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June 2008 Archives
If Democratic congressional leaders are signing on to George W. Bush's covert war against Iran, as Seymour Hersh reports in The New Yorker, does it really matter which party wins the White House in November? On this front at least, it seems that Bush gets a third term no matter which party wins.
Perhaps fostering regime change in Iran is the best policy for the U.S. But that is not how Democrats have campaigned in this election year. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee, stands for talks, not belligerence, in dealing with Iran.
"Some members of the Democratic leadership . . . were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran."
-- Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker
Give John McCain credit for publicly saying what Democrats apparently acknowledge only in private. The presumed GOP nominee unabashedly supports tough actions against Iran.
But Democrats appear to be talking soft while advocating the rough stuff behind the scenes.
John McCain's "campaign" as the presumptive Republican nominee looks more like someone practicing to be president than for someone who understands the hard realities of winning battleground states. Seemingly more interested in meeting with foreign leaders and traveling abroad, the Arizona senator might figure that he can't win anyway and will just pretend for a while.
Today's Los Angeles Times labels McCain's strategy "unorthodox." His advisers explain that it helps voters envision their man as a strong leader if they seem him doing presidential stuff.
But things are slipping away for McCain as his team gears up for battle against Barack Obama's tactically brilliant operatives. Not only are pivotal states like Michigan and Pennsylvania moving toward Obama, but voters show far more interest in pocketbook issues than the weighty matters of national security and international relations that McCain prefers to emphasize.
Hillary Rodham Clinton tried the "I'm-already-president" routine against Obama, and she ended up Saturday on a stage paying homage to the man who beat her.
Trailspotter "Kathy" reports from Unity
-- Now on The BackChannel
A Banner Year for Challengers
Primary challengers have already knocked out three representatives this year, more than in all of 2006. And eight more members will face serious intraparty challenges before November.
Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
Craig goes to the movies with Barack and Hillary.
Freaky Friday on Facebook
(Our home for your non-political needs)
Unlikely Burrito (our new Official Dog Walker) seeks your dog pics . . . Dexter sharescool clips in Posted Items (Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Dave Clark Five) . . . Shelia marvels at all the "lookers" in member photos . . . Tylenol reports from Montreal JazzFest . . . and, as always, we diss the latest celebrity gossip (Madonna had no pre-nup???)
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rallied the troops for a sizable victory over Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell in the Final Four round of CQ Politics VP Madness (Democratic Edition).
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden eked out a tight win over New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Biden and Clark now square off in the final round.
VOTE NOW -- balloting ends July 1.
Both choices offer something useful to Barack Obama: national security credentials. Clark has the military record, while Biden presents the civilian version with decades of Capitol Hill experience in foreign policy.
Craig on "The Verdict" with Dan Abrams
Tonight (6/26) MSNBC 9:00 PM EST
It is always easy to make fun of Ralph Nader -- primarily because the man has no sense of humor. Here in Washington, the nation's capital of the humorless, Nader is in a league of his own.
I once picked him up for a panel discussion, tried to make a joke about my less-than-impressive vehicle, and what does Nader do? For the entire drive, he lectured me about air bags (None on the passenger side, so shoot me).
Based upon Nader's recent comments about Barack Obama it looks as though the independent presidential candidate is no more impressed with the Democratic nominee than he was with my car. Which seems odd, given how so many on the left idolize Obama as earlier generations did for Nader.
In other words, it is not helpful to Obama that Nader is not buying his messianic message of change. (Although so many Democrats despise Nader for his pivotal role in electing George W. Bush, this might make no difference at all.)
However, Nader seemed more conciliatory on Wednesday with these observations to the New York Times about the significance of Obama as possibly the nation's first black president:
"What difference it should make is that he would be more sensitive and determined to bring elevated visibility and concrete programs to deal with these issues. . . . Wouldn't a woman president be expected to be more responsive to women's rights? It's just more natural." Obama "obviously made a tactical decision that he's not going to campaign politically as Jesse Jackson did. He wants to come across that he's not politically threatening to the white power class and the liberal intelligentsia. It's been a brilliant tactic."
