Obama Advisers Foresee a Delegate Draw With Clinton

More evidence that we may have a superdelegate superdebacle. The article does offer an interesting solution to the Michigan/Florida problem:

Under the current rules, there are only two ways Michigan and Florida could get convention delegates. The states could resubmit a selection plan that is consistent with DNC rules. That could include holding another primary or a party-run caucus, for example.

As Joe has already suggested, just hold two caucuses. Otherwise, the Superdelegates may be picking our nominee instead of us. And I don't care how long it's been in the rules, no one realized this was the case, and I suspect there's going to be a civil war if the superdelegates pick the nominee who isn't ahead in the "real" delegate count. And wouldn't that be a great way to hand John McCain the presidency. Read the rest of this post...

Bushies arrest polar bear

From TowleRoad:

A Greenpeace activist was arrested last week after peacefully protesting the Bush administration's delay in issuing a final Endangered Species Act listing for polar bears due to global warming. He floated around in a rowboat in front of the Department of the Interior for a while before police came and took him away.

Andy has more photos and video. Good job, Greenpeace. I've been saying for a while that the drowning polar bear issue is THE symbol the enviros should be organizing around. Read the rest of this post...

McCain booed at top conservative conference

They hate him, they really hate him. Read the rest of this post...

The Superdelegate's dilemma

Does Rep. McDermott side with his constituency, which is mostly pro-Obama, or with the Clintons, who helped him pay down his legal fees? Members of Congress may begin to feel pressure to side with the candidate their constituents support. More from Slog, the blog of The Stranger newspaper. Read the rest of this post...

Wash Post: Nearly impossible for Hillary or Obama to win without SuperDelegates

Get ready for a bunch of congressmen and DNC officials to pick our nominee for us. Via Taegan Goddard:

The Washington Post's Paul Kane: "We've done a bad job of explaining this, but it is now basically mathematically impossible for either Clinton or Obama to win the nomination through the regular voting process (meaning the super-delegates decide this one, baby!).

"Here's the math. There are 3,253 pledged delegates, those doled out based on actual voting in primaries and caucuses. And you need 2,025 to win the nomination. To date, about 55% of those 3,253 delegates have been pledged in the voting process -- with Clinton and Obamb roughly splitting them at about 900 delegates a piece. That means there are now only about 1,400 delegates left up for grabs in the remaining states and territories voting.

"So, do the math. If they both have about 900 pledged delegates so far, they need to win more than 1,100 of the remaining 1,400 delegates to win the nomination through actual voting.

"Ain't gonna happen, barring a stunning scandal or some new crazy revelation. So, they'll keep fighting this thing out, each accumulating their chunk of delegates, one of them holding a slight edge and both finishing the voting process with 1,600 or so delegates. And then the super delegates decide this thing. That's the math."

Read the rest of this post...

Warren Buffet sees "poetic justice" with banking problems

Spot on. Bailing banks out for self-made problems makes zero sense. Read the rest of this post...

McCain arrival at CPAC met very little enthusiasm

I managed to wander up Connecticut Avenue this afternoon to check out the Conservative Political Action Conference a.k.a. CPAC. It's at the Omni Shoreham in the Woodley Park neighborhood of DC. That whole area is just crawling with creepy conservatives.

Just when I got to the hotel, who arrived but the presumptive GOP nominee, John McCain. There was a crowd of maybe 75 - 100 McCain supporters in the lobby. Now, McCain is probably going to be the candidate of the Republican party this year. And, CPAC is one of the largest gatherings of right wingers. So you might think his arrival would be a big deal. You'd be wrong. Let's just say, I didn't feel any excitement in the air when McCain walked in -- none. I can't imagine either of our two top candidates showing up at a convention of progressives without an outpouring of enthusiasm and support. I've been in rooms when Clinton and Obama have arrived. You feel it.

McCain was whisked right through the small crowd that was trying to generate some enthusiasm by chanting "John McCain." But it was a dud. And, I apologize for the blurry photos, but I figured he would walk through his supporters and shake some hands, not skirt them and pass right next to me. If this was the response he got from his supporters at CPAC, it will be interesting to see how his speech is received by the full gathering of the right wingers later this afternoon.



