Obama picks up eight superdelegates; Clinton unveils PowerPoint presentation

May 9, 2008

Any suggestion that Hillary Clinton would start to back off in the face of insurmountable odds continues to be false. Today, her campaign unveiled a PowerPoint presentation, distributed to every Democrat in Congress, pointing to her performance in key, competitive House districts.

The gist of the argument is that Hillary has beaten Obama in the vast majority of tough red-leaning House districts, and has consistently outperformed him among key demographics — seniors, Hispanics, and rural voters.

You’ve heard similar stuff in the past, to be sure, albeit not framed in terms of individual House districts, an argument designed to resonate with members of Congress.

The fact that this has been blasted out to every Dem in the House suggests that the Hillary campaign is ratcheting up its behind-the-scenes campaign to win over uncommitted super-dels in the campaign’s final days, even as a loss in the a popular vote, in addition to the pledged del count, looms as a likely possibility.

I’m fairly skeptical of the persuasiveness of this new pitch. For one thing, Clinton has been making a similar argument (albeit, not in a slide-show format) for months. For another, Democratic lawmakers have presumably already considered this angle.

And for that matter, we keep coming back to the same hurdle: primary performance is a weak indicator in a general-election context. I haven’t reviewed the PowerPoint presentation in any real detail, but Clinton points to some swing districts where she outperformed Obama. Do we have any evidence that those Democrats who supported her won’t support Obama in November? No, we don’t (just as we have no evidence that Clinton would necessarily lose those districts/states Obama won).

There’s just a logical leap here that lacks support. Clinton may have a reasonable electability argument, but this isn’t it.

And if the superdelegate movement over the last few hours is any indication, the pitch isn’t working.

Eric Kleefeld has the latest tally:

* The campaign has announced via press release the endorsement of Congresswoman Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.

* New Mexico add-on super-del Laurie Weahkee, who was selected as an uncommitted super, has announced for Obama.

* The Obama campaign has announced the support of South Carolina state party vice chair Wilber Lee Jeffcoat.

* California DNC member Vernon Watkins has endorsed Obama, saying simply: “The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won.”

Obama also picked up California DNC Member and superdelegate Ed Espinoza’s support.

For today, Obama is +8 and Clinton has a net gain of zero.

But if Team Clinton is deterred, they’re not showing it. Clinton has been stressing the significance of West Virginia, where she is expected to cruise to an easy victory, and Bill Clinton gave a speech in the state today: “Hillary can get eighty percent of the vote in West Virginia, and if only 100,000 people show up it is not enough. But if 600,000 people show up … then you will see the earth move.” Given the expectation of an easy Clinton victory, I think it would take even more than that.

As for the West Virginia pitch in general, Atrios explained why it’s left him unimpressed.

One thing I’m looking forwarded to is not being bombarded by transparently stupid arguments about how performance in a state primary has some meaningful mapping to performance in the general election. The latest is the Clinton campaign suggesting that West Virginia is an important “test” because Democrats since Wilson have only become president if they’ve managed to win there. I assume that’s true, but that’s about winning that state’s electoral college votes in the general election and not about getting primary voters to vote for you. And as Mark Penn helpfully reminds me, Jimmy Carter did not win the West Virginia primary.

Given the circumstances, the Clinton campaign just doesn’t have any rhetorical arrows left in the quiver.

Ah the Rumsfeld Stratagem, using Powerpoint slides….how very MS Office of her.

/fail.

  • A Female president is very POSSIBLE!!!

    JUST NOT THIS ONE!!!

    I want to be PROUD of the first female president; EVERYTHING she has done just to win IS DISGRACEFUL!!

    AS A WOMEN
    I AM NOT PROUD TO FOLLLOW HER!! DIRTY TACTICS IS WHY WOMEN ARE NOT RESPECTED!! (This is why hard working women are left behind)

    IT’S LIKE A WOMAN WHO SLEEPS HER WAY TO THE TOP, PLAYS VICTIM TO GET SYMPATHY AND USES SEXISM AS AN EXCUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE HER!!

    WOMEN ARE NOT MOVING FORWARD WERE MOVING BACK!!

    SO women if want a president stop pandering women for women. Because last time I checked THERE IS ANOTHER GENDER! Let’s prove to either sex that we can WORK HARD, play by the rules and lead the country!!

    THAT SHOULD BE THE STANDERD WE AIM FOR!!

  • @2: pls leave the all-caps on your own blog. kthanks.

    @CB: I disagree with your contention that Given the circumstances, the Clinton campaign just doesn’t have any rhetorical arrows left in the quiver.

    Given the circumstances, rhetorical arrows are all she has left. She doesn’t have delegates, she doesn’t have the popular vote, and she doesn’t have logic. All she has is rhetoric.

  • Cobsjo has a very persuasive argument and one I have heard repeatedly from every “hard working woman” who understand that it’s not about one group to the exclusion of others, and who is interested in seeing women get where they go on their own power, skill and ability, and that that should be more than a skill in selecting a mate and an ability to put up with whatevr he does in pursuit of the “greater goal.”

    For those who recall my analysis of how Obama had moved “inside Clinton’s OODA loop” back in February, everything that has happened since can be explained by that, and now she has arrived at the point of “losing all moral authority” as the insurgent power replaces her traditional power. It’s not all that different from the way Ho Chi Minh defeated the French, Mao defeated Chiang Kai-sheck, Catro defeated Batista, or Washington defeated Cornwallis.

    She can huff and puff, but we all sit safe in our nice brick house.

  • As someone who actually gets paid for political communications work, I have to say that the presentation is amateurish at best, and counter-productive at worst. It’s pages of essentially the same information, and as you point out, there’s nothing new there.

    I wouldn’t put my name to that, even if I *was* being paid.

  • Does anyone have a clue what the Clinton campaign strategy is at this point? How is anything they’ve done in the last 3-4 months helped her achieve the nomination?

    If anything, they have helped Obama achieve the nomination.

  • After all the twisting of the truth, the lies, the deception and the manufactured drama, anyone who takes HRC seriously at this point is a fool. That is not to say Obama is without issues of his own, just that HRC is a joke. A bad joke.

  • Although the staff found many of the dissenting opinions compelling, it was cobsjo’s expert use of ALL CAPS the factcheck staff ultimately found convincing.

  • Who need mother Pinocchio with all her family? We have them for too long.
    Yes, we are ready for lady as President, but not this one.

  • I agree with sdh at #3. Rhetoric is all she has left. I only hope she doesn’t do any more dammage with her rhetoric.

    I suggest that all us Obama backers here and over at TPM and dailyKOS and elsewhere start spending some time at the Clinton friendly blogs like talkleft. And be nice! I have been participating at talkleft for a few days now, trying to gently engage folks and ease them into the idea of supporting the nominee, Barack Obama.

    Feelings are still kind of raw, but I have detected some softening in the tone of some of the bloggers.

  • I think that the Clinton Bubble makes some things look different, they apparently think that WV is too racist to elect a black man, but not sexist enough to resist the Clinton charm. The race is over, but inside the bubble its never over I guess.

  • What independent thinker said.

    It’s time for us to heal the rifts, and that means letting a lot of things go. Forget the past, think about November.

  • This sort of rhetorical mumbo jumbo is clearly tiring the general population and a waste of quality demccainificaition time.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2190987/

    Superdelegates not declaring now, before any more nonsense occurs, are simply seeking some sort of 15 minutes of fame. Any excuse to the contrary is unignorable and unbelievable at this point.

  • The gist of the argument is that Hillary has beaten Obama in the vast majority of tough red-leaning House districts, and has consistently outperformed him among key demographics — seniors, Hispanics, and rural voters.

    My favorite was that 13 of the 20 red-leaning districts with Freshman Dems have more than the average number of seniors (65+). Of course she doesn’t say how many of these districts she won, but we should assume the age advantage over Obama will transfer nicely to a Clinton/McCain matchup.

  • #5, exactly. I don’t write political PPT’s, but I am forced to write them when the client’s want them. I hate PPT. The be all end all. Ugh.

    This one was about as far from convincing as it gets.

    They keep saying that those who voted for Hils in the primary won’t vote for Obama in the GE. That is going to be her job to get those she totally turned off of him to turn back on.

  • For today, Obama is +8 and Clinton has a net gain of zero.

    Clearly Hillary’s needs a new strategy.

    Since she needs to win about two-thirds of the uncommitted super delegates, she better pick up about a dozen of them tomorrow to make up for today.

  • I’ve said it elsewhere. Hillary Clinton is in her Elvis’ final years period. Everything she does is cringe-worthy, but its also repellently fascinating. The strange thing is that the real narrative of the election has moved on without her. She’s a weird side story now. We saw Obama show up in Washington yesterday and the Party bowed down before him. Intense buzz is beginning over who will be Obama’s and McCain’s choices for running mates. Obama and McCain are begining to actively engage each other.

    The longer she stays in the more irrelevant she becomes, and the damage she’s trying to inflict is weakening. She’s lost any leverage she might have had earlier.

    And after the powerpoint presentation? Maybe she’ll do an original interpretive dance.

  • HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

    That’s the funniest headline I’ve seen in months.

    Steve, you gotta ‘go there’ more often.

  • It is so stupid to proclaim to the world that you “hate powerpoint” – for cryin’ out loud, do you have JPGS, GIFS, AVI, TXT and MP3 files too?

    I just love listening to boorish people, most of whom can’t use software more complex the MS Office, pretend they are so computer savvy and literate cuz they dislike a given digital format.

    LOL

    So would this have been any better as a series of pictures using java to show a series?

    If this would have been done as a narrated video, would it have been any more compelling?

    I know – you are soooooooo kewl proclaiming to the world that what you have to say is so much better because YOU don’t use PowerPoint.

    A stoooooopid message is a stooooooopid message no matter how it is presented – so just how is that a computer’s fault? A good message can be illustrated with graphics and these can be effectively delivered in any number of formats.

    The funny part is how so many of those that scream about PowerPoint maintain their own little Webs/Blogs using template and dumb-down software that results in a style of presentation that is just as stale as the slideshows that misuse PowerPoint.

    …but it’s kewl to be anti PowerPoint.

  • You see, this has already been answered BY the House Representatives when Obama paid them all a visit and they all dropped whatever it was they were doing to go over and shake his hand, many calling him “Mr. President”. But here’s the best part: only a few of these well wishers have actually already pledged their support as super delegates.

    They have already made up their minds. Heck, most of them made their decisions back in March, but have been waiting until a moment in the elction like this; a moment when Obama was ahead in EVERY SINGLE WAY, WITHOUT THE POSSIBLITY OF LOSING THE LEAD! Expect a steady stream of them to offically pledge their votes for the next month, most likely giving Obama more then enough by May 31th. By then, he has nothing to lose by giving in to Hillary’s “demands” on FL and MI, and there’s a chance he will do just that.

    As for Hillary, it looks like she is losing it, and if she gets TOO crazy and negative (this “he can’t get the white people vote” is a PRIME example), I have no doubt REAL soon that there will be a massive intervention by everyone that matters in the Democratic party, and then some, and they will do what it takes to end this, one way or the other.

  • Hillary will still be demanding debates with President Obama in May next year. She’ll never realize it’s over.

  • 21 – littlebear

    On hating PowerPoint: I have sat through many content free PP presentations, and left them with a hand out of the slides. The entire 35 slides could have been summarized on one page.

    The message contaminated the medium.

  • Two things: Benen is right — there is no proof that Hillary supporters won’t, by November, vote for Obama. Second, MSM seems to think that H. is now campaigning for VP and, although it is counterintuitive, continuing her attacks on O in order to make herself valuable — only, that argument goes, with her as VP will he be able to placate and bring in her supporters.

    That too is unprovable; I just talked to a Clinton supporter who will not vote for O under any circumstances, even with her on the ticket. What seems important, now, is to reconcile Democrats as a whole (with or without whatever rhetoric H continues to retool and offer) and focus on McCain. He is four more years of the worst ever.

    Democrats have to insist that that MSM and all info outlets cover him fairly, objectively, without those inexplicable little stars in their eyes. His contradictions in policy, the decision to hide his assets in his wife’s tax returns, the ethical switchbacks on torture, his dizzying reversals on immigration, the endless war, taxes, veterans — all need to be explored. And what is apparently his deep ignorance of economy matters needs to be laid out.

  • The part that jumped out to me was where Bill Clinton was quoted that Hillary could get 80% of the vote in West Virginia. While that might sound extreme, it’s not out of the realm of possibility — Clinton has regularly polled at 65-70% in that state, so while 80% is very optimistic, it’s not so outlandish as to be laughable. Meanwhile, I heard Wolfson on TV set the ‘benchmark’ as to what he considers a ‘win’ in West Virginia is if Clinton beats Obama by 15% or more. Interesting goalpost, that.

    But, then again, it hardly matters much anymore. Clinton will almost assuredly blow away Obama in West Virginia, and will also blow away Obama in Kentucky, and probably also perform decently in Oregon (although probably lose the state), and of course Puerto Rico as well. But it all really doesn’t matter anymore — Clinton would have to win by almost-impossible margins everywhere AND win over the superdelegates AND get the invalidated Florida and Michigan votes pushed through in the most favorable terms possible for her to have even a chance of breaking even with Obama at this point. I think the Slate Deathwatch website put her chances at securing the nomination at about 2% at this point, and that sound pretty accurate to me.

    BUT –

    As a solid Obama supporter, I personally WANT Clinton to remain in the race for now, at least for the next few weeks. One of the talking heads on the cable shows explained it pretty plainly — if Clinton had dropped out immediately after Indiana this week, it would have a whole lot of bitter and angry Clinton supporters, lots of unfinished loose ends, and may have damaged the Democratic chances in November. Instead, Clinton needs to remain in the race, offer up a campaign that focuses on her positives and avoids criticizing Obama (and by-and-large that’s what she’s been doing since Tuesday night, for the most part), and give her supporters some time to heal the wounds opened up in the past few weeks. Ending the campaign abruptly would have ended the mere possibility of that even happening entirely — as long as she remains in the race she has the opportunity to focus on healing the party a bit.

    Her actions and words show that she’s still very, very desperately trying to win the nomination, and is grasping at any possibility available. But in her heart of hearts, I think she realizes that the race is essentially over at this point, short of some sort of Chappaquiddick moment. I have noticed a definite shift in her tone and manner since Tuesday night, starting with her almost-a-concession speech in Indiana. Most of her surrogates have also shifted away from the Obama smear tactics as well (not all of them, there’s still some sniping, but it seems most of the Clinton brass ‘get it’). I really hope Clinton remains in the race and remains generally positive, it will only help Obama in November.

    And for all the hardcore Obama supporters out there – PLEASE stop dragging Clinton through the mud. First of all, there’s no NEED to do that anymore, since Obama essentially has it wrapped up. And second, the Democratic party needs to help guide these lost sheep back into the fold. Instead of attacking them, engage them in calm, reasonable conversation — don’t automatically attack them for everything they say, no matter how hard they attack you. Don’t just stick to the Obama-only echo chambers like dailykos, but also go over to the pro-Hillary sites and make your voices heard there! Many of them will be bitter and angry and lash out (like they are doing now) – accept all that anger but don’t return it back to them. Instead, be calm and reasoned and helpful. Sugar water works better than vinegar, eh?

  • Peter VE – I spend several months creating Webcasts of presentations – most speakers used PPTs. Many were just horrible – not a good media to deliver text, especially if when speaking verbatim off the slides (could be a great strategy to teach kids reading, however).

    I also saw people smug and proud of themselves, proclaiming, sure – they COULD use PowerPoint, but their presentation was just so much better without it (gag me with a spoon).

    One moron proclaimed he was an expert with PPT, had done HUNDREDS of presentations, but decided he was so much better without one. He then rambled on and strutted around the room like an idiot – forcing everyone in attendance to turn their heads and bodies every which way to follow him – evidently, he was even too “good” for the podium.

    Yup – seen it all. I believe PPT was not the right media for shillary to use, but then again she has a dishonest message too. She could have had this beamed across the universe and it still would have been a dishonest message.

    That would not make me hate the universe, however.

  • M High – so I should go over to the hillbot-sites and post the MISSING POWERPOINT SLIDE too?

    Great idea – we will be able to start the “healing” process when we are ready to shun those that will use kkkarl rove tactics, blatant racism, and outright lies to manipulate their way into the White House.

    It is time that we made a clear statement about the most racist campagn for the White House since George Wallace.

    Thanks for the tip – see ya at pro-shillary sites. I am sure the handful of people that preach to their tiny choir there will appreciate some honesty from a REAL liberal and progressive.

  • Watching Howard Wolfson demonstrate his loss of moral authority as well as his moral compass is sad. The guy helped write the rules he is now claiming are wrong. People used to call the Obama campaign a “cult,” but the real cult is the Cult of Clinton.

