internal strategy.

Not so Super delegates

I haven't had much to add to John and Joe's terrific primary coverage in the past week or so, but watching uncommitted Superdelegates on TV today got me riled up. This one's for them:

What exactly do you people need to know to make up your minds at this point?

Seriously. Isn't enough enough? Pick a candidate and go with it. For a while I totally got the whole "hold out and see what happens" thing. I did. But now - especially after last night - are you really still torn?

It's just so darn annoying. And marginally insulting to our intelligence. Do you really believe I believe you're holding out because you want to hear more from Clinton and Obama on the economy? Go to their websites. I'm sure it's all there.

The following is David Parker, described as "an undeclared superdelegate from North Carolina, was a John Edwards supporter, now, as we said, undecided, hasn't made up his mind" speaking today on "American Morning":

PARKER: Looking at the rest of these primaries. Obviously, we're split 50/50. I mean, it's going to be important to see what happens at the convention. I'm looking to see who's the most persuasive on the economy. The numbers in drilling down through the CNN exit polls, the numbers are still not convincing as far as one candidate pitching their issues on the economy better than the other. I think that's going to make a difference in the fall.

Kudos to John Roberts for trying to get a real answer out of the guy, but Parker wouldn't budge.

Maybe if we revoke the undecided Superdelegates' TV privileges - as in stop giving them airtime - they'll finally settle down and commit.

The video every SuperDelegate should see

CBS News tonight was brutal to Hillary. It compiled a bunch of the press coverage - again, brutal. Worst of all, they quote one of Hillary's own top strategists who says he told her (and then told the media he told her - nice) "you can't win this nomination." I think this last point is the most significant. Hillary's own senior staff is leaking information to the media to sabotage her campaign. That's how bad things have gotten, that's how bad she has gotten. It's yet another sign that she needs an intervention, fast.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

"If we had the rules that the Republicans have, I'd already be the nominee." - Hillary Clinton, May 7, 2008



Watch this video of Hillary today. It's petulant, arrogant, whiny, and just overall makes her look like a spoiled brat. She is looking and acting and sounding like one of her pushy surrogates, not like a presidential candidate. Whining about how you should have won it already is something your staff says - if at all - not you. Seriously, look at her face, listen to the tone of her voice, and look at her body language. I think this is going to turn a lot of people off.

Oh, and one more thing. It's been clear from the beginning that someone forget to tell Hillary, "we're not Republicans."

Hating Hillary

I'm amazed at how many Democrats I talk to who now "hate" Hillary Clinton. That's the word they use, hate. I always ask them, did you alway dislike the Clintons, and they inevitably tell me, no, they liked Bill, voted for him twice, and liked her too. Now they hate her. This comment from a reader is illustrative:

Earlier this morning I suggested perhaps a change from negative Clinton posts BUT later when I heard the reports that she is NOW doing the weirdest math and ONCE again moving the goal posts, I went ballistic. No One in this party seems to have the balls to step in and squelch this insane megalomaniac woman. Over the span of a few months I went from trying to be neutral to down right hate of this woman.

Enough of her "I am the winner". NO she is not and self-proclamation doesn't make it so. You want to fight her all year, I am with you.

Hillary already had enough baggage walking into this race, her negatives have always been sky high, but now she's making Democrats hate her. That isn't good. And it isn't the definition of electable.

$9,999.02

Exellent. You guys have gotten us to within 98 cents of our goal of raising $10,000 for Scott Kleeb. I suspect we're gonna reach our goal. :-) I just wanted to say thanks. This was great. You did it in 48 hours. Seriously well done. Here's your last chance to give (click on the blue box to give to Scott). I won't ask again. Well, I will, but not for Scott right now, we're going to move on to other candidates. Like Barack Obama. We need to seriously send a message to Hillary that she's not welcome any more. You can click here to give to Obama. We've already raised over $4,000 for Obama since last night. I'd like to shoot for $10k by the end of the week. Thanks again, JOHN

Lead gay paper unendorses Hillary

They just called on Hillary to give it up, after previously endorsing her.

Leading Senate and House supporters putting pressure on Senator Clinton

According to The Hill, pressure is growing on Senator Hillary Clinton to explain her plans. It's coming from a leading Senate supporter:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) most prominent Senate supporters, said Wednesday that she will ask the former first lady to detail her plans for the rest of the Democratic primary.

“I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I’m very loyal to her,” Feinstein said. “Having said that, I’d like to talk with her and [get] her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is.”

Clinton, who eked out a win in Indiana Tuesday night but lost big to front-runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in North Carolina, has not responded to Feinstein’s phone call, the California senator said.

“I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party,” Feinstein said. “I think we need to prevent that as much as we can.”

And across the Capitol, it's coming from a leading House supporter:

One of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) congressional backers on Wednesday added to the mounting pressure on the former first lady to consider dropping her bid to become president.

Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) told The Hill that Clinton should reassess her prospects after losing to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) by 14 points in North Carolina and edging her rival in Indiana in Tuesday’s primaries.

“I urge her to take the day off and think very seriously about doing what’s best for the country and best for the party,” said Kildee.

“I got straight A’s in math,” added Kildee, implying that Obama’s delegate lead would be impossible to overcome in the few primaries left on the Democratic calendar.

Again, these are Clinton supporters raising concerns. This is really bad news for the Clinton campaign. These members of Congress see the handwriting on the wall. They're just trying to make sure Clinton sees it.

Another SuperD defection from Hillary to Obama

It's over. Go away. This is Obama's 4th SuperDelegate endorsement today. Hillary got one today.

Hillary is 404

Funny.

Clinton disses black voters, three times, in the past 24 hours. Anyone else smell a trend?

Let's face it, had this come from anyone else, we'd strike it up to a coincidence. But when Hillary Clinton, a top staffer and a top supporter start dissing the black vote within 24 hours of each other, I smell talking points.

First, last night, we had Clinton friend and supporter Paul Begala knocking Obama's supporters because they're mostly, according to Begala, "eggheads and African-Americans." Democratic SuperDelegate Donna Brazile, who is black, took umbrage at Begala's words. You can watch the video here.

I know Begala, and I like him. And I don't think he was trying to slam blacks. But after hearing what Hillary said today, I'm starting to wonder what's up:

At a Q&A in Shepherdstown, Clinton continues to make the case that her base -- working class whites, women, and Hispanics are the key swing voters.

"The base I've put together in this primary is a stronger place to start from," she says.

Hillary is saying that her base is better than Obama's base. And we all know who Obama's base is: Blacks (and elitist latte sipping pansies from San Francisco who don't have testicular fortitude, but Hillary doesn't mean gays, she means other effeminate pansies from San Francisco).

But John, you say, that's only twice, it's still easily a coincidence. Oh yeah? Then why did senior Clinton adviser brag about the "white votes" she got yesterday?

And Garin brags, specifically and explicitly, about her strength with the white vote, comparing North Carolina's white voters in North Carolina to those in Virginia. (The conversations have always been about these voters, but they're usually referred to as "blue collar" or by some less specifically racial euphemism.)

"We lost the white electorate in Virginia, started even in North Carolina among the white electorate just two weeks ago, and ended [with] a very significant win of 24 points among those voters," he said, acknowledging that among black voters, Clinton "did not do as well as we would want or need."

As Ben notes, the campaigns don't usually refer to "white" voters - so when they do, it's interestingly intentional.

So, there you have it. Black voters are bad (like "eggheads" are bad). White voters are good (like, uh, white skin?). We learned months ago that when the Clintons start invoking race, it's intentional.

PS If you've had it with Hillary's race-baiting, her scandals, and her bizarre need to continue destroying Obama even though she already lost, then give to Obama's campaign. Click the blue box at left and you can give a secure donation online. I want to try to raise $10k for Obama over the next few days. Hillary needs to be stopped. If the DNC won't do it, then our money and our words will. More to come. (We're also at over $7000 in our Scott Kleeb-athon, so give to him too if you can.)

Hillary is hurting congressional candidates

Joe and I have spoken with Democratic House and Senate candidates, and they agree that Hillary is hurting their campaigns.

One congressional candidate told us that if Hillary is the nominee, it's a guaranteed 5 point hit they take right from the start (meaning, they start the race 5-points down in the polls). Why? Because too many people hate Hillary. That's why her negatives are higher than her positives. She will bring out voters who might not have voted otherwise. And the voters she will bring out will be rabid conservatives who will vote against Democrats across the board.

Another congressional candidate told us that it's even worse than that. Not only will the candidate have to publicly run AGAINST Hillary, should she get the nomination, but she's already damaging their campaign. First off, fundraising. The money isn't coming in, first because everyone is focused on the Hillary-Obama race, and not paying attention to congressional races. Another problem, people are pissed off, on all sides. They're not in the mood to give. And finally, some major donors don't want to give to any second-tier campaigns (meaning, campaigns that have less of a chance, but still have a chance, of winning) until they see whether Hillary or Obama get the nomination. Why? Because if Hillary gets the nomination, our candidates in red states, or states that are red/blue, will get slaughtered, and thus there's no reason to fund them. (We're seeing it on our own site. People are not giving to congressional races like they did in 2006.) And don't forget, even the DNC admitted last week that the ongoing Hillary-Obama saga has hurt their efforts to raise money to take on John McCain.

But there's another problem Hillary is causing. These campaigns can't get the field staff they need. Potential field staff are telling the campaigns that they have no idea what they're doing in the coming months because the Obama-Hillary battle isn't settled. This is a very real problem - one candidate said it's killing them.

One final point, we were told: the black vote. In states or cities with a large black community, Obama will bring them out in droves. Hillary, on the other hand, is suffering from a blacklash, so to speak. Her poll numbers among blacks have plummeted after her campaign's repeated race-baiting. But not only will a Hillary candidacy potentially turn blacks away from voting, it won't inspire them TO vote. One candidate told us that they have a major city with a sizable black vote. The problem? The black community in that area has a notoriously bad voter turnout. If Obama is the nominee, that candidate will get a 3 percentage point bump in the polls votes because of the increased black turnout - but if Hillary is the nominee, they lose that 3%, added on to the 5% hit they take because of her name inspiring every far-right loon to vote.

Hillary's bizarre and reckless desire to continue in the race even after she's lost isn't just hurting our nominee, Barack Obama, she's now hurting our congressional candidates. Our superdelegates in Congress, in the states, and at the DNC, need to do something now to end this farce. Where is Wesley Clark? Where is Al Gore? Where is Jimmy Carter? And where is John Edwards?

Dan Balz, Wash Post: Hillary's nomination "went up in smoke"

"Much of the rational for how she would win the nomination kind of went up in smoke last night.... What happened last night is the world changed out from under her and she had a big problem." - Dan Balz, Washington Post, on CNN, May 7, 2008

Clinton supporter McGovern abandons Hillary, now endorses Obama

The hemorrhaging has begun.

Myth of McCain multilateralism

There is a persistent myth that Senator McCain is a credible voice on international affairs. As I've written before, the Senator does seem to have a grasp of *military* affairs, but that doesn't extend to any kind of foreign policy expertise, and his latest claims of multilateralism fall flat when compared to his actual policies and previous statements.

My colleagues Ilan Goldenberg and Max Bergmann of the National Security Network do the important work of going through McCain's speeches and statements and debunking the idea that he will offer anything different from the current (and disastrous) Bush administration approach to global affairs. Ilan and Max put it perfectly:

Only a press corps so enamored with McCain could imagine that one of the staunchest supporters of the Iraq War would be capable of breaking with the current administration's unilateral adventurism. Despite his conciliatory rhetoric, McCain's hawkish views, and his long history of castigating allies who do not agree with him, leave little reason to believe that when it comes to restoring America's image, credibility, and alliances, he would be much different than George W. Bush. A brief look at these four crucial policy areas explains why.

This is a meme that needs to be corrected in its infancy, and the piece does a great job of patiently going through the reality of McCain's views. The whole thing is well worth a read.

General Clark, your country needs you

It's time for you to publicly endorse Barack Obama. (Note to our readers: Please write General Clark via his Web site and urge him to put an end to this madness.)

Stephanopoulos: "This nomination fight is over"

George Stephanopoulos said this morning that "this nomination fight is over."



Then what the hell is Hillary doing staying in the race? Fighting for Florida and Michigan, even though we learned last night that even if you just give Hillary her "wins" in FL and MI she still loses the nationwide delegate count and vote count to Obama? There are simply no more excuses for why Hillary is staying in the race. She can't catch up. Even after getting thumped with Rev Wright for two weeks, Obama still "routed" her in North Carolina (that's ABC's word), and she only barely won Indiana, a state she was going to win handily. It's now time for the SuperDelegates, and for Hillary's surrogates and staff, to hold an intervention. She is in the race to hurt Obama, to make sure he doesn't win in the fall against McCain, so that she can say "I told you so" and then run again in 2012. It's over. Hillary lost. It's time for the SuperDs and her staff to stage a mutiny.

"Clinton official" tells Wash. Post: "We lost this thing in February." Okay, then wrap it up.

Today's Washington Post gets the scoop on what some Clinton insiders are thinking.

First, a top Clinton aide admits now what we've been saying. They lost a long time ago:

"Absent some sort of miracle on May 31st, it's going to be tough for us," said a senior Clinton official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be frank. "We lost this thing in February. We're doing everything we can now... but it's just an uphill battle."

So, they knew they lost in February, but decided to stay in to destroy Obama? Factor in all the money troubles and you have to ask why the Clinton team kept up its negative assault on Obama.

Then this shows just how desperate Hillary had become even before the votes were counted yesterday:

"There are going to be the rest of these contests, which are very significant, and then in June, if we haven't done it already, we're going to have to resolve Florida and Michigan," she told reporters during a daytime event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "They were legitimate elections."

Maybe they were legitimate elections in the Soviet Union or Iran, but not in the United States. This is when Hillary sounds like she's lost touch with reality. We learned last night that even if Michigan and Florida are now included - and included as is, meaning you give Hillary her phony victories - it won't change a thing, Obama still wins. NBC political director Chuck Todd, who is one of the most respected political analysts in town, said this last night (you can watch his video here, it's compelling to say the least):

"With leads like this now, if you throw in Michigan and Florida, as is, then Obama would still have about 150,000 votes and he would still have 100 delegates, pledged delegate, lead." - Chuck Todd, 1:13 AM

Hillary's only remaining argument for staying in the race is Florida and Michigan. But even if you give her those two states, she loses. She has no reason for staying in the race other than her desire to hurt the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama.

Then, there's this:

A Clinton adviser said the situation was increasingly becoming one in which "she cannot be nominated and he can't get elected."

Okay, consider the source. The Clinton advisers have been telling us she was going to be the nominee. They were telling us for a year that was inevitable. They butchered her campaign. So, be wary, very wary, of political predictions from any "Clinton adviser." They took a candidate who couldn't lose and turned her into a loser.

Let's wrap this up, listening to the constant spin and carping from Team Clinton is getting really boring -- and it's counterproductive. We need to fight John McCain.

Clinton loaned her campaign $6.4 million last month. Wolfson: "I certainly don't rule out her giving more."

UPDATE 9:32 A.M.: On MSNBC, Clinton spokesperson Howard Wolfson confirmed this loan and added, "I certainly don't rule out her giving more." No wonder Hillary said to Bill O'Reilly, "Rich people. God bless us."

AP just reported, via MSNBC, that Hillary Clinton loaned her campaign $6.4 million last month.

Last night, we wrote about the possibility of another loan based on a report from Ben Smith. She already loaned her campaign $5 million.

Keep in mind that, despite the previous loan, Clinton was in debt at the end of February and at the end of March. And, you know, we kept hearing how much money the Clinton campaign was raking in big bucks through April.

Another huge loan. This is so over.

McCain's GOP totals aren't all that impressive considering he's running against no one

Considering John McCain isn't running against anyone, he's not doing all that well. He's consistently lost a big chunk of the GOP vote.

Indiana


North Carolina


Pennsylvania

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well, that was a fun night. Haven't had one of those for awhile. But, it's over. The Clinton campaign has to plan its exit strategy -- and that means an end to the negative campaigning.

Can we finally move on to the campaign against McCain? I hope so, but, again, that depends on Team Clinton.

What are you hearing?

UPDATED -- BREAKING: Wesley Clark reportedly called Hillary tonight, urging her to drop out

UPDATE: We got a denial from General Clark's office today. They contacted us to tell us he did not reach out to Clinton:

This is not true. He did not contact Hillary or the Clinton campaign expressing a desire for her to drop out.

As I wrote in the post last night, we like General Clark here at AMERICAblog. So, we are more than happy to post this denial for him and his staff.

______________________________________________

We've just been told that General Wesley Clark, a strong Clinton supporter and fellow Arkansan, called Hillary tonight to tell her it's over.

In addition to our source, the king of the pundits, Mark Halperin, drops a tantalizing hint that something might be up with Clark:

"The biggest question: Will any of her supporters (including Wes Clark) say publicly or privately she should quit?"

We like General Clark here at AMERICAblog, and have a bit of a history with him. So we hope what we're hearing is true. But the general better watch it - this could be his most dangerous mission to date. When you take on the Clintons, the sniper fire is real.

And now it's time for the General to do one more mission. He need to publicly endorse Barack Obama. Hillary is intent on staying in the race, even though we now know that even if we just give her her "wins" in Michigan and Florida, she still loses to Obama in both delegates and overall votes. General Clark must know this. He must know that Hillary is now hurting our nominee, hurting our party, hurting our chances to defeat McCain in the fall. General Clark, where are you?

Russert: It's over for Hillary. She just lost the nomination.

NBC declares Hillary the winner, barely, in Indiana. Hillary may get one delegate more than Obama in Indiana. Chuck Todd says Obama will get 13 more delegates than Hillary tonight, and that wipes out the 12 delegates more than him that she got in Pennsylvania. Obama now has a pledged delegate lead of over 160, he's got a popular vote lead of over 700,000, per Todd

There is simply no path to victory for Hillary. Now she's just screwing around and hurting the party. Look at what Chuck Todd just said, again - even with Michigan and Florida, she has lost:

"With leads like this now, if you throw in Michigan and Florida, as is, then Obama would still have about 150,000 votes and he would still have 100 delegates, pledged delegate, lead." - Chuck Todd, 1:13 AM

But knowing the Clintons, the fact that there's no way for them to win won't step them from sabotaging Obama's race against McCain. If Hillary can continue to damage Obama, maybe she can make Obama lose in the fall, and then she can run again in 2012. Don't think that this isn't what her senior advisers, including her husband, are thinking. These people aren't Democrats, they're Clintons. They aren't interested in the party, they're interested in themselves, as they've clearly proven repeatedly over the past three months. Please give to Obama's campaign using the box on the left - just click it and it will bring you to a page where you can donate. The only way to stop this woman is through a massive response, and that includes beefing up Obama's coffers.

1:09 AM
99% reporting
Hillary 637,389 (up 22,019)
Obama 615,370

Hillary still ahead in Indiana by only 1.4%, she only has 50.7% of the vote to his 49.3%. But like every good horror movie, the bad guy keeps coming back. She isn't out until she's out. I mean, don't get me wrong, she lost, it's over, she's not going to be our nominee. But she can still mess things up by refusing to leave.

Video of Russert saying Hillary has lost the nomination:


12:35 AM
95%
Hillary 606,497 (ahead 16,609)
Obama 589,888

12:33 AM
Hillary 590,867 (ahead 19,747)
Obama 571,120

Russert's quote in response to the question "Did it just end tonight?" from Olbermann:

We now know who the democratic nominee is going to be and no one is going to dispute it.

This is it. The media finally turned on her. It's over. It's finally freaking over. I say this because the race was over 2 months ago. But the media kept it alive by pretending as though Hillary had a chance, when they knew she didn't. But, their pretending permitted her to keep going with a straight face. Now that the media is turning on her, she's going to have an impossible time continuing. If she continues to run the only question she will be asked from now on is "you've lost, why are you still in this race?" There is nothing she can do now. Yes, she can stay in the race, says she's not quitting until the convention in August. But now that the media has turned on her, good luck with that.

Indiana results

12:06 AM
92% reporting
Clinton 588,823 (ahead 20,667)
Obama 568,156

11:54 PM
Clinton 588,106 (ahead 20,957)
Obama 567,149

NBC just reported that Hillary cancelled her appearances on the morning shows tomorrow. That means she isn't sure what she's doing, staying or going. Ben Smith says "It's a sign of weakness she can ill afford at a moment when questions about whether she can continue are mounting."

11:51 PM
Clinton 587,973 (ahead by 20,985)
Obama 566,988

11:50PM
91% reporting
Clinton 584,113 51% (ahead by 19,790)
Obama 564,323 49%

NBC's Chuck Todd: Even if you give Hillary FL and MI she loses

This is a huge point. Huge. Earlier today, Hillary's people tried to argue that even if Obama reaches the 2,025 delegates he needs to become our nominee, Hillary will continue to contest the election until Florida and Michigan are seated. Yeah, only one little problem. NBC's Chuck Todd, who is brilliant and highly respected on such things, just said that you can give Hillary Florida and Michigan - on her terms - and she still loses the nationwide delegate count and the popular vote. She still loses the nomination.

"If you threw in both Florida and Michigan, you will still look at a popular vote lead of some 150 to 200,000. If you throw in those delegates in her math you will have almost 100 delegate lead there for Obama. This was a big night because it really almost erases the doubt as far as Florida and Michigan is concerned too. You can throw those numbers in there and they really don't change the math that much for Obama." - Chuck Todd, NBC, May 6, 2008, 11:40PM

There is no longer any reason for Hillary to continue in this race other than a desire to destroy Obama and make him lost in the fall so she can run again in 4 years. This farce needs to be ended now.

Okay, Team Clinton, admit it: The game didn't change. It's really over. Stop the negative campaigning. And, break it to Hillary and Bill.

The Democratic nominating process has been decided for a couple months. But, the Clinton campaign, the pundits and the wimpy superdelegates have let it go on too long. But, tonight, it's over. For real.

Hillary Clinton told us North Carolina would be a "game changer":

“This primary election on Tuesday is a game changer. This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country – probably even a lot of the world is looking to see what North Carolina decides.”

The entire world saw it. Now, the Clinton campaign needs to see it. And, someone needs to tell the candidate. Her speech tonight was delusional -- and embarrassing. She can't and won't be the nominee. (And, for all her feigned concern about counting all the votes, the then-presumptive nominee said the race would be over by February 5th.)

