Blog Nightline
Guest post by Grey

Via Jake Tapper, a report filed by Brinda Adhikari of ABC News covers Al Sharpton’s reaction to the Obama/Wright affair:

“When asked how the African-American community at large would respond to Sen. Obama’s denunciation, Sharpton said that “some are going to agree, and some are going to disagree.” He quickly added: “But none of that is going to change my vote. There’s no difference between what Barack Obama said he believes in today than when we first heard him four years ago at the 2004 convention.”

Gosh, Al: you really went out on a limb! The three blind mice could have given that same quote. And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to know why the media act as though there were only one black Reverend (see Sharpton, Al) and one black leader (see Jackson, Jesse) in the entire country. Are there no other voices of interest? And why do the media care about their opinions only when the subject at hand is race? It’s like some kind of strange Bat signal: “Quick! Something happened to an African American: get Sharpton!” Isn’t that a little reductive and patronizing, as though Al and Jesse had no opinions on anything else?

Bob Somerby writes about the origin of political story lines; in particular, he focuses on Clinton and the “kitchen sink” strategy. Via “the magic of Nexis,” Bob traces the current use of that phrase to our friend Patrick Healy of The New York Times:

“HEALY (2/26/08):After struggling for months to dent Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy, the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton is now unleashing what one Clinton aide called a ”kitchen sink” fusillade against Mr. Obama, pursuing five lines of attack since Saturday in hopes of stopping his political momentum. The effort underscores not only Mrs. Clinton’s recognition that the next round of primaries—in Ohio and Texas on March 4—are must-win contests for her. It also reflects her advisers’ belief that they can persuade many undecided voters to embrace her at the last minute by finally drawing sharply worded, attention-grabbing contrasts with Mr. Obama.”

As it turned out, Sen. Clinton roundly beat Obama in Ohio and defeated him in Texas, too, but “fusillade?” Really? And just when “cannonade” was so easily within reach. The problem is this: there are a plethora of references to Clinton’s “kitchen sink” strategy, but a dearth of examples. Funny, that.

Tom Bevan examines Rev. Wright’s history and finds that he’s always sounded as we’ve recently heard him, which makes Obama’s “I wasn’t there, I didn’t hear it, and how dare he impugn my character and call me a politician!” tour even less credible. A (former?) parishioner agrees:

“What you saw is what we saw every single week,” said Brenda McGadney-Douglass, an associate professor at the University of Toledo who attended Wright’s Monday appearance and was baptized by him. “This is exactly the way things go in our church.”

Melissa McEwan attended a Clinton town-hall event in Indiana today and found her compelling. Melissa was an Edwards supporter and was once employed by his campaign; she is now uncommitted, which makes the following rather poignant:

“It was a townhall-style event, so Hillary gave a short speech and then took questions from the audience. (The guy who introduced her said she had “testicular fortitude,” which prompted her to note when she took the mic that both women and men could have fortitude of their own—and she has it! Lots of applause.) She was totally compelling, extraordinarily competent, a great extemporaneous speaker with an unbelievably detailed grasp of the issues, and funny as hell. (“I wouldn’t trust the Bush administration to organize a two-car parade.” This gave me the image of Bush and Cheney each driving clown cars in different directions, which sent me into fits of giggles.) The one thing KenBlogz and I just couldn’t. get. over. was how profoundly not the Dragon Lady she is, despite what we are meant to believe. KenBlogz’s comment was, approximately, “The way the media represents her is a complete lie; they might as well say she stabbed someone onstage, which would be just as truthful as the way she is represented.” This, from an 18-year-old. The reporter in front of us (we were in the media section) reading The Drudge Report through most of her speech would no doubt be shocked by his observation. In person, from about 10 yards away, Hillary was as warm, friendly, charming, and engaging as any politician I’ve ever seen. And the crowd—way more diverse than I expected—adored her. She got several standing ovations. In the parking lot afterwards, I heard a woman—middle-aged, wearing a union t-shirt, either white or Latina—telling her friend she was glad she came. “She totally won me over,” she said.”

