David Corn

"As in completely made up. As in a lie?"

Oh my, there you go again - telling the ugly truth.

"The "Factchecker" awarded her four Pinocchio's for her claim. That's the most a politician can earn."

I wonder if any politician that really try couldn't get to five or more (HA!)

"Is she cracking under the pressure? Does she really believe what she said? "

Sadly, it might be a yes and yes.

Bill Richardsons endorsement is the death nell for the HRC camp. Not only one of their good friends but the only hispanic Gov.

Will HRC try to strike back? I wonder what they will make of it?

Thanks

This pales in comparison to the spin Hillary is trying to put on MI and FL. Just another example of why I can't support her for the nomination. I don't like the way Billary plays politics and she can't be trusted to keep her word on anything!

Will fact checkers check to see if she was ever in danger on any trip like that? If yes then this could be an honest mixup of recollection, if no then it is a sad sign that she has resorted to telling outright lies.

Hard to believe she would take her teenage on a trip where there was the risk of being injured. And if she did what does that say about her judgment?

Eye's,

It's worse than the latter:

*****
[...]

According to Sinbad, who provided entertainment on the trip along with the singer Sheryl Crow, the "scariest" part was deciding where to eat. As he told Mary Ann Akers of The Post, "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'" Sinbad questioned the premise behind the Clinton version of events. "What kind of president would say 'Hey man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife. Oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."

Replying to Sinbad earlier this week, Clinton dismissed him as "a comedian." Her campaign referred me to Togo West, who was also on the trip and is a staunch Hillary supporter. West could not remember "sniper fire" himself, but said there was no reason to doubt the First Lady's version of events. "Everybody's perceptions are different," he told me.

Clinton made no mention of "sniper fire" in her autobiography "Living History," published in 2003, although she did say there were "reports of snipers" in the hills around the airport.

******

Sadly more outright lie by way of a little Ad Hominem on Sinbad via a staunch supporter that also doesn't remember it?

HRC is losing it in more ways than one.

HRC is doing whatever she can to win the nomination that once looked like a lock and now looks like a longshot.

Republicans are doing everthing they can to destroy Obama because they fear him... but Hillary, not so much.

It's not pretty.

What was Obama saying about a new kind of politics? Sign me up for that.

I'm shocked that Mr Corn is suprised that a leading Democrat in the democratic party would lie for personal gain. Ha Ha Ha

You trolls are slow to catch on but eventually come around when it's not in your favor~~~

From the Drudge report today:

SHOCK POLL: 1 in 5 Dems Defect to McCain if Their Candidate Loses Nomination...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahhh, we got ourselves some bitter little corrnuts here!

What do Pennsylvanians think of Obama's speech?

'I don't want to hear that you are blaming us for [Rev. Wright] saying this'

Obama racial issues may extend to Pa

.
By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 3/20/08 4:41 AM

The Politico

Some voters in largely white northeast Philadelphia are more skeptical of Barack Obama after Wright controversy.

PHILADELPHIA — Stephanie Gill, a bartender in a white working-class neighborhood, noticed the shift immediately.

A week ago, her customers at Rauchut’s Tavern in Tacony didn’t have much to say about Barack Obama. But when she returned to work Wednesday, a day after the Illinois senator attempted to quell the furor over his pastor’s racially incendiary remarks, the reaction inside the corner bar was raw and unapologetic.

“People are not happy with Obama,” Gill said. “It’s the race stuff.”

Obama has always been a tough sell in largely white Northeast Philadelphia and in the city's blue-collar river wards, a collection of white ethnic enclaves where customers at the local watering hole have often been born and raised in the neighborhood that supports it.

And his speech Tuesday, although widely praised by the pundit caste and Obama supporters, has only seemed to widen the gulf with the Budweiser class here.

More than a dozen interviews Wednesday found voters unmoved by Obama’s plea to move beyond racial divisions of the past. Despite baring himself with extraordinarily personal reflections on one of the most toxic issues of the day, a highly unusual move for a politician running for national office, the debate inside taverns and beauty shops here had barely moved beyond outrage aimed at the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s refusal to “disown” his longtime pastor.

A day after the speech, local residents were left wondering whether Obama was candid in the last week when he said he hadn’t heard any of Wright’s most objectionable remarks, but then said Tuesday that he had heard “controversial” remarks while sitting in the pews.

“He lied to Anderson Cooper,” said Rodica Mitrea, an aesthetician and immigrant from Romania, referring to an Obama interview Friday with the CNN anchor.

The reactions are merely a snapshot of a slice of the electorate, but it is a highly coveted one.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton relied on this blue-collar coalition — Catholics, union households, ethnic Europeans — to win Ohio. It accounts for her significant lead in Pennsylvania polls, and represents the demographic that political analysts say Obama needs to make gains with in order to present the strongest case possible for the Democratic nomination and the presidency.

Obama built his lead in the delegate race with a different kind of coalition. He won white voters in states like Virginia, Illinois and Wisconsin. But in recent contests, he has relied on African-Americans to offset Clinton’s strength among working-class whites.

Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia political strategist, said the unvarnished look at race in America could help Obama in the suburban counties that surround Philadelphia, which carry an identity as a well-to-do, increasingly Democratic battleground.

“The speech plays only among the elites,” Ceisler said. “The average person on the street cares about the economy and the war and everyday life.”

Glenn Peter, 54, a patron at Rauchut’s Tavern, said he heard finger pointing, not reconciliation. He took issue with Obama’s explanation that Wright’s observations of a racist America were reflecting the racial scars of his past.

“I don’t want to hear that you are blaming us for him saying this,” said Peter, who is white and worked at an auto parts factory until it was shuttered several years ago. Cutting ties with the church “would have been the best way to do it. That way, I could have been able to listen to him again.”

The biggest whopper of all: that Hillary's got a viable shot at winning the nomination before Superdelegates weigh in at convention.

Today's famous Politico story: The Clinton Myth.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9149.html

Excerpt: One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

... One important Clinton adviser estimated to Politico privately that she has no more than a 10 percent chance of winning her race against Barack Obama, an appraisal that was echoed by other operatives.

In other words: The notion of the Democratic contest being a dramatic cliffhanger is a game of make-believe.
====

PS: Hello David. Like Brian Hussein in NYC, I am a refugee from [Craig] Crawford's List, which has been taken over by Clintonista commandos. Sour, bitter, unhumorous ones at that.

dog hussein dog

From the sunday funnies that Pando missed:

Hot new sticker! 'Defeat Osama, Obama, Chelsea’s Mama'

FOX anchor walks off set over Obama-bashing

Wow. There’s a headline I never thought I’d write. What is going on with these FOX anchors? This morning on “Fox & Friends,” anchor Brian Kilmeade walked off the set after repeated attempts by the two other FOX dittoheads to bash Barack Obama for his “typical white person” remark.

*****

I’m sure this is an isolated incident? I mean the Reich-wingnuttia is in full roar and everybody agrees with their petty hate - right?

When FNS has had enough with the lies - the apocolypse is here!

Seems some are certainly slow to "catch on" - others never will.

Chris Wallace on FOX and Friends: “I heard enough Obama bashing”

Hey listen, I love you guys but I want to take you to task if I may, respectfully, for a moment. I have been watching the show since 6:00 this morning when I got up, and it seems to me that two hours of Obama bashing on this typical white person remark is somewhat excessive and frankly I think you’re somewhat distorting what Obama had to say.