Over the next couple days, the Clinton team over in Arlington need to do some serious thinking. They've all done their best for their candidate. Too many times, however, they've actually aided and abetted the GOP. That has to end. It's time to stop the ugly conference calls and the negative ads. It's time to stop disparaging the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama.

Barack Obama gave a speech tonight that defined his candidacy -- and started the general election campaign against John McCain. We're all ready for that battle. It's time for Hillary Clinton and her crew to join us. Help us send Hillary and her staff a message. Help us tell Hillary that we don't appreciate her trying to destroy our party, trying to make John McCain the next president. Join us in donating to Obama for President and sending Hillary a final message: It's time for her to go. Click the box at left to donate to Obama's campaign. You can give Obama up to $2300 for the primary race, and another $2300 for the general election race against McCain (that includes any donations you may have already given to Obama elsewhere). Please donate and send a message that enough is enough. It's over.

NYT: Clinton advisers dispirited, campaign broke

Are there are any real Democrats still working on that campaign? You people are part of the problem. You are hurting our chances of beating McCain in the fall. You're as bad as Joe Lieberman. Have you no conscience?

From the NYT:

Mrs. Clinton’s advisers acknowledged that the results of the primaries were far less than they had hoped, and said they were likely to face new pleas even from some of their own supporters for her to quit the race. They said they expected fund-raising to become even harder now; one adviser said the campaign was essentially broke, and several others refused to say whether Mrs. Clinton had lent the campaign money from her personal account to keep it afloat.

The advisers said they were dispirited over the loss in North Carolina, after her campaign — working off a shoestring budget as spending outpaces fund-raising — decided to allocate millions of dollars, some key operatives and full days of the candidate and her husband there.

A second NYT news analysis says that tonight's results did not help Hillary, and probably made it even harder for her to win. She needs to go.

Please click the box in the upper right and give to Barack Obama for President. It's time we stopped this train wreck since no one else will. It's time for her to go.

It's time for her to go

"Her only way to win is to bring it to the convention.... I think she is signaling... that it is all out scorched earth war"- Rachel Maddow, May 6, 2008

Oh but don't tell Hillary that. She's on TV right now saying that she's staying in race. She's not leaving, she says, until Florida ad Michigan are counted. That's code for contesting the nomination at the convention. She's now claiming that she won Indiana - and that's not at all clear. She's begging for donations so that she can stay in the race and continue to maim Obama. Her plan is obvious. She wants to so hurt Obama that he loses in the fall, that way she can run again in 2012 against President McCain, the man she's about to put into office. She is out of control.

Enough already.

I can't think of a better way to tell Hillary that it's over, that she has lost, that she is now simply doing harm to our nominee and our party, than to make a big fat donation to Barack Obama for President. Click the blue box to the left and make your secure donation to Senator Obama.

Remember how after Pennsylvania Hillary claimed to have raised millions, and she and the media used that to "prove" that somehow Pennsylvania "changed everything"? Well, nothing changed. And tonight, Hillary is reeling after having lost North Carolina in a rout (that's ABC's word), and all the pundits are saying that she is in big trouble after not being able to win Indiana by a landslide.

Neither Hillary nor her husband give a damn about the Democratic party. They've threatened to defund our effort to keep control of the US House. Her ongoing temper tantrum of a race is literally hurting every congressional candidate we have. They can't raise money. They can't get staff. Even the DNC admitted that the never-ending nomination is hurting their fundraising, money they need to take on John McCain. It's time to send Hillary a message. Donate to Barack Obama now.

You can donate up to $2,300 for Obama's primary race, and then another $2,300 for his general election race (and don't laugh, someone donated $2300 to Scott Kleeb today via our site). Every dime you give goes to the candidate - neither ActBlue nor AMERICAblog takes a dime. And your donation, and your credit card, is totally safe - ActBlue has been around for years. I've set a lofty goal of raising $10,000.

This woman is insane. No one is going to stop her unless we do it ourselves with our own pocketbooks and our political pressure (more on that later). Let's see how large a message we can send to Hillary. Tell Hillary you've had it with the Clinton lies, the Clinton scandals, the Clinton egomania, and the Clinton triangulation that always ends up screwing the Democrats in Congress and key Democratic constituencies that suddenly get thrown under the Clinton bus of convenience. Give to Obama now. This has to end, now.

Thanks guys. JOHN

PS Our favorite cowboy, Scott Kleeb, is well over $7,000 now. Please consider helping his campaign out as well. You can read more about that, and donate, here.

More Election Updates

10:19 PM: Joe again. CNN's John King just said it is mathematically possible for Obama to win Indiana. We won't hear from Lake County, which includes Gary, until close to midnight. There are over 11,000 absentee ballots and the county won't report final numbers til all the absentees are counted.

10:07 PM: This is Joe. I'm watching CNN and for some reason, they have the most painful, despicable and obnoxious of all the Clinton surrogates on tonight: Lanny Davis. Seriously, CNN, we deserve better.

9:45 PM: Russert and company are making it clear that Hillary lost the spin war tonight. She needed to win Indiana right away. Instead, Obama won North Carolina right away and Indiana is now too close to call. Holy shit, Russert just said that Hillary has to show the superdelegates TOMORROW that she's not just trying to hurt Obama, but rather she can show a path for how she gets the nomination. The burden has shifted back to Senator Clinton that they should be patient, that she has a realistic path to the nomination.

9:25 PM: From CNN, with 71% reporting, Clinton leads 52% - 48%.

9:13 PM MSNBC: Indiana has changed from "too early to call" to "too close to call."

58% of Republicans who turned out to vote today in the Dem primary in NC think Obama is more likely than Hillary to beat McCain. Only 37% think Hillary is more likely to beat McCain.

NBC's David Gregory: "This is shaping up to be, at this juncture, a big night for Barack Obama."

Rachel Maddow: Obama isn't doing any worse in his various demographics even after all the Rev. Wright stuff (my paraphrase).

More money woes for Clinton campaign?

Clinton was in debt at the end of February and at the end of March. We heard a lot about all the money Clinton was raising in April, although most of that probably just paid Mark Penn's bill, which totaled over $4.5 million.

That makes this nugget from Ben Smith a lot more interesting:

I asked Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe just now whether Clinton had given or loaned her campaign more money in the run-up to North Carolina and Indiana.

"Might be. Might not be," McAuliffe said, adding that the campaign would release more fundraising details tomorrow.

In the past, Clinton aides have denied a second Clinton loan, but McAuliffe said tonight his policy is not to talk about fundraising details.

Anyone who has watched Terry McAuliffe doing his over-the-top, rah-rah spin routine knows that he is never the bearer of bad news. If he had good news, he'd be ramming it down our throats. (McAuliffe is definitely on the list of Clintonistas who we hopefully won't have to see on t.v. too much longer.) So, we're waiting for those fundraising details tomorrow.

The big loss tonight won't help with her fundraising.

Obama Wins North Carolina

Clinton surrogate Lisa Caputo was just on MSNBC. Every other word out of her mouth was Rev. Wright, Rev. Wright, Rev. Wright. You don't see Obama's surrogates on TV talking about Monica, oral sex in the Oval Office, Hillary's cattle futures windfall, TravelGate, the Rose Law firm files, and on and on. It's just interesting to note the difference.

Chuck Todd: If Obama wins 57% in NC he will wipe out Hillary's gains in PA in delegates and in overall vote.

Keith Olbermann: Hillary's "game changer" didn't happen.



CNN just called North Carolina for Obama. Must be a convincing win for it to be called this early. They called it the second the polls closed. John tells me MSNBC called it, too.

Hillary Clinton told us North Carolina would be a "game changer." Wrong. It's still too early to call. ABC is calling her loss in NC a "rout." And the pundits, on MSNBC at least, are saying that Hillary didn't get what she needed tonight (so far) to convince anyone that Obama should be overthrown.

It's over.

Polls closed in Indiana

Russert is going off about Rev. Wright again. No surprises there. He's physically incapable of appearing on TV and not mentioning Wright. Yet he never mentions Monica or any of the Clinton's other scandals. Funny, that.

CNN says it is too early to call.

UPDATED: With 54% reporting, Clinton is ahead 54% to 46%. Click here to know which counties are reporting.

I had to turn the sound down on CNN now that hatemonger racist Lou Dobbs is hosting.

Must... not... post... exit... polls...

I can't help myself.

Indiana's voter ID laws stops elderly nuns from voting

Remember how last week the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's onerous voter ID law?

Oh, it's working. Stopped a bunch of 80 and 90 year old nuns from voting.

That should make those good Catholic boys, Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, very proud. They all supported the Indiana law, of course.

Best headline from Fired Up! Missouri: "Sisters of St. Mary's Convent Foiled in Plot to Steal Election Through Vote Fraud"

The Republicans simply have no ideas left

Gingrich is freaking out over the fact that the Republicans have now lost two special elections for congressional seats. First, watch him freak, then see what he prescribes.

The freak:

Former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich sounds the alarm after Republicans lost a second-straight special election in a GOP-held seat. "The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November."

"The facts are clear and compelling. Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975. This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004."

Now check out what Gingrich thinks congressional Republicans should push policy-wise. Keep in mind we are in the middle of a recession in a war without end:

Gingrich offers some suggestions for the GOP leadership -- like repealing the gas tax and paying for it by cutting discretionary spending; overhauling the Census Bureau (?); establishing a one-year moratorium on earmarks; and making English the official language of the US government...

1. Nothing about the war.
2. Nothing about terrorism or Osama.
3. The Hillary/McCain cute-but-no-impact gas tax repeal.
4. Overhauling the census bureau? Yeah that'll help us buy milk.
5. Earmark reform? Again, this helps the economy and the war how?
6. English as the official language? Regardless of the merits, it won't impact any of our daily lives.

So, Gingrich, the Republican who actually has ideas, offers us three feel-good reforms that do nothing to help real Americans (gas tax repeal, English language, and earmark reform), and one that's simply bizarre (census). The Republicans simply have no ideas left. (How long before Hillary adopts each of Gingrich's ideas?)

Limbaugh is succeeding in getting his Republican listeners to vote for Hillary

First off, this means that the message from Indiana's results, even after we have them, may not be clear at all. Second, if Rush Limbaugh wants Hillary as our candidate, God help us. It says something that every nutjob on the far right, even after what Obama has been through the past couple of weeks, is still for Hillary. You want a canary in the coal mine of electability, you just got it.

The Indianapolis Star reported online today that it appeared that droves of "hard-core" Republicans are crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary in GOP strongholds in Marion County and suburbs.

Exit polls suggest that Limbaugh's soldiers could have made a difference March 4 in Texas, where Clinton pulled out a narrow win in the primary, though Obama won the simultaneous caucuses....

But today on his program, Limbaugh told "operatives and commandos" that he has received emails from GOP voters that they have not been challenged at the polls. He read one email from one who voted for Clinton: "It was tough. I showered twice, I threw up in my mouth, but I did it."

Business thumbs nose at say-on-pay

Anyone who honestly believes big business will give any authority to regular shareholders on pay or for that matter, pay executives on results like everyone else, is simply kidding themselves. Not going to happen on its own. Ever. The only way this will change is complete collapse of the economic system (which is also unlikely) or Congress steps in and changes things. As it stands today, business receives too much encouragement to play games like this. It's all there in the existing tax code which even goes as far as allowing business to pay the taxes of these overpaid executives.