  • But if Team Clinton is deterred, they’re not showing it.

    Two broken ankles…
    And the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming Acela Amtrak special…

    Flog the filly.
    Flog it until it dies.

  • I’ve been to TalkLeft before, and I’ve been nice. Unfortunately, I can’t go anymore as I’ve been banned for being “off-topic” or “chattering”. And that was when I was keeping a tight a lid as possible on my opinion that “ye gods Armando is an asshole of the highest order”. Find me a Hillary website without a Draconian banning policy and some commentators that sound like they don’t have neurological damage (e.g. “My family is poor white Southern folks and the Democrat party has made it clear that they only like black folks so I’m voting for McCain!”), and I’ll be happy to go over there and play nice.

  • Hmmm…Let’s see now. On the one hand, uncommitted supers on the Hill have a candidate who dares the bold audacity of respectfulness, and comes to them in person and solicits not only their support, but their opinion as well. On the other hand, they have a candidate whose philandering husband keeps telling them what they have to do, and instead of soliciting their opinion, they get this silly-season PP disc in their mailbox.

    Good grief—over-ripened road kill could figure this one out. My 10-year-old son is beyond it. He just did an F2F with his online teacher, her lead teacher, and a couple of folks from his school’s tech support department. He used a webcam and embedded video sequences (and some help from some really cool grown-ups).

    He’s 10 years old—and She-Unworthy-of-Naming can’t keep up with HIM? And she wants to be President?!?

    I look forward to taking my son to Washington in January to see “his President”—Barack Obama—take the oath of office.

  • go over to the pro-Hillary sites and make your voices heard there!

    Sorry, this is not feasible. I would challenge you to go to NO QUARTER and read the posts, let alone the comments. Have you done that?

  • Only 12-year-old girls use “LOL,” little bear.

    Are you a 12-year-old girl?

  • screamin’ demon – scroll through the threads – I think you will see it a lot.

    Actually – only 12-year old girls call others 12-year old girls for saying LOL

    LOL!

  • M High – so I should go over to the hillbot-sites and post the MISSING POWERPOINT SLIDE too? — Little bear, @28

    While I’m most unlikely to go on any of the pro-Clinton sites — my gag reflex is set to a fairly high level — I am, daily, grateful that Obama is a classy guy and a gentleman; someone one can admire. Unlike some of his “supporters” (including our own Winnie-the-Pooh: a little bear, of a very little brain). There’s little that’s more low-class than a gloating winner.

    Frankly, I’m surprised you haven’t made it to the Sec. of State in the Bu..$h.. administration; your tact, your “rub salt into the wounds” approach to negotiations and diplomacy… would have made you perfect for the position.

    I often wonder if our little bear isn’t a second incarnation of our Swan (after switching support to a winning horse); the candidate supported may be “the other one” but the immaturity of “argument” is almost the same. And, of course, both are from children’s stories (Winnie-the-Pooh and The Ugly Duckling)

  • Pug,

    Are you talking about the “No Quarter” site by Larry “No-Co-Jo’s” Johnson? The Larry Johnson who worked for Reagan and Bush Uno? The ninnyhammer who brags about an illustrious career with CIA—that lasted a whole four years?

    The guy with the doofus, outdated, “spock trekkie” haircut?

    THAT “No Quarter?”

    Been there. Done that. It’s cheesy, watered-down, stand-up comedy. Similar to the bottom-shelf “faux” vodka sold in convenience stores.

    ROTF@30 said:

    Flog the filly.
    Flog it until it dies.

    Nonsense. Why waste a good flogging on a dying horse? Let it run until it dies, and then sell it to a dog food company as a “downer” horse. Grind it, can it, and force-feed it to the wimpy little punt-poodles over at RedState.

  • libra – but like Randi Rhodes said – shillary is a whore.

    Geee, Rhodes was a goddess that truly spoke of REAL liberal/progressives and she spoke her mind and then got run off the radio network that she literally CARRIED for years.

    Yeah yeah – libra, tell me how liberal/progressive you are. There was a time when being LIBERAL actually meant more than being another version of atrios’ 101st Keyboarding Brigade

    Libra is a contraction, right? For LI-ttle BRA-in, right?

  • Oh – and it is so “12-year-old girl” to blog about winnie-the-pooh!

    Must be one of the “hate PowerPoint” elites and got offended…

  • Clinton has more than a net gain of 0 for the day — I heard she has about 5. As Rachel Maddow pointed out this afternoon, the predicted rush of superdelegates to endorse Obama today has not materialized. But, don’t let that interrupt your lovefest.

  • Not that I expect facts from mary – but the 5 delegates she heard of didn’t happen today – that’s old news. Obama did pick up super delegates today, not that I expect mary to look or even care – the shillary crowd don’t need no facts cuz her campaign is built on lies.

    Now, Obama has the lead in super delegates too

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/09/dems.wrap/?iref=hpmostpop

  • I heard it on Rachel Maddow’s show around 4:15 pm. She didn’t list them. She did talk about the one who switched to Obama. Her point was that Obama had a small net gain over Clinton today and that the tidal wave of endorsements had not materialized as predicted. I know you don’t trust me, but Maddow is usually reliable and she favors Obama, so when she says something like this it is likely to be true. I assume Carpetbagger wrote his post earlier.

    Clinton might have something about it on her official website at some point. As the switching superdelegates illustrate, however, they can go back and forth whenever they want up until the convention when the actual votes are cast. This isn’t over until it is over. Obama is proclaimed the winner once a week now — it is getting boring. If he were actually the winner, he would have the primaries sewed up and Clinton wouldn’t be leading, much less winning in the upcoming primaries, wouldn’t have half the popular votes and half the superdelegates with each supposedly decisive contest showing that things are still split 50-50. This race is tied — like it or not. When you spend all of your time in an Obama echo chamber, you lose track of the FACT that half the voters favor Clinton and that has not changed. Obama supporters have just turned up the volume on their calls for her to quit.

  • Little Bear — here is a quote from the article you posted a link to (apparently without reading yourself):

    “CNN has also confirmed five new superdelegates for Clinton, though they all endorsed the New York senator before the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.”

    Note that the headline says that Obama has closed the gap with Clinton, not that he is leading in superdelegates. Actually you should say “announced superdelegates” since we do not know who is leading as long as so many have not yet announced who they favor. I don’t know if these are the same ones Maddow was referring to, because the sentence about them endorsing before the election is confusing — how can they be new in that case? Maybe they made their decision and then announced it after the primaries?

  • Mary – you idiot – YOU DON’T EVEN READ THE CRAP YOU COPY AND PASTE!

    As the article said – THESE ARE NOT PICK UP FROM TODAY, Obama DID pick up 8 today and now has more than shillary. Even my original post pointed that out.

    Thanks for provin’ what people her have said about you all along. Not that I expect you to read things that don’t fit the lies you spew…

  • Mary, @ 46,

    If they announced before the Indiana/North Carolina primaries, then they’re not *new*. Strange, that you hadn’t realised yet that the pace has picked up and that the count — and the total — changes every couple of hours now.

    At the end of the day (today) we have (from TPM Election Central, @ 23:50):

    Two more super-delegates have endorsed late today, in addition to those we reported on this afternoon, with one new super-del for Barack Obama and one for Hillary Clinton.

    Virginia DNC member Joe Johnson announced his support for Barack Obama, while Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) has endorsed Hillary.

    The score for today: Obama +9, Hillary net +1. Obama is now roughly tied with Clinton for super-delegate support and only needs about 160 more total delegates to clinch the nomination.

    “““““““““““
    Winnie, @40 & 41,

    I won’t argue my progressive (or otherwise) credentials with you, much less the size of our respective brains and other body parts; I outgrew the “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours” mindset at 6. And I stopped tittering at words like “whore” at 18, which was 40yrs ago. You’ll continue to show your “maturity” by your comments here (and the language they’re couched in) and so will I.

    Regarding reading material… I read Winnie-the-Pooh at 6, again at 16, and again at 32 (when I read it to my son). Not that it’s the only book I’ve ever read. And, there’s nothing wrong with reading, even if it’s kid’s lit. When’s the last time *you* read a book?

  • Oh, and here’s a nice chart of *all* delegates (super and standard-sized), telling us how many declared for whom (though, obviously, that’s not written in stone; some supers are now moving from Clinton’s column into Obama’s) and how many are still sitting with a fence picket up their bum. State by state; just scroll down a bit May 9 entry:
    http://www.electoral-vote.com/

  • Mary, demconwatch.blogspot.com. Learn it, live it and, since you can’t find your ass with six undergraduates helping you, take a remedial class in research techniques.