Far be it for me to be a spokesman for the Obama campaign, and I will tell you that they would laugh at that characterization, but you know, the fact is that after giving a speech on race earlier this week, on Tuesday, he gave a major speech on Iraq on Wednesday and a major speech on the economy yesterday. And so, I think they would say that in terms of deflecting attention away from the issues people really want to hear about, maybe it’s the media doing it, not Barack Obama.

*****

Et tu Chris Wallace? lol

Rev Wright might be onto something here!

In one of his sermons, Obama's Reverend Wright accused the US Government of creating the aids virus to destroy the black population. Since the first cases of aids appeared in 1978, Rev Wright's accusation points to the evil Carter administration.

I always felt Jimmy wasn't happy about losing that free peanut farm labor~~~

Welcome dog!

I am shocked, shocked mind you, to hear...

A brief for Whitey (“We hear the grievances. Where’s the gratitude?”)

World Net Daily ^ | March 21, 2008 | Patrick J Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obama's typical white granny that's scared of black men got run over by the Obama bus an Buchanan aint gunna take it!

Only the troll thinks politicians never lie - well at least Bush never lied.

lololo

I guess in the land of delusion where Bush never lied, the surge worked, Iraq had WMD's, the economy is fine, etc anything is posssible, eh?

(did I leave out rainbows and unicorns?)

Still good for a chuckle every once in a long while.

Thanks!

The Daily Show Remembers “Iraq: The First Five Years”

Jon takes an intimate look back at the first five years of the Iraq War, and pays respect to all the brave and wise leaders whose rosy predictions have entirely come true.

Stewart: “Hard to believe folks — five years. And they said it wouldn’t last. No, seriously, they said it wouldn’t last.”

MR. RUSSERT: [D]o you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way , Tim.

RUMSFELD: It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

The reverse historical breakdown is classic.

*****

While the thread is on the topic of lying politicians.

Video at the link.

The impact of the "more perfect union" speech is:

Whether or not BHO wins the nomination or the general election nobody will ever make a speech on race without referencing his speech.

Like it or not, for good or for bad, the speech has changed the discussion about race in America forever.

That is kind of cool, eh?

Clinton Camp Downplays Impact (of Richardson)

Friday the Clinton campaign appeared to downplay the significance of the coveted endorsement, with senior strategist Mark Penn pointing out Clinton's victory in New Mexico.

"Perhaps the time when he could have been most effective has long since past," Penn said, dismissing the practical value of Richardson's support after the New Mexico primary.

*****

Wow petty and pathetic? HRC should have congratulated and moved on.

No class in that politician or her camp.

From the Fact Check Desk: The Clinton Campaign Misrepresents Clinton NAFTA Meeting

Jake Tapper

I have now talked to three former Clinton Administration officials whom I trust who tell me that then-First Lady Hillary Clinton opposed the idea of introducing NAFTA before health care, but expressed no reservations in public or private about the substance of NAFTA.

Yet the Clinton campaign continues to propagate this myth that she fought NAFTA tooth and nail because she opposed the substance of the bill.

On a conference call today, as Ben Smith from Politico details, Clinton campaign spokesman Jay Carson claimed that “in four of the five meetings” about NAFTA on then-First Lady Hillary Clinton's schedule, “Sen. Clinton was pushing back.”

Carson says that includes the November 10, 1993 pro-NAFTA meeting for businesswomen that we reported on earlier this week, where Clinton was something of the keynote speaker. He says she was "pushing back" in that meeting.

"That's ludicrous," said Laura E. Jones, executive director of the United States Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, who was there. "There was no question that everyone who spoke including the First Lady was for NAFTA, it was a rally on behalf of NAFTA to help it get passed. It's unquestionable. And there are many people out there who were there who remember the incident who work in this industry."

Julia K. Hughes, senior vice president of the same organization is likewise incredulous of the Clinton campaign's claims.

*****

Sniper and NAFTA and Iraq - Oh MY!

Hillary's Long Good Friday

[…]

One big problem dropped on the campaign like an anvil this morning, as news broke that erstwhile presidential contender and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson would announce his endorsement of Barack Obama today. Richardson is the country’s only Hispanic governor. Equally important, perhaps, is the fact that he served not once, but twice, in Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, as Secretary of Energy and UN Ambassador. Aside from Nancy Pelosi, John Edwards, and Al Gore, his endorsement is arguably the most sought after of all the Democratic powerbrokers. So we can all feel free to ignore Mark Penn’s understandably spirited but laughable assertion on a conference call with reporters today that both campaigns “have our endorsers” and Richardson’s defection to Obama is not “significant.”

Richardson is not the only problem the embattled Clinton campaign faces this Good Friday. Equally troubling are revelations from Clinton’s schedules as First Lady, which the Obama campaign say suggest Clinton is untrustworthy because they show she held five meetings about NAFTA in 1993, apparently in an effort to help get Congressional approval for one of her husband’s signature initiatives. While it is unclear what she said at the meetings, the schedules have been widely reported to document her role as a NAFTA booster. Hitting back yesterday, the Clinton campaign released a memo asserting that, “It is no secret that passing NAFTA was a priority of the Clinton Administration, but numerous contemporary accounts make clear that Hillary Clinton was personally opposed to NAFTA.” Today, Clinton spokesman Jay Carson went further, arguing on a conference call that “there’s been a lot of erroneous reporting on this” and saying Clinton was, in fact, “pushing back” on the legislation.

*****

HRC has the “big lie” thing working but I think it is getting a little bizarre.

Gasp! That such a thing could occur...

How many times do we have to witness Team Clinton praise John McCain before they are stripped of their party membership? Being a Democrat is as much a part of my DNA as is the color of my eyes, what Bill and Hillary are doing is a disgrace. I guess the Speakers remark of the other week wasn't enough for them to get the msg, Hillary is morphing into Joe Lieberman right before our very eyes, enough is enough!

Brian Hussein In NYC --- On the contrary, we are now seeing her actual convictions, formed when she was quite young.

Nothing has changed...

And the polls? Obama's already bounced back to a lead against HRC in the rASSmussen polls which does a rolling 3 day poll. All the other polls were taken before The Speech. The Speech changed everything.
Posted by Me

Don't know what Rassmussen poll your reading but this one is the only one that matters!
RASMUSSEN POLL: McCain Now Leads By Double Digits:
McCain 51% Clinton 41%
McCain 49% Obama 42%
Posted by: LBH March 20, 2008 1:34 PM

First off, rASSmussen's polls are sooo skewed by the their samples. They include waaay too many Republicans and underrepresent the crucial Indies and Dems. Look at their Presidential Approval rating. It is consistently 8 to 10 points higher than all other national polls, ALL of them. Their polling has been way off in the primaries, especially in states with large numbers of Independents and Democrats. In rASSmussen's world there are just as many Republicans as there are Democrats and Independants in the U.S.

Look at these numbers and see why rASSmussen is OK for looking at trends but not to see what people really think.
Poll_____________Date____Approve__Disappr.
FOX News______03/18 - 19___30%____60%
CBS News______03/15-18____29%____64%
USAToday/Gallup_03/14 -16___32%____64%
CNN___________03/14 - 16___31%____67%
Rasmussen_____03/09 -15____38%____59%
NBC/WSJ_______03/07 -10____32%____63%
Gallup__________03/06 -09____32%____64%
Newsweek______03/05 -06____30%____61%
AP-Ipsos________03/03 -05____30%____66%

In the real world there are fewer Americans identifying themselves as Republicans today (usually less than 30%), than at any point in the last 20 years. Nobody wants to be associated with the a bunch of LOSERS, criminals, and hypocritical weirdos like the grumps and Hatemongers in the Dead Man Walking Party. Americans identify themselves as Dems at a much higher rate and Indies are someplace between the Ds and Rs.