Fair is fair and what we have today is unfair. Let's see how well America's corporate leadership does when they have to live by the rules for everyone else. Considering how poorly they are doing today, why should they receive all of the gifts without any of the risk? We used to be a country that sought a level playing field and it's high time we get back to that traditional value. Obviously there are benefits for the select few but for the greater good of both the businesses and America, the benefits are hard to find.

Here's exactly what will happen today

Sadly brilliant. From The Field:

The day begins with the Clinton campaign “leaking” something to the Drudge Report to set expectations for the day. That then gets repeated on political blogs and cable news, where Clinton surrogate Terry McAuliffe elaborates. Today’s “expectation”: That the Clinton campaign expects a “15 point” defeat in North Carolina. Clinton’s yapping puppies in the news media repeat the manufactured expectation all day long, in which the bar is supposedly now that if Clinton comes within 15 points in that state that she has somehow “won” with a 14 point (or 6 point) defeat.

Around 4 p.m. rumors of exit polls begin circulating on the Internet. Around 5:30 p.m. AP and other news organizations leak minor data from the exit polls that explains almost nothing of value. Sometime after 6 p.m. Drudge posts raw numbers from exit polls that - if past is prologue - show Obama doing an average of seven percentage points better than he actually does.

Obama supporters then get prematurely jubilant and after polls close (tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Indiana and 7:30 p.m. ET in North Carolina) the real results start to come in and reveal Clinton then doing “better than expected” (at least better than the new expectations promoted during the day).

The media talking heads then ask aloud why Obama can’t “close the deal” (in Clinton’s own words) and what is numerically a defeat for Clinton (because the results, even in her recent wins, bring her objectively farther from the nomination in the context of the smaller number of delegates then available) gets spun as a Clinton victory.

Clinton takes to the stage, claims “unexpected” victory, gives out her web site address and pleads for elder women on fixed incomes to send more money to the $109 millionaire. The following day they claim that $10 million rolled in, only to be disproved more than a month later when the actual FEC filing is due. Obama’s FEC filing simultaneously reveals that he raised much, much more, from more small donors, and the Clinton campaign plays the victim card over being outspent.

The Chicken Littles among Obama supporters then proceed to agonize across the Internet for days on end, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their candidate has just moved closer to the nomination, and Clinton was pushed farther away from it.

If Hillary were a race car

Via MSNBC:

"Asked for a definitive answer about whether she'd stay in the race beyond today, [Hillary Clinton] threw up a caution flag.

" 'I'm looking forward to find out what happens,' she said. 'I'm always interested in finding out what voters actually think, because there's all kind of speculation. It'd be like predicting who's going to win the Indy 500 before it's even started.' "

Actually it's not that hard predicting a winner when your car blew up months ago and your opponent is the only one left in the race.

Banks not giving loans, despite free money from taxpayers

What idiot or group of idiots decided to give away taxpayer money without any strings? Who does business this way? I get the whole "banks need liquidity to move the economy" thing but c'mon, banks are taking that free money and sitting on it or investing it elsewhere. Obviously the banks were giving loans away too easily before but to suddenly cut off everything is just as bad. If banks don't want to loan, fine, but don't ask everyone else to fund their mistakes as Wall Street continues to live the life of Riley and using Uncle Sam's cash at below inflation rates. If the tables were turned, you know the banks would be asking for the world so why not treat them the same way?

What makes it worse is that none of the candidates are saying much about this bailout. Are they really in agreement with this policy of supporting the lifestyle decisions of Wall Street? Sure we are seeing tens of thousands of Wall Street bankers being fired but we have yet to see any real changes on Wall Street. Just like last year - despite record lows - we're going to read about bonuses that are more than most people make in a lifetime or tens of lifetimes and guess who is funding it all? Lots of people would love the Wall Street lifestyle, but I don't see Wall Street lining up to fund it without strings.

Now Hillary says Obama won't be the winner even if he reaches 2,025 delegates

Honestly, go ahead. At this point, I'd love nothing better than to see an all-out war in the Democratic party, instigated by Hillary and Bill Clinton. The DNC, God bless 'em, is afraid to take Hillary on. The Democrats in Congress are afraid to take her on. The superdelegates across the board are afraid to take her on. We are a party of fear. Not the Republican kind of fear, that they project outwards on to voters, we internalize our fear and become sniveling wimps. There's a reason that Republicans always brand us as the party of weaklings, it's because sometimes we are. And it's sickening. And it's why people like George Bush and Hillary Clinton are able to step all over our leaders, and repeatedly undermine our agenda. Because we let them, and they know we'll let them. So at this point, I welcome a Democratic civil war to finally clear out the wimp wing, and I suspect the Netroots, in tandem with the black community, will be leading the charge. If it takes spending the rest of this year attacking Hillary instead of John McCain, then so be it. I don't want another President Clinton if it's going to mean four more years of Republican-lite and another stolen election.

Feed Scott

This week is Scott Kleeb web in the blogosphere. By this Friday, I'd like AMERICAblog to raise $10,000 for US Senate candidate Scott Kleeb, from Nebraska (click the blue box below to reach our donation page for Scott). DailyKos has set themselves a one-week goal of raising $20,000 for Scott. Atrios has been pitching in as well.

I know we're all fixated, and/or fed up, with the Hillary vs. Obama saga, but, our congressional candidates need us now. Please help Scott, and the other candidates we're promoting. ActBlue, the folks we're using to channel donations to Scott and other Democrats, has raised $40 million for Democratic candidates over the past four years. Your credit card is safe with them. So please consider helping out with a donation to our endorsed candidates. We'll be highlighting new candidates all the time between now and the election. Again, click on the blue box to donate to Scott, and feel free to read more about Scott's race here.

More Hillary superdelegates are considering bolting

From the LA Times: "Some who have supported her say they'll switch to Barack Obama if she doesn't make big gains in the remaining Democratic primaries."

MSNBC: If Obama wins more delegates, he really loses

From MSNBC:

You'll know it will be a mediocre to bad night for Obama if his campaign has to talk about who won the most delegates tonight, rather than by how much they won each state.

Okay, so, let's get this straight. The metric for winning the Democratic nomination is the number of delegates you win. But, NBC is telling us, that if Obama wins more delegates than Hillary tonight, and expands his lead over her, then he'd better not talk about it or else that will be a sign that he really lost.

What a load of crap. Under this logic, how does Obama win tonight? By winning more votes and NOT winning more delegates? Under that scenario, you just know NBC and all the other pundits-who-won't-give-up would say "wow, Obama didn't gain a single delegate tonight, he's in trouble." The mainstream media loves a good fight. They know this is over. It's been over for months. But they just can't stop enjoying watching Hillary destroy our nominee. So they spout crap like this, saying that delegates don't really matter when delegates are the only thing that matters.

The one economist who supports Hillary's gas tax plan says it's "pointless"

Elitist.

Windows Mail replaces Obama with Osama, Klingon with Clinton

A friend emails me that his Windows Mail program keeps trying to replace "Obama" with "Osama." He notes that he bought the computer in December 2007, when Obama was already a well-known candidate. A bit odd, though I suspect just a glitch (but you never know, programmers are wacky people). Kind of a funny one, though. Oh, and when you type in Clinton or McCain, you get bupkis. But when you type in "Klingon" you get "Clinton." (But, as reader Rob, who discovered this, notes: "At least the Klingons joined the Federation.")



Speaking of which, here's a funny story about a Wired.com writer whose spell-check keeps keeps trying to change his name "Zjawinski" to "Lewinsky."

Hillary lied about Stephanopoulos and NAFTA

Gee, no one could have predicted that.

Here is what Hillary had to say this past Sunday during her love-fest with Stephanopoulos on ABC:

Now, you remember this, because George did work in that '92 campaign, and George and I actually were against NAFTA. I'm talking about him in his previous life, before he was an objective journalist and didn't have opinions about such matters.

(LAUGHTER)

STEPHANOPOULOS: [inaudible] opinion.

CLINTON: Yes, but we were in meetings together where we said, look, we think there's going to be a lot of downsides, and we're not really thinking through that.

That's not what happened. Stephanopoulos talked about those meetings on his show two months ago. Here's what he had to say on March 23, 2008:

JAY CARNEY ("TIME"): I think there's a lot of creative and revisionist history happening on people's views of NAFTA. At the time NAFTA was a huge and important push that President Clinton made in his first term. The administration was behind it. There's no indication that the First Lady wasn't behind it. And when he secured it, it was considered a success, that had righted his presidency after a very difficult opening several months in its first year. So I think Senator Clinton has a real problem here arguing that she was against it.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS): It is true, though. I was in some of the meetings. It is true, that at the time, she was pushing health care. And she didn't appreciate the fact that NAFTA was getting a lot more time on the schedule.

And here's the video of the same thing:



So, Stephanopoulous says that Hillary expressed concern that all the attention to NAFTA was taking attention away from her health care proposal. She did not oppose NAFTA because she thought "there's going to be a lot of downsides, and we're not really thinking through that." She simply thought NAFTA was competing with her own legislative priorities. So, again, Hillary's memory of an event conflicts with what really happened.

No gas tax gimmickry in Senate Democrat's legislation

Now, if you need further evidence that Hillary Clinton's colleagues aren't on board with the gas tax gimmickry she and McCain are proposing, here it is (from Roll Call, sub. req.)

When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rolls out his party’s much anticipated gas price legislation later this week, one element that won’t be included is any sort of “gas tax holiday” provision.

Despite calls for a temporary gas tax repeal from the presidential campaign trail — and from some on Capitol Hill — Reid is expected to strenuously avoid bringing that issue into the debate, both to keep the Senate out of the Democratic presidential nomination fight and to sidestep splits within his own party.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has called for a temporary gas tax repeal, as has Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — although unlike Clinton, he would not pay for it through a new short-term tax on oil company profits.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) prefers providing the public with a tax rebate to help out amid soaring energy and food costs.

Leadership aides say the issue is much more local for Reid: There is no consensus within his Democratic Conference in favor of a tax repeal.

Now, if Hillary Clinton really cared about this issue, she'd leave the campaign trail and rush back to D.C. to fight for her proposal. But, she doesn't really care. This was politics, not policy.

The gas tax scam does show that Hillary and her campaign are more than willing to screw over the rest of the Democratic party. If Hillary somehow steals the nomination, she and McCain would be on the same side -- and against the Democratic House and Senate candidates -- on the gas tax scam.

The pundits are in a frenzy over game day in NC and IN. Hillary said NC will be a "game changer" (but the game is already over)

The top political writers at The Washington Post and The New York Times take a crack at telling the rest of us what the results in North Carolina and Indiana will mean.

The pundits have had a blast dissecting the Democratic primary. They all know it's over, but this is great sport for them. Team Clinton plays right into it, feeding the frenzy.

Bottom line is pretty simple: The candidate with the most delegates wins the nomination. That's Obama. He is the inevitable nominee and has been for awhile. Clinton and her new found media pals can come up with news machinations every day, but the facts are the facts. They've created a cottage industry of spin to keep this process going.

