May 31st, 2008 Neal Lavon
Fairly big news over the weekend...
The Democratic National Committee, which oversees the Democratic Party, met in Washington today to discuss what to do with the states of Michigan and Florida. Democrats in Michigan and Florida held early primaries that were unsanctioned by the party and so their results did not count.
No candidate competed in either state and Senator Barack Obama's name was not on the ballot in Michigan. Senator Hillary Clinton won both contests and she wanted the results to stand which would bring her closer to Senator Obama in the popular vote and delegate totals.
Meeting today in Washington, the committee agreed to give each state's delegates a half-vote because neither campaign could force through the changes they wanted. The meeting was tense and often confrontational. It put Senator Obama ever closer to gaining the magic number (whatever that may be now) of delegates to claim the prize. He, according to one count, is only 66 delegates short.
Senator Clinton's campaign may still take the matter to the convention as her supporters were not pleased with the outcome. But then nobody thought
anyone would.
In other news, Senator Obama says he will resign from the Trinity United Church in Chicago after another firey sermon from the church's pulpit. In this one, Father Michael Pfleger ridiculed Senator Clinton and that dredged up the incindiery sermons of Jeremiah Wright which ignited the entire controversy.
This move may have been overdue for Obama who now wants to put the entire episode behind him as he moves in for the nomination.
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May 31st, 2008 Margaret Talev
Barack Obama has quit his church of two decades, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, his communications director Robert Gibbs confirms. Details to follow. Obama is speaking now at an event in Aberdeen, S.D.
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May 31st, 2008 Richard Adams
The militant wing of the Clinton campaign gathers in Washington DC
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May 31st, 2008 Steve Thomma
Heading into a lunch break, the Obama and Clinton camps are sparring over what is and isn't a concession in their sparring over Florida delegates.
The Obama camp says it's making a concession when it agrees to allowing Florida half its delegate votes. That would give Clinton a net gain of 19 delegates, up from the zero delegates she gets under the current rules.
"An extraordinary concession," says Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida, an Obama man.
"A concession? Give me a break," counters Clinton man Harold Ickes in the hallway outside the party meeting.
He argues from the standpoint that Clinton has a net gain of 38 delegates in Florida. "Hillary Clinton loses delegates."
But Clinton doesn't have any Florida delegates now, let alone an edge of 38. Florida was stripped of all of its delegates.
Score it for Obama. Clinton can't lose delegates she doesn't have.
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May 31st, 2008 Kevin Anderson
Jonathan Martin's Blog: Bob Dole unloads on McClellan - Politico.com Bob Dole has sent a scathing e-mail to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan calling him a 'miserable creature' and an opportunist. Source: Politico (tags: BobDole ScottMcClellan WhiteHouse)...
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May 31st, 2008 The Editors
More campaign-related opinion for Saturday, May 31.
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
Writing in the New York Times, Mark Mellman dismisses fears about Barack Obama's troubles with white working-class voters.
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
Speaking to a group of reporters, Barack Obama predicts he'll be the presumptive nominee after the final primaries next week.
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May 31st, 2008 Justin Jouvenal
A new poll shows a bare majority of the state supports the recent Supreme Court decision and will oppose an effort to overturn it.
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
John McCain rejected Pastor John Hagee's endorsement after remarks Hagee made about Adolf Hitler being sent by God surfaced, but McCain's ally isn't ready to write Hagee off.
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May 31st, 2008 By Paul Maslin
The likely Democratic nominee has a unique appeal to voters under 30. A look at how a strong youth turnout -- or lack thereof -- could affect this November's results.
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May 31st, 2008 Andrew Leonard
Americans are upset with the country's direction, he says, because Congress won't approve free trade deals. Is the man even paying attention?
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
It's still early, but a poll that shows the party's leader in the Senate trailing his Democratic challenger could spell trouble.
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May 31st, 2008 Steve Thomma
This from the Huffington Post:
Two sources, including a high-ranking official with the Florida delegation, have confirmed that the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee reached an agreement last night and will seat the state's entire delegation but give each delegate half a vote. The result would be a net gain of 19 delegates for Sen. Hillary Clinton, though no word yet on how the superdelegates from the state will be allocated. It is, the official says, a compromise that Sen. Barack Obama will be willing to make. "There will be theater but not much fight."
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
The spot is aimed at Puerto Rico, which votes Sunday and is the biggest remaining primary prize.
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May 31st, 2008 Alex Koppelman
John McCain's campaign does its best to keep cameras away from the candidate's brief appearance with President Bush.
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May 31st, 2008 Steve Thomma
Barack Obama will end the five-month primary campaign Tuesday night at the site where the Republican National Convention will be held.
He and his wife will hold a rally at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, symbolic staging apparently meant to signal that Obama will take the battle to the Republicans should he be the Democratic nominee.
It's also a signal that he thinks he has the nomination wrapped up, turning his back on the two pirmary states that vote Tuesday, Montana and South Dakota, and focusing instead on Minnesota, a general election battlefield state.