-- Ralph Nader to the New York Times (6/25)
Obama rejects Nader claim on white talk (AP)
CQ's Rachel Kapochunas talks to Nader . . .
Funny how Bob Barr gets more news media attention than Ralph Nader. Never mind that Nader is the third-party presidential candidate with a proven track record of making a difference.
Nader hurts media favorite Barack Obama. Barr helps the Democratic nominee, and thus gets more play.
It would be funny if it weren't so sad. In yet another example of the media trying to be a player, instead of a mere observer of this election, Barr is suddenly a darling of the chattering class.
That's because Barr's Libertarian Party bid is deemed threatening to Republican John McCain's chances. Nader, however, can only siphon votes away from the Democrats, and therefore is written off.
Still, Nader is the one who's shown how to get on ballots and swing elections. He might be more worth watching.
CQ Video
Summertime is not John McCain's best season. Last year he got a media death warrant. And now he's getting another.
A year ago McCain was deemed unwinnable and shown the door. But instead he soldiered on and beat the odds. As they say in motorcross, he didn't crash and he's going huge.
But nowadays McCain is not looking so huge. Another media death warrant is in the works. As each new state poll arrives, Barack Obama looks stronger in the Electoral College.
Still, last month McCain raised about as much money as Obama collected, and the two are not outrageously apart in cash on hand. But that hasn't persuaded the political world from downgrading his chances, even though last year it was McCain's far worse fundraising performance that initially soured the chattering class.
McCain is getting no breaks again. No matter how Republicans spin things, right now McCain seems destined for another lousy summer of news coverage.
He beat the heat last year. Maybe he can again.
Why would a presidential candidate want possums on his podium? But there you see it on Barack Obama's new 
stage logo, the word "possumus" -- part of a Latin phrase on Obama's redesigned presidential seal.
"Vero possumus," roughly translated, means "Yes, We Can," the Obama camp explains. The phrase replaces the official presidential seal's "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, One).
And undaunted by any thoughts of sanctity for the original seal's familiar look, the Obama team slapped their "O" logo right on the eagle's belly where the shield used to be.
Now, that is change.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards lost in the Third Round of CQ Politics VP Madness (Democratic edition), setting up a contest between Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell and retired Gen. Wesley Clark.
Also emerging from the last round, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden beat Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and now faces New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who overcame former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn.
VOTE NOW
(Round 4 ends Wednesday, June 25)
- Obama Always Ahead, But By Varying Margins (Poll Tracker)
- McCain, Obama each surpass $21 million in May fundraising (Los Angeles Times)
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Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
In today's Video Trail Mix (click screen above), Craig looks at how both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain benefitted from a so-called "bounce" in the polls after winning their respective nominations.
So let's try again. Many of those in the Comments section for this morning's post thought I had unfairly slammed Michelle Obama's appearance on "The View."
But my meaning was to point out that this rollout on one of televisions softest shows ended up with a media focus on what was being called a gaffe. The trouble lies in this whole business of the Obama camp signaling for days that her guest-hosting spot on "The View" would begin an effort to re-make her image with a softer hue.
First of all, political makeovers work best when you don't telegraph them to the media. If you want to change your image, just do it. Don't talk about how you're doing it. Otherwise, the news hounds go out of their way to trip you up.
Secondly, why did Obama's team even feel the need to adjust Mrs. Obama's image? Sure, her intellect and forthrightness might threaten to polarize voters, as Hillary Rodham Clinton did at the start of Bill Clinton's presidency. But that is who Michelle is - a tough, smart and serious political player.
Trying to turn Mrs. Obama into a neutral figure like Laura Bush just isn't going to work. If that really is the intention, there is much left to be done. I thought she seemed to be straining too hard to play along with the girl talk on "The View."
Bring back the hard hitting woman who fires up her husband's supporters. Let Michelle be Michelle.
UPDATE (6:32 PM EST): Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor disputes reports of a Michelle makeover -- Now in Comments
"The View" (6/18/08)
North Carolina State University (4/8/08)
Michelle Obama's makeover got off to a rocky start.