More, from a comment she posted in the dedicated section:

“[A]nother great moment was when Hillary was asked about the war, and, during her answer, she asked if anyone had served in Iraq, and was quiet, while a few people raised their hands. Slowly, the applause started, and rippled, and then the whole place broke out into a huge ovation for the veterans. It was a very blub-inducing moment.”

We often hear about Obama’s “magical touch;” reporters breathlessly recount tales of Obama’s ability to “close the gap” once the little people get to see him, but comments like the one Melissa posted are usually overlooked. The media have a story to tell, and only one candidate can be McDreamy; they’ve settled on Obama, but there are equally inspiring stories about the way Sen. Clinton ignites our hopes and dreams. That doesn’t fit the narrative; rather, it turns it on its head, so the scavenger hunt for a few, honest reporters continues.

A remainder on the funnier end of things; Ana Marie Cox blogs about the current cover of TIME magazine, LOLcat-style.

Open thread.

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Clinton and O’Reilly

Part Three and Final

Flawless.

Your
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Last chance!

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by Paul Szep

The first headline of its kind from the traditional media comes from ABC, and is at the top of the “Headlines” above. It says it all: Wright
Raising Questions About Obama’s Electability. Only one thing can change this creeping reality and it’s big wins in North Carolina and Indiana. It’s an understatement how much next Tuesday matters, with the momentum clearly shifting to Clinton, though it’s by no means set.

Huffington Posts’ “Off the Bus” reporter, the same person who broke
“bittergate,” Mayhill Fowler, talks about Obama’s signature problem.
He hasn’t been connecting with voters since February, which has been revealed through Ohio and Pennsylvania, though she doesn’t put
that date on it:

Did Senator Obama know to whom he was speaking? Likely not. That’s been his problem lately on the campaign trail–not knowing exactly where he was. He even made a joke about it in Hickory when he tried to recall where he had just met someone whose story he wanted to tell. “We were down in–where were we?” Quickly he came up with Winston-Salem, and everybody laughed. Monday in Wilmington, however, not only did he seem not to know Wilmington but the date and time, saying that it was “March” and “nine months to November.” The fact that his audiences are largely composed of die-hard fervent loyalists usually masks this underlying dis-connection. But it’s worth noting that Senator Clinton always knows exactly where she is and to whom she is speaking. On Sunday in Wilmington, for example, her opening remarks touched in quick succession on several important things about the town: the glorious setting on the Cape Fear River, its connection to the military, the upcoming commissioning of the new submarine North Carolina there next weekend, and the fact that “this country has been very good to me and to many of you,” for people who are lucky enough to live in Wilmington are lucky indeed. Press Descend On Obama Following Wright Controversy

We talked about this yesterday, but Democratic candidate Travis Childers is walking away from Obama. Today Childers
is out with an ad, with Barack Obama not even mentioned. Marc
Ambinder lays it down:

LAST SUMMER, Obama bragged about his ability to expand the map for Democrats, to turn red states blue. He said that “If we just got African-Americans in Mississippi to vote their percentage of the population, Mississippi is suddenly a Democratic state.” As was pointed out at the time, the problem in Mississippi for Democrats isn’t black voters not voting their proportions — it’s the white voters who don’t vote for Democratic candidates. (Actually, blacks voted well above this threshold in the 2004 general election.) Is Barack Obama’s name now political poison in Mississippi?

I’ve said it before, but any notion Obama will help down ticket Dems, especially in states he claimed to be able to turn, is a fantasy
now. Childers is just the first to provide the evidence.

A new Fox “News” poll is devastating to Obama: Obama’s
Favorable Rating Drops.

Nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) think Hillary Clinton has a better chance of beating John McCain in November — 10 percentage points higher than the 38 percent who think Barack Obama can win, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday. This represents a significant shift from March, when Democrats said Obama was the candidate more likely to beat McCain.

Meanwhile, “Clinton
Exuding Confidence” is the attitude around Clinton, who has closed
the margin in North Carolina from double digits, is tied with Obama in Indiana (according to CNN), is on message, while
Obama’s pastor disaster has him off message, and on the defensive. Not where you want to be so close to a primary day that could be a tipping point for either candidate.

