It isn’t much of a surprise that Barack Obama won North Carolina, the real shocker might be just how dominate his victory might be in the state.
The race was called very quickly by MSNBC which reveals a wave of Obama support across the state. It is looking like his margin of victory could be firmly into double digits.
There used to be a Whig Party in the United States. William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor were elected President as Whigs. In practice, the U.S. Constitution only allows for two dominant parties to exist at any given time for reasons involving the make-up of the U.S. Congress and the Electoral College system.
Two new Zogby polls were released today, and they reveal that Obama has a growing lead in North Carolina, but the race is still a virtual tie in Indiana. Obama has added four points to his lead in NC, and now leads Clinton 51%-37%. In Indiana Obama still holds a two point lead 45%-43% with 5% for someone else, and 7% not sure.
Barack Obama picked up two more superdelegates today, as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party announced that they will be supporting Obama.
This represents quite a shift because Party chairman Michael Cryor and Vice chairman Lauren Dugas Glover originally had announced that they planned to stay neutral until the end of the primary season.
Today Barack Obama picked up three newspaper endorsements in Indiana and one in North Carolina ahead of Tuesday’s primaries. Here are some highlights from each endorsement.
As the Democrat primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continues to the bitter end, both candidates and their supporters are doing whatever they have to do to squeeze every last vote out of the electorate.
Even when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama match up thousands of miles off the mainland, they still end up virtually tied. The race between the two in the U.S. territory of Guam was only for four convention delegates, so what was really at stake was bragging rights, which in the end neither campaign got.
Barack Obama picked up another superdelegate today as New Mexico Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon endorsed him.
A new Zogby poll released today revealed that very little has changed for both Democratic candidates in North Carolina and Indiana. In North Carolina Obama has a 16 point lead over Clinton 50%-34%, but in Indiana, the candidates are still deadlocked 42%-42% with 9% not sure.
Today is the fifth anniversary of President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama released statements about ending the Iraq war.
A new poll done by Mason-Dixon for WRAL TV in North Carolina of 400 likely Democratic voters in the state found that Hillary Clinton has shrunk Barack Obama’s once double digit lead down to seven points. Obama now leads Clinton 49%-42%, with 9% undecided. The poll’s margin of error is five points.
According to the AP, Joe Andrew who was Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1999-2001, will announce today that he is switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.
Pennsylvania superdelegate, Bill George, who is also president of the PA AFL-CIO has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Congressman Ben Chandler announced his endorsement of Barack Obama today.
Originally Obama supporters defended Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons, correctly in my mind, as taken out of context, but it seems like Wright has found fame and decided to enjoy all of his 15 minutes, even if it costs Barack Obama the presidency.
The presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton looked to increase the pressure on the Barack Obama campaign to hold more debates by releasing a letter Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams wrote to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today and he said that he hoped the Democratic Party would have their nominee by the end of June.
Fox News Sunday’s “Obama Watch” came to an end this week, when the frontrunner for the Democrat presidential nomination granted an interview to Chris Wallace. The 35-minute interview took up three segments, and covered everything from Rev. Wright to Gen. Petraeus.
Today, Hillary Clinton challenged Barack Obama to a debate without a moderator ala Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in their 1858 Illinois Senate campaign, but do we really need any more debates? Is there anything about these two candidates that we don’t already know?
I’ll let you in on a secret. I am a political animal. I have been since the 1992 presidential election when I was 16 years old. I watched the conventions with great anticipation and was quite a good volunteer for one of the three major candidates in 1992. Arguments with classmates were the norm.
A new Indianapolis Star-WTHR poll released today showed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama statistically tied in the Hoosier State.
Obama leads Clinton 41%-38%, but once the margin of error of 4.2% is factored in, the race is even. Where Obama does hold a clear advantage is in the hypothetical head to head matchup with John McCain.
The presidential campaign of Barack Obama released a memo today that they sent to superdelegates laying out their case that Obama is the best candidate to take on John McCain this fall.
Hillary Clinton’s Pennsylvania victory got her some things that are even more important than delegates. It got her time, and renewed questions about Obama’s electability. Let’s first be clear, Clinton is not a comeback kid.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about global warming and Earth Day as a grassroots movement today.
According to observers and newspapers, turnout has been high, but there have been no major problems with voting across the state of Pennsylvania so far.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke on the Senate floor today, urging Republicans to vote in favor of a bill that would provide better benefits to veterans.
March was a very good month for Barack Obama on the fundraising front, while Hillary Clinton continues to slide back, and John McCain is stuck in neutral.
In March, Obama raised $41,144,348. This is more than double Clinton’s total of $20,107,968, and John McCain might be better off buying a metal detector and heading to the beach, as he only raised $12,037,287.