Appearing on Wednesday as a guest host on The View, Mrs. Obama was asked by Barbara Walters whether she wanted her husband to be president. Mrs Obama said "no", and then seemed to say he is "sweet and pathetic."
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor claimed after the program that she had actually said "empathetic." Give her the benefit of the doubt: Empathetic, not pathetic.
Still, Mrs. Obama's appearance on the popular talk show did not go well. Hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd seemed to instantly realize this, going out of their way to recast her awkward wording.
The Obama camp is reportedly on the case trying to prepare Mrs. Obama for prime time. And there is clearly work to be done.
- "The View" ladies dive in to rescue Michelle Obama (Chicago Sun-Times)
- Obama's wife in 'pathetic' gaffe (BBC)
- Michelle Obama Shows Her Warmer Side on 'The View' (New York Times)
- Michelle Obama grateful for first lady's defense (AP)
Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
Craig looks at the recent history of war heroes failing at the ballot box (Click screen above).
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Tough choices in VP Madness Round Three (Democratic edition):
- Clinton vs. Rendell
- Edwards vs. Clark
- Sebelius vs. Biden
- Richardson vs. Nunn
Vote Now (3d round ends Thursday)
Why not hire the fool who ran your opponent into the ground? Patti Solis Doyle is now on Barack Obama's team, charged with running his vice presidential nominee's campaign.
This is the woman who ran Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign in the beginning, the woman behind such idiotic ideas as wasting a fortune on sending snow shovels to every Iowa precinct captain -- even though it wasn't forecast to snow on caucus day.
This is the woman who went along with the one of the stupidest moves in the history of presidential politics -- choosing to ignore a bunch of caucus states like Kansas, where Obama netted the critical edge in delegates to beat Clinton.
Rewarding the woman who unwittingly scuttled your opponent's campaign might make sense for Obama. But it would make more sense to give her a job where she can do no harm.
Tom Brokaw's NBC special on Sunday, replacing what surely would have been another newsmaking "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert, got the job done.
With clips showing Russert at the top of his game, holding newsmakers accountable, Brokaw offered the tribute that the late host would prefer -- scenes of a serious journalist doing his job.
My guess is that Russert has had enough of the glowing personal tributes, and now wishes that his colleagues would honor his legacy by simply getting back to work.
Sorry, Tim, but I cannot resist adding my own small measure of devotion, yet another story of his personal touch. I last saw him a couple of weeks ago when I was walking out of the NBC Washington Bureau following an early-morning TV appearance.
Although it was barely dawn, Russert was typically full of energy and nearly sprinting toward the building as though late for something. But he stopped short as we passed, put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "How's your foot?"
I wasn't even aware that he knew I had broken my ankle a few months ago. He proceeded to ask several questions about my ordeal, eagerly comparing notes about his own ankle break last year and his troubles with sticking to an exercise regimen.
We parted ways without exchanging a single word about politics and the presidential campaign. Just a couple of guys comparing physical ailments as the sun came up. And going forward that is the Russert moment I will most treasure.
CQ Politics now features one of the easiest and most comprehensive online maps you will find for tracking Congressional and Governors races. Simply go to the main map page, choose from the category tab at the top (House, Senate, etc.), click a state and you will find the breakdown you need to drill deeper for a wealth of information about candidates, balloting history and the CQ Politics Race Forecast for expected outcomes. On the President tab, 2004 results are displayed.
CQ 2008 Election Map
Every district. Every state. Every day.
Round 2 of VP Madness features some hot and heavy matchups:
- Bayh vs. Clark
- Cleland vs. Biden
- Richardson vs. Webb
. . . and more -- VOTE NOW (Round ends June 16)
Craig plays VP Madness (click screen below) 
- Five Ways to Pick a Running Mate (Taegan Goddard)
- Does Obama Need a "Change Ombudsman"? (David Corn)
- Another Poll, Another Close Obama-McCain Race (Poll Tracker)
Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
A Blogger You Can Believe In
Today's Video Trail Mix (click screen above) compares
the props, theatrics and style of candidate speeches.