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Obama’s Reaction to Pro Clinton 527
guest post by MABlue

Okay, so it’s not technically a "guest post," but it definitely deserves the nod.

It’s what reader and TM LIVE! listener MABlue put in
the comment section in response to what I reported on radio today:

Barack Obama’s campaign has filed a formal complaint over a pro-Hillary Clinton group running ads attacking the Illinois senator on jobs and the economy in the critical primary state of Indiana. The American Leadership Project, which includes veterans of the Clinton administration and longtime supporters, is a “527,” which means it is not bound by federal campaign finance laws as long as it does not directly advocate on behalf of a particular candidate. The group announced earlier this week that it was planning to buy $700,000 worth of airtime in the state leading up to Tuesday’s vote. It has aired other spots in support of Clinton in key primary states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas. The Obama campaign planned a conference call this morning with general counsel Bob Bauer to discuss the specifics of the complaint filed Wednesday with the Federal Elections Commission. Several weeks ago, the Obama campaign used the group in its own fundraising appeals, sending supporters a plea for donations that pointed to actions by “Swift Boat-style groups and smear campaigns.” … .. Obama campaign files FEC complaint against pro-Clinton group

Repeat after me… Waaaaaaaah-wah-waaaaaaaaah. Leave Barack Alone!

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It’s on until midnight eastern pacific time tonight. Give if you’ve got it.

Your
$25 is worth $50 until midnight!
Last chance!

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If it’s an election, there is pandering. That doesn’t mean it won’t sway voters. It also doesn’t mean that short-term relief has anything to do with long-term plans, which includes Hillary Clinton stumping for a gas tax holiday.

“She has been criticized by her opponent and by others, who say, ‘Oh, it is just pandering to people to offer them gasoline relief,’” he said, standing atop a long flatbed truck at an early polling rally. “Well, let me tell you something folks — when people are choosing every week between whether they got enough money to go to work and enough money to put food on the tables for their kids — it is not pandering to try and help them get through the next six months. … .. “Hillary has got a long record as an environmentalist,” he said. “But to say that giving people a little slack on these gas prices is going to discourage us from switching to higher mileage cars is just factually wrong. We’re dealing with people here that cannot pay their bills.” – Bill Clinton

Make no mistake, the gas tax holiday is silly as energy policy. Worse than that, it’s posturing that doesn’t
accomplish anything in the long-term. But it’s a way to reach swing voters, especially people
who are desperate for any kind of relief at all. It’s a feel your pain moment that Clinton has grabbed, which Obama is ignoring for the high road. That’s his problem.

Thomas Friedman weighs in today and
is actually correct for a change:

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country. … .. The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.“ Dumb as We Wanna Be

But the worst culprits are in Congress. I know, you’re shocked:

… Few Americans know it, but for almost a year now, Congress has been bickering over whether and how to renew the investment tax credit to stimulate investment in solar energy and the production tax credit to encourage investment in wind energy. The bickering has been so poisonous that when Congress passed the 2007 energy bill last December, it failed to extend any stimulus for wind and solar energy production. Oil and gas kept all their credits, but those for wind and solar have been left to expire this December. I am not making this up. At a time when we should be throwing everything into clean power innovation, we are squabbling over pennies. .. …

Friedman also congratulates Obama for not taking the gas tax holiday road, which is ridiculous considering Obama is a nuke man. Obama is too busy giving breaks to campaign contributors like
Exelon, using it on stump to win votes, while not telling the truth (or voting for Cheney’s energy policy, as JoeCHI reminds us again; Clinton did not). As for short-term breaks, Obama isn’t interested. It’s the biggest obstacle to his candidacy looking forward. He’ll just never connect.

It’s obvious why Clinton is for a gas tax holiday. In the short-term, those travel summer months when a lot of people get in their car and go on the road, anything could help. It’s exhibit A for why Clinton is winning lunch bucket Democrats. Hillary knows, as Bill does, that $10 can make the difference to a family facing hard times. She’s willing to take the hit in order to help them. But it has absolutely nothing to do with her long-term commitment to energy independence.

The thing that is so disappointing about Clinton’s coverage on the issue is that her energy plans are solid. If you look at the gas tax holiday idea as part of Clinton’s plan you’re missing her message. Right now the press is weighing in that the gas tax holiday is ridiculous, while ignoring her comprehensive long-term ideas. Voters, however, are likely paying attention. Some people are hurting so bad that what Clinton’s idea does is send the message that she understands their struggles, and in the short-term she’s willing to do anything she can to help. But that isn’t her whole energy plan. It’s also why Clinton is winning lunch bucket Democrats, and Obama isn’t. She gets it. He doesn’t.

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Click on the demand feature, then select the video at the right.

Of course she’s correct, because a lot is at stake:

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday it would be “the height of political foolishness” for Democrats to back a Republican, or not vote at all, if they’re disappointed by the outcome of the long-running nomination battle between her and Barack Obama. “Anyone, anyone, who voted for either of us should be absolutely committed to voting for the other” in the general election, Clinton said during an hourlong meeting with The Indianapolis Star Editorial Board. “I’m going to shout that from the mountaintops and the valleys and everywhere I can, no matter what the outcome of the nominating process is.”… Clinton to Dems: Don’t switch sides

That Clinton has to say this at all illustrates Democratic reality today.

Open thread.

UPDATE: The above video has been swapped out. Via Jeralyn at Talk Left, the new video is the whole interview.

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Obama’s sudden divorce from Rev. Wright is curious. After all, he’d already
denounced Wright’s comments. So why the sudden press conference? It’s not like it’s going to quiet the controversy.

… .. Obama’s Wright compulsion drove him to deliver a defensive and apologetic so-called race speech in which Wright was the centerpiece. Next, he denounced Wright’s views in an interview. Now he holds a halting, stumbling, anguished voice press conference to denounce Wright again. … .. Finally, and worst of all, no matter how much he protests that Wright doesn’t represent him or his thinking, the fact is he sat in his church for nearly two decades, called him a spiritual mentor and family confidant, appointed him to an advisory post in his campaign, and in his so-called race speech refused to disown his two decade experience and relationship with him. This instantly makes his Wright protest sound like the wail of a politician running scared, and who sees the long, arduous, time consuming and patient work he put into building up public trust in him as the nation’s great political hope fast washing down the drain. But Obama is no different than other inexperienced politicians who get blind-sided by damaging and hurtful allegations and associations. They panic, do their public mea culpas, and hope and pray that it all blows over. It never does. The clouds of doubt remain transfixed in the air of the voter’s minds, and that doubt will always be there with whispers, wisecracks, and raised eyebrows that maybe the politician with a taint who so many put their fervent faith and hope in is not all that he’s cracked up to be. … .. Obama, Not Wright, Is Obama’s Worst Enemy

There’s a bigger problem for Senator Obama. His past statements don’t match
his recent indignation, unless of course you add the fact that he’s upset,
even outraged that Wright is dragging down his poll numbers and putting North
Carolina within low single digits for Clinton, when he’d had been a 10-point-plus lead, with a Clinton win in Indiana a very real possibility. So Obama’s presser actually opened up more questions than it answered, at least for those who haven’t been seduced yet.

Main issue for Obama: I didn’t vet my pastor enough. I’m innocent. Reverend Who?
It doesn’t work when looking at the record:

“The things he said and the way he said them I think are offensive. And I reject them, and they don’t reflect who I am or what I believe in. In fairness to him, this was sort of a greatest hits. They basically culled five or six sermons out of 30 years of preaching. That doesn’t excuse them, and I’ve said so very clearly, but that’s not the relationship I had with him. That’s not the relationship I had with the church, and if I had heard those kinds of statements being said, if I had been in church on those days, I would have objected fiercely to them, and I would have told him personally.” Chicago Tribune interview

Obama defended Rev. Wright long after his greatest YouTube hits appeared,
which included some of the same snippets Obama cited yesterday as a defense:

“I think the caricature that’s been painted of him is not accurate. And so part of what I’ll do tomorrow is just to talk a little bit about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church community, for example, which I think views this very differently.” The Hotline

So all of a sudden, after Moyers and the NAACP speech, followed by the Press
Club, Obama decides… what? That he’s suddenly “surprised” by Wright
going off, even after 20 years in his church, as well as seeing the YouTube snippets weeks ago?