    Today’s superdelegates:

    5-9-08 – Switched Rep. Donald Payne (NJ) from Clinton to Obama
    – Added Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR) for Obama
    – Added Rep. Chris Carney for Clinton
    – Added DNC John Gage (MD) for Obama
    – Added DNC Edward Espinoza (CA) (aka Mr. Super) for Obama
    – Added DNC Vernon Watkins (CA) for Obama
    – Added DNC Wilbur Lee Jeffcoat (SC) for Obama
    – Added New Mexico add-on Laurie Weahkee (NM)# for Obama
    – Added Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI) for Obama
    – Added DNC Joe Johnson (VA) for Obama. Obama campaign confirmed his endorsement.
    – Added Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (TX) for Clinton.

    If IFP were here, something tells me she’d do a funny post on how demconwatch is obviously biased for Obama because it matter-of-factly reports the new superdelegate endorsements, which unfairly are favoring Obama now.

  • libra – I am so impressed with your wit…

    Such sheer brainpower… Your maturity just shines – but you think your a bloggin’ queen so be my guest. Little minds think big things of themselves – pretend you are all-powerful and knowing!

  • You can take it up with CNN and Rachel Maddow. CNN called them new delegates, not me and it was Little Bear’s link, not mine. This is an empty exercise.

    You can play games with the numbers if it amuses you. We’ll find out who votes for whom at the convention. Until then, any superdelegate can change his or her mind, as they are clearly doing already. But hey, if it makes you feel less anxious to count Obama’s marbles, knock yourself out.

  • Some people have a penchant for presenting items from Contains Nothing News—the 24/7/365(6) videographed imitation of that print-media deity, The National Enquirer, as a valid source for proving something’s factuality.

    “If it’s on CNN, then it must, of course, be true,” they will say.

    Quite frankly, that particular cable franchise is one of the few broadcast entities on the planet with the ability to make Fox appear truly “fair and balanced.”

    Such a task is, by no means, undeserving of the label “Herculean effort.” It takes huge sums of time, money, and warm bodies to create a corporate entity with all the trappings of a Star Trek Borg, the contents of several unflushed toilets, and the after-effects of detonating a hand grenade in a room full of expensive antique English bone china.

    CNN has not only demonstrated their professional capability to attain this journalistic summit; they have demonstrated the unique talent of doing so repeatedly, to the point of inflicting upon most sentient occupants of this solar system endless, involuntary bouts of nausea and an intrinsic desire for copious amounts of questionably-filtered grain alcohol.

    That, of course, is my opinion of CNN, and I am guaranteed a Constitutional Right to that opinion. Little Bear clearly holds an equally-meritorious opinion of Mr. Obama’s primary opponent, and Mary proves that Mr. Newton’s laws of gravity are, indeed, completely applicable to politics by holding an equally-equal and meritoriously-meritorious opinion of Mr. Obama.

    But none of these opinions bear on the current subject. No one in their right minds can argue that Mr. Obama will win West Virginia. It doesn’t matter that the population is roughly 95% white, and it doesn’t matter if the majority of its adult inhabitants are “lunch bucket Democrats”—but what does matter is that it is, for all intents and purposes, a geographically-isolationist state that is, for the better part, wholly dependent upon the federal dole as a means to construct and maintain its existing infrastructure.

    In short—West Virginians are addicted to the status quo, and they will, by instinct, vote against anything they perceive as a threat to that status quo. They chose to secede from the Union in 1861 because of this; they likewise removed themselves from the Confederacy in 1863 for the very same reason. To some, they are still fighting that war today, and they will most certainly still be fighting that war when they walk into the polls next Tuesday.

    However, the mathematics of the greater contest are not in line with the mathematics of West Virginia’s primary outcome. A mere week ago, Mr. Obama required approximately 41% of all remaining delegates—regular and super combined—to secure the nomination.

    As of today, he requires 33%. His primary opponent, on the other hand, requires 67%—and West Virginia’s outcome next week will do little to close a breach that is now mathematically insurmountable, given that the state’s entire population only amounts to roughly 1.8 million people. A lot of that 1.8 million will vote Republican, or they will not vote at all. A good many are too young to vote, too old to get up and vote, or too busy to vote. Many aren’t even registered to vote, even though they are of voting age.