Importantly, Clinton told us North Carolina will be a "game changer":

“This primary election on Tuesday is a game changer. This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country – probably even a lot of the world is looking to see what North Carolina decides.”

For once, we'll take her at her word because those actually sounded like unscripted words for a change. If she doesn't win North Carolina and win big, it's over. If North Carolina doesn't change the game like she said it would, she should drop out this week. And, her staff can then stop doing the GOP's work. No more destroying the Democratic nominee.

And, if you want a really good chuckle, check out this brilliant analysis from the king of the pundits, Mark Halperin. He gets paid a lot of money to provide this pablum for Time Magazine -- and the talking heads on cable will undoubtedly parrot these exact talking points. Everyone reading this blog could do a better job.

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Here we go again. Voters are voting in Indiana and North Carolina. Back in January, could you ever have imagined we'd still be at it? Polls opened in Indiana from 6 a.m and will stay open til 6 p.m., but that 6 p.m. might be Eastern and it might be Central time. Indiana has two time zones. It's simpler in North Carolina, polls opened at 6:30 a.m. and remain open through 7:30 p.m.

A lot of people have already voted in both states and turnout is expected to be quite high. We'll keep track of what's happening throughout the day.

And, we will, of course, be monitoring results. But, I am ignoring all early exit polls. They suck.

With that, start the thread.

'Gas tax holiday' would cost state $126 milion plus 4300 jobs

And the benefit to consumers? About $28. We can't afford more Republican economics like this. This article is only for the state of Washington so imagine this across the US.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations subcommittee and has endorsed Clinton. She doesn't support a federal gas tax suspension.

"She has a firsthand look at what's going on with our transportation systems, our roads and our bridges, and from her perspective, this is bad idea," said her spokeswoman, Alex Glass.

There's no guarantee that the plan would result in lower gas prices, but it would deteriorate highway funding, Glass said.

"The gas tax funds the Highway Trust Fund, and there are a number of critical infrastructure needs -- roads and bridges across the country -- that need to be maintained and repaired," she said. "We just can't afford to have crumbling infrastructure."

Bernanke, the genius

No, you don't say?

"High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets, and the broader economy," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Columbia University School of Business in New York.

Naturally none of this prevents him from a strict whatever-Wall-Street-wants policy of cushy bailouts and rate cuts. What next? Is Bernanke going to boldly state that interest rate cuts to banks don't transfer to individuals or that when the dollar goes down, gas prices go up with each rate cut?

Where the heck were Bernanke and Greenspan, the Fed, and the Republicans when this fragile system was being built up? They're all supposed to be so smart, so how did they honestly think that real estate would always increase? Have they never studied bubble economies before? How did we get stuck with such an incompetent bunch?

10,000 feared dead in Myanmar cyclone

UPDATE from Chris: Latest news is now "more than 15,000" dead.

Wow.

Substitute Teacher Says Wizardry Accusation Cost Him Job

The stupid, it burns!

The telephone call that spelled the end of Jim Piculas' career as a substitute teacher in Pasco came on a January day about a week after he performed the disappearing-toothpick trick for a group of rapt middle school students.

Pat Sinclair, who oversees substitute teachers in the Pasco County School District, was on the phone. She told Piculas there had been a complaint about his performance at Rushe Middle School in Land O' Lakes.

He asked what she meant.

"She said, 'You've been accused of wizardry,' " Piculas said.

He said the statement seemed bizarre to him, like something out of Harry Potter.

Piculas said he replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He said he also told Sinclair, "It's not black magic. It's a toothpick."

Oil does it again, closes at new record high

The price per barrel went over $120 - a new high - and closed at $119.97. Last week's sell off was short lived and buyers jumped on whatever news they could find, which is pretty much the same as any other day. It's going to test the $120 mark a few times but unless the demand eases and suddenly the world has great news in the oil regions, get used to more increases. Add to that Bernanke's Wall Street loving rate cuts (which never quite reach beyond Wall Street, in a good way) and you have this.

Those Republicans sure were right on this. Ha ha, look at those ridiculous people who talk about conservation. They're tree hugging goofballs who want to drive silly little cars. Errrr, nevermind. Mission Accomplished.

Markos has the latest polls from NC and Indiana

Basically, it's as you'd expect. Hillary ahead in Indiana, Obama ahead in North Carolina. This will of course means that Indiana changes everything and North Carolina doesn't matter.

McCain says "League of Nations" needs to deal with Iran

Too bad the League of Nations was disbanded in 1946 when John McCain was ten years old. Oh, and one of our commenters added this:

Reminds me of Mr. Burns at the Post Office:

"Yes, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?"

Loving of "Loving v. Virginia" dies

Sad. And what a beautiful name for the case that paved the way for marriage equality among and between the races.

Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws nationwide, has died, her daughter said Monday....

Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states.

"There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause," the court ruled in a unanimous decision.

Her husband died in 1975. Shy and soft-spoken, Loving shunned publicity and in a rare interview with The Associated Press last June, insisted she never wanted to be a hero — just a bride.

"It wasn't my doing," Loving said. "It was God's work."

Effectiveness of Green Berets hurt by never-ending Iraq and Afghan wars

The Republicans are breaking the military. Wonder what another 50 years in Iraq under Hillary (she said she's fine with that), or 100 years in Iraq under McCain (he said he's fine with that), would do?

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world, the military's top commando told The Associated Press on Monday.

"We're going to fewer countries, staying for shorter periods of time, with smaller numbers of people than historically we have done," Adm. Eric T. Olson said in his first interview since becoming commander of U.S. Special Operations Command last July.

Olson, himself a combat veteran, saw little chance that the demand for his special operations forces in Iraq will decline anytime soon. Even as the overall American force there shrinks — from about 158,000 now to about 140,000 by the end of July — the number of special operations forces in the war zone is likely to increase, he said.

Please donate to Scott Kleeb's Senate race in Nebraska

You all remember Scott Kleeb. He's our Nebraska cowboy who ran for the US House two years ago as a Democrat, and gave the Republicans such a run for their money (in a traditionally Republican district), that the Rs had to send George Bush himself in to save the day for Kleeb's opponent. (And that gives you an idea as to how conservative it is, as George Bush was still considered an asset a little over a year ago.)

Well, Scott is running again, this time for Nebraska's open seat in the US Senate. He's running in the Democratic primary against a Republican. Yes, his opponent in the Democratic primary is a Republican - and a friend of Bush, at that - who switched his party affiliation to Democrat two days before the filing deadline. His opponent has just put nearly half a million dollars of his own money into the campaign. So Scott could use your help - the primary is next Tuesday - you help matters now. I'd like to ask you to click the blue box in the upper left corner and donate to Scott's campaign. Scott is a proud Obama supporter and could really use your help.

The folks over at DailyKos are holding an online telethon for Scott between now and Friday. Their goal is to raise $20,000 for him by the end of the week. I'd like us to join in. One of the great things we all were able to accomplish during the 2006 congressional elections was to raise a heck of a lot of money for Democratic House candidates. Markos raised over $1.5 million, and even little old AMERICAblog pulled in a hefty $100k in only two weeks. I'd like to see us do that again. And wouldn't it be nice to have something we can all unify around, for a change :-)

So, if the spirit moves you, please click on the blue box in the upper left hand corner of this post, and donate to Scott's campaign. I've set us an optimistic goal of raising $10k for Scott by this Friday. We raised around $22,000 for him, I think, in the last campaign, so let's see what we can do this time. Again, Scott's Democratic primary (against the Republican) is next Tuesday. He needs your support now. Thanks as always, JOHN

Funny as hell

From GasTaxScam.com (hat tip, Open Left):

CONFIDENTIAL/URGENT POLITICAL PROPOSAL

Dear Sir

First we must solicit your confidence in this issue. This is by virtue as being utterly confidential and "top secret".

We are SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, the wife of the former United States head of state, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, and also SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, friend and associate of current head of state PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH. We got your contact through business inquiries as we were searching for contacts of a citizen who can help save our and our family's political careers since our country has been frustrating us.

We are top officials of the United States Senate Government who are interested in importation of oil into our country with funds that are presently trapped in the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND dedicated to improving transportation. We wish to send this money to overseas accounts in the MIDDLE EAST but cannot due to restrictions in Congress Transportation Equity Act requiring that this money must be spent to build roads, bridges and high speed trains.

If you accept we will deliver to your a sum of 30 DOLLARS in the summer 2008 in form of a "GAS TAX HOLIDAY". You will then deliver this money to accounts of our friends in Middle East by taking it to your nearby gasoline station where they have information to forward the money. Please supply your bank account, social security number, address and your vote in DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES AND NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION.

But bear in mind that this transaction requires absolute confidentiality. Do not visit WWW.GASTAXSCAM.COM where there is information about dangers of our proposal and a petition to stop us from this diversion of funds.

PLEASE NOTIFY US URGENTLY OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PROPOSAL

Awaiting your rapid response

Yours truly

SENATORS HILLARY CLINTON AND JOHN MCCAIN

Hillary just torpedoed the DNC's "100 years" ad against McCain

It was our best argument against McCain. It was an ad that was making the Republicans reel. You saw it here. It's the DNC's biggest gun yet against McCain - the 100 years ad in which John McCain says he's fine with us staying in Iraq for another century. The Republicans have been demanding that TV stations not air the ad. They're absolutely freaking out over it.

And now Hillary just killed it for us.

You see, three years ago, while having one of her "I love John McCain" schmooze fests, Hillary let out the whopper that she agrees with John McCain on Iraq, adding that it's fine with her if we stay there for another 50 years. Sure, she didn't say 100 years, she only said 50. but the point is made. Were Hillary to become our nominee, we'd no longer be able to use Iraq as an issue against John McCain because Hillary agrees with John McCain, and worse, she used his same language - the language we're using in our top ad against John McCain. (And actually, even when Obama is finally anointed, we're still going to have to face charges that McCain's position on Iraq is no different than Hillary's.) Here's what Hillary had to say:

"Senator McCain made the point earlier today, which I agree with, and that is, it's not so much a question of time when it comes to American military presence for the average American; I include myself in this. But it is a question of casualties," said Clinton. "We don't want to see our young men and women dying and suffering these grievous injuries that so many of them have. We've been in South Korea for 50-plus years. We've been in Europe for 50-plus. We're still in Okinawa with respect to protection there coming out of World War II."

So once again, Hillary's attempt to pretend she's a Republican has shot us in the ass. Then again, no one could have predicted that Hillary's refusal to admit defeat, her insistence on throwing every Democratic issue and constituency under the campaign bus, would turn around and hurt our chances in November. Oh wait a minute. Yes we did. Still think we should let this go until June? Seriously, does anyone in this party want to win any more?

PS We also can't hit McCain on his ridiculous gas-tax-holiday idea since Hillary is for it too. Nice.

Warren Buffet calls recession at annual conference

Yea, but what does the world's richest person and most successful investor know about the economy? He supports Democrats so obviously he's a communist and is against our glorious leader. Clearly we need more tax cuts and less regulation as McCain says.

Last Wednesday, the Commerce Department said the economy grew at a 0.6 percent annual rate in the first quarter. But Buffett said the nation's population also grew, making the real growth rate lower. He also said that, even if the data do not show the economy retracting, people feel as though it is.