“You know, I guess — keep in mind that, just to provide more context, this is somebody who I’ve known for 20 years. Pastor Wright has been a pastor for 30 years. He’s an ex-Marine. He is somebody who is a biblical scholar, has spoken at theological seminaries all across the country, from the University of Chicago to Hampton. And so he is a well- regarded preacher. And somebody who is known for talking about the social gospel. “But most of the time, when I’m in church, he’s talking about Jesus, God, faith, values, caring for the poor, family, those were the messages that I was hearing. “And so you know, I think that the statements that have been strung together are compiled out of, you know, hundred of sermons that he delivered over the course of his lifetime. …” ‘Completely Unacceptable:’ Barack Obama on His Pastor’s Controversial Remarks

But since Senator Obama had made his speech in Philadelphia, he expected everyone
to just accept it and move on. After all, the traditional media has
been carrying him for over a year, as Richard Wolfe and Ryan Lizza did recently, with the gusto of two guys trying to save their own careers. So he had no intention of going any further
on Rev. Wright, until his preacher called him out. Then it became personal,
because the preacher was messing with Obama’s presidential campaign. But until
that moment, Wright was welcome by his side, because after all, it was Wright’s church that helped Obama get on the political map.

No, I would do not repudiate the man. As I said, this is somebody who I have known for 17 years. He helped bring me to Jesus and helped bring me to church. And, you know, he and I have a relationship, he’s like an uncle who has talked to me, not about political things and not about social views, as much as about faith and God and family. And he’s somebody who is widely respected throughout Chicago and around the country for many of the things that he’s done not only as a pastor but also as a preacher. Obama interview with Keith Olbermann

The time for Obama to say what he said yesterday was after Wright’s YouTube
greatest hits came out. After all, Obama said he’d never heard the statements
before, so what better time to be enraged, or at least act the part, in order to distance yourself? The calculation
was clear. He didn’t want to get into a confrontation, either with Wright or
other supporters over it. It gets down to a question of being pushed to confront
the unacceptable, things that have been out there before. It gets down to courage.
It gets down to judgment. Obama was late on the courage. The judgment question
lingers unanswered.

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Blog Nightline
guest post by Grey

Rules are rules are rules, unless they turn around to bite you. This morning,
Craig
Crawford took the Democratic rules for a ride and parked them in the forbidden
zone:

“The mandatory penalties set forth by the Democratic National Committee’s delegate selection rules call for outlaw states like Florida and Michigan to only lose half of their delegates to the national convention. And yet the DNC went beyond its own rules to add further penalties, stripping those states of all delegates. The DNC rules also prohibited public appearances and electronic advertising before the polls closed by candidates in states that had jumped the approved primary calendar. Barack Obama made a public appearance in Florida in September 2007, talking to reporters after a fundraiser. His campaign also bought television ads on cable news outlets that ran throughout Florida before its renegade primary. Strictly speaking, if the DNC rules were tightly construed in this case, Hillary Rodham Clinton would receive half of the Florida delegates she won and Obama would receive none — the penalty for violating the campaign ban.”

At The Left Coaster, eriposte
has a hilarious take-down of those who, after the
Tribune reported that it was a Clinton supporter, former USA Today Editor
Barbara Reynolds, who invited Rev. Wright to the National Press Club, went on
a CDC bender in the latest installment of “It’s All Clinton’s Fault.”

At No Quarter, SusanUnPC
has questions about Obama’s apparently flexible recollection of his
own church attendance:

“The laughable excuse that he never heard Wright speak like that suits TODAY’s ambitions. As does his alternate explanation (there have been so many) that he spoke privately with Wright about the statements that bothered him. Obama has over-emphasized his Christian faith to fend off accusations from the right that he is a secret Muslim. That suits his ambition to become the Democratic nominee and to become president. But, it’s a delicate dance to claim he’s a devout Christian when he also claims that he never heard Wright’s rants — which would LOGICALLY mean that he rarely attended Wright’s Trinity church.”

