The Blue State

Cindy McCain promises husband's campaign will play nice

She was not smart to say this -- because we know it will come back to bite her.  This was Cindy McCain on The Today Show this morning:

“Look, this is politics. We're going to go back and forth,” she said. “There are clear differences in this race between whatever candidates wind up against each other. That's the beauty of this race … What you're going to see is a great debate. Which is what the American public deserves. None of this negative stuff, though. You won't see it come out of our side at all.”

My guess is that this promise will be broken within the next 48 hours, if not sooner.

Someone who loans her campaign millions isn't a working class hero

As articulated by Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News:

She plods ahead now, only in the race because she won Indiana  by the size of a Knicks  crowd, and all Hillary Clinton  has left is giving people another month of reasons not to vote for the black guy.

She thinks she still has that going for her, along with the cockeyed notion that somebody who can loan herself more than $11 million to keep running for President is more of a working-class hero than Norma Rae.

Nonetheless, the campaign continues.  She will win West Virginia on Tuesday.  One week later, she will win Kentucky and lose Oregon.  She may win Puerto Rico.  And then he will win Montana and South Dakota.  Then superdelegates will endorse.

Clinton superdelegate asks for Obama's autograph

During a House vote, Barack Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, strode into the chambers and spoke to a number of superdelegates, including some that already backed Clinton.

The Hill:

“I wanted to see what's going on over here,” Obama, wearing a broad smile, told reporters. “I hear there's a lot of action on this side.”

He spoke to uncommitted superdelegates as well as supporters of his rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) He was also seen speaking to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who is neutral in the race. And he talked at length to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), an uncommitted superdelegate.

The Democratic frontrunner spoke with Clinton supporters Reps. John Murtha (Pa.) and Bill Pascrell (N.J.), as well as Reps. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and John Spratt (S.C.), who are both uncommitted.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), a Clinton supporter, got Obama to sign a copy of today’s New York Daily News with the headline: “It’s His Party.”

Ouch!  Compare that to yesterday when many decided to stay on the sidelines after being asked by Hillary to meet with her.

To Obama supporters: Everything will be fine

The Democratic race for the presidency is coming to an end.  Over the next few days, a flood of super delegates are poised to go Obama's way.  At the moment, Obama needs just 180 delegates to reach the 2,025 mark, thus securing the nomination.  Sure, Hillary did say today that the nominee must actually get 2,210.  Even though that is technically incorrect, and yet another example of political positioning by the Clinton family, maybe the idea of her staying in the race could work to Obama's benefit.

West Virginia is scheduled to vote this next Tuesday, and Clinton will coast to an easy win there.  Just think, how would it look if Obama lost to someone who had already dropped out of the race?  How about Kentucky one week later?  She will win that too.  If she drops out and still wins those contests, the media will gossip, "He is the Democratic nominee and his own party is abandoning him."  It would make him look terrible.  So in the end, maybe Hillary should stay in until at least May 21st, the morning after Kentucky and Oregon voters head to the polls.  Or, Clinton could wait until after June 4th, meaning the Democrats would have campaigned in all 50 states before this thing was wrapped up.  By campaigning in every state, Obama and Clinton have helped register a record number of Democrats, thus helping the party locally in those areas.

The only thing we ask from Senator Clinton is for her to put her kitchen sink strategy to bed, and only focus on her vision for the country.  If she cares about the party, she cannot attack Obama as viciously as she has.  So stay in.  Help strike a deal so seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan at the convention.  Then bow out.

Obama is now the nominee.  Hillary put up a great fight.  If Hillary and her surrogates tone down their attacks a bit, we should even encourage them to stay in the race so that when she departments she does it in a way that brings the party together, positioning itself for the contest versus McCain this November.

Video: Gravel guest stars in latest Obamagirl video

Holy crap Mike Gravel is losing it -- if he hadn't already:

Just in case you forgot by now, this song was based off the Obamagirl video last year.

What a night in politics

Thankfully I only worked until 5 PM (Pacific time) so I didn't miss any of it.  This truly was one of the most exciting nights in politics I have ever experienced.  Going into Tuesday's contests, I thought Obama's victory in North Carolina would be about equal to that of Hillary Clinton's near-certain victory in Indiana -- at least six points on both fronts.  I was wrong.  Obama landed a comfortable victory in North Carolina, and brought us to the edge of our seats for the long, drawn out contest in Indiana.  Clinton pulled it out, barely.

By the end of the night, Obama went from being pushed against a fence to the certain nominee.  With Clinton about to get out of the race (fingers crossed on that one), Obama will be the target of GOP attacks from now until November.  If Hillary accomplished one good thing this race, it was that she helped get the Jeremiah Wright scandal out front and center now, as opposed to letting the Republicans do it just weeks before the election.

What a night.  And so a new race is about to begin -- again, assuming Clinton drops out.  Yes, assuming.