Today on Meet the Press top Obama strategist David Axelrod, and top Clinton strategist Geoff Gavin continued the argument between the two campaigns, but closed with some interesting words about unifying the Democratic Party.
It has to feel like the walls are starting to close in for Hillary Clinton, as today the man who was the Secretary of Labor under her husband’s administration, Robert Reich, endorsed Barack Obama.
The good news is that public interest continues to build for the election. The bad news is that ratings were so good for ABC’s pseudo debate last night that other networks will surely be willing to copy the tabloid style used last night.
If there is one thing that most Democrats love more than fighting with Republicans, it is fighting with each other, but there is mounting evidence that the Clinton/Obama war is starting to tear apart the Democratic Party.
Note: This was written in real time during the debate.
Moderator Charles Gibson started by asking Clinton and Obama why they wouldn’t team up and run together in the fall, and they both dodged the question.
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama had some very strong things to say to the Building Trades National Legislative Conference today.
A new Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters found that Barack Obama’s bitter comments seem to have no impact on the state of the primary race, as Hillary Clinton maintained the same lead that she had last week 50%-44%.
Hillary Clinton is risking a backlash, by pushing Obama’s bitter comments too far. Today, while speaking in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton once again took her new found love of guns to a greater extreme.
A new poll done over the weekend suggests that Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters may already be punishing Barack Obama for his “bitter” comments. An American Research Group poll released today finds that Clinton now leads Obama 57%-37% in the Keystone State.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) was a guest today on CNN’s Late Edition program. What I found interesting was his reasoning for not endorsing Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Wolf Blitzer asked Biden if he planned to endorse either of the two candidates. “No, I do not. But I’m helping them both when they call me. I speak to them not infrequently.
Speaking today in Indianapolis, IN Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton continued to pummel Barack Obama for his comment about working class Pennsylvania voters’ economic frustration.
Well, it has been about two weeks since I contributed the first part of my comprehensive look at the Presidential candidates that have fallen by the wayside. I do apologize for the delay, but apparently I forgot about Opening Day in St. Louis, which was last week.
A new Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania Democrats released today found that Hillary Clinton’s lead over Barack Obama continues to decrease. Clinton now leads Obama 50%-44% in the state. This is a three point drop from the previous poll done last week, and a six point drop from two weeks ago. Obama gained support among white voters, men and women.
This evening the Hillary Clinton campaign put out a brief statement about the departure of Mark Penn as chief strategist for her campaign.
During an appearance today on CNN’s “Late Edition” program, Barack Obama supporter Chris Dodd made the case that Barack Obama’s lack of experience could help instead of hurt him in the general election. Host Wolf Blitzer asked Dodd about experience after previous guest Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) said that he was supporting Clinton based on her experience.
According to an article by Sinead Carew of Reuters, on Thursday, April 3rd, John Edwards closed the book on the presidential chapter of his life. After delivering a speech to the big fish of the nation’s wireless industry, Edwards was asked point blank by someone in the audience whether or not he would accept the VP slot on either the Clinton or Obama ticket.
Today from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. “There’s been a lot of discussion this week about how Dr. King’s life and legacy speak to us today. It’s taking place in our schools and churches, on television and around the dinner table.
If Obama can Learn from Bocephus, He has a Good Chance at Being the Next President. If Not, the Rural Poor May Vote Republican in 08.
Hillary Clinton seems to be in a lot of trouble. Her campaign may be running out of steam. And eventually, money, as she simply cannot compete with Barack Obama in fundraising numbers. And almost day by day, it seems someone else is calling for her to get out of the race.
Hillary Clinton seems to be in a lot of trouble. Her campaign may be running out of steam. And eventually, money, as she simply cannot compete with Barack Obama in fundraising numbers. And almost day by day, it seems someone else is calling for her to get out of the race.
The Barack Obama fundraising juggernaut continued to roll along in March as he outraised Hillary Clinton by a 2 to 1 margin last month. The Obama campaign is reporting that they rose over $40 million, while Clinton is expected to have brought in around $20 million. More impressive than the amount of money raised is the number of donors that the campaign is attracting.
Things are really heating up here in PA today. While Hillary Clinton was speaking about job creation in Pittsburgh, Barack Obama was in Philadelphia branding Clinton as the candidate of the special interests.
A new poll by the non-partisan think tank the Center for Immigration Studies found that the majority of voters know very little about the three remaining presidential candidates’ positions on immigration.
All signs continue to point to Barack Obama becoming the Democratic nominee, as today Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) became the latest super delegate to endorse Obama.
There was an interesting post on Ralph Nader’s blog yesterday signed by the man himself expressing the opinion that Hillary Clinton has every right to remain in the Democratic presidential field.