Live by the sermon, die by the sermon.

Noam
Scheiber wants to know where Oprah is. Who cares?

Andrew
Sullivan assesses Le Divorce and seems to conclude that the whole thing
shows Obama can fight back. Those of us who have been following L’affair Wright
are still wondering why Obama usually fights a day or two too late, when he
really can’t afford not to fight anymore. I, for one, don’t think it’s because
he’s Mr. Positive, but because he’s an opportunist. Or a politician, which might
be the same thing.

At Shakesville, Melissa
McEwan chastises Gov. Easley:

“Pansy” is one of the many, many homophobic slurs that is infused with a heavy dose of misogyny—because it’s generally used to mean not just any gay man, but specifically an effeminate gay man. Ya know, because being anything like a woman is the worst possible thing a man can be. So while casually insulting gay men, Easley also managed to insult women, all in the process of trying to praise Hillary Clinton’s fortitude.”

I caught the anti-gay tinge of the remark, but I must admit that I completely
missed the misogyny. Did you see either? Both? None?

Open thread.

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I love this endorsement. Nothing like a southern gentleman’s charms. Of course, I appreciate this type of genuflecting to girls, though I realize others do not. For me, it doesn’t interfere with my feminism. I appreciate the sentiment behind it. We love you, North Carolinians!

Meanwhile, Rush proves his ego knows no bounds.

A Michigan proposal?

Chit-chat.

Open thread.

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It’s that time of day. Time to relax and kick back. Also to take advantage
of the current matching money drive over at Clinton’s place.

Early evening open thread. Don’t throw your drinks!

Your
$25 is worth $50 until midnight!
(eastern time)
Give if you’ve got it!

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Imagine this playing out across the country in local races for Congress. Dems running for Congress stiff-arming Obama if he’s the nominee. Hey, but many people think Clinton won’t be embraced either. Those people haven’t looked at her blue collar numbers lately, which are soaring.

Open thread.

While you’re at it, double your fundraising impact. Matching Hillary money drive in process until midnight (eastern time) tonight.

Your
$10 is worth $20 until midnight!
(eastern time)
Give if you’ve got it!

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Missourian Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,
has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Skelton is one of those average, lunch bucket
Democrats, who live in the rural midwest. He’s also a national security leader, another one on Clinton’s side.

But if you’re wondering why Obama stepped up today to “divorce” Rev.
Wright, as I said on my radio show, somebody got some polling numbers, which
inspired Obama’s outrage. Again, whether it’s outrage over Wright’s Rehabilitation and Retribution Tour,
the indignity of being thrown under the bus by Wright, and the fact Obama had to
address the issue again, or the fact that he’s tired of being tarred with his
own bad judgment, it’s politics, stupid.

It’s also what polling the issue likely revealed:

I got some more information about that call. It was a live call last night around 7 p.m., not a robocall. The woman on the phone identified herself as with a polling firm of some sort, but did not indicate that she was working at the behest of either campaign. The call was 6 or 7 minutes long and started with “Are you a registered Democrat?” After that question, the caller asked, “How closely have you been following the Rev. Wright story,” to which the voter could answer “Very closely,” “Somewhat Closely,” and “Not Closely at all.” The next question was, “How has your view of Obama been affected by this story,” to which the voter could answer along the lines of, “It’s the same,” “It’s somewhat more negative,” “It’s somewhat more positive.” The caller read two statements from Hillary and Obama from the trail and asked which the voter agreed with. The last question was, “Are you leaning toward voting for Obama or Hillary on Tuesday.”

Lots happening today. Open thread.

UPDATE: Both Clinton and Obama camps have denied they’re polling Wright. Media polling? Likely, but no doubt Obama saw the closing of Clinton in North Carolina, which is the same state that’s hitting Obama and local Dems on Rev. Wright.

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“Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this,” Obama said.

Obama’s candidacy is in freefall. So Operation Save My Superdelegate Support begins.