    And yes—some of them will even vote for Mr. Obama.

    Regardless of the victory in West Virginia next week, Mr’ Obama’s primary opponent will lose that momentum the following week—in Oregon, where the number of Obama votes alone will quite likely be larger than the number of registered Democrats in all of West Virginia—the ones who vote, and the ones who don’t—combined.

    Short of a nuclear holocaust, a Martian invasion, or the sun itself blowing up in our faces, Mr. Obama is the presumptive nominee. Even the yammering, hairless, neutered poodles over at RedState know that….

  • If Obama is actually any kind of presumptive nominee, he should be demonstrating his strength by consolidating voters behind him. Instead, he is battling it out for states where Clinton is expected to win big. That doesn’t sound much like a presumptive winner. He should be reaching out to Clinton voters. I don’t see that happening at all — he seems to be writing off Clinton supporters. He is still in campaign mode against Clinton. He clearly doesn’t believe he is secure. You should be wondering what Clinton said to Feinstein to get her to stick, or why more superdelegates have not defected to the putative nominee, to make the victory clearer. What do they know that you do not? Both voters and superdelegates are still watching and waiting for Obama to prove himself. That doesn’t make him the nominee yet.

  • The bulk of the remaining supers have already stated that they will withhold their announcements until after June 3, unless events determine that announcing before them would be beneficial for the overall party. Just because you’ve enacted your selective sight, hearing, and cognition does not make it “not so.”

    Mary, even you’re candidate has adopted a more conciliatory tone. Her senior staffers are beginning to make comments openly to the extent that the writing is on the wall—and that writing is spelled “O-b-a-m-a.”

    By the will West Virginia and Kentucky give your candidate the nomination?

    In a word, Mary—no.

    Will your candidate win all of the delegates in those two contests?

    Again, in a word—no.

    And will her margin of victory in those two states give her enough momentum to justify your continued rhetoric about how she’s going to win?

    Third time’s the charm—no.

    You complain that he’s cutting her supporters off, right after complaining that he’s campaigning in those two states. Your hypocrisy is incredulous—just as your claims to being a teacher are likewise incredulous.

    Mr. Obama received a standing ovation from the United States House of Representatives. What did your candidate receive, Mary?

  • Hillary knows she has lost this round. Hillary wants Obama to lose the general election giving her another shot in 2012. She also knows that taking a 4 year break will allow some of the Clinton fatigue to dissipate and allow her to build her resume. She also knows that the longer she is in play in this primary, the greater the chances are that Obama can be shown as an Obamanation thus ruining his chances in the general election. Hillary is not a loser. Hillary is a calculating, determined and relentless &#$*%(). Obama – watch your back.

  • Senator Clinton needs, and will get, at least 70% of the votes in the West Virginia and Kentucky Primaries, fair distributiion of delegates in Michigan and Florida giving her at least 48 more delegates than Obama, and a 12% plurality in the remaining 255 superdelagates in order to set it up for John Edwards’ 19 votes to put her over the top in recognition that their common views on Health Care, WTO, NAFTA, and the need to create blue collar and green collar jobs are of great importance. Remember the premature newspaper headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”. Well, history is about to repeat itself!!
    If Obama is the Democrat nominee in November 2008, McCain will easily defeat Obama because the Reagan Democrats will not hand victory to the terrorists that they could not otherwise win for themselves! This conclusion is supported, for example, by the exit poll conducted in the Indiana Primary which showed that 50% of the people who voted for Senator Clinton would refuse to vote for Obama if he were the Democrat nominee in Noverber 2008. In other words, Senator McCain would win states like California, and Pennsylvania, which would thus lead to an easy victory for McCain over Obama. However, if the brilliant and gifted Senator Clinton is the Democrat nominee, polls show Clinton defeating McCain in key battleground states such as California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, thus giving her the much deserved victory.

  • If Obama is the Democrat nominee

    Someone needs to start warning these goopers that not understanding the difference between the noun and the adjective instantly outs them as non-Democrats and right-wing talk radio devotees.

  • If she was taking a high school writing class, i would grade her a c- for the presentation. If i ever released anything that ugly and badly formatted at my work, i would probably get fired.

    • Comments are closed.