Barack Obama's first major decision as presumed Democratic nominee turned out to be a disaster mostly because the candidate himself so badly mishandled ethical questions about the man who was directing his vice presidential search team.
Jim Johnson resigned from the team today in the wake of concerns about the longtime Democratic insider's ties to a troubled mortgage firm. But it was Obama's preposterous response to the scandal on Tuesday that made it necessary to dump Johnson and clear the decks.
"I am not vetting my VP search committee for their mortgages," Obama told reporters in St. Louis. "This is a game that can be played. Everybody who is tangentially related to our campaign I think is going to have a whole host of relationships. I would have to hire the vetter to vet the vetters."
Obama's cavalier response utterly contradicted his campaign's supposed crusade for reform. Not only did those words come across as tone deaf to the very ethical issues that he has raised in this election, but his remarks sounded like the ethical relativism we so often hear from the Washington business-as-usual crowd that Obama claims to be running against.
Craig on "Imus in the Morning"
Thursday (6/12) 6:30 AM EST
RFD-TV / WABC-AM / WJZW-FM
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE (2:42 PM EST):
Jim Johnson resigns from Obama VP vetting team (AP)
On so many fronts, I knew there was trouble for Barack Obama when he picked Jim Johnson for his vice presidential vetting team.
Not only is Johnson a big-business Democrat with icky ties to even ickier businesses, like mortgage lending firms in trouble. But the longtime party insider is also firmly entrenched with Democratic losers going back to Walter Mondale, whose pathetic 1984 presidential campaign was run by Johnson.
If Obama is about a break with the past, he could find no one more counter-intuitive than Johnson. Already, Johnson is under fire for his own sweetheart loans. More than likely Obama will eventually come under intense pressure to dump his VP vetter.
For a clue about Johnson's questionable political acumen, here's what I remember from my own experience as a field operative in Mondale's presidential campaign. Johnson blew the only moment when it looked like Mondale might actually have a chance at overcoming Ronald Reagan's reelection bid.
Following Reagan's disastrous debate performance against Mondale, when the media began to seriously question the president's mental fitness, many Democratic insiders counseled their nominee to go in for the kill in the next debate. But Johnson, apparently believing that Mondale had a lock on the election, advised his candidate to back off, counseling that it would seem mean-spirited to do otherwise.
Johnson could not have been more wrong, as many of us in the campaign thought at the time. Still, Mondale followed his manager's advice and Reagan won the day - and probably the election - at the subsequent debate as the Democrat foolishly held his fire.
For some reason, Democratic nominees ever since - except Bill Clinton - have thought Johnson was some sort of genius. And it is no accident that Clinton is the only one to win the White House.
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Craig on "Imus in the Morning"
Thursday (6/12) 6:30 AM EST
RFD-TV / WABC-AM / WJZW-FM
A new book on Karl Rove, "Machiavelli's Shadow" by Paul Alexander, recalls a personal experience I had with George W. Bush's political guru. I had forgotten that I talked to the author until reading this excerpt from a review of the book on the Washington Examiner's web site:
"CQ's Craig Crawford recalls this moment from 1999, when Crawford was editing National Journal's Hotline: 'I thought Bush was called Bush Junior,' Crawford told Alexander. 'So, at Hotline, because we needed a device in our headlines to delineate him from Bush Senior, we were just calling him Bush Junior. Well, one day I picked up the phone and there was this person screaming at me on the other end. It was just nonstop yelling. It was Karl Rove and I mean he tore my head off over our calling Bush Bush Junior.'"
All true. I haven't seen the book yet and don't know whether Alexander included this detail: It was the only time I ever talked to Rove. His rudeness in the conversation described above caused me to decide that life is too short to ever again waste time talking to such a jerk.
That was a lucky move. Had I courted Rove as a source, as so many of my colleagues did, I might have had to hire a lawyer, or worse -- as so many of my colleagues experienced in the CIA leak case.
Anyway, the big news in Alexander's book is the revelation that Bush actually fired Rove in church. Read all about it in the Examiner review.
