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:<\/p>\n
* We haven’t heard too much superdelegate news this morning, but late yesterday, Rep. Brad Ellsworth<\/a> (D-Ind.) threw his support to Hillary Clinton, citing her success in his home district. (Later, however, Ellsworth’s office hedged a bit<\/a>, saying he would stick with the winner of his district “unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.”)<\/p>\n * In other endorsement news, David Bonior<\/a>, John Edwards’ campaign manager and a former Democratic House leader, announced his support for Barack Obama. In a statement, Bonior said, “Because Barack Obama continues to run a positive campaign that focuses on the issues that matter to ordinary Americans, he has won a commanding lead in this race, and I believe he can and will defeat John McCain in November. Now is the time to unite behind Barack Obama so we can end business-as-usual in Washington and fulfill our moral obligation to America’s hardworking families.”<\/p>\n * Credit where credit is due: this week, Zogby did pretty well<\/a> in forecasting the results, while SurveyUSA didn’t. For most of the year, the reliability had been reversed.<\/p>\n * Following up on an item from last week, Clinton beat Obama among Catholics in Pennsylvania by a stunning 40 points. The WSJ reported<\/a> today, “In Indiana, Sen. Obama sliced that deficit in half, earning 41% of the Catholic vote to Sen. Clinton’s 59%. And in North Carolina Sen. Clinton won among Catholics by a scant seven points.”<\/p>\n * Jimmy Carter said<\/a> yesterday that he believes the DNC should honor the integrity of the agreed upon rules and not count Michigan’s and Florida’s primary results. * Clinton’s event in Shepherdstown, W.Va., yesterday was thrown together at the last minute, and as a result, there were a few hitches<\/a>: “Security was minimal, and problems with the sound system gave the Clinton staff fits; it didn’t help that one of the men working the sound system wore an Obama T-shirt. ‘I’m not turning it inside out,’ he said, when Clinton supporters protested. In the back of the crowd, a camera riser collapsed with a huge crash, sending bodies, coffee and cameras flying. ‘Metaphor?’ a reporter asked as he picked himself off the ground? ‘Metaphor,’ confirmed another.”<\/p>\n * Mike Huckabee said he can relate<\/a> to Hillary Clinton’s situation. He told ABC News, “In the words of her husband, ‘I feel her pain!'”<\/p>\n * Was there a Limbaugh effect in Indiana on Tuesday? It’s actually hard to say for sure<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n* On a related note, work continues<\/a> on what to do about the contested states: “We may be on the verge of a compromise on the Michigan situation — with the key being that a new solution wouldn’t actually change the overall delegate race. The Michigan state party’s executive committee voted to submit a proposal to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, to send 69 delegates for Clinton and 59 for Obama. The +10 margin for Hillary would be a significant cut from her +18 over ‘Uncommitted’ in the state’s rogue January primary, would take away any chance of getting at any of the 55 slots for Uncommitted, and would still allow the seating of a full delegation.”<\/p>\n