With Sen. Barack Obama now leading in the support of both pledged delegates and superdelegates -- adding at least seven more supers to his tally today -- ABC News reports that Bill Clinton is making the case that Sen. Hillary Clinton can still win the popular vote if she gets 80% support in West Virginia next week.
Unfortunately, "many in the crowd seemed to lose interest as he began his speech -- even during his appeal for a high voter turnout."
In an interview to be televised later tonight on Bloomberg TV, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said Sen. Barack Obama isn't likely to pick Sen. Hillary Clinton as a running mate.
Said Kennedy: "I don't think it's possible."
He said Obama should choose a running mate who "is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people."
"Well, I don't think that carries any more weight than anyone who will
argue that the fact that she only got 8 percent of the African-American
vote in North Carolina indicates that she cannot get African-American
votes in the general election."
-- Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), in an interview with the National Journal, on Sen. Hillary Clinton's contention that Sen. Barack Obama cannot win over white voters.
At a New Yorker conference this morning, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) -- who has been hiding under his desk during the Democratic presidential race -- acknowledged for the first time that Sen. Barack Obama is the "presumptive nominee" of his party.
When moderator Ryan Lizza pointed out that there are only 217 undecided super delegates left, Emanuel laughed and said "it's an exclusive club."
CQ Politics takes "a quick look" at the next six primaries and notes Sen. Hillary Clinton
"appears to have the edge in two states and in Puerto Rico -- provided
she continues to stay in the race -- and Sen. Barack Obama seems to have an
advantage in three states."
A new American Research Group poll in West Virginia finds Sen. Hillary Clinton way ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, 66% to 23%.
Key findings: Clinton leads among men, 57% to 27%, and she leads among women, 72% to 20%. Clinton leads among white voters, 70% to 19%, and Obama leads among African American voters, 91% to 3%. African Americans voters, however, only account for 5% of likely Democratic primary voters in the state.
It's also interesting that "someone else" received 5% of the vote on the ballot question. John Edwards is still on the ballot in West Virginia, but his name was not mentioned in the survey.
As Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) contemplates his political future after admitting he fathered a child from an extramarital affair, a new SurveyUSA poll finds 61% of adults from his NY-13 district say he should remain in office, while 32% say he should resign.
According to a Wall Street Journal review, Sorensen says, for the first time, that he "did a first draft of most chapters," "helped choose the words of many of its sentences" and likely "privately boasted or indirectly hinted that I had written much of the book."
Sorensen also admits that in 1957 -- just after the book won a Pulitizer Prize -- that Kennedy "unexpectedly and generously offered, and I happily accepted, a sum" for Sorensen's work on the book.
The overall review of Sorensen's book is glowing: "The heroic effort it required to complete this volume in the wake of his stroke, and to do so in a style that remains masterly, is itself an inspiration. Even when he is describing 40 years of post-White House law practice, there is hardly a page that does not confirm our sense of Mr. Sorensen as a writer of the first rank. If his active service to Kennedy is now concluded, we are still left with the inescapable sense that the words that the two men crafted together -- however one divides the credit -- will live on."
The Economist: "In cartoons there is often a moment when a hapless character, having
galloped over a cliff, is still unaware of the fact and hangs suspended
in the air, legs pumping wildly, until realisation dawns, gravity
intervenes and downfall ensues. Hillary Clinton's campaign looks a bit
like that this week. After her heavy loss in North Carolina and her barely perceptible
victory in Indiana, a state she needed to carry triumphantly, Mrs
Clinton's campaign is surely close to its end."
According to The Politico, Sen. Hillary Clinton is asking some uncommitted superdelegates "if they could commit to
her privately -- without the political risks of a public endorsement --
so that she could gauge whether she has the support she feels she needs
to remain a viable candidate."
Sen. Barack Obama "already has begun pivoting toward the general election," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Soon, he is likely to unleash attack ads aimed at defining Sen. John McCain.
With vastly more money, Sen. Obama will be able to flood the airwaves
as voters are forming impressions."
Goal #1: Link McCain to President Bush as closely as possible.
"The comparison to President Bush is one of many
reasons why Sen. McCain has walked a careful line as he defines
himself. He helped shore up a Republican base with a string of
conservative policy positions on the economy, Iraq, health care and
judges. Though he has courted a maverick image of moderation, he has
made clear that his policy agenda will contour to conservative thought."
"For the first time this campaign season," Sen. Barack Obama has surpassed
Sen. Hillary Clinton's "support among superdelegates," according to the ABC
News delegate estimate.
Obama "picked up two superdelegates this morning giving
him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in
pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised."
Sen. Hillary Clinton is "darting around the country like a full-fledged presidential candidate," but the Los Angeles Times notes that within her "circle of advisors and donors, the conversation has turned to how she can make a dignified exit from the race."