"The U.S. is in recession as I define it," Buffett said. "I would define that as a situation where people are doing less well than they were three months, six months or eight months earlier and most businesses find themselves in that position too.

"If were are in a non-recession, I don't think people want to see it going in the same direction as it is and saying it's wonderful."

Slate: Rumors of more Monicas

"I've been tested. I've been vetted. I've been in the political arena in our country for 16 years. There are no surprises." - Hillary Clinton, 12/14/07

Here we go again.

Slate just published a piece about a new book about Bill Clinton, called "The Clinton Years." Slate reports that the book includes an "old rumor" about Bill Clinton continuing his philandering. While the Clinton campaign has done a good job of embarrassing the press, and the Obama campaign, away from mentioning these rumors, the Republicans won't be so reticent in the fall. To paraphrase Clinton surrogate Evan Bayh, this is the kind of thing that Swift Boats are made of.

This is the first time a lot of people are hearing about this particular rumor. (Though Joe and I knew about this particular rumor a good year ago. We also know far more details about the rumor than Slate has revealed. But Joe and I chose, until now, not to report on it because, well, we still find ourselves pulling punches for Hillary's scandals when nobody on her team pulls punches for Obama's.) Because this rumor is new for most people, for most of you, that means this rumor, this baggage, isn't "vetted," to use Hillary's vernacular. It's not good, and if it's true (hell, even if it isn't true), it could doom our chances against McCain in the fall were Hillary to be the nominee. Why? Because were Hillary to somehow become our party's nominee, the Republican 527s, and GOP state parties like Kentucky and North Carolina, would ensure that we spend the entire fall discussing who Bill Clinton is sleeping with, and whether we're going to have more Monicas when he's back in the White House, rather than discussing why John McCain is too old and too conservative to be president. Just imagine the jokes Republicans, and the late night shows, would make about Hillary and that 3am phone call now that this is out there.

Now, the Clinton campaign will say that it's just horrible that anyone would dare mention rumors about Bill Clinton continuing to philander, and how horrible it is that Slate (or I) would even write about the new book (but I suspect they wouldn't deny the rumor, for fear of inviting another "Monkey Business" a la Gary Hart). But you have to remember, Hillary was the one who said that dropping the "kitchen sink" on a fellow Democrat is totally acceptable.

Before the critical primaries in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, her campaign had vowed to throw the "kitchen sink" at Obama to derail the momentum that had led to wins in 11 straight contests.

Hillary is the one who has said that personal scandals, and personal relationships, of fellow Democrats are fair game in this nomination battle. Hillary is the one who said that vetting these scandals now, rather than letting the Republicans vet them in the fall, is a necessity and is actually doing our party a favor, giving us a chance to see how well the potential nominee will fight back against such sleazy revelations. So, I publish this link to Slate in order to help Hillary become a better candidate, per her own request, per her own standards of conduct. So spare us the outrage from the Clinton campaign. They made their bed. Now, unfortunately, we're going to see who's sleeping in it.

From Slate:

Pages 103 and 104: Clinton and Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate, have been buddies since 1992. Felsenthal repeats the old rumor that "Burkle and Clinton are … partners in philandering." She also quotes an unnamed source alleging that "Burkle and Clinton spend time together doing things that Hillary would not want made public" and reports that Burkle calls his private plane "Fuck Jet."

Actually, the The Huffington Post, and the New York Times, seemed to be alluding to something similar a while back:

The president's relationship with Ron Burkle has been the subject of widespread speculation primarily concerning Bill Clinton's private life. Over a year ago, Patrick Healy wrote in the New York Times:

Mr. Clinton is rarely without company in public, yet the company he keeps rarely includes his wife. Nights out find him zipping around Los Angeles with his bachelor buddy, Ronald W. Burkle, or hitting parties and fund-raisers in Manhattan.

Is it true? I have no idea. Has it been vetted? Not at all.

Pelosi ally Cong. George Miller (D-CA) blasts Hillary over gas tax plan

This is significant for a number of reasons. Miller is a senior Democrat, he is a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he heads up the Democratic Policy Committee (which Pelosi personally appointed him to), and is a House committee chair. He is a significant and powerful member of Congress, not just some guy. And he's blasting Hillary's gas tax plan (which is John McCain's plan that she simply stole), he's comparing her to John McCain, and he's calling her out for threatening members of Congress (she basically told members of Congress that she was going to force a vote and try to embarrass them - embarrass Democrats in Congress on a vote that Republicans could use against our own members of Congress in the fall elections - if they didn't support her kooky GOP political stunt of a proposal).

So Hillary's plan to foment a civil war in the Democratic party moves along as planned. Now, in addition to disenfranchising blacks and alienating the Netroots (and its messaging and fundraising potential), Hillary is now starting a civil war between herself and Dems in Congress - something the media will love. But you know what? The DNC and the Dems in Congress seem to be just fine with that. They're fine letting Hillary rip the party apart even though she's already lost the nomination, and can give us no scenario by which she wins the nomination. So now we can spend the next month-plus with the media focusing on how the Democratic party is falling apart at the seams and on the verge of civil war. Hope you're all happy, because it's only going to get worse (I promise you). And in the meantime, none of us are focusing on John McCain. And we won't, until the adults step in and put a stop to Hillary's madness. She lost. It's time for her to go away.

Here is Miller's statement:

“The call by Sens. Clinton and McCain to temporarily suspend the federal tax on gasoline is a short-sighted stunt that will hurt consumers and do nothing to reduce the price of gas.

“American consumers and our economy need a real solution to the energy crisis, not an empty trick. You can run cars on a lot of different fuels, but snake oil isn’t one of them.

“In the hopes of winning votes, the Senators are preying on consumers’ justified anxiety about the economy without offering a solution to their real problems. There’s nothing in our history to indicate that oil companies will pass on any savings to the consumer. So despite the McCain and Clinton gas tax holiday, the price at the pump will continue to rise and oil companies will take even more of the profit.

“My constituents are reeling from the highest gas prices in the country. But they understand that we can only break the oil chokehold and bring prices down by investing in highways and mass transit, new technology, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

“Siphoning off the political energy from these necessary steps to focus instead on a plan that some political consultants favor is cynical politics. Taking a break from the federal gas tax and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it produces is harmful to the long-term economic well-being of our country.

“Sen. Clinton knows it is not easy to pass a windfall profits tax on oil companies. We have been trying to rein in record oil profits for years, and the House has repeatedly passed legislation to roll unjustified federal oil subsidies and invest instead in renewable energy – but President Bush and Senate Republicans have blocked us. Some of the subsidies we are trying to eliminate started under President Bill Clinton’s administration.

“Sen. Clinton is trying to intimidate members of Congress into validating her bad policy prescriptions. Congress should reject her and Sen. McCain’s idea. Relief from soaring gas prices will only come from smart investments and real change in our energy policy.”

But *which* militia?

This NYT article on Iraq today is a good example of why it's so frustrating to try to follow news on Iraq through corporate media. Michael Gordon, who does some really good stuff on Iraq and often seems to fully understand the intricacies of the conflict, delivers up what reads like the stenography for which reporters are so often criticized by experts in various fields. In this case, the Bush administration is once again accusing Iran of causing problems in Iraq, this time by reportedly bringing in Hezbollah (an Arab, Lebanon-based Shia group formed to fight Israel and now a significant political and military force in Lebanon) officials to train Iraqi militia members. This is part of a continuing story in which the US blames problems in Iraq on nefarious neighbors, but anything is possible, so it's worth looking at the details of the report.

Or at least it would be if there *were any details* in the report. Most critically, it's important to note that there are many militias in Iraq. There's a (US-supported) Sunni militia in western Iraq (Anbar province), and in addition to several smaller tribal and political party-affiliated militias, the two major Shia political groups, ISCI and Sadrists, both have armed elements (the Badr Corps and the Mahdi Militia, respectively). So one would think an important detail of the story would be . . . which militia we're accusing Iran of training? Especially because the US has essentially come out in support of ISCI and its Badr Corps, as they are the main element keeping Prime Minister Maliki in power. Could the administration flacks be so cynical as to accuse Iran of training a "militia" that we tacitly support, and that is closely allied with our good buddy Maliki?

I suppose it's possible that the militia in question is the Mahdi Militia, but with Iran supposedly backing away from support of Sadrists, that seems less likely, and since the US opposes Mahdi so strongly, why not just say so if that's the case? The whole thing is very strange, and it's opaque to an extent that it's very suspicious.

Annie Oakley screws up her "I love guns" ad

Gee, what a surprise, Hillary knows nothing about guns. Funny, cuz I thought she was a lifelong hunter, you know, before the Bosnia sniper years. Every day is yet more fodder for a Republican ad campaign making her look like a pathological liar. Please just go away.

In 2000, Bill Clinton opposed Hillary's gas tax plan

Of course, in 2000, Hillary opposed her gas tax plan too. (In all fairness, it's John McCain's gas tax plan. Hillary simply stole it.) Does she really think that, were she to steal the nomination, the GOP wouldn't have a field with "Hillary is a flip-flopping liar" ads in the fall? On issue after issue, from guns to NAFTA to this gas tax, Hillary shifts her position with each new poll, hoping voters won't notice that all of her previous positions contradict her current one. People aren't stupid. They're going to figure out that Hillary appears to lie about everything. I mean, she's got enough baggage already. Half the public already hates her, then she's going to have to deal with the Republicans bringing up Monica and all of Hillary's own scandals, like Whitewater and the cattle futures. And now she's branding herself a serial liar. This isn't the definition of electable. It's the definition of a train wreck.

More from DocStrangelove.com:

Here is President Clinton at a press conference in 2000 explaining that a gas tax holiday would not pass the savings to the consumer:

Q. Mr. President, in light of the fact that OPEC has decided to increase production, do you see it as a mistake for the Senate to proceed with a bill that would suspend the gas tax? And if it reached your desk, would you veto it?

A. Well, I don’t expect it to reach my desk because there seems to be bipartisan opposition to it in the House, including among the leadership. But the problem I have with it, apart from what it might do to the Highway Trust Fund and the spending obligations that have already been incurred by the acts of Congress, the budgets, is that I’m not sure that the savings would be passed along to the consumers in addition to that. So I think there are a lot of questions about it. But I don’t expect it to pass.

There must be video of this somewhere.

Has any journalist interviewed fellow "journalist" George Stephanopoulos about Hillary and NAFTA?

From the Associated Press:

Clinton insisted she had opposed NAFTA during her husband's presidency, although there is little evidence to suggest she worked against it at the time. She even conscripted Stephanopoulos into service to support her story.

"Now, you remember this, because George did work in that '92 campaign, and George and I actually were against NAFTA," Clinton said. "I'm talking about him in his previous life, before he was an objective journalist and didn't have opinions about such matters."

Okay, the AP's Beth Fouhy wrote there is "little evidence" of Hillary's opposition to NAFTA. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton offered evidence in the person of George Stephanopoulos. So, what does George say? He certainly didn't deny it. Have any journalists interviewed him? Any of his ABC colleagues bothered to ask if it's true? I just did a google search, didn't find anything.

As John reported yesterday, Hillary played George today -- big time. George is now part of the story. Can anyone get the story? Or is George still too intimidated by his old boss to fess up? Stephanopoulos knows if Hillary is telling the truth. He owes his viewers an explanation.

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

It's Cinco de Mayo.

Big week in politics. Hillary Clinton must score decisive victories in North Carolina and Indiana or it's over for her. Okay, it's been over for awhile, but absent the big wins Hillary really needs this week, maybe even her crack team and the painful pundits will start to figure it out.

Whatever happens on Tuesday, Hillary will undoubtedly be spending all of her time on Capitol Hill working to build support for her gas tax gimmick, right? I mean, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT issue for her. No doubt, she'll be working the phones, pounding the pavement, lobbying her colleagues, rallying the grassroots, all to get the votes for THE MOST IMPORTANT issue. Otherwise, it may appear to people that Hillary is just posturing for political gain. I'm just saying....

So, expect a slew of new polls today. Keep in mind that lots of people in NC and IN have already voted.

Start threading the news...

The credit bubble bailout continues

Supporting education makes fantastic sense but aren't we just feeding the bubble by injecting even more cash? The cost of universities in the US has become crazy, unlike any other Western/rich country. No matter how you spin it, it's impossible to say that the easy money credit hasn't fed the high cost of universities. Take a look at the endowment funds that the top schools have and ask how tuition could be so out of control when these schools are sitting on so much money. A few schools are now changing their tuition plans for normal families but that's only because of pressure (or threats of action) by Congress.

Graduating from college with over $120,000 of debt not to mention credit card debt that students all have these days is a bad way to enter the working world. Sure, we can and we should help but this system needs a drastic overhaul and one that does not center around the credit industry cashing in.

Buy now while it's hot!

Just when you thought you heard it all, you see this. The Green Zone as the hot new attraction with posh hotels, luxury shopping and an amusement park for the entire family. I'm sure the pro-war crowd is just lining up to get in on the action. Forget about jobs and feeding families, get in now and make cash from chaos. Hooray for the shining beacon of freedom and democracy! Oh look, is that the al-Sadr roller coaster over there?

Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.

That's all part of a five-year development "dream list" — or what some dub an improbable fantasy — to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a centerpiece for Baghdad's future.

4 Marines dead in Iraq, Iraqi first lady almost blown up

Smells like John McCain's version of victory.

Hillary's baggage

Because remember what Hillary told us, we're actually doing her a favor by vetting a candidate's baggage now rather than during the general election.

Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer

From AP:

The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.

"The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic," atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing.

Wait. So Hillary stayed with her husband because of religion and commitment to family, not for her career aspirations?

I always assumed she did it to further her career, which is fine with me (though other women have told me that "you should put your self-respect before a job"). She helped make him what he is, she deserves a little reciprocity. But now Hillary is saying she stayed with her husband because of her faith and her commitment to family?

In the forum Clinton shared few personal stories, including one about her and her husband trying to break open a coconut. She was also asked about how she endured “through really difficult times” in her marriage.

“I obviously was fortunate to be able to rely on and be grounded in my faith, which has been an anchor for me throughout my entire life,” she said. “I also really believe in family and believe in the importance of family, and believe that family is the core of your relations. … When you are in a difficult situation, oftentimes you feel like you just want to withdraw into yourself, and you want to just shut the world out. Now if you have to do it in front of the world, that’s a little hard to do.”

Okay. But she's entering some dangerous territory trying to somehow get "credit" by subtly invoking Monica and her marital problems. I.e., she's claiming that her scandals make her a better person. That opens the door to not only discussing Monica and the Clinton scandals, but it also opens the door to discussing how she handled those scandals and what her motivations were, why she stayed with her husband, etc. She can't invoke Monica, et. al., to her credit then turn around and say that discussing Monica is off-limits. Of course, that's exactly what she'll do because she'll say anything and do anything to get elected, like endorsing a GOP gas tax plan, saying she opposed NAFTA when she was really for it, and on and on and on.

Watch Stephanopoulos help Hillary lie

I'm watching the video of the "Townhall Meeting" that ABC's George Stephanopoulos held for Hillary this morning and it's astounding how bad Stephanopoulos is. Let me give you two prime examples.

1. Gas tax.

Stephanopoulos' first question is about Hillary's plan to rescind the gas tax this summer. Does he tell the audience, or ask Hillary about, the fact that she opposed rescinding the gas tax - she opposed her own proposal - when running for the Senate in 2000? No. That would be the hardest question of all to answer, the question that goes to the issue of her credibility on this and every other issue, and Stephanopoulos doesn't even mention it. Here is George's really tough question for Hillary:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good to be here.

Gas tax has become the defining issue in this primary and in North Carolina. You and Senator McCain called for suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax. Senator Obama calls it a gimmick. He says it's pandering. He says it won't really bring any help to consumers, and he also said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Same thing that John McCain's offering on the cheap. That means we're not presenting a truthful response to the challenges that we face in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: What's your response? He says you're not being truthful.

He says? How about "YOU SAID during your first campaign?" Jesus, George. Come on.

2. NAFTA.

Hillary totally rolled over Stephanopoulos on this one. She started by saying, oh George, during the 1990s you and I were in meetings where we both opposed NAFTA. Stephanopoulos says nothing. Not only does he tacitly agree with her claim that he was in meetings with her and that she did oppose NAFTA in those meetings - which is a lie - he doesn't respond by telling us what actually happened in those meetings, that Hillary was such a NAFTA booster it wasn't even funny (see the video below), and worse, he doesn't note that Hillary publicly embraced NAFTA during her time in the White House. They have her on film doing it. Stephanopoulos doesn't even note that she's again flip-flopped on the issue. Hillary lied in front of Stephanopoulos on national TV, invoked Stephanopoulos' name to "prove" she was telling the truth, and Stephanopolous said nothing when he knew for a fact that she was lying.

Here's a video showing just how much of a NAFTA booster Hillary was in the 1990s:



And here's the video of Hillary rolling Stephanopoulos, invoking his name to "prove" her point against Obama, and him saying nothing in response, including him not even noting that she publicly came out for NAFTA in the 1990s. Also note how 42 seconds into the video it seems, suddenly, that Stephanopoulos has come to life. He's going to ask her about her flip-flop, about the fact that she's lying, invoking his name to prove her lie, and he isn't going to stand for it! But then he doesn't:



Now here's the transcript of that video:

CLINTON: Now, you remember this, because George did work in that '92 campaign, and George and I actually were against NAFTA. I'm talking about him in his previous life, before he was an objective journalist and didn't have opinions about such matters.

(LAUGHTER)

STEPHANOPOULOS: (inaudible) opinion.

CLINTON: Yes, but we were in meetings together where we said, look, we think there's going to be a lot of downsides, and we're not really thinking through that.

But in the 20th century and until relatively late in the 20th century, we dominated the world economy. And we had an...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator, what...

CLINTON: ... opportunity to really see our jobs grow here by being smart about how we traded.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But Senator...

CLINTON: But then we've got to make changes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... you really have it both ways there. You talked about being against NAFTA in 1992, 1993. Yet President Clinton has said time and time again, NAFTA and free trade agreements were part of the economic success in the 1990s. How can you claim credit for the good things but not take blame for the bad?

Now do you understand why we have a problem with you, George? Now do the rest of you in the media understand what we mean when we talk about bias? When we talk about how you people have no spine whatsoever? How you've become court stenographers rather than reporters? You know the truth, you know these people are lying, and you say nothing to stop them, to contradict them, to put them on the spot. And in so doing, you are complicit in these people lying to the public with your stamp of approval. and you wonder why so many Americans have lost faith in the media.

Half the audience at White House Correspondents Association dinner didn't put hand on heart during National Anthem

You're not supposed to put your hand on your heart during the National Anthem, that's for the Pledge, but still, it's interesting that at the opening of last week's White House Correspondents Association dinner, a little birdie tells me that half the audience didn't put their hands on their hearts. I just watched the official C-Span video and the gang on the dais did put their hands on their hearts, though I suspect they were briefed in advance that they'd better (the video doesn't show the audience, though it does show George Bush looking awfully uncomfortable). But friends in the audience tell me that it wasn't quite so patriotic amongst the elite of America's journalism. Does the mainstream media love America as much as we do?

Oh, and extra points for anyone who can confirm which reporters were at the dinner and whether or not they had their hands on their hearts. Maybe someone should contact them all and ask them, one by one, to verify their patriotism. Starting with Stephanopoulos and Russert.

Obama won Guam. Hillary's one contest winning streak is over

Obama won Guam last night.

Clinton's one contest streak is over. Yes, let's repeat that. Because, as I've written before, contrary to the spin and the gullibility of the punditry to be spun, after PA, Clinton was on a one-state winning streak. After the February 5th Super Tuesday contests, Clinton lost 11 in a row (those still count). On March 4th, Clinton won two (Ohio and Rhode Island) while losing two (Vermont and Texas -- yes, she lost Texas, it's about delegates, remember). She then lost two more, Wyoming and Mississippi, before winning Pennsylvania by a smaller margin than expected. That's was a one-state streak that has bestowed magical powers upon her. But, she still can't -- and won't -- win the nomination.

And, if Clinton is as hot as all the pundits think, she should win both North Carolina and Indiana by wide margins. She has to win both. And, big. Or she can't deliver.

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Big day on the Sunday shows. Obama on Russert. George has a town hall meeting with his old boss.

Now, you'd think the Obama and Clinton appearances are the big news. the NY Times told us yesterday, the real story is the competition between Russert and George. So, while the candidates are the main draw for most people, apparently people in the know are more interested in the Tim v. George saga. Whatever.

McCain's leading sycophant, Lindsey Graham, gets some air time. But, basically, the shows are dominated by the Democrats -- mostly Obama and Clinton surrogates. Also, Rep. James Clyburn who has had a pretty important message about the irreparable damage facing the Democrats if Hillary steals the nomination.

The full lineup is after the break.

So, this should be interesting:

ABC's "This Week" — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

___

CNN's "Late Edition" — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Govs. Mike Easley, D-N.C., and Bill Richardson, D-N.M; Robert Reich, former labor secretary; Gene Sperling, adviser for the Clinton campaign; Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Joe Andrew, former DNC chairman; Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe; Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain's campaign.

Tony Blair is doing well

Not just anyone drops $8 million in the middle of a housing slump but of course, Tony Blair works for JP Morgan, who we propped up with billions in taxpayer money so people like this could be paid to live luxurious lifestyles despite being costly screwups. Our tax dollars at work.

Tony and Cherie Blair have bought the £4m former home of legendary actor Sir John Gielgud, it was reported last night. The Grade I listed stately home near Chequers is the Blairs' sixth property in their growing portfolio.


South Pavilion in Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, has seven bedrooms, a "magnificent" weather-vane tower and sprawling grounds, including ornamental gardens two paddocks and a converted outbuilding.

Democrat wins House seat formerly held by Republican in Louisiana

UPDATE: More analysis of what this means from the Washington Post.

Here's some good news for a Saturday night. The Democrats picked up a House seat tonight in Louisiana.

Democrat Don Cazayoux beat Republican Woody Jenkins in the seat formerly held by Republican Richard Baker. With all but three of the 512 precincts reporting, Cazayoux is ahead by just under 3,000 votes.

The NRCC was, of course, very shady in this race. The GOPers pumped in lots of money to keep the seat, and even ran negative ads featuring Obama and Pelosi. Freedom Watch was also involved in this race. That group's t.v. ad was pulled off the air by a Baton Rouge station -- and the DCCC has filed FEC and IRS complaints against it.