If they (rASSmussen) show Gramps McBush with only a 6 or 7 point lead over Obama. The race is virtually a dead heat in the real world. And that's with FauxNews running the Wright videos on a loop and running their hatespeech on a soundtrack. Things have gotten so over the top that the guys at FauxNews have started stabbing each other in the back (and in the face, as with the case of C. Wallace), walking out on each other, and shooting sarcastic barbs at each other.

If you want to look at trends, rASSmussen's daily tracking of the Dem race is a good indication of what has happened:
DATE____Obama___Clinton
March 19:____47______42
March 18:____45______44 -- Obama's speech
March 17:____46______44
March 16:____47______44
March 15:____46______45
March 14_____50_____42
March 13_____48_____41 -- Wright hits news
March 12:_____47_____42
March 11:_____48_____41 -- Mississippi
March 10:_____46_____44
March 9:_____45_____ 47
March 8:_____ 45_____46 --Wyoming
March 7:______43_____49
March 6:______43_____48
March 5:______43_____48
March 4______ 44_____46 -- OH, TX, VT, RI

Nobody cares about the Wright flap except DIngbat Hatemongers that don't like the idea of their party getting thrown out of office forthe good of our nation.

She was a Goldwater girl . . . .

Pande!

I have been waiting for some of those numbers.

Thanks.

Who Is Rev. Moon? 'Returning Lord,' 'Messiah,' Publisher of the Washington Times

"True Father" to some, madman to others, Sun Myung Moon is one of the strangest and least scrutinized figures in the conservative media world.

The following is an adapted excerpt from John Gorenfeld's "Bad Moon Rising: How Reverend Moon Created the Washington Times, Seduced the Religious Right, and Built an American Kingdom" (Polipoint Press, 2008). The video at the right is from a 1997 Washington Times party where Moon said he founded the newspaper to save the world. In it, he also demands that his employees rid the world of "free sex," meaning sexual intercourse beyond the purifying influence of his mass weddings.

******

Rev. Moon is an odd one and the close ties to the Bush family and The Reich-wing is nothing short of scary.

Some people even take the Washinton Times seriously.

Hagee, in 'NYT' This Sunday, Says McCain Sought His Endorsement

NEW YORK In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement."

McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views, much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his accolades this year.

Interviewed by Deborah Solomon, Hagee refused to discuss his statement that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for a gay rights parade in New Orleans, calling it "so far off-base." He claims, "Our church is not hard against the gay people. Our church teaches what the bible teaches, that it is not a righteous lifestyle. But of course we must love even sinners."

He also said that charges that he had bashed the Catholic Church ("false cult system," etc.) have been "grossly mischaracterized....I was referring to those Christians who ignore the Gospels."

Asked what he thinks of Obama, he answers, "He is going to be difficult to beat, because the man is a master of communication. If he were in the ministry, he would make it in the major leagues overnight."

He also denies that he is a strong supporter of Israel because of any coming "Rapture" in the holy land.

******

Nothing to see here, all the videos are just false. Move along.

Time to return to the issues, not what some pastor or _____ said.

What the pastors and whatnot say is an issue when they run for office.

I worry more about what McCain says about the constitution and his crazy talk about the founding fathers.

Clinton Doesn’t Deny Campaign is Pushing Wright Story to Superdelegates

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has strictly maintained a public position not to comment on Sen. Barack Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Many times, questions have been answered with -- "you will have to ask Senator Obama about that."

However at a Thursday press availability in Terra Haute, Indiana after a report surfaced that the Clinton campaign was pushing the Wright story to superdelegates arguing that the relationship hurt Obama's electibility -– Clinton refused to deny that her campaign was pushing the story.

When asked, Clinton ignored the Wright portion of the question and said “well my campaign has been making the case that I am the most electable that I have said that for a year or more that I am the person best able to make the challenges that our country faces as commander in chief.”

When Clinton was then asked specifically if her campaign was pushing the Wright story –- she shrugged and took the next question, ignoring the reporter.

*****

Wow. I guess it might work with some delegates but it will turn others to BHO. This kind of stuff is very old.

If the DMW party is pinning its hopes on the Wright micro-blip, they're in for a serious ass-kicking in November.

Fox NewsPoll: Majority Doesn't Believe Obama Shares Wright's Views

A new poll from Fox News, the first major poll taken since Barack Obama's big speech on race relations, shows that the effect of the Jeremiah Wright flap might not be so bad after all."

"By a 57%-24% margin, registered votes do not believe that Obama shares Wright's controversial views. The internals show only 17% of Democrats saying Obama shares Wright's ideas, along with 20% of independents and 36% of Republicans."

Fox also asked respondents whether they had doubts about Obama because of his association with Wright. The results: 35% Yes, 54% No, with the numbers standing at 26%-66% for Democrats, 27%-61% among independents, and 56%-33% with Republicans."

With HRC and Obama locked in a nasty prmary, their numbers are both dropping. With the levels of participation and interest in the Dem primaries shattering records in almost every state, with Republicans who would rather spend election day getting stripsearched at that airport than in a voting booth, with the economy tanking, with an unpopular GOP-supported war, with record numbers of GOP reps heading for the hills and retiring rather than face the music at the polls, with healthcare costs and inflation biting at every American's ass, the result of the 2008 election will be the same as the 2006 election: a rout.

In the beginning, it was Obama who? Then it was REZCO, REZCO, REZCO that was the silver bullet. Then it was the Canadian govt undermining Obama on NAFTA with lies as the silver bullet. Then it was HRC's momentum coming out of TX/OH and all that talk about going "negative" being the silver bullet, then Wright was the silver bullet. The DMW party is all out of magic bullets.

The FauxNews poll took care of the Wright talking point. The GOP has no agenda, no candidates to challenge freshman Dems in congress, no candidates who are willing to defend their records, Republican voters with no interest in the 2008 elections, and a presidential candidate who is a mirror image of Mr. 20%.

Which reminds me... In that poll, Mr. Bush matched his lowest approval rating ever on a Fox poll. Yes, Tomcantu, Dems should be shaking in their boots. The whole shaking in the boots thing is from laughing our asses off at the incompetence of the GOP. They are sooo Dead Man Walking.

"They are sooo Dead Man Walking." And considering McCain's age that's not too far from the the truth!

Obama race speech garners good reviews

Barack Obama's speech this week on race relations has received glowing praise from the pundocracy. Average Americans quite liked it, too, according to a new poll released this afternoon.

The CBS News poll found that 69 percent of voters who heard or read about the speech Tuesday say Obama did a good job addressing the issue of race, and 71 percent say he did well explaining his relationship with his spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose inflammatory sermons on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the US government, and other topics caused a huge controversy.

But the survey had a warning sign for Obama -- the percentage of voters who said Obama would unite the country dropped from 67 percent last month to 52 percent. Most voters, however, said the controversy would make no difference in their vote.

For the poll, CBS said it reinterviewed on Thursday voters who were first surveyed between March 15 and 18, in the midst of the Wright controversy and before Obama's speech. The survey results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

*****

An excellent speech indeed.