For a montage of our regular commenters,
click Trailmixers, the Video
At a town hall in Iowa last year John McCain got The Question. A silver-haired woman appearing to be close in age to the Republican presidential hopeful's 71 years asked if he was really up to the job.
"You're getting pretty old!" the Iowa woman said. "And it's such a hard job!"
McCain deadpanned, "I'm sorry I called on you."
While McCain deftly turned the moment to his advantage, getting a big laugh, the joke might be on him if the presumed GOP nominee's age subjects him to the sort of ridicule that underscored sexist gags aimed at Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Expect open season in the coming campaign for implicitly bashing the elderly as McCain's political foes and some media personalities stereotype him in ways that are justifiably considered off limits regarding Barack Obama's race.
Still, there is a silver lining for McCain if Clinton's experience is any guide. Women voters rallied to Clinton in response to the rampant sexism. If not for such a backlash in New Hampshire, for instance, she might not have won that state's primary and kept her candidacy alive at a crucial juncture in the Democratic nomination race.
Although some older voters, like the woman in Iowa, might question McCain's fitness, Democrats and media commentators who relentlessly mock his age could end up rallying elder votes to his side.
Three years ago today I started a blog called crawfordslist. Many who joined then are still here. As we grew, we suffered many pains through a series of servers and various software experiments. In the past year CQ Politics came to our rescue and we were born again as Trail Mix.
To celebrate our survival as a cyber community since 2005, here is a video depicting many of our regulars. Enjoy! -- Craig
Click arrow in screen below to play video . . ."Anima" performed by Betty Candelieri (Rome, Italy 2006)
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Clinton Steps Aside
- Clinton Ends Campaign with Forceful Endorsement of Obama (CQ Politics)
- The Impact of Clinton's Withdrawal (Poll Tracker)
- Five Questions About Clinton's Goodbye (CQ Politics)
Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
Who Should Obama Pick? Now that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, his attention -- and ours -- can turn to the process of selecting a vice-presidential running mate.
Play CQ Politics VP Madness (Round 1 ends June 10).
In the GOP Edition, former Arkansas Governor (and former presidential candidate) Mike Huckabee was chosen as John McCain's best bet.
- Clinton disavows push to make her veep (AP)
- Analysis: Obama's Next Test Is Choosing No. 2 (CQ Politics)
John McCain ought to give up this canard about Barack Obama's supposed willingness to cuddle with foreign dictators. It might stir up McCain's Republican base, but more voters are going to find Obama's call for more diplomacy quite reasonable.
It is now clear that Obama misspoke during the Democratic debates when he said yes in response to a question about whether he would meet as president with Iranian and other rogue leaders "without preconditions."
Obama has never flatly said that he erred, but his months of backpedaling demonstrates that he has no plans to cozy up to tyrants without setting some major conditions in advance. Indeed, in all that Obama has said since his debate flub he does not even seem substantially that far from the Bush Administration's demand for conditions before talks.
Still, because Obama won't fully disown his original stance, McCain appears determined to make it a general election issue, as he did this week in a speech to Jewish leaders. But it is tough to imagine McCain winning new voters on this non-issue.
- McCain Goes Before AIPAC to Assail Obama on Foreign Policy (CQ Politics)
- Obama Reaches Out to Jewish Group as He Shifts to November Strategy (CQ Politics)
"Well, things worked out a little different from the way I thought."
And thus began Ted Kennedy's convention-floor concession speech following his devastating challenge against his own party's sitting president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980.
Many weeks earlier than when Kennedy finally conceded Hillary Rodham Clinton is now poised to give in to presumed Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Kennedy's belated and defiant "concession" to Carter was reported as a slap in the face to his party's president and a significant factor in electing Republican Ronald Reagan.
Clinton appears ready to avoid Kennedy's fateful error.
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four (Final)
If Hillary Rodham Clinton does NOT want to be Barack Obama's running mate, she is doing just the right things to make sure that he does not pick her: Aggravating his camp by refusing to concede his nomination victory while at the same time pressuring him to give her the Number Two slot.
Slapping someone in the face and extending the other hand, palms up, for handout is hardly the way to curry favor. It is the ultimate act of passive aggression. The path to success in this case would be to keep your running-mate interests strictly private while publicly vowing only to do what the nominee asks.
