Daily Tidbits: May 9, 2008 « Roadkill Refugee

Daily Tidbits: May 9, 2008

May 9, 2008 · No Comments

Obama Descending the Staircase

TMI. Sen. Lieberman says he “personally checked” McCain’s bearings this morning and he hasn’t lost any of them. I really didn’t need to know that.
Lanny Davis, whining about CNN’s heat, gets out of the kitchen.
Obama takes lead in superdelegates (ABC News). Rep. Don Payne (D-NJ) switches support from Hillary to Obama. Rep. Fazio (D-OR) endorses Obama. Government employees union, the AFGE, endorses Obama and its head, a super delegate, personally endorses Obama. Rep. Carney of PA endorses Hillary. Today’s tally so far: Obama 3, Hillary 0*. (Hillary is zero because the loss of Payne offsets the gain of Carney). UPDATE: He’s now +9 for the day.
California Voters’ Remorse. If California could revote their primary, they’d vote for Obama by 6. That’s a 16-point swing since the Super Tuesday election. (Maybe Obama should agree to a MI & FL revote after all).
Peggy Noonan on Hillary’s dysfunctional and destructive grip on the Democratic Party.
Final official margin of victory for Hillary in Ohio shrunk to 8.8% following count of provisional ballots.
Daily Tracking Polls. Rasmussen Shocker: Pollster announces that Democratic contest is over - Obama won. It will stop tracking the Democratic nomination contest. Today’s poll shows steady lead by Obama over McCain and Obama’s lead over Hillary spiking up to 50-42%. Interesting move by Rasmussen - I may do the same. Looks like Obama’s victory and victory speech is showing up in the polls now and is resulting in a healthy bounce. Gallup has a more modest uptick for Obama, 48-46%.
John Edwards, on the Today Show this morning, continues to refuse to endorse, but does admit that Obama has “the best chance of beating John McCain.”

WaPo Front Pager: McCain pushed a land deal that benefited his former staff and his financial contributors.
The Economist says Obama deserves to be the Democratic nominee.
Bush removes Republican FEC Commissioner who had challenged McCain’s compliance with FEC law. Critics charge Bush is trying to help McCain by “switching the judge”. Meanwhile, Senator McConnell assists McCain on the Senate floor in a game of tag-team GOP support.
Politico: GOP voters still dissing McCain.
Final Indiana primary election victory margin by Hillary: 14,487 votes - 1%. A margin so small it’s pretty likely Limbaugh’s Operation Chaos made the difference.
Cindy McCain says she will never release her finances because they’re “not relevant.” John McCain has been using her private jet on the campaign, living in the eight houses her money bought and otherwise benefited from her fortune, but it’s “not relevant.”
Eugene Robinson of WaPo/MSNBC says Hillary played ugly racial politics yesterday and needs to drop out sooner rather than later.
NY Times Editorial sharply criticizes Hillary for racial politics, and all but “unendorses” her.
EJ Dionne: Last weeks Democratic victory in the Louisiana House race was in a district that had been held by GOP since 1974, and which Bush won overwhelmingly, and where GOP tried to “nationalize” the race as a referendum on Obama and Pelosi. Dionne sees it as a sign of doom for old GOP campaign tactics and momentum for the Democrats on the issues.
WaPo’s Balz: Don’t expect Hillary to drop out before superdelegates decide.
Even Charles Krauthammer says its game over for Hillary.
Hillary Not Fully Vetted. RNC admits it has a 1,200 page dossier of negative oppo research on Hillary including much that has never been disclosed before.
Every Man For Himself. Three dozen GOP Congressmen buck GOP leadership and Bush Administration in supporting Dem home foreclosure relief bill.
Obama takes “victory lap” in quest for Super Delegates.
What is the Clintons “end game.“
Obama reaches out to superdelegates from South Carolina that previously endorsed Edwards.