Politics

The Unending Campaign Trail

THE JAUNDICED EYE

Exclusive: New Mexico Super Supports Obama

Sen. Barack Obama picked up the support of another superdelegate Friday when Laurie Weahkee, a Native American voting activist in New Mexico, threw her support to the Illinois senator. "We need to get on with the campaign against McCain," Weakhee said in an exclusive interview  with our sister site, The New Mexico Independent. She praised Clinton but said Obama's nomination was now inevitable. "Throughout Obama's campaign he's proven to be an honest and genuine leader and to me that's key to improving relations between tribal nations and the U.S. government," she said.

Emanuel: Obama 'Presumptive Nominee,' Doesn't Endorse

Rahm Emanuel -- the usually outspoken Illinois congressman who has remained oddly quiet during the Democratic primary contest -- is causing a bit of a stir.

"At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee," Emanuel said Friday at a conference organized by The New Yorker.

(Some) Supers Stick With Clinton

Despite the widespread notion that the race for the Democratic nomination is over, 16 members of Congress penned a letter to their colleagues today urging them to support Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). The letter highlights Clinton's argument that she is the most electable candidate in November because she has won more big rural states that, the argument goes, a Democrat must win to get to 270 in the electoral college. Here are highlights of the letter, which is available here.

Bye-Bye Free Ride?

The Washington Post has a tough story Friday about moves by John McCain that helped a big fundraiser. As the Post put it (above the fold, for people who care about that kind of old-media thing):

Happy Mother's Day, Roberta

Sure, it's a bit yucky to use Mother's Day as a fund-raising gimmick.

But that's what John McCain's campaign is doing this morning. And the attached video, which Cindy McCain calls "a special Mother's Day message from our family to yours" in an email introduction, features the candidate's 96-year-old mother -- and somehow makes it OK.

I just can't figure out which segment of McCain voters it's aimed at. The men-who-were-out-drinking-when-their-wives-gave-birth crowd?

What Did Edwards Say?

Former presidential candidate John Edwards still hasn't endorsed a candidate in the Democratic primary.

But he voted in his home state of North Carolina on Tuesday -- and that may offer a clue about who he prefers.

Check out this clip from a conversation Edwards had Friday morning on MSNBC, courtesy The Page.

What do you think? Did Edwards say he voted "for him," or was it "for 'em," in that folksy Edwards way?


 

Will Democrats Unite?

As the primary drags on, some Democrats grow more concerned about the health of the party.

Coming to Grips

Clinton isn't calling it quits, but the tenor of her campaign has changed.

Let the Fallout Begin

Thanks to TPM for spotting what appears to be the first big defection from the Clinton camp in the wake of Tuesday's results in North Carolina and Indiana.

Clinton Loans Campaign $6.4 Million

< Facing a tough (and some say insurmountable) road to the  nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign announced today that the senator has lent her campaign $6.425 million over the last month. Here is ABC's Jake Tapper's break down of the loans.

Election Night Preview

I was just looking at some notes I took during the Clinton campaign's conference call with reporters on Monday.

It's pretty clear that the kinds of things Geoff Garin, the campaign's top strategist, and Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director, were saying then -- even before polls had opened in Indiana and North Carolina -- are likely to have a lot in common with what they say tonight, after the polls close.

Of course, a Clinton victory in both states will be hailed as a massive victory, a turning point, the dawning of a new era. But even if she wins in just one of the two  states -- or perhaps neither -- look for some of this spin:

"We feel good about the progress we've made in the last two weeks," Garin said, pointing to polls a month ago that showed Obama up by 7 points in Indiana and by close to 20 in North Carolina.

"It is a fact that the Obama campaign predicted victory in Indiana and North Carolina," Wolfson said, referring to an Obama campaign document obtained by Bloomberg that projected the outcomes of all the primaries after Super Tuesday.

Memo From Newt: Time for a New Contract

Newt Gingrich has been looking around, and he doesn't like what he sees. In a toughly worded column this morning -- posted on Human Events and emailed to supporters -- Gingrich sets out a pretty grim scenario facing Republicans.

Saturday's GOP loss in a special Louisiana House race -- a district President Bush carried by 19 points in 2004 -- and the failure to hold on to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois (that one had been Republican for 76 years, with a brief, Watergate exception) are the latest evidence that Republicans are in trouble, Gingrich writes.

And they shouldn't take comfort in John McCain's decent poll performance -- about 16 percentage points ahead of the generic congressional ballot. As Gingrich sees it, "McCain's lead is a sign of the gap between the McCain brand of independence and the GOP brand....It is a sign of how much McCain is a non-traditional Republican that he is sustaining his personal popularity despite his party's collapse."

Gingrich sees the risk that the GOP's weakness could ultimately overwhelm McCain's personal appeal "and drag his candidacy into defeat."

Vote Baby, Vote

As you wait for polls to close in Indiana and North Carolina, why not ponder the side effects of this long, long Democratic primary contest?

While party leaders know an ugly floor fight at the convention in Denver is a thing to avoid, they've put a positive gloss on the voter registration, organization and turnout that the campaigns have seen across the country so far.

Happily, the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute has checked out voter registration records, and offers a new report that helps make that case. Among its findings:

There Goes the Economist Vote

Economists from all over the political spectrum haven't liked the gas-tax holiday idea since it landed in the middle of the presidential campaign last month. But Hillary Clinton's ABC appearance on Sunday has provoked a whole new round of outrage.
 

“I think we’ve been for the last seven years seeing a tremendous amount of government power and elite opinion basically behind policies that haven’t worked well for the middle class and hard-working Americans,” Clinton said when asked if there were any economists out there who actually like the plan. "I'm not going to put in my lot with economists."

 

Candidates Aim for Middle Class

Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina could wrap up the Democratic nomination.

Clinton Lassos Texas Super

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) added one more a superdelegate before the close of business today. Jaime A. Gonzalez Jr., a Texas Democratic National Committee member, is backing the New York senator. Gonzalez, per the release:

First Lady Fine Line

After months of campaigning, Clinton's eight years in the West Wing have come to be viewed in a different light.

Elitist Charge Not New for Obama

Obama attended Punahou, a private school built for Hawaii's upper class.

Obama: Rail in Lieu of Gas Tax Holiday

The lone holdout in the much-hyped campaign push to scrap the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax for the summer has been Barack Obama. The Illinois senator says it won't save much at the pump, and the oil companies are likely to eat the benefit anyways. (Economists happen to agree).

Yesterday, campaigning in Indiana, Obama wondered why skyrocketing gas costs haven't prompted a stronger move away from car travel: