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By Lauren B. Davis
By Gore Vidal
$17.16
$18
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Florida has dropped plans to hold a revote because, in the words of the state party chair: “The consensus is clear: Florida doesn’t want to vote again.” That’s a setback for Hillary Clinton, who probably would have picked up delegates in the Sunshine State. Another revote proposal is stalling in Michigan, the other state with a disputed delegation.
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By Marie Cocco — Elections do matter. Some people who win office really do keep campaign promises. And legislation the public wants—but which the politicians, by and large, don’t—actually can be enacted, even if the kicking and screaming can practically be heard coming from behind those infamously closed doors.
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By Marie Cocco — The overdose of Reagan nostalgia to which we’ve been subjected during the Republican presidential primaries is as understandable as it is misplaced.
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AP photo / Stephan Savoia
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According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, Americans want the next president to be a Democrat, by a whopping 13-point margin. But when asked about the candidates by name, John McCain pulls into a statistical tie with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
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The Pennsylvania primary isn’t until April 22, and the campaign has already gotten nasty. There have been so many dust-ups between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the last couple of days, it’s almost hard to keep track. With weeks to go, there’s no sign of a cease-fire.
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nymag.com
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The AFL-CIO isn’t going to wait around for the Democrats to pick a nominee before it starts campaigning against John McCain. The largest union in America plans to spend a record $53 million to make sure the next president isn’t a Republican.
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This has been described as the YouTube election, so it seems only fitting to get YouTube’s take on how the candidates have fared in the realm of viral videos. For all the fuss, it turns out some of the less fortunate candidates were the most industrious new media campaigners.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — There they go again. Democrats have contrived a nominating contest that even Rube Goldberg would have considered too convoluted, too dysfunctional and too improbable to name as his own.
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By Eugene Robinson — With arithmetic on his side, the Illinois senator still should be heavily favored to win the nomination. But he does have a problem: The world-class orator, attacked by opponents for being all talk and no walk, urgently needs to come up with a new speech.
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By David Sirota — Reading articles about Hillary Clinton attacking NAFTA can lead you to believe The Onion has taken over America’s news bureaus.
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A joint probe by the Center for Investigative Reporting and National Public Radio traces the money behind a new anti-McCain ad, revealing an alliance of top Democratic donors who’ve already raised millions to take back the White House.
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By Ellen Goodman — In the end, the most memorable line of the primary season may belong to Bill Clinton: “I’ve been waiting all my life to vote for an African-American president. I’ve been waiting all my life to vote for a woman for president. ... I feel like God is playing games with our heads and our hearts.”
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By Marie Cocco — Hillary Clinton is not the only Democrat with a math problem. But the arithmetical difficulty that Barack Obama faces is fundamentally different from Clinton’s.
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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows John McCain losing to either Democrat—Barack Obama beats him by 12 points while Hillary Clinton wins by half that margin. According to the survey, McCain’s age is significantly more troubling to voters than either Obama’s race or Clinton’s gender.
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AP photo / Charles Dharapak
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Republicans are starting to line up behind their nominee, including the president, who officially gave his blessing at the White House on Wednesday, along with an offer to help John McCain campaign. That couldn’t make Democrats happier, who long to depict McCain as what Howard Dean called “another out-of-touch Bush Republican.”
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Flickr / Abstract Plain
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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama weren’t the only ones toughing it out Tuesday night. Rep. Dennis Kucinich managed to fight off no fewer than four primary challengers to hold on to his party’s nomination and, in all likelihood, his seat in the House of Representatives. It appears that the Democrats of Ohio’s 10th District are happy with his service: He won by almost 20 points.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — So how did the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination come down to a choice between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton? We have become so accustomed to their pounding each other relentlessly that we’ve forgotten that this is a remarkable endgame.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — Barack Obama’s critics bear a remarkable resemblance to the liberals who labored mightily to dismiss Ronald Reagan in 1980.