But this might be what Clinton really wants -- to be rejected for running mate. Forcing a high profile rejection would get Clinton off the hook for doing more than she might want to do for Obama in the general election campaign.
An Obama rejection of putting Clinton on the ticket would further complicate his efforts to woo her voters -- and it would pave the way for Republican John McCain to accelerate his already forceful efforts to win their support.
In short, being forced to publicly reject Clinton's supposed interest in the vice presidential nod might make it more difficult for Obama to win the presidency. And Clinton could then appear to be blameless, allowing her to pick up the pieces after November for a 2012 run.
If Barack Obama takes a pass on choosing Hillary Rodham Clinton as his Democratic running mate, presumed Republican nominee John McCain might be interested.
"I have known Senator Clinton, and I admire her and I respect her," McCain said on Monday. "She has inspired generations of American women to believe that they can reach the highest office in this nation. I admire the campaign that she has run. She deserves a great deal of credit."
On Tuesday night as Obama claimed his party's nomination, McCain kept up the Clinton praise-a-thon with a transparent play for her supporters who complain about news coverage. "The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received," McCain said.
Could McCain's adoration lead to Clinton switching parties to run with him? Hey, she was a "Goldwater Girl" as a teenager growing up in Illinois.
It is one of the most spectacular upsets in American political history. An unknown takes down a political dynasty. I first thought Barack Obama might be on to something when more than a year ago his supporters widely circulated this web video, a "mashup" of a 1984 Apple computer ad. The final scene shows a hip young woman wielding a long-handled sledge hammer and wearing a shirt emblazoned with the Obama logo. She tosses the hammer at a video screen depicting Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the screen explodes. This video can be remembered as a touchstone for how a supposedly invincible frontrunner tonight became just another runner-up.
Video Trail Mix:
Obama's Hollywood Ending
If winners cannot take all in the Democratic Party, why should the presidential nomination winner get all the power when it comes to picking a running mate?
Unlike Republicans, the Democrats banned "winner-take-all" primaries and caucuses in choosing presidential nominating delegates. Instead, Democrats believe in a system of proportional rewards based upon a principle that even losers get something.
Sometimes the loser gets more. In a bizarre application of party "proportionalism" for this year's Texas Democratic Primary, the loser of the popular vote, Barack Obama, actually won the most delegates.
Proportional allocation of delegates in most Democratic contests means that, for instance, a candidate who wins with 49 percent of the vote might still have to evenly split the rewards, sharing the delegate take with a candidate who gets 45 percent.
That same split -- 49 percent to 45 percent -- represents Obama's current lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton among all nominating delegates going to the party's August convention. So why shouldn't she get something?
What if the Democratic Party's disdain for "winner-take-all" were extended to the division of rewards at the end of the game? Surely the loser is entitled to something.
If anything, the Democratic Party's devotion to proportional rewards would seem to dictate that a runner-up who is just four percentage points behind the winner should be first in line for running mate.
That is, after all, the sort of talk we heard from the Obama side back in the day when it looked like he might finish a close second.
Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter
Craig on "Verdict with Dan Abrams"
Tonight (6/2) MSNBC 9:00 PM EST
The latest trash-talking preacher from Barack Obama's world might have done him a favor, providing an excuse for the Democratic presidential frontrunner to quit his problematic church.
"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said at a news conference after releasing a letter resigning his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Last week's news of more racially-charged remarks from Trinity's pulpit -- this time from guest speaker Michael Pfleger -- threatened to revive the flap over Obama's longtime preacher Jeremiah Wright.
Worries about Obama's church affiliation complicate Obama's aggressive efforts to attract enough undeclared superdelegates to claim the nomination this week. Acting swiftly to end that affiliation might put enough of them at ease to put Obama over the top.
- Obama quits Chicago church steeped in controversy (AP)
- Five Questions and Answers About Today's Puerto Rico Primary (CQ Politics)
Democratic Unity in Jeopardy: Watch CQ Politics' video report from the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, where "unity" was often mentioned but in short supply.