Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Following up on a point raised by my friend Sarabeth, NBC News crunched the Dems’ popular vote numbers after yesterday’s contests. In DNC-sanctioned contests (sans Florida and Michigan), Obama still leads Clinton by 600,000 votes, 12.9 million to 12.3 million. Even with Florida in the mix, Obama is ahead by 300,000.
* Disappointing, but not surprising: “The FBI improperly used national security letters in 2006 to obtain personal data on Americans during terror and spy investigations, Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday. Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the privacy breach by FBI agents and lawyers occurred a year before the bureau enacted sweeping new reforms to prevent future lapses…. The report is a follow-up to an audit by the inspector general a year ago that found the FBI demanded personal data on people from banks, telephone and Internet providers and credit bureaus without official authorization and in non-emergency circumstances between 2003 and 2005.”
* Don’t expect much in the way of follow-through from a McCain administration when it comes to Bush malfeasance: “Despite rhetoric about tackling corruption in Washington, John McCain does not appear too eager to look into the current administration. When asked today about supporting independent investigations into the Bush administration, McCain replied: ‘I do not agree with your sentiment that there has been widespread corruption. I just don’t accept that.'”
* Was race (and alleged racism) a key factor in yesterday’s primaries? There’s no shortage of analysis out there, though I’m inclined to agree with Isaac Chotiner’s take: “I am willing to believe there are people out there who will not vote for Obama because of his race, but the exit poll is not convincing on this measure.”
* More discouraging news: “The economy has weakened since the start of this year as shoppers turned even more cautious given the severe housing slump and painful credit crunch. Manufacturers and other businesses, meanwhile, had to cope with skyrocketing prices for energy and other raw materials.”
* John Kerry is pushing the FCC to investigate Alabama’s WHNT over the “60 Minutes” controversy. Good.
* When it comes to FISA expansion and telecom immunity, the White House isn’t even willing to sit down with Dems to tell them what to do: “[Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller] supports the immunity provision the administration wants, but he said he was perplexed by the fact that the White House has skipped the meetings the Democrats have tried to hold. ‘I don’t understand why the White House hasn’t been more active in pushing the solution they want,’ he said. ‘It’s very strange.'”
* Have you heard about the “Lunatics and Liars” contest? “We’re looking for funny TV commercials. But not real ones. Ones made up by you. Make a 30 second commercial that tells us why we should vote – or not vote – for your favorite presidential candidate, and you could win a $5,000 grand prize and free trip to Washington, DC, to meet real politicos in their native habitat.”
* Reuters: “The leak of information about Barack Obama’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement was ‘blatantly unfair’ to his campaign, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday.”
* Leave it to one of Bush’s hacks to generate this kind of internal division at the EPA: “Unionized EPA workers are withdrawing from a cooperation agreement with the political appointees who supervise them over controversies including the agency’s refusal to let California regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.”
* FBI Director Robert Mueller doesn’t see the need for torture. Maybe he ought to let the president know; he might find the information helpful.
* And finally, my adopted home state is making national news again: “Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for ‘crimes against our Constitution’, local media reported. The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to ‘extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them’.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.