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May 31st, 2008 Steve Thomma
Susie Buell of San Francisco voted for Hillary Clinton in the California primary. Her vote is counted, the delegates for Clinton guaranteed seats when the Democratic National Convention opens in Denver in August.
But she couldn't stay home when she heard the Democrats would debate whether to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan.
"We want every vote in America counted," Buell said, standing outside DC's Marriott Wardman Park hotel with hundreds of fellow protestors.
Amy Rao of Palo Alto likened it to what happened in 2000, when Democrats claim that Florida did not count all the votes for Al Gore and threw the election to George Bush.
"We will not let that happen again," Rao said.
Her California group all wore T shirts declaring, "We spoke loud and clear. Our voices must be heard."
Among other signs:
"Voting rights = civil rights."
"Woman Arise. Stop the Bias!"
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee starts its meeting at 930 am EDT.
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May 31st, 2008 Richard Adams
All over by Wednesday, according to an anonymous Hillarylander
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May 31st, 2008 Steve Thomma
Hundreds of people - most of them women and virtually all of them Hillary supporters - are protesting outside the hotel where the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet to decide the fate of convention delegates from Florida and Michigan.
""We voted. We want out votes counted," said Janet W. Larson, a Democrat from Jacksonville.
She was one of more than 100 Democrats from the Jacksonville area who rode two buses to Washington, arriivng about 1 am after a 12-hour ride. They're waving signs proclaiming, "We spoke loud and clear. Our voices must be heard."
She said she knew that Florida's primary violated party rules because it was too early. But she said Florida voters shouldn't be penalized.
"It's the politicians who did this," she said. "Not the voters."
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May 31st, 2008 Andrew Leonard
His economic advisor, Phil Gramm, is a banking industry lobbyist working to shape mortgage reform legislation. Should we care? Isn't that what Republicans are supposed to do?
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Washington Post
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Miami Herald
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Chicago Tribune
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Associated Press
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
New York Times
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
McClathcy
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
The Politico
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May 31st, 2008 RealClearPolitics
Sacramento Bee
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May 30th, 2008 John Dickerson
"Is Clinton going to make it easy, or is she going to make it hard?" That's how a longtime Democratic Hill staffer frames the dilemma that will face his party after Saturday's expected ruling on seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan. With the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee set to determine the fate of these rule-breaking states, Hillary Clinton and her campaign have demanded that all of the 368 delegates be seated. The bedrock democratic principle that all votes should be counted is at stake, they have argued. To do anything less risks provoking a November backlash against Democrats in both states.
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more ...]
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May 30th, 2008 John Parisella
The following article is my way of remembering the passing away of Robert F. Kennedy 40 years ago:
He was not a great speaker and he occasionally stammered in public, yet he moved millions with his words. His record as Attorney General of the United States during the Kennedy Administration was considered mixed, yet he is [...]
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May 30th, 2008 Margaret Talev
Barack Obama is seizing on John McCain's assertion that U.S. troops are down to pre-surge levels in Iraq (McCain appears to have been off by about 20,000). The Obama campaign just sent out some of the prepared remarks Obama plans to deliver in Montana tonight.
In those remarks, Obama reacts to McCain's campaign's reaction that making issue of the troop discrepancy is "nitpicking," saying, "I don’t think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking."
He also accuses McCain, in inviting Obama to travel to Iraq with him, of a political stunt and an effort to raise campaign dollars.
For good measure Obama also plans to throw in a reference to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan whose new book is critical of Bush. "Just this week, we were reminded by President Bush’s own former spokesman of how it was deception – not straight talk – that misled the American people into war. It’s time to cut through the tough talk so that we can be straight with the American people about a war that’s cost us thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars without making us safer."
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May 30th, 2008 Lynn Harris
Analysts: Will the issue help each reach his base -- but also alienate the middle?
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May 30th, 2008 Richard Adams
Meet Bobby Jindal - the Republican party's answer to Barack Obama
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May 30th, 2008 By Juan Cole
Arab-Americans are concentrated in swing states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. And the early signs are not good for McCain.
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May 30th, 2008 David Lightman
Scott McClellan could be a Barack Obama supporter.
The former Bush press secretary, currently peddling his new book, which charges the White House engaged in a "propaganda" campaign to sell the Iraq war, told CBS and ABC that he was "intrigued by Sen. Obama's message."
And, he told CBS' Katie Couric, ""It's a message that is very similar to the one Gov. Bush ran on in 2000, and won on, promising to bring bi-partisanship and honesty and integrity to Washington."
Then there was this dialogue:
Couric: So you could see yourself actually voting for Barack Obama?
McClellan: I just said I haven't made a decision, but I do think, you know, (presumptive GOP nominee) McCain talked about ending the permanent campaign recently, Sen. Obama talks about changing the way Washington works. They better have a specific plan for doing that if they're gonna actually be the president of the United States, because it is difficult to do.
At the White House Friday, press secretary Dana Perino was asked about the possibility of her predecessor voting for the Democrat.
"I really don't care who he votes for," she said.