Not a good year to be a Republican anywhere.

Town ends comical 'Stop' signs like 'Stop! In the Name of Love'

Party poopers.

The euro is the new black

Who knows how long the trend will continue but for now, the euro is king on the street.

The US dollar bill’s standing as the world’s favourite form of cash is being usurped by the five-year-old euro.

The value of euro notes in circulation is this month likely to exceed the value of circulating dollar notes, according to calculations by the Financial Times. Converted at Wednesday’s exchange rates, the euro took the lead in October.

Obama wins Guam

But remember, now that Hillary lost Guam, it doesn't count.

An anti-Hillary backlash?

As the NYT op ed notes, electability cuts both ways. How can any Democrat (read: Hillary) be "electable" if they lose the black vote? And just wait and see how the black vote plummets if Hillary steals the election from Obama after he wins the popular vote and the elected delegates (Click graph to see larger image.)



More from Jack and Jill politics:

You can see that Clinton is in a staggering free-fall among African-American voters, her favorability is down 36 points while 17 percent view her more negatively than before, while Obama’s favorable and negative ratings among whites have paired at five point increases. You can even see the small dip - about two percentage points - in his popularity among whites that can be attributed to the news cycles about his ex-pastor, and see that it has leveled out and is now on a straight horizontal line (meanwhile, Clinton’s numbers among blacks continue on an extreme downward precipice). The greater context is that even including Obama’s slight dip, he’s more popular today among white voters than he ever was prior to February.

This was created a little over a year ago.

And don't miss this bonus video, posted two days ago, that already has several hundred thousands views. It's true, Hillary really is an inspirational figure. Oh, and the video below is a take-off of the famous ad introducing Apple's Macintosh to the world for the first time ever in 1984 - here's Apple's ad so you can appreciate the take-off below.

Chinese investors lose everything after bubble bursts

What strikes me about this article is the similarities to the US in 1929 after the crash. People in China are losing everything, throwing themselves out of windows and wondering how they will survive. Then there are a few choice comments by typically smug financial types (from Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley) who say "tough luck." It's not that I don't agree to some extent, but hey, look at Wall Street or City bankers in London and see how "tough luck" has worked out for them. Yea, they're really hurting with taxpayer bailouts as they continue to luxurious lifestyles on other peoples money. Hard times, indeed.

The small Chinese investors, much like American investors, have every right to be angry. The Chinese government (like in the US, UK and EU) loved the cash generated by the stock market and the prestige of a fast-growing market was an added bonus. Governments are always much too happy to feed a bubble and then when it goes 'poof' they run for the hills, so yes, the Chinese, the Americans and everywhere else have every damned reason to be angry. It's irresponsible for governments anywhere to promote bubbles and they ought to live with the consequences. Of course, this sad story also helps put the government outrage over the Olympic protests into proper perspective. (Hint, think Saddam Hussein if you want to see the American version of this old distraction.) China has many more problems to come and their stock market crash is only the beginning.

Slate: "Can we please stop pretending she has a plausible chance to win the nomination?"

Slate:

"Here's a rule I would like every political reporter, campaign official, TV talking head, and politician in the United States to follow. Go ahead and say, if you like, that Hillary Clinton retains a serious chance of winning the Democratic nomination. If you say this, however, you must describe a set of circumstances whereby this could happen. Try not to make it sound like a fairy tale....

"So, please, let's stop pretending there's much suspense about who the nominee will be. As an arithmecrat, I will not consider anyone the winner until a candidate achieves 2,025 delegates. But neither am I obliged to believe Hillary Clinton has a plausible shot. She doesn't."

It's absurd to suggest that Hillary must win in order to, uh, win

I mean, what moron thought up those rules? It's precisely because Hillary can't win more states, delegates, or popular votes than Obama that MAKES her electable. Don't you see? If she were unelectable, she'd actually win enough states and caucuses to be in the lead. But because she's in second place, that actually proves that she's in first.

Oh, and she ducked sniper fire in Bosnia too.

National Journal: McCain needs to explain just how long he wants us in Iraq

Ron Brownstein in the National Journal:

Five years ago this week, President Bush exulted beneath a banner that declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. McCain, under any interpretation of his words, is proposing another mission in Iraq--a long vigil--that would extend for decades. With the stakes so high, it's not enough for him to accuse critics of twisting his meaning: He needs to more clearly explain it himself....

[I]f McCain doesn't envision a 100-year American front-line combat presence in Iraq, how long is he willing to keep U.S. forces in that role? So far, all he has said is that the United States should withdraw only if it concludes that the Iraq mission is unachievable or when it has achieved success, which he defines as the establishment of "a peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic state."

McCain hasn't said how long he would keep fighting to reach that demanding goal. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of McCain's closest Senate allies, recently said he thinks that McCain would maintain current U.S. troop levels in Iraq through his entire four-year presidential term if military commanders recommended that course to maintain stability there.

CNN poll: 70% disagree with Bush/McCain economics

Obviously they aren't reading Larry Kudlow and the CNBC cheerleaders. Of course, Kudlow only hobnobs with the same spongers who just received hundreds of billions in bailout money, so they don't see the economic difficulties in quite the same way as the rest. Must be nice.

Seven in 10 people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say things are going badly, with only 30 percent saying things are going well.

"It's been 16 years since the public gave the country's condition such a bad rating: January 1992, to be precise, in the last year in office of the last president named Bush," CNN pollster Keating Holland said.

"Seventy percent is a lot worse than two years ago, when 48 percent thought times were bad and the Republicans lost control of Congress," CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider added.

Hillary compares Catholicism & Judaism to white supremacy and jihad

This was posted on YouTube two months ago, but I only just saw it. Imagine had Barack Obama compared Catholicism and Judaism to white supremacy and jihad. Now, I'm not a big fan of vouchers, the subject of Hillary's talk in this video, but using the argument that if we do something for Catholics and Jews, then we'll have to do it for white supremacists and jihadists?



Again, imagine Obama had made the comparison and put all of these "religions" in the same camp. Oh the bitterness and the elitism would fly. I think we just found yet another attack ad the Republicans would run against Hillary in the fall, were she to steal the nomination.

Clinton (and McCain) attacking Obama (and the Democratic party) over the gas tax gimmick

You really can't get more shameless than Hillary Clinton.

She, like her husband, will screw over the rest of the Democratic party for her own political gain.

The new "Exhibit A" is the gas tax gimmick. This should be a real warning sign to all Democrats.

Clinton had the audacity to challenge other Democrats to join her crusade to basically pour money into the oil companies while draining money from needed highway projects. As Steve Benen noted yesterday, Clinton is already using "the bogus issue to triangulate against congressional Democrats."

Colorado Congressman and Senate candidate Mark Udall called her bluff:

"Senator Clinton claimed yesterday that I either stand with her on this proposal or stand with the oil companies. To that I say: I stand with the families of Colorado, who aren't looking for bumper sticker fixes that don't fix anything, but for meaningful change that brings real relief and a new direction for our energy policy. We can't afford more Washington-style pandering while families keep getting squeezed.

"It is exactly the kind of short-sighted Washington game that keeps us from getting real results to our energy problem. Experts across the ideological spectrum agree that it will increase the deficit, drain money away from Colorado roads and bridges, and hurt the environment, all without actually making prices lower for drivers."

Very, very strong retort from Udall.

We all know Clinton is desperate, just desperate, to win. With the gas tax gimmick and her challenge to fellow Democrats, she's showing she'll throw them under the bus, too.

The first paragraph of the Reuters article says it all:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain hammered Democrat Barack Obama on Friday for refusing to support a proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax.

Doing the GOP's work for them again. But, she's made it about more than Obama. She's using her campaign to damage all Democrats. If they vote against her loony proposal, it will be used against them in the fall by the Republicans. So now the Clintons are very much taking the entire party down with them. They've done it before. They'll do it again.

Those superdelegates have to make this stop.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Let's not forget that Hillary was a strident opponent of repealing the gas tax when she was running for the Senate in 2000. She looks like an idiot contradicting herself just to win votes, and you can rest assured that the Republicans will add this to the long list of say-anything-do-anything Clinton lies that they throw at us in the fall were she to be the nominee. She doesn't just have baggage, she keeps jamming more inside an already overstuffed bag. Enough already. Oh, and here's the Hillary quote we can expect in the Republican attack ads in the fall:

"And one of my fundamental disagreements during this campaign with my opponent was when he called for the repeal of the gas tax. Now, the gas tax is one of those few taxes that New York actually gets more money from Washington than we send. And we are totally reliant on it to do things like finishing I-86 in the Southern Tier, or the fast- ferry harbor works up in Rochester, as well as the work we need to do here in the city. So you can count on me to support infrastructure, but I'm sorry, Mayor, I can't go with the domed stadium."

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, you may need a quick respite from the political maelstrom. Check out the poem of the week: The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein. It's a fun one.

After you've enjoyed the poem, come back to reality. There are just four more days til the primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. I think the question remaining is not whether Obama will get the nomination. That's a done deal. The question is how much damage Clinton and her minions, especially Bill, can wreak upon Obama and the Democratic party.

And, one more time: Those damn pundits don't decide this thing. The Democrats decide it. Doesn't matter how much analysis is provided by the likes of Chris Matthews or Mark Halperin or Jim Vandehei. Doesn't matter. And, if you need to know how absurd this process has become, today's NY Times has a front page article about the "rivalry" between Russert and Stephanopoulos. They've become part of the story...it's absurd.

So. Start.

Hank Williams Sr, - Move it on over

I never listened to country music before picking up Elvis Costello's "Blue" but those old classics from Hank Williams Sr and George Jones are really great. "Move it on over" sounds much more like an early rock song, but perhaps someone out there knows more about that history. So many great songs by Hank Williams Sr. Check out the video.

Conservatives thump Labour across UK, win London

And it wasn't even close. Time will tell how modern the "new" Tories are but for now, it's pretty clear people have had enough of (new) Labour. London Mayor Ken Livingston, despite his own bizarre rants, had remained popular but the Tories were much more successful with getting voters to the polls. Livingston lost 53%-47% to current Tory MP Boris Johnson.

Meteorite not worth crap

Sorry, but I couldn't miss this opportunity to provide a scatological joke for Joelle, who lives for bad humor like this. In South Africa you can buy elephant dung so I suppose I could see a market for dinosaur dung.

Some dinosaur dung was snapped up at auction in New York even as a 4.5 billion year old meteorite which was supposed to top the sale went unsold.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I know a thing or two about petrified dinosaur crap, as I own some. Seriously. It's cool stuff. That's mine to the left. Well, my petrified dinosaur crap, that is...

457,000 construction jobs lost since September 2006

Wow, that's a brutal figure. Plenty of people are saying that we have hit the bottom and as great as that would be, I don't see it.

457,000. That’s the number of construction jobs that have been lost since the sector peaked in September of 2006.

What’s interesting to me about this number is that at the beginning of the downturn in housing we didn’t see a huge drop in construction jobs, primarily because workers moved from residential into commercial.

Now that commercial is slowing as well, construction workers are falling out of jobs like flies. And they’re not the only ones. Big surprise furniture manufacturing jobs are falling as well.