John Edwards gave his first public speech today since withdrawing from the Democratic race a couple of months ago. He had lots of nice things to say about both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but dropped no hints about when or if his personal endorsement was coming. “I have a very high opinion of both of them.
The Republican National Committee has demanded that Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean apologize for remarks he made yesterday about the latest campaign ad from John McCain.
Here is the ad in question:
On the same day that Pennsylvania super delegate Sen. Bob Casey endorsed Obama, Sen. Patrick Leahy released a statement calling for Clinton to withdraw and support Obama. However, Clinton continues to vow to fight on.
Barack Obama picked up a critical endorsement in Pennsylvania today, when Sen. Bob Casey Jr. decided to announce his endorsement of him at a rally in Pittsburgh. “I believe in my heart that there is one person whose uniquely qualified to lead us in that new direction and that is Barack Obama,” Casey said.
Well, we are now down to three. Three candidates who have a chance at being President come this November. One Republican and two Democrats. History will be made regardless of who wins. We will see the first black President, the first female to be elected to the Oval Office or the oldest Commander-in-Chief.
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign put out a press release today, firing back at the Barack Obama campaign’s claims that Clinton has a history of distorting her record. The Clinton camp accused Obama of using Clinton’s Bosnia exaggerations to deflect attention from the Rev. Wright story.
Obama advisor Gordon Fisher invoked the Lewinsky scandal and earned the wrath of many a Democrat, except me. Fisher was blogging about Bill Clinton insinuating that Barack Obama was not a patriot. “B. Clinton questions Obama’s patriotism. In repsonse, an Obama aide compared B. Clinton to Joe McCarthy. This is patently unfair. To McCarthy.
A collection of political quotes that you might have missed over the past week. This was a popular feature in my old column, so I decided to bring it back.
“They will do anything — anything — to get nominated.”
— An associate of the Clintons who was quoted by Bob Novak in his Washington Post column 3/24
One story and demographic that has been more or less constant for Barack Obama has been his struggle to win Catholic voters.
James Carville thinks that Bill Richardson committed an act of betrayal when he endorsed Barack Obama on Friday. This got me thinking, what more did Richardson owe the Clintons?
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to raise staggering sums of money, while John McCain continues to wait for the funds to start rolling in. Obama raised $55,369,162 in the month of February. Hillary Clinton also had a great month. She raised $34,466,631. For poor John McCain, the money just isn’t coming in very quickly.
What becomes obvious at first glance is that both campaigns chose to focus on Iraq in a different way. Clinton wanted to focus all blame on the Republicans, while looking presidential. This is a strategy aimed at the general election. “The mistakes in Iraq are not the responsibility of our men and women in uniform but of their Commander-in-Chief.
After discussing America’s racial history, and describing his mixed race background, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that the concept that we are the sum of our parts is seared into his genetic makeup. He discussed the racial tensions surrounding his campaign. “This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign.
A new national study by HCD Research of 798 Democrats, Republicans, and Independents found that an across party lines majority said that they were less likely to support Barack Obama after viewing video segments of sermons given by his pastor Jeremiah Wright.
The conventional wisdom says that the Clinton/Obama battle hurts the Democratic Party the longer it drags out, but I disagree. I think that whoever emerges as the nominee could be in a prime position to ride a wave of momentum the whole way to the White House.
In the new issue of Newsweek, which hits newsstands tomorrow, Howard Fineman interviewed Ralph Nader and asked him a wide range of questions about Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic candidates, and the role of reform minded politicians. Nader was asked if personal behavior should be a test of how we measure public officials and candidates.
An HCD Research national study of 431 Democrats found that most of them disagree with Geraldine Ferraro’s statement that, “Barack Obama would not have made it this far if he was a white man.” The study was done to analyze voter perception of video segments of Ferraro on Fox News where she defended her comments about Obama.
Geraldine Ferraro sent a letter to Hillary Clinton this afternoon informing her that she was stepping down from her post on Clinton’s finance committee. “I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign,” Ferraro wrote.
The latest political firestorm between the Clinton and Obama campaigns centers on some comments that Clinton supporter and former Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro made to the Daily Breeze newspaper of Torrance, CA last Friday. Ferraro said, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.
I was watching MSNBC this afternoon when they had their political director Chuck Todd on for a segment. Usually, Mr. Todd provides the standard look at some poll numbers or data. It is pretty straightforward stuff, but today he said something that got me thinking.
Even though the media is using terms like “shocking” and “bombshell” to describe the revelations that Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer had used the services of a high end prostitution ring, it isn’t really much of a surprise that another powerful politician is caught up in a sex scandal. In my mind, Spitzer’s anti-crime crusader rhetoric is no different than Sen. Larry Craig being vehemently anti-gay, or Sen. David Vitter being a staunch public defender of marriage and family values all the while cheating on his wife with prostitutes.