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May 30th, 2008 Luiza Ch. Savage
My favourite (non-political) blogger Dooce recently visited Vancouver, loved it, and then made an “aboot” joke on her blog, and all heck broke loose in her comments section. My favourite comment:
“i LOVE the accent. every time a show comes on hgtv that has a bunch of canadians on it i totally want one of my [...]
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May 30th, 2008 The Editors
More campaign-related opinion for Friday, May 30.
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May 30th, 2008 Luiza Ch. Savage
The DNC Rules and Bylaws committee meets this weekend at a Washington hotel to decide what the heck to do about the Florida and Michigan delegations. It’s seems too late to change the race, but certainly has the potential to cause havoc if not resolved properly. Clinton supporters are planned big protests outside. Good thing [...]
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May 30th, 2008 Luiza Ch. Savage
My first thought about the Scott McLellan memoir as cash-ploy was :” How come it was published by Public Affairs?” They have a reputation for modest book advances — even the publisher Peter Osnos admits it:
“Unlike some larger publishing houses, he said, PublicAffairs almost never pays more than a five-figure advance. “No one has ever [...]
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May 30th, 2008 Kevin Anderson
The great Barack Obama insurrection / Hillary was ready. Hillary was unstoppable. Hillary was, by all accounts, a lock. What the hell happened? Mark Morford asks what happened to Hillary Clinton on her way to the Democratic presidential nomination,...
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May 30th, 2008 Times Online
Nico Hines writes: 
Here is Hillary Clinton enjoying a drink with a claque of journalists on a campaign flight. Has she finally given up on becoming the next President and resorted to drowning her sorrows? Or has has the senator come up with an ingenious last-ditch ploy to invoke the glory of a past victory?
Legend has it that four years ago, during a meeting of congressional delegates in Tallinn, Estonia, the former First Lady challenged Senator John McCain to a drinking contest and soundly beat him.
She may have traded Eastern European vodka for a glass of decent whisky but Mrs Clinton has reminded us that, despite Obama's lead in the delegate count, there is only one candidate who can drink McCain under the table.
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May 30th, 2008 Lynn Harris
Sexist coverage? What sexist coverage?
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May 30th, 2008 Alex Koppelman
Conservatives seize on a story Barack Obama told about his uncle helping to liberate Auschwitz to claim he's a liar, but the truth seems simpler.
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May 30th, 2008 Michael Tomasky
Guardian America's political pundit offers to answer your queries on the state of the US presidential elections
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May 30th, 2008 Kat B.
Hi there -
I just got an email from our friends at
Mobilize.org, a great organization (run by former Rock the Vote Street Team Leader
Maya Enista!)
dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people, and wanted to pass it along. You can get more info here; here's the email:Jennifer Aniston asked in a TV ad: "Would you let someone else choose your clothes? Your friends? Okay. What about your husband? No? Then why would you let someone else choose your president?" Jennifer Aniston is right.
According to “Every Woman Counts” in the 2008 Election, young single women are poised to be a huge voting bloc. 93% of women say they plan on voting in the 2008 Election, and 62% of women believe voting in this Election is more important than in previous Elections, but I don’t need to tell y’all that…
Join Mobilize.org staff and volunteers across the country in an evening at the movies, with a side of voter registration. When you go see Sex and the City (or Indiana Jones) this weekend, please print out a couple copies of the National Voter Registration form and ask those in front of you, and behind you, in line at the movie theater if they are registered to vote. If not, ask them to! That site also includes information on how to turn in forms, and the Mobilize.org staff (if on-site) will be more than happy to collect and process the forms for you.
Take a picture, take your friends and send us texts or pictures and we’ll post them online and hopefully, we’ll be able to connect you with one another in cities around the country. To sign up, or for more information – please email movies@mobilize.org. We’ll be giving our prizes, including popcorn and movie tickets for your next show, t-shirts and CD’s!
Have a great weekend, and enjoy the show!
PS – If they don’t want to fill out the form in line, please remind them they can visit www.mobilize.org and use our Rock The Vote registration widget to register to vote online in the comfort of their own home!
Take a look, get involved, and have some fun!
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May 30th, 2008 Joan Walsh
Can anyone truly believe her remark about Robert Kennedy's assassination was anything other than an unfortunate reference to another June primary battle?
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May 30th, 2008 Alex Koppelman
On Wednesday, the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign will begin running a new ad about his views on the economy in two pivotal states.
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May 30th, 2008 David Lightman
Supporters of Hillary Clinton are pushing hard the idea that she is the strongest Democrat against John McCain this fall. But it could be a tough argument to make in at least one of the two states in Saturday's spotlight.
The Democratic party's Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet to try to figure out how and whether to seat the Michigan and FLorida delegations. Latest polls show clearly that McCain handily beats Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama in Florida, but the outcome in Michigan is less clear.
Latest polls from Rasmussen and Quinnipiac surveys give McCain a sizeable lead over Obama in Florida, but Clinton beats the Republican.
In Michigan, though, Rasumussen has McCain and Clinton tied, while McCain beats Obama by 1.
A look at the results: http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/michigan/election_2008_michigan_presidential_election2
http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/florida/election_2008_florida_presidential_election
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