Where are they? I'm already hearing and seeing GOP ads on energy prices; McStain is out there talking about his "new" economic plan;  if you watch the news shows for a longer than 10 minute stretch it's a good bet you'll see Carly Fiorina SOMEWHERE. Even though his ideas are trash, it really seems like McCain is "driving" the agenda. All I'm hearing from the Obama campaign is talk about moving the acceptance speech to Invesco field.

Right now the media is continually beating on this idea that Obama is flip flopping on issues. If he isn't out there attacking this through ads etc, then this brand will stick for the duration of the campaign. They have the money to flood the airwaves for the next 4 months - they better start spending it.  

Look, I completely understand the idea that there is an entire generation of older women voters that are devastated by Hillary's loss in the primary. For many of these women, they have had to go through their entire lives wondering they would ever see a woman climb so high in national government - and the one woman who they believed most qualified to fulfill this dream has failed. For these women, Hillary's candidacy was not only a fulfillment of their own hopes/dreams, but a sign of what is possible to their daughters/nieces/granddaughters. Although the vast majority of these women will eventually come around to support Obama because of the violence that a McCain presidency would do to these hopes/aspirations, it will take some time for the wound to heal.

Wealthy donors, at least in my mind, many of whom are titular and symbolic heads/leaders of the Democratic Party, need to quickly circle wagons. Instead, we see these people acting like petulant children - even as Hillary herself has been the model of grace after a tough loss. I keep reading these "behind the scenes" accounts of these donors - who allegedly have Hillary's interests at heart - continually grousing that Obama isn't doing this or that, and that they are still cold to the idea of Obama as the nominee. These men and women have grown rich and famous by insinuating themselves into the Democratic establishment. They should have been the FIRST people calling for Unity. Instead of moving forward, they are trying to hold Obama hostage until he magically makes Hillary's debt disappear. Why aren't they appealing to her 18,000,000 voters to help Hillary?

Sorry for the rant.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0x xU

'Nuff said!

Sorry for the length but this sounds like a pretty strong admission of Hillary's desire for the VP position.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsm emo.com/2008/06/hillary_ally_says_she_au thoriz.php

Johnson said he began discussing the vice presidency with Clinton last month and that they talked about it at a dinner in Puerto Rico last Saturday and again by phone and e-mail on Tuesday. "Let me be clear," Johnson said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. "She said if asked to do this, she must accept because she believes that it is in the best interest of the party that the party come together and win in November."

This will be the first big test of Obama as the nominee. If the reports are true that his campaign is dead set against having Clinton as VP, how does he manage this considering the numerous hints that are being dropped (covertly and now explicitly) that Hillary wants the offer??

Look, Obama will have a pledged delegate lead whichever way this plays out. Also, it appears as though the Florida compromise is pretty much completed and accepted by both parties. What is the point of demanding a 50/50 split. At the most we should take a split which gives Clinton her delegates and the uncommitted to Obama. Fighting for the extra delegates that comes from a 50/50 split is pointless. All it is doing is to make this spectacle - and that's exactly what is has become - even more contentious.

I could only watch a couple minutes of this coverage before I was ready to throw my remote at the TV in disgust. The idea that at the same time McCain is criss crossing the country raising money, we're still whooping and hollering at each other, trying to out applaud each other - is just ridiculous.

At this point it looks like the balance of the super delegates are going to support Obama. They understand that this is just a political exercise. I don't think we're going to see SD's reconsider their support for Obama just because Hillary comes out of this Rules meeting with more delegates than Obama wanted/thought was fair.

OK sorry for the disjointed rant. Carry along.  

Heard the story first at Kos, available at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5 /29/22624/7358/589/525218

Apparently there is a group of Hillary supporters challenging the results of the vote from Collin County - where Obama won more delegates than Clinton. And why? Because the delegate convention was being held on the wrong day! Apparently there was so much interest that they couldn't find a place large enough to hold everyone - so it was delayed by ONE DAY.

Here is the story from PoliTex.

It was a localized version of the Michigan/Florida debate in Grand Prairie today and once again, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters were at odds.

Local Clinton supporters advocated Thursday for unseating ALL of the Democratic delegates from Collin County because their senate district conventions were held on the wrong day.

Officials with the Collin County Democratic Party said they chose to hold the convention a day late because there wasn't a large enough venue in the county available for the scheduled date of Saturday, March 29. Party officials warned at the time that the eligibility of their delegation may be challenged.

A state credentials committee for the Texas Democratic Party was in Grand Prairie holding hearings on over 100 challenges to North Texas delegates who were elected to attend next week's state Democratic convention in Austin.

Delegates at the state convention will vote on how many Obama and Clinton delegates will represent Texas in the national convention in Denver.

Most of the morning was occupied with the charge that all of Collin County's delegates should be deemed ineligible.

The committee agreed to postpone voting on that challenge until more information was available.