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By David Sirota — In 1976, a young political consultant named Patrick Caddell sent a memo to Jimmy Carter telling the president-elect to wage “a continuing political campaign” that fuses public policy and political goals. This doctrine became known as the permanent campaign, and it is now changing from a White House tactic into a national grass-roots organizing strategy.
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By Eugene Robinson — If you’re among those who believe the news media have focused too much on the presidential horse race and the personalities of the candidates—and not enough on vital issues of state—let me submit that you’re wrong.
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AP photo / Chris Carlson
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It’s no wonder John McCain wants to get the Democrats to commit to public financing. In a reversal of tradition, the Democrats are far out-raising Republicans during this election cycle. The Clinton campaign just announced a $35-million month—Clinton’s biggest yet. Though the Obama campaign hasn’t announced its numbers yet, estimates are in the $50-million range.
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international.wi.gov
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What has the power to unite progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans? According to a compelling article in the San Francisco Chronicle, agribusiness is having its way in Congress, even getting Democrats to cut food stamps to make room for subsidies.
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foxnews.com
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About a day after John McCain expressed his disapproval over the insensitive comments of a supporter, the candidate was once again forced to disown ignoble behavior, this time from an official part of his party. The Tennessee Republican Party issued a press release that featured a photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional African clothing, cited his middle name (Hussein) and attempted to portray him as an anti-Semite.
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thepage.time.com
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There have been 20 debates between the Democratic candidates, three featuring only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and if this final confrontation had any game-changing potential, the opportunity has come and passed. There were a few tense moments, to be sure, but no gaffes, no inappropriate sighs to puzzle over, just two people who claim to like each other and largely agree on everything.
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nytimes.com
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The Politico reports that Republican strategists have been clandestinely polling and focus-grouping to determine how America might react to campaign attacks on an African-American or woman presidential candidate. As one strategist explained, “You can’t allow the party to be Macaca-ed,” a reference to former Sen. George Allen, whose use of a racial slur cost him certain victory in the last election.
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wcsh6.com
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Ralph Nader has announced that he will run for the presidency for a third time. In the past months on Truthdig, the case has been made both for and against such a campaign. Here Chris Hedges says why he should run, while Robert Scheer tells Nader himself it would be better if he didn’t.
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By Eugene Robinson — Humor me while we conduct a little thought experiment. Imagine that Barack Obama lost 10 states in a row.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — If you want to talk about candidates borrowing from each other, consider how much Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are taking on loan from the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, the affable populist killed in a plane crash shortly before the 2002 election.
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By David Sirota — When it came to sex, Bill Clinton made us debate the definition of “is.” Now, when it comes to economics, Hillary Clinton wants to debate the definition of “long,” claiming this week in Ohio that “I’ve long been a critic of the shortcomings of NAFTA.”
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coloradoconfidential.com
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Truthdig political correspondent Bill Boyarsky weighs in on the state of the race and explains why, no matter what the pundits tell you, a showdown in Denver could be good for the Democrats.
Posted on Feb 19, 2008
READ MORE 
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AP photo / Charles Rex Arbogast
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By Bill Boyarsky — Since Super Tuesday produced not one but a duo of Democratic front-runners, pundits from across the political spectrum have made ominous noises about the potential dangers of a prolonged contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Here, Truthdig’s seasoned political correspondent, Bill Boyarsky, begs to differ.
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By Eugene Robinson — John McCain has the advantage of getting to run right away. Too bad he’s campaigning on failed policies and bad ideas.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The boilerplate in a candidate’s speeches gets little attention because words used over and over never constitute “news.” But one of John McCain’s favorite lines—his declaration that “the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is radical Islamic extremists,” or, as he sometimes says it, “extremism”—could define the 2008 election.
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By Marie Cocco — Barack Obama has had success against Hillary Clinton’s experience argument in part, Cocco argues, because she is a woman. He’ll have a harder time taking on John McCain.
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Bill Maher’s writers are back and so is his biting commentary on the political and cultural issues of the week. In this clip, the “Real Time” host tackles the decline of the handshake, Bush’s war addiction, the fighting Romneys, McCain’s zombie army and why it isn’t amazing that the Democrats have suddenly discovered diversity.