Money In The Bank: Obama $30 Million... Clinton $3 Million

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lived hand to mouth during the rush of presidential primaries while Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama outspent her and put money in the bank.

New Federal Election Commission reports show Obama raised at a clip of nearly $2 million a day in February, an open spigot of money that left him with $30 million in the bank for March.

Clinton had her best fundraising month as well, at $34.5 million. But counting her debts to vendors she ended with a net $3 million. And that's not factoring the $5 million she lent her campaign and has not paid back.

*****

Net three - owes herself five so minus $2 million?

No small wonder she is getting crazy. If you think nothing can go wrong when something does go wrong you can’t recover.

Richardson calls out Clinton adviser

(CNN) – Bill Richardson criticized a Clinton campaign adviser Friday for suggesting his endorsement of Barack Obama is insignificant.

"I resent the fact that the Clinton people are now saying that my endorsement is too late because I only can help with Texans — with Texas and Hispanics, implying that that's my only value," the New Mexico governor told CNN's John King.

"That's typical of some of his advisers that kind of turned me off." Earlier Friday, Clinton campaign senior strategist Mark Penn said he thought Richardson's endorsement came too late to make an impact.

“The time that he could have been effective has long since passed," Penn told reporters on a conference call. "I don’t think it is a significant endorsement in this environment.”

In the interview Friday, Richardson also said he called Hillary Clinton Thursday to inform her of his decision to back Obama, a conversation he described as "painful."

"It was painful and it wasn't easy," he said. "I've spoken to others who have had that same conversation and they say at the end, it’s not all that pleasant.

"The former Democratic presidential candidate declined to elaborate further on his conversation with Clinton. Last month, Chris Dodd — another former presidential candidate who decided to endorse Obama last month — said he had a "not comfortable" conversation with Clinton informing her of the news.

Also in the interview Friday, Richardson said he ultimately decided to back Obama because the Illinois senator has "something special."

"I think that Sen. Obama has something special,” explained Richardson. “Something that can bring internationally America’s prestige back, that can deal with the race issue as he did so eloquently last week, that can deal with the domestic issues in a bipartisan way."

Richardson, who held posts as the Secretary of Energy and the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in President Clinton’s administration, also said he "owes a lot to the Clinton family but I served well. I paid it back in service to the country."

If Obama was white he would not have been still running after all of that scandal with his “uncle” pastor. We, the “white people”, cannot use the word “black” in public, only African-American; while on the other side, a person that attends an African-American racist church every Sunday and listens to the bias of anti-white preaching, can still be running for president!!! Do you really think Wright has preached that kind of preaching just that one time?
Obama said "the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning”. I don’t think so! I never ever heard of any white priest preaching from the altar such racist ideas against blacks, or any other segments of the American population. Probably that is happening in Obama’s neck of the wood…
Well, if lefties (Kerry & Co.) succeed in hijacking the Democratic Party leadership, I can see that a lot of Hillary supporters would vote for McCain. Obama's candidacy has been artificially blown out of all proportion. Does he really believe that he stands a chance to win the General Election? Everyone I know would vote Republican this time if Hillary is not going to be the nominee...
Obamatics forget that the majority of the US are not lefties. Bill Clinton knew this very well. That's why he was able to build a centrist oriented coalition & won both elections.
Also, it was in Obama’s interest for Florida & Michigan not to rerun their primaries. Do not forget the majority of the voters in both of these states voted for Hillary. That’s why lefties are not interested in finding a solution. He knew full well he would lose both of them. So, how he is going to win without Florida & Michigan?
What a sad joke!!!

"Clinton tops Obama in Whoppers"

OK, but who's ahead in Big Macs? :)

IBW - you sound like DB.

Very funny.

A note to all:

The CQ webmasters are rumored to be working on the posting issues/problems.

Hang in there!

Reading in the New York Times online this morning, I see in the March 22, 2008, edition, a comment from a Clinton supporter regarding the Richardson endorsement of Obama:

"The reaction of some of Mr. Clinton’s allies suggests that might have been a wise decision [not returning phone calls]. 'An act of betrayal,' said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

"'Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,' Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week."

Actually, I think the adjective for Mr. Carville's remark is "sardonic," "grimly mocking or cynical." It is unfortunate that Mrs. Clinton supporter, one friend, condemns another friend, Mr. Richardson, for speaking the Truth as he sees it and being brave enough to say it in public.

I would hope Mr. Clinton will talk to Friend Carville to urge him to apologize to Mr. Richardson.

Bill Richardson thinks Obama will be a better president - that is not betrayal, just his opinion. Carville and Clinton think a person should support them regardless of that persons opinoin? That is total lack of respect. Some "friend", eh?

If HRC and her camp can't be gracious and understanding when their "friends" don't agree what kind of a president would she be?

Can we all agree that the nominating process is over, and that Senator Obama has won?

Good. Now, the question becomes, "How does he win the general election?"

And if certain of you think the Reverend Wright situtation has gone away, I strongly believe you are whistling past the graveyard.

Just look at Real Clear Politics and see how many articles are still addressing the issue, from all sides of the political spectrum. Even the positive articles are bad for him. Any time you or your supporters have to explain something you are not ("I am not a crook. I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Etc.), you are usually in big trouble.

Then go to the Internet, and I mean liberal blogs like talkingleft, talkingpointsmemo and democratic underground. They are all questioning not Senator Obama's beliefs but his judgment for his association with the likes of Rezko and Wright. And some of the arguments are more cogent and damning than any a Republican could make.

Add in the disaffected Clinton supporters with the incessant pounding Senator Obama will receive from the Republicans. Watch the RNC commercials of Senator Clinton's people saying that Senator Obama is unelectable. Watch Senator Clinton say that Senator McCain has more and better foreign policy experience. Then juxtapose the rantings of Reverend Wright with those of Senator Obama saying his pastor is not controversial.

I believe that Senator Obama can neutralize anything that Senator Clinton says, but he must get the Reverend Wright off the radar, and he needs to do it right now. He needs to say the man is a friend, and we stick by our friends even when we don't believe them. He can't say those horrific diatribes are the exception to the rule, for they are clearly not.

He also can't let this thing devolve into a discussion of black liberation theology. In one news cycle he has gone from being the first black candidate with absolutely no racial agenda to being tarred with the rantings of a total bigot. He has to get his groove back.

"How does he win the general election?"

He gets more votes?

"Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything."
~ Frank Dane

BHO is not up against a viable candidate, he is up against an election machine.

The GOPhers are wiretapping, reading emails, checking passport info, they own the Diebold ES&S and Sequoia voting machines, they have lickspittle US attorneys, a packed federal bench, push polling, caging lists, voter disenfranchisement, and too many more to list.

Wright is only a bump in the road my friend, the real challenges haven't change one iota for all of the slime, smear and (of course) all of your sincere concern.

When the Faux News guys are walking off the set because of BHO bashing regarding Wright, I think the writing in on the wall.

If the turnout in the primaries is any indication - even against the machine BHO will prevail.

You can stay as concerned about Wright as serves you well, it will not change the actual election dynamics with anybody other than those that would have never considered voting for a black man or a progressive.

" He can't say those horrific diatribes are the exception to the rule, for they are clearly not. "

Tom, you usually seem fair and somewhat reasonable.

How about you make good the above statement and offer some proof?

Wright has preached for twenty years - I'm sure you can find something other than your assertion that " He can't say those horrific diatribes are the exception to the rule, for they are clearly not. "

Links, URL's, webpages, video - whatever.