Reverend Wright has made Mr. Down Ticket Asset into Mr. Down Ticket Drag. Superdelegates
are also wondering what Wright will mean in November for an Obama general election
candidacy. That’s simple: it’s a disaster in waiting.

So today, Obama in a press conference stated he was “shocked” about
Rev. Wright’s statements yesterday. Is Senator Obama really saying that he didn’t
realize that Wright was spewing anti-American sentiments all this time? That he was unaware of Wright’s
political leanings from the pulpit? It defies credibility.

What Obama didn’t do was divorce Rev. Wright. Being “outraged” and “saddened” is the least we expect. And nobody ever said Wright speaks for Obama, which isn’t the issue. But the Senator still hasn’t explained why he followed Wright for 20 years and why he took counsel from Wright without knowing his opinions. Are we to believe Senator Obama simply missed it? I didn’t hear it continues to be Obama’s defense.

If you’re explaining, you’re losing.

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Buy Sidney’s book.

Charlie Cook:

One superdelegate in a Southern state, clearly a Clinton sympathizer, said it would be political suicide for him to oppose Obama, pointing out that the black community would be furious. The best support he could offer Clinton would be to remain neutral until it’s over. One of the most salient arguments made these days by superdelegates is the fear of what would happen to the party if Obama were to be spurned. … .. What has happened is that a bit of the bloom is off the rose for Obama’s candidacy. His trajectory has flattened a good bit and while no one doubts his mortality, he has lost a good bit of the iconic appeal that he showed early this year. … ..

You’re up.

In as short a paragraph as you can put together, make the case for Clinton. Then send it to me.

Winners win Sidney’s great book.

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Video of endorsement.

In case you’re wondering what this means on the wider front, it signals that
some are starting to really believe Obama cannot close the deal.

"It’s an incredibly strong endorsement because Easley is popular among the blue collar ‘Bubba’ voters who are Democrats," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a Democratic consultant who advised former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on winning rural voters. Easley had endorsed Edwards for president, but again became a heavily sought superdelegate once Edwards bowed out of the race. "He’s clean in the culture. Easley’s wrecked the Charlotte Motor Speedway doing 150 miles per hour, and Bubba likes that," said Saunders, referring to NASCAR fan Easley’s 2003 race car crash. “He’s a hunter. He’s a strong Second Amendment guy. He gives her great cultural validation in the state of North Carolina." … .. New Clinton supporter is a potent symbol

Now I’ve been very critical of Mudcat Saunders, but few know the "Bubba"
voters better.

Huge symbol in so many ways. A very big boost for Clinton.

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Contrary to Obama’s supporters and the Obama blogs’ collective thinking, their candidate is in trouble.

So what’s next? Will he ignore Reverend Wright’s public pr tantrum?

Will he engage it?

Another speech? That would be a huge mistake, but it’s possible.

Or will Obama lay low hoping it all goes away?

It’s not going away.

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Just can’t sleep?

We’re open all night.

Open thread.

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Clinton is gaining among independents now. She actually leads when stacked up against McCain.

… ..When pitted against McCain, Clinton now wins among independents, 50 percent to 34 percent, when just a few weeks ago she ran about even with him with this crucial group of voters. Clinton also now does better among independents than Obama does in a matchup with McCain. Clinton has a newfound edge among seniors, too, 51 percent to 39 percent; McCain had previously had the advantage. And, Clinton has improved her margin over McCain among people under age 30; two-thirds of them now side with her. McCain leads Obama among seniors, while Obama leads McCain among those under 30 but by a smaller margin than Clinton does. … AP Poll: Clinton leads McCain by 9 points

Conventional wisdom is on its head.

Open thread.

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“There is no guilt by association.” – Ryan Lizza

Translation: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Leave Barack Alone! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa-waaah-waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Ryan Lizza needs some meds. Is he kidding with this “analysis.” This performance defies description. In the tank doesn’t even begin to cover it. That he has a microphone and is respected shows you the trouble with traditional journalism today.

So is it me, or are these cable talking heads in shocked stupor over Reverend Wright’s Rehabilitation and Retribution Tour?

Ryan is being high-minded, says Jill. Ya-think?

See Lizza squealing like a pig here.

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