Frederick Barrow, an Obama supporter who chaired the Collin County credentials committee, alleged that Clinton supporters were only trying to unseat the delegation because Obama won more delegates from Collin County.

"I believe the party really did all it could and, in a detailed way, examined all of the negatives of changing the date," Barrow said.

Clinton supporters said state law required that senate district conventions be held on Saturday, March 29.

"What is troubling me...is that it seems to me that this rule is crystal clear," said Martha Smiley, a Clinton supporter on the state party's credentials committee.

Clinton supporters issued several charges, including that the Collin County Democratic Party didn't properly notify all their delegates of the date change and that they only chose to hold the convention a day later because they wanted a nicer venue than what was available on March 29.

Some Tarrant County delegates could have ended in the same boat, according to Fort Worth Clinton backer Jason Smith.

He told the committee that then-Tarrant County Democratic Chair Art Brender tried to change the date of the convention for Senate District 10 because he was having trouble finding a proper location. State Party Chairman Boyd Richie told him that wasn't allowed, according to Smith. The SD 10 convention was eventually held on March 29 in Will Rogers Coliseum.

"We actually held senate district 10 in a rodeo barn," Smith said.

Text taken from http://startelegram.typepad.com/politex/ 2008/05/local-democrat.html

Hypocrisy anyone?

It is beneath you. I am as fervent an Obama supporter as you'll find, but not one cell in my body believes that Hillary said this with the intent of arguing that she is extending her campaign on the off chance that Obama is assassinated. We need to remember that how Hillary is ushered off the stage is as important as the fact that she is no longer in the race. We can't afford to have it done in a way that looks like the media and Obama supporters ganging up on her over what 95% of her supporters will say was an innocent gaffe. Let's be honest, do you honestly believe that Hillary was talking about political violence?

Do I believe that Hillary and Bill Clinton are so arrogant and self interested that they would tolerate if not actively support the destruction of our chances to win in '08 so that she is positioned for a '12 comeback? Without a doubt.

Do I believe that Hillary would try and make any argument, no matter how dishonest and specious, regarding MI/FL, if she thinks it will delay Obama's winning the nomination for even an extra week? The evidence is clear that this is so.

But do I think that Hillary would be so craven that she would use not only the devastating assassination of RFK, but hint that a similar incident could happen with Obama, in an attempt that anyone with half a brain would realize would do nothing but turn super delegates, the media, and even some supporters, off to your message, to try and breathe some extra life into her campaign? No. Let's get over it. This is sucking all of the oxygen out of the real stories of the week.

Obama went into Cuban Miami and declared he would negotiate with the Castros.

McCain pulling the wool over the media's eyes by giving them a couple of hours to peruse thousands of pages of medical documents. He has already had a few procedures in 2008.

Mrs. McCain finally relenting on tax returns.  

Sorry for the disjointed rant. Feel much better.

Let me preface this diary by saying that there is no doubt in my mind that sexism has been and will continue to be a major force in our national politics for the foreseeable future. The fact that women make up half of our population, and even a greater percentage of voters, but that they hold relatively few national offices attests to that fact. That being said, I honestly believe that the idea that Hillary finds herself in this position mostly because of the sexism of the press, the Democratic Party, and the Obama campaign - as many here have alleged - is ridiculous.

I don't know that this can be emphasized enough.

Hillary is losing, and will eventually lose this nomination because of self inflicted wounds.

1) She admitted that she never planned for this contest to go beyond February 5th.

2) In an election defined by "change", she ran on experience and knowledge of the "insider" game of Washington.

3) In an election where the vast majority of the country believes Iraq was a strategic mistake, Senator Clinton steadfastly refused to admit she was wrong to vote for authorization.

4) Hillary's poll numbers on perceived dishonesty and unfavorability have been relatively stable at more than 50% - even among Democrats.

5) After South Carolina, she lost most AA support.

6) THe campaign was financially mismanaged and is upwards of $20,000,000 in debt.  

7) The inability of the campaign to control Bill Clinton in the early days.  

Now, let's imagine that we lived in a Utopia where sexism simply didn't exist. Even if that were the case, that would have had ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on the  7 mistakes that I pointed out above.

The fact that Obama made comments about how the "claws have come out" does not change the fact that the Clinton campaign never took caucuses seriously.

The fact that some college students barged into an event yelling "Iron my shirt!" and that CLinton supporters feel the media was not sufficiently offended, had no bearing on the fact that the Clinton campaign spent $500,000 on parking and is $10,000,000 in debt to an advisor/pollster that could have very easily been replaced by any of probably a dozen Hillary supporters from MyDD.  

Add up every sexist comment that has been made during the campaign and I still don't see how it is that it forced the Clinton campaign to make those critical errors. At the end of the day the reason Hillary is losing is because she is behind in delegates and the popular vote - not because she is a woman. The numbers show that the voters had no problem voting for a woman. If the campaign was run more efficiently and professionally, we would not be having this discussion.