Or are you just saying stuff to indict by assumption?

Are you the one trying to fabricate a "racial agenda" where one doesn't exist?

Maybe you could offer anything from Barack himself instead of this guilt by association?

Of course , maybe you are just wrong and your opinion is not universal?

Or conversely all of the above?

You also never offered any response to my question:

What do you mean when you use the word liberal?

(just asking your opinion not trying to start a discussion of definition)

"The CBS News poll found that 69 percent of voters who heard or read about the speech Tuesday say Obama did a good job addressing the issue of race, and 71 percent say he did well explaining his relationship with his spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose inflammatory sermons on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the US government, and other topics caused a huge controversy."

I live in Michigan and I voted for Kucinich. I would like to see a revote. Voting takes place at public places that can be staffed with volunteers of the party. The election machines (optical scan) are available and don't need to be purchased. The only cost of an election is the paper ballots.

If the party does not want to use the machines it could hold a simple caucus vote staffed by party volunteers. If you want Obama fill out your registration information on a blue ballot and drop it in the blue box. If you want Hillary, fill out your registration information on a pink ballot and drop it in the pink box. At the end of the day count the ballots. If there are crossovers great, because under Michigan primary law their information goes to the party for future mailings.

But this won't work because somehow the legislature went on a two week break. Who needs them?

The governor, the senators, the DNC and Hillary are all concerned about honoring the voters. Yet all I see coming from any of them is a recipe to grow mushrooms. Keep them in the dark and feed them plenty of bullshit.

Obama says he will abide by any decision. Hold a revote and he gains. Seat the delegates and he picks up the uncommitted. Do nothing and he stays ahead.

Yet Hillary says its the end of the party and all we want for this country if nothing is done. We all know what needs to be done; hand her a large print calculator from the Chinese dollar store and give her five minutes to add it up. It adds up to a number and a time. The number is Obama's and the time for her to step down is today.

How about the real clear issues?

Iraq?

The economy?

Taxes?

Oil, business, drugs, immigration, etc.

Wright is not an issue that will effect anybody or their families.

The distraction is not over (yet) but Real Clear Politics and Faux spews can stay on the non-story only as long as some people are interested, Most are much more concerned with real issues, there are far larger fish to fry before election day.

IMHO

Geof01,

My understanding is the original agreement (not a party rule but between the candidates) was:

Once the nominee is selected the nominee will seat the electors from MI and FL.

So the delegates have always been slated to be seated, only after the nominee is selected.

It is also my understanding that both states can hold a caucus or primary before 6/15 and the results would be seated before the nominee is selected.

The problem is the DNC will not pay for it, the state dems don't have the money.

BHO has said all along he wil abide by and follow the decision of the DNC.

Consider the HRC solution: Her supporters are willing to pay for and run the re-vote - that is not acceptable to BHO for good reason.

"I live in Michigan and I voted for Kucinich"

Just curious - do you think Kucinich should be on the primary ballot in a revote?

Do you think it fair that people would be allowed to change their preference? Should Kucinich supporters (as I was) now be allowed to (or forced to) vote for BHO or HRC? Is that fair?

Would this be more like an instant run-off?

How about people that didn't vote - should they be allow to change their position?

I heard several comments this week that Obama is like Kennedy, his brother, and MLK. God I hope he's bulletproof as well.

Should he survive the voting machines and the news media attacks his transition team will mark the single biggest change in government in our nations history. State, Commerce, FDA, FCC, Intelligence, DOD, and the rest are all dumpster trash for the change thats going to come.

But we all need to start with this. I enjoyed his speech and I enjoyed JW's rant as well.

We wiped out an indigenous population of 15 million people. God Bless America.

We want to sent 15 million more away. God Bless America.

We built this great nation by kidnapping and enslaving Africans. God Bless America.

And at a cost of 600,000 lives we set them free. God Bless America.

Only to subject them to 100 years and more of ridicule and abuse. God Bless America.

And now we call them African Americans and treat them with a special deference marked with indifference and suspicion. God Bless America.

180,000,000 people died in war in the last 100 years. God Bless America.

We sold them the guns and bombs that killed them. Condi, an African American is our chief gunrunner today. God Bless America.

Our war on terror is a war of terror and has cost us respect in the eyes of other countries. God Bless America.

Our invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan were war crimes and have gone unchallenged for 7 years. God Bless America.

Our occupation of Iraq is an international crime that has caused the death of 1,000,000 people and the displacement of 6,000,000 more. God Bless America.

We give a 1,000,000,000,000 dollar tax cut to the richest 3% of our country while we charge the bottom 15% living in poverty 25% of their earnings, plus sales tax, gas tax, property tax, and leave a family of 4 with less than 10,000 to live on. One trillion extra for the rich to trickle down in Mexico and China and only 250 billion for 5 times as many to try to feed themselves. God Bless America.

We let our president get away with every conceivable crime against the law, the people and the planet and honor his legacy of $40 trillion dollars. ( I used to say $20 trillion, but I was wrong) $6 trillion in extra defense spending and the War on Terror. $8 trillion in trade deficits. $6 trillion in increased debt. That's $20 trillion. But now our dollar is only worth fifty cent, so thats $40 trillion dollars. God Bless America.

God Bless America. God Forgive us for our sins. God Forgive us our intolerance and our ignorance and the damage we have done to ourselves, mankind and the planet. If we do not have the humility to recognize our sin and ask for this forgiveness, and if we are too ignorant to even see what we have done and continue to do, then God Bless America.

And if we are so misguided that we think we have accomplished greatness and committed none of this, the Jeremiah Wright is most morally correct to call upon God to damn us for our sins.

An instant run off would be a good solution. Dennis Made his points and I honored him for that, but he has withdrawn

I like your comment that the delegates will be seated by the nominee.

And the people that didn't vote didn't because they were told it wouldn't count. The turnout will be much greater.

My other point was that even if Hillary could count them as they are, she can't get there. The super delegates are going to split for Obama just like the rest of the population. He is the better candidate and she continues to show us that he is.

Hillary's NAFTA Lies Kill All of Her Credibility on Trade

What is the proper word for the claim by Hillary Clinton and the more factually disinclined supporters of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination -- made in speeches, briefings and interviews (including one by this reporter with the candidate) -- that she has always been a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement?

Now that we know from the 11,000 pages of Clinton White House documents released this week that former First Lady was an ardent advocate for NAFTA; now that we know she held at least five meetings to strategize about how to win congressional approval of the deal; now that we know she was in the thick of the maneuvering to block the efforts of labor, farm, environmental and human rights groups to get a better agreement. Now that we know all of this, how should we assess the claim that Hillary's heart has always beaten to a fair-trade rhythm?

*****

There is that ugly truth again. . . .

Of course all politicians are liars. We knowingly pay them to lie to us and we expect our moneys worth. I don’t want anybody knowing our top secret stuff and even trade or manufacturing secrets. Of course we have some very important scientific and technical secrets and even some legal stuff but they are never suppose to lie to us and be easily exposed. THAT is a crime.

They aren’t suppose to lie and abuse that privilege to deceive us for their personal gain, to hoodwink us to cover up a crime or screw us over to line the pockets of their cronies.

That is why character and the ability to lie well matters.

Geof,

I agree, the questions were ones I have heard and just repeated because they seem reasonable and are part of the complications.

I am in NM so we have our own issues here.

MI and FL were not going to matter because so many thought we would have a clear candidate on 3/4 - UGH!

