May 9, 2008

Exclusive: Friday, May 9

Presidential Watch

See how Hillary turned herself into the new populist in N.C. & Indiana. HERE.

Game Over, Hillary

Philip Klein, Spectator.org

Hillary Clinton may not have reached the end of her presidential campaign last night, but the end is now surely within staggering distance.

From a mathematical perspective, yesterday's results have enabled Obama to essentially wipe out the delegate and popular vote gains Clinton made in her big Pennsylvania win two weeks ago.

Just as a basketball team trailing by 20 points toward the end of the fourth quarter cannot afford to trade baskets with its opponent, Clinton cannot hope to recover from the split decision that she had yesterday, followed by splits in the six remaining contests.

But the general election is a whole new battle, and anybody who still thinks that Obama cannot take a punch, needs to ask himself why a such a political novice is on the verge of taking down the once-indomitable Clinton machine. Read article.

Obama regains footing, but no guarantees: Racially lopsided win could be cited as sign he wouldn't beat McCain

Steven Thomma, Charlotte.com

Barack Obama moved inexorably closer to the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, holding on to his lead as time runs out on challenger Hillary Clinton.

His decisive win in North Carolina denied her the two-state knockout punch that would have left him reeling.

Obama has one continuing weakness, however, that was reinforced in both Indiana and North Carolina -- his inability to win working-class whites. He lost that bloc in both states as a large number of voters signaled that they remained concerned about his ties to his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Those who thought it was an important story broke solidly for Clinton.

Obama has not won the white vote since videos of Wright damning the U.S. exploded onto YouTube and TV screens.

That's likely Clinton's last, best hope to convince party superdelegates that Obama is a weak candidate for the fall, that he'll have trouble holding the working-class white vote in battleground states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Read article.

Why the Dems could lose

Cokie & Steve Roberts, JWR.com

Democrats seem intent on nominating Barack Obama, in the face of mounting evidence that Hillary Clinton would be the stronger candidate against John McCain in November. And they only have themselves to blame.

Yes, the Clinton camp made strategic blunders that allowed Obama to score heavily in Republican states where few Democrats vote. But the real culprit is the party's stupid, self-destructive nominating system, which has two major flaws.

First, it was designed to anoint a nominee by early February, far too early in the process. The result: Obama built up an insurmountable lead at a time when he was still largely unblemished, untested and unscrutinized. The past six weeks have brought tougher media coverage, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's tapes, the candidate's ill-considered comments about "bitter" voters and a wave of second thoughts among key groups like union members and white Catholics.

Second, the nominating system was completely incapable of reflecting these shifts. Read article.

Did Wright Matter?

James Taranto, Online WSJ.com

Three states have now held primaries since America learned about Jeremiah Wright, the man of whom Barack Obama says, "He was never my quote-unquote spiritual adviser," although he served on the Obama campaign's quote-unquote spiritual advisory committee.

Many observers thought that the revelation of Obama's close ties to an America-hating racist crackpot would give Hillary Clinton a big boost. We heard predictions of a 20-point Clinton blowout in Pennsylvania, a double-digit Clinton victory in Indiana, a near-victory, or even an outright one, for her in North Carolina.

It didn't happen. To judge strictly by the primary vote totals, Wright appears to have had no effect at all. Mrs. Clinton won Pennsylvania by just under 10 points and Indiana by a scant 1.5. In North Carolina, meanwhile, Obama trounced Mrs. Clinton by a pair of touchdowns.

All of these results are roughly what one would expect if the three states had gone to the polls on Feb. 5 like everyone else. So does that mean Wright had no effect?

Not necessarily. Exit poll data from Indiana and North Carolina tell a more complicated story. Read article.

Matthews: Shame on All Who Participated in Rush's 'Operation Chaos'

Brent Baker, NewsBusters.org

Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos," the effort to urge conservatives and Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to prolong the Democratic nomination battle, certainly annoys MSNBC's Chris Matthews who, during primary coverage Tuesday night, denounced the "mischief-making" by "a talk jock." In the 11:30 PM EDT half hour, Matthews offered a "Keith [Olbermann]-style special comment" about how "anyone who voted to screw up the political system of this country with the purpose of mischief should carry that with them the rest their lives." He called it "a ridiculous way to use the vote for which people fought and died," sarcastically remarking: "I hope you're proud of yourself." The rant from Matthews:

I have to offer a Keith-style special comment on that. Anyone who voted to screw up the political system of this country with the purpose of mischief should carry that with them the rest their lives. What a ridiculous way to use the vote for which people fought and died, to use that vote to make mischief. I hope you're proud of yourself. [20-second MP3 audio of this comment]

Read article.

Obama victory call: Obama's strength, and Limbaugh's

Ben Smith, Politico.com

David Plouffe and a series of big gun endorsers are holding a conference call to stress the scale of last night's victory.

"He clearly did more than he had to and she did not achieve what she had to," said Senator John Kerry.

Both Plouffe and Kerry stressed the importance of the Limbaugh Effect.

"Rush Limbaugh was tampering with the primary," Kerry said "If it was not for Republicans taking Democratic ballots, he would have won," he said of Obama.

