Aside from the obvious demographic benefits an Edwards endorsement could have, his decision to throw his backing behind Obama also has symbolic import. Edwards is widely seen as one of the major party figures who had remained on the sidelines in the race between Clinton and Obama. That he has stepped in to the fray in hopes of, perhaps, bringing this race to an end should send a powerful signal to undecided superdelegates about the direction of the contest.
Officials announced the news shortly after Mr. Obama landed here late this afternoon. The campaign has timed the announcement to coincide with the start of the major evening newscasts, which would have otherwise focused on Senator Hillary Clinton’s landslide victory in West Virginia, which raised new questions about Mr. Obama’s strength with white working class voters.
Lots of buzz on the internets about a big endorsement for Obama tonight. Via Taegan Goddard:
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is planning to announce "a major endorsement" tonight at 6:30 pm ET.
We've heard it from good source that it will be John Edwards.
AP looks at the numbers and sees Obama will sew up the nomination within a couple weeks:
Barack Obama's wave of superdelegate endorsements puts him within reach of the Democratic presidential nomination by the end of the primary season on June 3 - even if he loses half of the remaining six contests.
The Illinois senator has picked up 26 superdelegates in the past week. At that pace, he will reach the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination - 2,025 - in the next three weeks, when delegates from the remaining primaries are included.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's best chance to slow Obama is to move the goal posts. She will get that chance May 31 when the Democratic National Committee's rules panel considers proposals to seat the delegates that had been stripped from Florida and Michigan. Those two states violated national party rules by holding their primaries in January and lost their delegates.
Those goals posts aren't moving. But, there is continued movement towards Obama.
In fact, it's going from a wave to a cascade towards the inevitable nominee. Politicians want to get on the winning team. I mentioned one superdelegate endorsing Obama, (Rep. Joe Donnelly), in the open thread below. Jed reports on two pick ups last night, one in DC and one in Maryland. Interesting, the delegate from Maryland, Jack Johnson from Prince Georges County is a pledged delegate, not a super:
Unlike superdelegates, who are free to endorse either candidate, Johnson is one of 28 pledged delegates who have agreed to represent the 36 percent of Maryland Democrats who voted for Clinton on Feb. 12.
Some Clinton delegates were chosen by voters at the ballot. Others, such as Johnson, were selected in consultation with the Clinton campaign by the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, party spokesman David Paulson said.
Now, keep in mind, it was Hillary Clinton herself who talked about how pledged delegates could switch under the DNC rules. So, delegates are starting to switch, but away from her.
Per "The Page," Crystal Strait from Young Democrats endorsed Obama this past weekend. Good for her.
John wrote a post on Friday wondering why the superdelegates representing Young Dems and College Dems were still uncommitted. That doesn't make sense given that Obama has not only created enormous enthusiasm among young people, but they're also voting for him in overwhelming numbers. Yet, somehow, none of the four young DNC superdelegates had committed until Ms. Strait did this weekend.
The remaining 3 student Superdelegates, Lauren Wolfe, David Hardt and Awais Khalil, need to decide. And, their votes should reflect the work of the young voters in the Democratic party who aren't superdelegates, but are putting their hearts and souls into electing the next President. This is a no-brainer for Wolfe, Hardt and Khalil. So what are they waiting for? It's soon going to be too late, Obama will pass the 2,025 mark, and Wolfe, Hardt and Khalil will lose their chance of helping elect America's next president. Yes, our next president could owe them one. That's a hell of a missed opportunity.
Sometimes Maureen Dowd's columns are more snark than substance. Today isn't one of them. She discusses the possibility of Hillary as vice president and raises a number of interesting points.
1) Is America ready for that much change - i.e., a black man and a woman on the same ticket?
2) Bill. He's going to eclipse Obama every time he shows his face. Do we really need the press ignoring the president and running over to the vice president's spouse? Not to mention, how many Bill outbursts are we willing to put up with? And finally, rhymes with Hannukah. Just how many "Hannukahs" are we welcoming back into the White House?
3) Hillary makes Obama less Obama. I'm going to quote Dowd on this one:
Hillary has a strange, unnerving effect on Obama, and whenever he is around her, he’s unable to do his best....
In the last few days, as Hillary has deflated and Obama and the Democrats have dashed for daylight, he has been more like his old self, flashing his all-is-right-with-the-world smile on the cover of Time, joshing and charming Democrats and Republicans as he wooed superdelegates on the House floor, taking on James Carville for insulting his manhood....