Bottom line is the general and it will be BHO vs. Crypt keeper.

It will be interesting and I hope MI and FLA turnout for whomsoever they think is the best of the two.

Until we get IRV the winner takes all really sucks. It makes any third party (or fourth) into a club or a cult.

Oh, Tom, Tommy, Tommyboy, ol' buddy, ol' pal. I'm starting to worry about you. Like LBH, you are missing the big picture. And once again, the concerns that you give voice to have me quaking in my boots (giggling uncontrollably).

"Just look at Real Clear Politics and see how many articles are still addressing the issue, from all sides of the political spectrum. "

Just look at how many... 1? Maybe 2 tangentially. There are 17 articles that are currently linked on the front page, more if you count the links on the sideframes. 3 on the FP are from what could be termed the "left" side of the political spectrum. The rest are hard core DIngbat articles, a few from RCP columnists themselves. Of the 3 "lefty" articles 1 mentions Wright in passing and the other not at all. The Clift article repeats the Dingbat smear: is Obama American (read WHITE) enough. Yeah, he's half-white. But that doesn't matter. Right? Right.

When hardcore DIngbat writers like Barone drone on and on about Wright, it is evidence that the GOP has nothing, NOTHING for which to laud Gramps McBush. As poll after poll has shown, Wright is a nano-blip in their eyes. Indies and Dems were especially impervious to the whole mess. Only Dingbats dialed up the Hate.

The Wright nonsense lives on in the minds of the Dingbats because they have nothing else to talk aobut. The issues are ALL against their candidate. Your characterization of the Wright issue on RCP is verry misleading.

"Even the positive articles are bad for him. "

There aren't any positive articles on Wright because the whole flap is gone, over, done with in the eyes of most Americans.

"Then go to the Internet, and I mean liberal blogs like talkingleft, talkingpointsmemo and democratic underground. They are all questioning not Senator Obama's beliefs but his judgment for his association with the likes of Rezko and Wright. And some of the arguments are more cogent and damning than any a Republican could make."

I don't know if you noticed but a couple of more commenters have joined this site because they got sick of the lies and idiocy spread by Clinton surrogates on the internet. Rezco is a dead issue; but the Clintonistas flog that dead horse the way LBH did because that's all they have. And notice how the whole issue has devolved from a full-blown disaster to a concern about judgement? The Clintonistas flog the Wright issue; and like every other issue (which happens to weak candidate), it comes back to bite them:

Photograph of Bill Clinton and Rev. Wright Surfaces

"During one of the most difficult periods in the presidency of Bill Clinton, he addressed a group of clerics at an annual prayer breakfast in September 1998 just as the Starr report outlining his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky was about to be published."

"Among those in attendance, was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who is seen shaking hands with Mr. Clinton in a photograph provided today by the Obama campaign. Mr. Wright’s relationship with Senator Barack Obama, as his longtime pastor, has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent days because of incendiary excerpts of sermons Mr. Wright gave at their church, Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago."

This is why the Clintons can't attack Obama too stridently on a whole host of issues. They wind up with piles of egg on their faces (e.g. the Rezco picture and donations and the Bosnia flight).

More Tom:
"Add in the disaffected Clinton supporters with the incessant pounding Senator Obama will receive from the Republicans. Watch the RNC commercials of Senator Clinton's people saying that Senator Obama is unelectable. Watch Senator Clinton say that Senator McCain has more and better foreign policy experience."

The same is true of McCain. Romney's ranting are perfect ammunition for the Obamans, Bachman's recent statements that he (Gramps) is "not our man, "Voinovich's words, the pundits, the blogs the entire right wing has at some point said something derogatory that could be used against McCain. What counts is the money to run the ads. 527s and the RNC will help Gramps; but there's almost half a billion dollars on the left that are waiting to trash McBush in the general. The money advantage is gone.

"Then juxtapose the rantings of Reverend Wright with those of Senator Obama saying his pastor is not controversial."

Juxtapose McCain's spiritual advisor saying the same ugly things (and worse!!) and it's a wash.

More Tom:
I believe...he must get the Reverend Wright off the radar, and he needs to do it right now. He needs to say.... He also can't let this thing devolve into a discussion of black liberation theology. In one news cycle he has gone from being the first black candidate with absolutely no racial agenda to being tarred with the rantings of a total bigot. He has to get his groove back."
Posted by: Tomcantu March 22, 2008 10:09 AM

The latest polls on RCP:
MN: Rasmussen McCain 47, Clinton 46
MN: Rasmussen McCain 43, Obama 47
Gallup Tracking Obama 45, Clinton 47
FOX News Clinton 46, McCain 43
FOX News Obama 43, McCain 44
Rasmussen Tracking Obama 45, Clinton 44
Quinnipiac McCain 38, Obama 49
McCain 40, Clinton 50
Rasmussen McCain 35, Clinton 54
Rasmussen McCain 42, Obama 49
CBS News Obama 46, Clinton 43
CBS News Clinton 46, McCain 44
CBS News Obama 48, McCain 43

Obama lost his groove? Oh, noooooooo. Somebody tell the pollsters that their numbers are wrong. Obama is ahead in almost all of the polls. WIth all of the attacks on Obama, Gramps is treading water in the Fox POll. OMG!!! Run! Run for the Hills NOW!!! The Race is over!! Gramps is behind in most of the polls even WITH FauxNews running a 24/7 hate rant on Wright in a perpetual loop.

Like I said before, your "concern" is touching but profoundly misguided.

Watch the nightly news, go to the mainstream media web sites. Wright was a nano-blip in the campaing DESPITE the efforts of the deadenders in the DMW party and the partisans struggling to keep HRC's dying campaign afloat.

The "Wright" thing has already been over-played.

However, I think they should stay on it, use it all the way through the general election.

That sounds like a good plan.

(tee hee)

Tom, I don't know if it's any consolation; but you are right that HRC's campaign is dead.

Her finances are a mess. She has one tenth (maybe 3 million) cash on hand and Obama is already on the air in PA. He'll still get drubbed in PA; but not badly enough to revive the HRC campaign. His fundraising is killing her by allowing him to outspend her hand over fist.

For those wishing to dismiss my compadre Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama, don't forget that HRC has always had a super-problem with Supers:
By our count, the Clinton campaign hasn’t publicly announced the support of a new superdelegate since just after February 5. Indeed, since Super Tuesday, Obama has gained 47 new superdelegates, while Clinton has lost seven (including Eliot Spitzer). Does Clinton have a bigger problem on the superdelegate front than folks realize? Why do we think party leaders -- who saw the Democrats lose governorships, state legislatures, and the control of Congress during the Clinton years -- suddenly jump on board the Clinton campaign? Isn't this the reason the Clinton campaign has only been able to keep uncommitted supers from climbing board Obama's bandwagon but they haven't been able to woo a new super to their side in a month? ? Isn't this also an explanation for why the Clinton campaign has done so poorly in the caucuses? The caucuses are made up of the activists who follow this stuff closer and think about things like electability and who can help the party keep Congress, etc. If Clinton's not winning over caucus activists, why should we believe she'll win over a large enough chunk of superdelegates to overcome Obama's pledged delegate lead? Ultimately, her best chance is to convince supers that Obama is completely unelectable on par with McGovern, an argument that might have been helped a tad by Rev. Wright.

Given that the Wright flap has come and gone, so have Hillary's chances of reviving her campaign.