(I'm not sure that's true. The margin was about 18,500; Clinton only got 54% of the Republican votes, which made up 10% of the electorate. If none of those Republicans voted for either candidate, Obama would gain about 10,000. The question really is what share of Clinton's votes were Limbaugh voters. For them to have provided the margin of victory, by my math, about 38% of all her Republican voters -- that's a lot -- would have had to be voting tactically.)*

Kerry and other top Obama supporters stressed his gains with working-class voters and his strength with independents. Read article.

Obama's World

Jacob Laksin, FrontPageMagazine.com

Until recently, Barack Obama's presidential campaign was premised on the future. The senator from Illinois orated floridly about bringing "change" to the country; a New Political Man, he pledged to soothe the feuds of old and usher in a national reconciliation amid troubled times.

With the emergence of divisive figures like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's longtime friend and acerbically Afro-centric pastor, the focus has shifted to the past, and with good reason. As FrontPageMag.com senior editor Jacob Laksin discovered in his recent reporting from Chicago's South Side, the predominantly black community where Obama launched his political career in the eighties and nineties, Wright may be the best known of Obama's friends and allies, but he may not even be the most controversial.

In a series that will appear in FrontPage over the next three days, Laksin explores Obama's ties to the South Side personalities who helped propel him to power, but whose continuing - and reciprocated - friendship with the candidate raises troubling questions about his ability to forge a new political consensus, especially on the fractious issue of race. To evaluate Obama's campaign and its grand promises, readers must first come to know the world of Chicago politics from which he emerged. Read article.

Interesting Money Bundlers For Obama

Frank Clark, No Quarter USA.com

For a guy who lies when he says he doesn't take money from Big Business and lobbyists, and has raised more than $200,000,000 from "the little guy," Barack Obama surely has some very interesting friends bundling money for him. It's nearly overwhelming. So I thought I would do this in a kind of series and start with Bundler Frank Clark.

Clark is known has been known as a Lobbyist for Commonwealth Edison. He also has bundled $200,000 in contributions for Barack Obama's campaign. Now that by itself would be interesting, but it also seems that Clark is yet another one of those people with a politically incestuous Chicago trail.

Clark is currently CEO of Commonwealth Edison. If that doesn't ring a bell for you, Commonwealth Edison is the same company that boasts the well-connected Thomas Ayers as its former CEO. Mr. Ayers also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Commonwealth Edison after his tenure as CEO, so you can easily imagine he had a hand in selecting Mr. Clark as CEO.

Thomas Ayers was also the father of that fine upstanding citizen, "Guilty as hell. Free as a bird" domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Isn't that a coincidence? Read article.

Gingrich warns GOP of ‘real disaster' this fall

Jackie Kucinich, The Hill.com

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is calling on Republicans to seek "real change to avoid a real disaster" in the wake of another Democratic victory in a special election on Saturday.

In a letter to House Republicans posted on www.newt.org, Gingrich urges House leaders to call an "emergency meeting" of House Republicans to address what he describes as a "catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans."

"If a majority of the House Republicans vote for real change, they should instruct Republican Leader John Boehner [Ohio] and his team to come back with a new plan by the Wednesday before the Memorial Day recess," Gingrich wrote. "This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee."

Gingrich then outlined nine acts of "real change" including the gas tax holiday and an earmark moratorium. Read article.

Hillary Clinton: Terminator IV

Kathleen Parker, Townhall.com

All politicians adapt and mold themselves to fit their audience, but Hillary Clinton has elevated the art of identity politics to a science of morphology.

She doesn't just show people what they want in order to convince them that she's their "man" -- and we no longer use that word entirely metaphorically. She becomes the people she wants to sway.

In James Cameron's "Terminator II: Judgment Day," the T-1000 android was made of liquid metal and could duplicate others. He "learned" a person by touching him and absorbing his data.

Hillary's life as a political spouse and candidate has been a kaleidoscope of shape-shifting and morphed identity. In the past 15 years, Americans have witnessed her transformation from a more feminine first lady to lately becoming a manly whiskey slugger with "testicular fortitude," as an Indiana labor leader recently described her. Read article.

Talk of McCain-Jindal ticket surfaces again

Chidanand Rajghatta, Times of India,com

The historic prospect of putting a person of Indian origin within a heartbeat of the US presidency -- a possibility more incredible than having a woman or a black man in the White House -- has surfaced again.

Weeks after influential radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh first floated the idea of having Bobby Jindal, the highest ranked Indian-American politician in US history and newly elected governor of Louisiana, as John McCain's running mate, Republican strategists are once again said to be seriously weighing the idea.

At least four McCain staffers and advisers have mentioned the 36-year old Jindal as a possible vice-presidential pick, the conservative commentator William Kristol revealed on Monday, citing a host of reasons for what could be a shock selection for the Grand Old Party. Read article.

Gov. Jindal Touts New Orleans' Rebirth, Denies VP Aspirations

Penny Starr, CNSNews.com

While admitting that he changed his given Indian name to Bobby after his favorite character on "The Brady Bunch," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal denied having any ambition to become Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) vice presidential pick at the National Press Club on Friday.

"First of all, like anybody whose name has been put on such a list, it's certainly flattering," Jindal said. "I've said it before ... I'll say it again. I've got the job I want."

Jindal, a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax Rhodes Scholar, won a landslide victory to become governor of Louisiana in October 2007. An Indian-American, he is the first person of color to be elected governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction. Read article.

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