The next time John McCain says he’ll let Gen. David Petraeus dictate troop deployments to Afghanistan, it won’t be so embarrassing. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has commanded United States troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated to head the United States Central Command, which oversees military operations across a wide swath […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Whether you liked the outcome of the Pennsylvania primary or not, the turnout rates were pretty impressive: “Pennsylvania’s primary day turnout approached general election levels this year, state officials said Tuesday night. […]
In a televised speech in Indiana last night, Barack Obama, who had been challenging Hillary Clinton very aggressively of late in Pennsylvania, mentioned her name just once, and that was to congratulate her for her Keystone State victory. In contrast, Obama mentioned John McCain’s name seven times, in each instance, in a negative light. The […]
After waiting for the Pennsylvania primary for six weeks — it seemed like longer, didn’t it? — it seems a little awkward, 12 hours after learning the results of the contest, to say, “Pennsylvania, schmensylvania; what’s next?” Barring intervention by uncommitted superdelegates, here’s what we have to look forward to: Saturday, May 3: Guam Tuesday, […]
Democratic strategist Jim Jordan, who is not affiliated with either presidential campaign, told the LA Times last night, “Anybody who says past this point that this is good for the party or good for the nominee is a fool.” The candidates, he said are “exhausted, they’re more likely to make mistakes, and they’re raising each […]
Shortly after the polls closed in Pennsylvania last night, Marc Ambinder noted that the one metric that really mattered wasn’t delegates or popular votes, but money. Most notably, Hillary Clinton’s lack of it. Clinton was easily outspent in Pennsylvania — by most measures, by more than a 2-to-1 margin — but she started with far […]
It figures, doesn’t it? After 16 months of campaigning, primaries and caucuses in 43 states, a couple dozen debates, and ungodly sums of money spent on campaign ads, Pennsylvania was poised to make a real difference. A landslide win by Hillary Clinton (as predicted by initial polls in March) might have fundamentally reshaped the race. […]
There was a very small chance that the race for the Democratic nomination would effectively end this evening, in the event of an Obama upset. That’s clearly not the case — Clinton will win Pennsylvania. As of now, with 45% of precincts reporting, her lead is about eight points. This means, of course, that the […]
MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News are all reporting that Hillary Clinton will win the Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary. The margin of victory, however, will likely make all the difference. A narrow win for Clinton may end up looking like a moral victory for Barack Obama. Indeed, there are some reports this evening that the Obama […]
Early exit polls have not only been wrong throughout the Democratic primaries and caucuses, they’ve also frequently been wrong in Barack Obama’s favor. Something to keep in mind. Nevertheless, there’s an appetite for the data — what else are people going to do while waiting for results? — so here are the numbers that are […]