Greetings from another longtime poster at Crawford's Trail Mix blog.

"Carville and Clinton think a person should support them regardless of that persons opinoin?"

Look who Carville married and you can see his judgment skills right there.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Horsedooty,

GREAT handle!

(he said dooty HA!)

Yo Doots!

The Carville reaction is typical of Clinton think, they think they are entitled, it has nothing to do what is best for the country. They've come to view the White House as a time share.

NewsPath

Top Stories

WaPo
NYT’s
WSJ
BBC
CNN
AP

Number of stories about Wright?

Zero, zilch. Nada, none.

yo Brian this is a really refreshing place thanks for the welcome Capt.

Yo soy un demócrata amarillo del perro.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Oh, nooooo. The Obamans have landed. HD and Brian, bienvenidos! Run for the hills Tom. Obama can't get his groove back and yet more of his followers have found their way here. It's like backwards day for Republicans.

Nobody wants to be a member of the Dead Man Walking party anyway:

===+===

Latest House Retirement Leaves GOP Reeling

In his old role as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) often cajoled wavering Republicans into running for re-election. Back home in his district Thursday afternoon, Reynolds announced that he won't be running again himself.

Consider it a sign of how the House GOP views its prospects for November.

===+===

Larry Craig Hangs up his Tap Shoes

"Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), encumbered by a scandal since last summer, did not file for reelection by his state’s deadline Friday, keeping a promise he made and officially marking the end of his congressional career."

"Craig’s political future has been in doubt since his arrest and guilty plea on disorderly conduct charges filed after an incident in a men’s restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last June."

He's decided to retire in order to spend more time doing... uhm, OTHER stuff. As a former Red member of congress, he does qualify for the all-importand Wingnut Welfare. He'll be making speeches and spreading his vision for America and raking in the big bucks. Lucky dog.

html tags are getting stripped, did somebody start the construction and forget to but up the "Give us a Brake" sign?

I'm an Obamamain, thank you very much!

A note to all:

The CQ webmasters are rumored to be working on the posting issues/problems.

Hang in there!

Gallup: Obama recaptures edge over Clinton(USA Today)

Gallup reports: Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.

Obama fell behind Clinton on March 14 and stayed there until today. "Obama's campaign clearly suffered in recent days from negative press, mostly centering around his association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright," wrote Gallup analyst Jeff Jones. "But Obama has now edged back ahead of Clinton due to a strong showing for him in Friday night's polling, perhaps in response to the endorsement he received from well-respected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson."

The Gallup tracking poll is based on interviews with 1,264 Democratic or Democrat-leaning voters March 19-21. Its margin of error is +/-3 percentage points.

A tracking poll by Rasmussen Reports has shown a different trajectory. In that poll, Obama clung to leads of 1 to 5 percentage points all week and fell behind Clinton for the first time today, 46%-44%. Rasmussen calculations are based on four nights of polling, compared to Gallup's three.

As always, we remind you that these are snapshots and do not tell us what will happen in elections.

NYT: Obama race speech fuels Easter sermons

Some pastors say they're compelled to address festering issue
____________________________
WASHINGTON - This Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the Christian calendar, many pastors will start their sermons about the Resurrection of Jesus and weave in a pointed message about racism and bigotry, and the need to rise above them.

Some pastors began to rethink their sermons on Tuesday, when Senator Barack Obama gave a speech about race, seeking to calm a furor that had erupted over explosive excerpts of sermons by his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

The controversy drove the nation to the unpatrolled intersection of race and religion, and as many pastors prepared for their Easter message they said they felt compelled to talk about it. Their congregants were writing and e-mailing them: some wanted to share their emotional reactions to Mr. Obama’s speech; others asked how Mr. Wright, the minister, could utter such inflammatory things from the pulpit.
_________________

More

Easter is traditionally the time for "Ressurection" sermons and "Salvation" services.

I've discussed race with many of my friends, family and co-workers.

Growing up in Appalachia, one is often struck by the interdependency of people of different races, creeds, histories, especially in our poorer districts. When folks are faced with such difficult odds to overcome, community effort and cooperation becomes more than "just words".

-T

America's New Racial Reality: White Minority Status

http://www.alternet.org/election08/80258/?page=entire

While Obama raises the bar for racial understanding, the Democratic Leadership Council leverages white voter fear to counter America's new landscape.

****

The DLC lost me long ago, this kind of thing does nothing to help either.

Hillary's NAFTA whopper

David Sirota

http://action.credomobile.com/sirota/2008/03/clinton_nafta.html

Happy Easter!

Rabbits lay eggs today, not sure why or how.

"It's a huge effort," said Seth Williams, a lawyer who coordinated Obama's petition campaign to get on the Pennsylvania ballot. "The entire focus of the field level and the grass roots is to register people to vote."

State officials have already reported an unprecedented flurry of registration activity. Since local elections were held last fall, the statewide Democratic voter rolls have increased by 111,227, while Republicans lost 13,391 of their voters. That swing includes both new voters and 57,651 Pennsylvanians who changed their party identification, largely shifting from Republican or nonpartisan to become Democrats.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/23/america/obama.php

For Clinton to win, she has to cheat

Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan to win the Democratic nomination for President are fueled by a campaign strategy built on fantasy and illusion and based on a program of lies and myth.

Her own campaign advisers admit privately that Clinton has virtually no chance of winning because she cannot, under even the most optimistic scenario, overcome Barack Obama's lead in pledged delegates.

That leaves her one option: Win dirty and destroy the Democratic party and its chances for victory in November.

Clinton and her "winning is everything" former President husband appear ready to do that but an increasing number of Democratic leaders no longer buy into the Clinton myth that she should win the nomination simply because she feels she deserves it.

More and more Democrats realize the race is over and not even the famous Clinton ego can overcome that.

*****

Did I mention BHO has already won?

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/4951

How Will Hillary's Bosnia "Whopper" Play in the Media?

If you're Hillary Clinton and you've just been caught in a "whopper," the only thing to be grateful for is that it's Good Friday and people are distracted. How bad could this story be for her? When you tell the American public you faced gunfire, and it turns out all you really faced was a little girl with flowers -- well, that's as bad as it gets. When you dramatically say you made a journey that was too dangerous for the president, only to have it revealed that he made the same trip two months earlier -- and that your teenaged daughter was by your side -- that only makes it worse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/how-will-hillarys-bosnia_b_92844.html