INDIANA LIVE THREAD

A live analysis on the race that just won't end:

• 1:16 AM ET: Clinton is the winner in Indiana.  Does it matter?  Nope.  Obama will run away with this nomination because of all tnhe super delegates who will flock to his side over the next few days.  NITE ALL!
• 1 AM ET: OK, it looks like I will shut it down for the night.  I will update the site again when I get up.  Will Obama win Indiana?  Will Hillary squeak one out?  I don't think it matters.  Over the next few days, you will watch super delegates flock to Obama's side.  This nomination is wrapping up.  However, with Hillary still poised to win West Virginia, maybe Obama should hope she stays in the race just two more weeks, when Oregon finally puts him over the top.
• 12:38 AM ET: CBS still claims Clinton is the winner of Indiana.  Whoah are they off or what?
• 12:35 AM ET: The margin is now within 16,609 votes.
• 12:33 AM ET: Hillary could be finished.  Over on MyDD, it says that thousands of votes from Marion County and Monroe County have yet to be counted -- places where Obama is favored.  He may not even need Lake County.
• 12:24 AM ET: People are saying that there is roughly 85% to 95% turnout in Gary County.  Wow!  These people want change.
• 12:15 AM ET: This JUST in: Hillary Clinton will not hold any public events on Wednesday.  And the Gary Mayor is predicting an upset.
• 12:09 AM ET: This in from Kos.  Maybe it could go to Obama.
• 12:04 AM ET: Roughly a 20,000-vote difference.  That one last county waited until forever to finally release their numbers.

Blue Nightowl Clips

After Obama's great election night, here are some of the top political clips making their rounds on the blogs at this hour:

1. Barack Obama victory speech.
2. FOX News struggles to understand class in America.

More clips tomorrow.

ELECTION NIGHT THREAD

Voters in North Carolina and Indiana have a stake in this race tonight.  Use this thread to weigh in as it unfolds, and comment with other Blue Staters.  Which candidate came out best?  And how long will this race last?

• UPDATE (11:59 PM ET): lol Anderson Cooper just called John King the "Rainman of politics."  Ouch.  Well, that ends this thread, since it is about to expire.  I'll post more updated on another thread.
• UPDATE (11:50 PM ET): Obama could win this.  Gary County is the only one remaining, and the margin is below 20,000 votes.
• UPDATE (11:13 PM ET): In North Carolina, Obama nets about 11 delegates, and in Indiana Hillary nets roughly four.  That means Obama made up what he lost in Pennsylvania.  This race is over.
• UPDATE (10:15 PM ET): It looks like Clinton will hold on.  She is now up by 41,000 votes, after being ahead only 38,000 about 20 minutes ago.  According to an NBC reporter, it is like "schizophrenia" inside the Hillary camp.
• UPDATE (10:07 PM ET): An interesting stat to note as we wait for the results in Indiana.  In South Bend, Obama leads by around 11 points.  That is strange.  It's a heavily populated Catholic area, which should have gone to Clinton.  Even though Notre Dame is there, it still was expected to be in the Clinton category.  And there's more to be counted there.
• UPDATE (9:59 PM ET): The voter ID law in Indiana might have hurt Clinton because, as Time Magazine writes on their web site, some senior citizens don't drive and therefore don't carry around photo ID.  12 nuns were turned away from a polling station in Indiana today.
• UPDATE (9:44 PM ET): It looks like the Obama people are saying they will come up roughly 15,000 to 10,000 votes short of catching Hillary in Indiana.  Either way, a big night for Obama.
• UPDATE (9:35 PM ET): In reaction to Obama's speech, one word: "WOW!"  And in Indiana, it's now 52% to 48%, Hillary slightly in the lead.
• UPDATE (9:31 PM ET): Obama is really going populist in his message.  He is talking about trust in the public, and taking the humble route of admitting that he is an imperfect candidate.
• UPDATE (9:12 PM ET): Obama is speaking!
• UPDATE (9:11 PM ET): Wow!  Hillary spinners are going to have a difficult time with this.
• UPDATE (8:58 PM ET): It's now down to six points in Indiana.  Though he will probably still lose, this is still pretty huge.  It ensures Obama will pick up more pledged delegates tonight, and erase almost all that Clinton gained in Pennsylvania.
• UPDATE (8:39 PM ET): While CBS has called Indiana for Clinton, and although she may indeed come out the winner there, it is getting closer.  Stay tuned.
• Update (8:30 PM ET): Obama is trouncing Hillary in North Carolina.  This is almost as bad for Clinton as the contest in Washington state.  If this keeps up, no matter if Hillary wins Indiana, many delegates are going to jump to Obama's side.

What John and Elizabeth like and dislike about the two candidates

In an exclusive interview with People Magazine, John and Elizabeth Edwards revealed their true feelings about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:

In their first joint interview since John, the Democratic former senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee, dropped out of the race in January, the couple named what they liked and disliked about each of the remaining Democrats – and Mrs. Edwards didn't hesitate: "I like Hillary's health care plan."

What doesn't she like about the senator from New York and former first lady? "The lobbyist money," she adds.

On Obama, she says: "The fact that he has motivated so many young people to be involved, I think is fantastic."

But, she adds: "I don't like his health care plan or his advertising on health care, which I think is misleading."

Though, the two disagreed over whether it would be more symbolic to have an African-American or woman as president:

But he cited two things he likes about the charismatic young senator from Illinois: "One is, I think he really does want to bring about serious change and a different way of doing things. And secondly, I think it's a great symbolic thing to have an African-American who could be president."

Suddenly, Elizabeth jumped in:

At that, Mrs. Edwards rolled her eyes and, gripping the arms of her kitchen chair with some exaggeration, seemed about to lunge from her seat. "What about the great symbolic thing about a woman ..."

"It's important. It's important," her husband said. "I know it."

The full interview will be out on news stands this Friday.  In summary, the the couple will decline to endorse a candidate this primary season.  Had they stayed in the race all the way, it could have forced a brokered convention.