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According to The New York Times and others, what was once an alarming possibility now appears likely: The Democratic nomination will probably be decided by superdelegates—those party bigwigs who exist to keep the will of the people in check. If that happens, expect to see the ugly side of politics out in the open. It’s already begun to surface.
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By Joe Conason — The same conservatives sending Barack Obama love notes over the airwaves are likely to smear him from every angle if he secures the nomination. Obama says he is ready. Let’s hope so.
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indecision2008.com
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One of John McCain’s top advisers, Mark McKinnon, says he will resign from the campaign if Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, because “I would simply be uncomfortable being in a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack Obama.” McKinnon says he would still support McCain from a distance, but “I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal.”
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By Amy Goodman — The “Democracy Now!” host explains why Virginia is the new Massachusetts and Texas is the new Florida, and why Barack Obama is benefiting from more than a boost in demographics.
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By Marie Cocco — As they prepare to vote, thousands of Virginia Democrats are struggling to decide between two able candidates. Many of those will not make that decision until they have ballots in their hands.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The Democrats’ hopes of regaining the White House hinge on how the party proceeds in the coming weeks and months. If momentum or civility reigns, they’ve got a shot. But if back-room dealing and cheating prevail, don’t hold your breath.
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By Eugene Robinson — It is insane to waste time and energy worrying that somewhere, doubtless in a high-tech subterranean lair, Republican masterminds are cackling over their diabolical plot: The use of reverse psychology to lure unsuspecting Democrats into nominating Barack Obama, an innocent lamb who will be chewed up by the attack machine in the fall. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!
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Americans have had to contend with dozens of speeches, debates and commercials comparing and contrasting the Democratic candidates, and still they can’t get enough. After all, this election is a ratings winner, but that’s to be expected when a rock star, a political celebrity and Grandpa Simpson all run for president.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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It’s safe to assume that the people currently advising Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on foreign policy will continue to do so if their candidate is elected. So what approaches can we expect from an Obama or a Clinton administration? There are some bad apples in either bunch, but Foreign Policy in Focus says the company Obama and Clinton keep largely parallels their votes on the war.
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Hollywood bigwig Ari Emanuel knows a thing or two about superdelegates. His brother, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, is one. But, as Ari writes on the Huffington Post, “as much as I love and respect him, I don’t trust him and his fellow superdelegates to decide for me and the American people who should be the Democratic nominee—and, therefore, most likely the next president of the United States.”
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With a win in the Maine caucuses, Barack Obama has scored four lopsided victories in a row and the map favors him for weeks to come. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, responded to her troubles by replacing her campaign manager. Clinton now has to hold back Obama’s momentum long enough to win the big states weeks from now, a strategy that did not help Rudy Guiliani.
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citizenship.typepad.com
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There’s an ugly possibility out there: The Democratic race could be so close it would be decided by the 796 super delegates (governors, members of Congress and the like) and not the people who voted and caucused. Party Chairman Howard Dean says he will do everything possible to avoid such a turn of events and Democratic strategists mostly agree that it would be a disaster for the party, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the super delegate notion to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday.
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journalism.wlu.edu
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The Senate turned into a bit of a schoolyard Wednesday as the Democratic presidential rivals gathered with their cliques, assembling to vote on the economic stimulus package. It was all in good spirits, though, as Sens. Obama, Kennedy, Feinstein, Clinton and others joked. As Sen. Claire McCaskill explained: “I think they were having fun at Ted’s expense. ... But everyone is good-natured about it.”
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The Super Tuesday primaries were a test of strength that demonstrated weaknesses in both parties and pointed to problems each could confront in the fall.
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By Ellen Goodman — Super Tuesday, Super Duper Tuesday, Plus-Size Tuesday, Vastly Engorged and Rotund Tuesday turned into a serious case of political bulimia. Never before have so many gorged on such huge portions of political expectations only to find themselves purged the next morning.
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