Speech given before a meeting of the American Black Brothers Brotherhood, Chicago, 1999: "I am your leader and I call for an end to what you think is effective random violence not muggings that will whipped up WHITEY into a patriotic fever. They will not realize that the HONKEY patriot is a sword that cuts both ways. It suumons upt the blood, disguises fair nature with hard favored rage and shrinks the million minds into a basketball. When they are all scared they will be confused and leaderless and we will have no problem with the rights of the cowardly masses. Wreaked with fear and empty promises, blind as bats they will give up their rights TO THE RIGHT LEADER and I am that leader for that change and control given willingly. How do I know because I studied these things in college. It happened in Germany and Hitler was not even a German. It happened all through history. Someday I will be president of this country because of the guilt they feel about slavery when it was our brothers in Africa that sold your grandparents to the Arabs and the Arabs to the Dutch. Your random violence accomplishes nothing. THESE LIBERAL HONKEYS, THESE SUCKERS, will carry our message in the Newspapers and on TV. Once, FREE SPEECH IS OUT AND AMERICA IS OURS. Before you use a gun buy a book." (emphasis added by commentor). One more exerpt, same audience, 1997: "It is time to let our people go. We are 30% of the population but so was CASTRO, HITLER, MUSSOLINI, STALIN and without our man in the White House can we give back the CADILLAC LIBERALS the slavery and chains and destruction of our families. We must be united and THEY MUST FEAR US. They have already given up their rights. American Fascists as Wilson, Roosevelt and everyone else without a whimper...(here is the part that really grabbed my attention): "We will give them the slavery they gave us for three years. BLACK POWER, BROTHERS, BLACK POWER. Together we will march this country forward. Where will we get the money? BLACK POWER WILL TAKE IT. WE ARE THE TOTALITARIANS. BLACK POWER. BLACK POWER..." (Commentor emphasized by capital letter). I was just so moved by these speechs...what a guy; he is really living up to all of our expectation, this B.H. Obama. It appears he and his "spiritual leader" the Rev. Wright co-wrote their presentations and evidently he was listening to the sermons. Oh well, he's a democrat, "magic" as described by the LA Times, and "more articulate than other black candidates," as Sen Biden explained. And look at his heroes...Castro, Hitler, Stalin, El Duce...and he seems to dislike Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt for some reason; I'm confused, but I'm "progressive" so I will just follow my goodness, and love, and lies only hurt when the truth comes out. I sure hope he wins, for the good of our party and the future which isn't the past but something to look forward to, like change, and everything, you know what I'm saying?

Speech given before a meeting of the American Black Brothers Brotherhood, Chicago, 1999: "I am your leader and I call for an end to what you think is effective random violence not muggings that will whipped up WHITEY into a patriotic fever. They will not realize that the HONKEY patriot is a sword that cuts both ways. It suumons upt the blood, disguises fair nature with hard favored rage and shrinks the million minds into a basketball. When they are all scared they will be confused and leaderless and we will have no problem with the rights of the cowardly masses. Wreaked with fear and empty promises, blind as bats they will give up their rights TO THE RIGHT LEADER and I am that leader for that change and control given willingly. How do I know because I studied these things in college. It happened in Germany and Hitler was not even a German. It happened all through history. Someday I will be president of this country because of the guilt they feel about slavery when it was our brothers in Africa that sold your grandparents to the Arabs and the Arabs to the Dutch. Your random violence accomplishes nothing. THESE LIBERAL HONKEYS, THESE SUCKERS, will carry our message in the Newspapers and on TV. Once, FREE SPEECH IS OUT AND AMERICA IS OURS. Before you use a gun buy a book." (emphasis added by commentor). One more exerpt, same audience, 1997: "It is time to let our people go. We are 30% of the population but so was CASTRO, HITLER, MUSSOLINI, STALIN and without our man in the White House can we give back the CADILLAC LIBERALS the slavery and chains and destruction of our families. We must be united and THEY MUST FEAR US. They have already given up their rights. American Fascists as Wilson, Roosevelt and everyone else without a whimper...(here is the part that really grabbed my attention): "We will give them the slavery they gave us for three years. BLACK POWER, BROTHERS, BLACK POWER. Together we will march this country forward. Where will we get the money? BLACK POWER WILL TAKE IT. WE ARE THE TOTALITARIANS. BLACK POWER. BLACK POWER..." (Commentor emphasized by capital letter). I was just so moved by these speechs...what a guy; he is really living up to all of our expectation, this B.H. Obama. It appears he and his "spiritual leader" the Rev. Wright co-wrote their presentations and evidently he was listening to the sermons. Oh well, he's a democrat, "magic" as described by the LA Times, and "more articulate than other black candidates," as Sen Biden explained. And look at his heroes...Castro, Hitler, Stalin, El Duce...and he seems to dislike Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt for some reason; I'm confused, but I'm "progressive" so I will just follow my goodness, and love, and lies only hurt when the truth comes out. I sure hope he wins, for the good of our party and the future which isn't the past but something to look forward to, like change, and everything, you know what I'm saying?

That would be "300 years" instead of the "3" as above, and excuse the spelling errors. I was up all night watching "our guy" come up in the polls. His election will drive a stake in the heart of Conservatives and america can be run like in Africa and Asia, Cuba...I can't wait because the past is like gone, and change is like the future, and that's good, because we need change and all that, you know what I'm saying?

[...]

Presidential leadership is not simply about policy stands. Certainly that's not the case in how elections actually work. Nor is it how things ought to be. There's a lot about the presidency beyond policy positions. And character does count. The problem is just that in this country we routinely seem to confine it to matters of sexual ethics and whether you happen to say something that can be distorted beyond imagining by sundry right-wing agitprop freaks.

In any case, I'm not saying they're interchangeable. Whichever you prefer, they're actually very different candidates. What I am saying is that no one can run away from the choice every American with the franchise will face in November. The next president will either be John McCain or the Democratic nominee. That's an immovable fact. Not voting or voting for some protest candidate doesn't allow anyone to wash their hands of that choice.

Now one reader, TPM Reader KK, wrote in and said that he supports Obama, isn't a Democrat, actually doesn't agree with a number of Obama's policy positions but believes he could change the tenor of politics in the country and through his election help shift the rest of the world's view of the US. For KK, if Obama doesn't win the nomination, I guess there really might not be any particular reason he'd vote for Clinton over McCain.

But I do not believe this is the case with the great, great majority of readers of TPM who are supporting either of these two candidates. I think most are Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents who ascribe to a series of policies now generally adhered to by members of the Democratic party. People for whom that applies have to decide whether the alleged transgressions of either candidate or their differences in tone, political style and so forth are so grave and substantial that they merit electing John McCain who stands on the other side of basically all of those issues.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/185040.php

U.S. deaths in Iraq near 4,000
_______________________

Was the Easter Sunday headline in the local paper today.

I never thought I'd live to see such, at least here, on THAT front page.

Will there EVER be a "Last to Die"?
____________________________________

We took the highway till the road went black
We'd marked, Truth Or Consequences on our map*
A voice drifted up from the radio
And I thought of a voice from long ago

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die for a mistake

The kids asleep in the backseat
We're just counting the miles, you and me
We don't measure the blood we've drawn anymore
We just stack the bodies outside the door

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die for a mistake

The wise men were all fools, what to do

The sun sets in flames as the city burns
Another day gone down as the night turns
And I hold you here in my heart
As things fall apart

A downtown window flushed with light
"Faces of the dead at five" (faces of the dead at five)
Our martyr's silent eyes
Petition the drivers as we pass by

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Darlin' your tyrants and kings fall to the same fate
Strung up at your city gates
And you're the last to die for a mistake

-Springsteen

CNN has reported that John McCain's campaign is reimbursing the government $3,000 for the cost of the political portion of his taxpayer-funded trip to Europe and the Middle East. Leaving aside the question of how much the rest of the trip was "political," McCain's reimbursement is reportedly meant to cover airfare, hotel and the cost of a car to his London fundraiser. According to DNC General Counsel Joe Sandler, that falls far short of the amount McCain is required to reimburse.

Please see the following quote from Mr. Sandler:

"The 2007 ethics reform law and the regulations implementing it require that when a candidate mixes campaign and official travel when using a government plane, the campaign travelers must reimburse the government for the full cost of an equivalent round trip charter flight. Reasonable estimates place the cost of a one-way charter flight from Washington to London at between $20,000 and $56,000. As a result, McCain's stated intention to reimburse the federal government $3,000 almost certainly falls far short of what the law requires."