Obama will never be at his best around Hillary; she drains him of his magical powers....
She's right. Hillary is like that lover your friends always hate because they bring out the worst in you.
4) There's a fourth reason to dump Hillary, one that Dowd doesn't mention. How can you be for "change" and then put the name "Clinton" on your ticket. We've had a Bush or a Clinton on the ticket since 1981. Thirty years is enough.
5) And finally, one more point Dodd doesn't raise. Do Obama really want to take another four years of this woman? Do we?
It's over. Now it's going to be a contest to see which SuperDelegates get on the train, and which ones wait until the last minute and are forever remembered by the new president as the folks who didn't support him until it was "safe."
The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 271 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.
Obama has been overwhelmingly winning the youth vote. Just look at the numbers (at right). Obama's campaign has more:
"Obama has won an average of 62% of the youth vote compared to Clinton's 34%. He won the youth vote in every contest except for Arkansas and Massachusetts, where he lost by 1%. In this week's contests, Obama won the youth vote in North Carolina by 49% and in Indiana by 22%."
You'd think that it would, therefore, be a no-brainer that the two largest student youth groups, College Democrats of America and the Young Democrats of America, would endorse Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The issue isn't just academic. The leaders of CDA and YDA are SuperDelegates. They quite literally represent America's youth, and have a voice in choosing our nominee. But they're not doing a lot of representing. They seem to be hiding. Or something.
Let me explain something. The presidential train has left the station. Obama is on it. Hillary is not. Lauren Wolfe, Crystal Strait, David Hardt, and Awais Khalil can either be on the train, or left standing on the platform, all alone, watching the train as it leaves forever. And Lauren, Crystal, David and Awais, trust me when I say that it is way more fun to be on the train than to be hanging out with all the other people who missed it.
Let me explain something else. According to the Associated Press, Obama is now only four SuperDelegates behind Hillary (and new SuperDs are coming in every hour). Sure, Obama has already won the nomination, but still, once he has equal to or more SuperDs than Hillary, it will be an important milestone that everyone will be talking about. Now, how many of you are there? Oh that's right, four. Do the math, folks. Isn't it better to make history than be history?
Moving on to the next new parlor game: Vice Presidential candidates.
A very solid case is made for Jim Webb by an actual presidential scholar. And, the idea of Clinton on the ticket is also dispensed with very convincingly.
ABC News is the first news organization to place Obama ahead in the one category where Clinton has always led -- superdelegates:
Sen. Barack Obama moved into the lead today in the last category that Sen. Hillary Clinton had claimed to have an edge -- support among the Democratic Party's superdelegates.
The Illinois Democrat grabbed the superdelegate lead thanks to a switch by New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne and an endorsement from previously uncommitted Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon.
Those two votes gave Obama a 267-266 lead over Clinton. That is a huge shift since the days when Clinton boasted about a 60-plus vote lead among the party's pros back on Super Tuesday.
Everyone has a different tally for superdelegates. I rely on Democratic Convention Watch. They name names -- their totals are: Clinton 269.5/Obama 263.
It's just a matter of time -- a short amount of time -- before Obama takes the lead on all the sites tracking superdelegates.
Some superdelegates are actually getting their spines.
Jed reports that May 20th is when Obama can pretty much declare himself the winner of the Democratic nomination:
As Barack says, the key thing about May 20 (the day of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries) is that on that day, he will secure a majority of democratically selected pledged delegates. After that point, the most important part of the process will be over. Unless superdelegates decide to overturn the judgment of voters and take the nomination away from Obama, it will be his.
We all know that won't happen, especially after Obama's blowout victory in North Carolina and his close performance in Indiana. (He would have won Indiana were it not for the meddling McCain supporters.)
The key reason we need superdelegates to get off their butts and sign up with Team Obama before May 20 is that as a party, we must make it clear that voters -- not party insiders -- chose our nominee.
That's 11 days for Hillary to slowly bow out gracefully. Obama's being generous. He won two months ago. And now that the media has turned on Hillary, as have her donors, he doesn't have to give her breathing space at all - but he is. Let's see how classy the Clintons and their staff can be. And, let's see if the superdelegates finally get a spine.
This is why the Democratic nomination process has to end. Barack Obama has been very decent to Hillary Clinton, ostensibly, she's on his side. Not so for McCain. On CNN today, Obama, in that way of his, lambasted McCain over the ridiculous attacks the GOP nominee has been making lately. This is a sign of things to come -- and it is going to be fun. John McCain has no idea what he's in for. (More on the interview from CNN.)
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