"For all the signs of normalcy, much of the infrastructure that keeps
the New York senator's campaign going -- the aides, donors and
political allies -- is resigned to the hard reality that the Democratic
nomination now appears out of reach."
But just as she can't find a path to the nomination, she also doesn't have a clear path to exit.
"Having invested 16 months and raised more than $200 million in the
campaign, Clinton may find it difficult to quit. Her campaign persona
is now built on the idea that she's working-class America's scrappy
warrior. So dropping out with six contests left in the campaign season
would be awkward."
U.S. News and World Report: "Experts disagree on whether or not Clinton will actually stick in the
fight until the Democratic National Convention in August. But the date
looms large for another reason -- at least, if she hopes to recoup any of
the millions she has sunk into the campaign. Thanks to a little-known
provision in 2002's McCain-Feingold
campaign-finance reform bill, a campaign must repay the loan to a
candidate before Election Day. In this case, that's the nominating
convention. After the election has passed, a bankrupt campaign is
limited to gathering just $250,000 from contributors, which means that
modest sum is all it can give back to a candidate. In short, Clinton
stands to lose $11,150,000."
Sen. Barack Obama's previously announced national voter registration drive is actually much more than that and something that "should scare the beejeesus out of the McCain campaign and the RNC," according to Marc Ambinder.
"The Vote For Change program will lay the foundation for Obama's general
election get-out-the-vote efforts. Obama aides won't say much more, but
I gather that the campaign is constructing an incredibly elaborate
online interface to allow its more than a million donors and volunteers
to directly persuade their neighbors through a variety of media. Names
gathered from the voter registration effort will be merged with names
gathered through Obama's primary efforts and the names off of the
Democratic Party's integrated voter file as well as lists purchased
from outside vendors."
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) acknowledged "that he
fathered a child from an extramarital affair, answering questions that
arose from his arrest on drunken driving charges last week," the AP reports.
"The disclosure clouds Fossella's political future. He faced a
surprisingly tough re-election challenge in 2006, and Democrats were
hoping to unseat him this year."
CQ Politics says Fossella "was under growing pressure" to resign.
"The fight for Democratic superdelegates moved to the House floor on
Thursday as Sen. Barack Obama spoke to dozens of Democrats in
the House well," The Hill reports.
"Obama, increasingly looking like the Democratic presidential
nominee, strode into the House chamber just before 11 a.m.as the House
was beginning a series of votes. Obama, who was greeted with hugs and
backslaps, slipped in the side door along with what appeared to be only
his security detail."
Said Obama: "I wanted to see what's going on over
here. I hear there's a lot of action on this side."
Ben Smith suggests several members previously committed to Sen. Hillary Clinton seemed to be "wavering."
"Unable to revive her presidential campaign at the polls," the Los Angeles Times says Sen. Hillary
Clinton "now envisions a road to the nomination built on disputes over
Democratic Party rules and fights over delegate selections. But on
Wednesday even that route looked unattainable, with some key party
officials warning that they would not cooperate with Clinton's strategy."
Democratic leaders "suggested that setbacks for Clinton's new
strategy could come as early as May 31, when a party committee meets to
consider the dispute over delegates from Florida and Michigan."
However, the New York Times notes that Clinton spokesman Phil Singer "estimated that in a best-case event," where Florida and Michigan delegates
were seated according to each state's popular vote, Clinton "would still be
about 100 delegates shy of the number needed."
Karl Rove: "This will be a very difficult year for Republicans. The
economy's shaky state, an unpopular war, and the natural desire for
partisan change after eight years of one party in the White House have
helped tilt the balance to the Democrats."
However, Sen. John McCain "is the best candidate Republicans could have picked in this environment. With the GOP brand low, his appeal to moderates and independents becomes even more crucial."
Related from Marc Ambinder: "Data released today by the Democratic Party reminds us all of just how
much of a Democratic year this actually is and just how valuable a
party-building exercise a competitive primary can be."
ABC News This Week host George Stephanopoulos said that sources tell him that Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign debt could be as high as $20 million -- more than double earlier reports.
The Los Angeles Times reports Sen. Barack Obama "hasn't managed after months of political combat to force" Sen.
Hillary Clinton "out of the presidential race, so he's about to
try another approach: ignoring her."
"Confident that he has built a near-impregnable lead, his campaign aides
said Wednesday that Obama would begin shifting his focus toward the
general election."
"Obama still plans to campaign in states that remain on the primary
calendar -- he is to appear in Oregon over the weekend -- but he may
also start showing up in states that are considered important in the
November contest: Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. (All three have held
their Democratic primaries.)"
Meanwhile, the New York Daily News notes the Obama campaign "has begun talks" with Clinton administration "loyalists" in an attempt to "recruit field organizers, finance
officials and press officers."
Sorensen also admits that in 1957 -- just after the book won a Pulitizer Prize -- that Kennedy "unexpectedly and generously offered, and I happily accepted, a sum" for Sorensen's work on the book.
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