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The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record

From Nieman Watchdog:

By now no one expects the Bush Administration to make itself accountable for its controversial and possibly illegal practices. But the next President will have a unique opportunity to reveal what has been kept hidden for the last seven years. Secrecy watchdog Steven Aftergood suggests a few questions for the presidential candidates about their willingness to disclose just what the current Administration has done....

In 2005, then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey told colleagues at the Justice Department that they would be “ashamed” when a legal memorandum on forceful interrogation of prisoners eventually became public. In fact, however, disclosure of such secret Bush Administration documents may be the only way to begin to overcome the palpable shame that is already felt by many Americans at the thought that their government has engaged in abusive interrogations, secret renditions or unchecked surveillance.

The next President will have the authority to declassify and disclose any and all records that reflect the activities of executive branch agencies. Although internal White House records that document the activities of the outgoing President and his personal advisers will be exempt from disclosure for a dozen years or so, every Bush Administration decision that was actually translated into policy will have left a documentary trail in one or more of the agencies, and all such records could be disclosed at the discretion of the next President.

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Romney to "suspend campaign" today

CNN is reporting the breaking news that "Romney to suspend campaign." Mitt is quitting. He'll apparently be making the big announcement today at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). But Mitt being Mitt, he could just flip-flop and get back in.


More from ABC:

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or (Barack) Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney planned to say in a speech to the conference, according to the Associated Press.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters ... many of you right here in this room ... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming president. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country," Romney planned to say, reports the AP.

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Clinton joins Obama in raising millions online since Super Tuesday

We'd reported last night that Obama has raised over $7.3 million online since Super Tuesday. I just got word that Hillary also launched a post- Super Tuesday online fundraiser and has raised $4 million, including adding 35,000 new donors (which is important because new donors can potentially be asked to give again, and they're potentially new votes, new volunteers, etc.). Obama raised 80% more than Hillary during the same time period, but to some degree that's to be expected - his fundraising has been out of control for a while, and in January he raised twice as much as her. Still, it's good news for Hillary that she can still bring in significant bucks at a time that she very much needs them, now that the race is clearly going on for quite a while longer. I doubt either campaign budgeted for a race this long. Read the rest of this post...

Iraq benchmarks report card

Iraq's political situation continues to be a disaster. All our troops are there to keep things as stable as they can so Iraq's government can get itself together . . . but the government simply isn't doing so.

A year after President Bush set out his benchmarks for Iraq, using them to justify a massive increase in troops and a prolonged U.S. presence, the Center for American Progress reports that just 3 of the 18 benchmarks have been met:

The purpose of the surge was to provide the “breathing space” for political reconciliation to occur. Yet over one year later, political progress has been scant, and what progress has been made is not durable. The Iraqis have not made the difficult political compromises necessary for national reconciliation, and an indefinite U.S. presence in the region will not inspire them to do so. Despite the best efforts of our military men and women in creating a temporary lull in violence, substantial advancement toward a sustainable and independent Iraq has not been made.

In order to motivate Iraq’s political leaders, the United States must set a date certain for withdrawal. Only then will the Iraqis make the difficult political compromises necessary for national reconciliation.

Indeed. Read the rest of this post...

McCain to right wingers: Come on. You have to like me now. (And, I'll pander now)

McCain truly is a right wing conservative. But every now and then, he went off the reservation -- and he loved to tweak the hard core base. Remember how he trashed Robertson and Falwell back in 2000:

I am a pro-life, pro-family fiscal conservative, an advocate of a strong defense, and yet Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few Washington leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro- life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters.

Why? Because I don't pander to them, because I don't ascribe to their failed philosophy that money is our message.

Well, he's pandering to them now. McCain needs the wingers now. He wants some love from Rush and his ilk:

John McCain, whose Super Tuesday performance has given him an aura of inevitability in the eyes of many Republican leaders, has begun an aggressive campaign to quell conservative dissent and prevent an outbreak of GOP buyer’s remorse.

The campaign, as described by Republican sources, has two pillars: outreach to talk-radio hosts and other conservative critics and a succession of high-profile endorsements in the coming days.

The effort to win over, or at least blunt the opposition, of talk-radio hosts and other movement figures who resent McCain’s maverick style and past departures from conservative orthodoxy involves both high-level surrogates and the candidate himself.

Its targets include the most influential talk-radio voice, Rush Limbaugh, who has been contacted in recent days by a McCain emissary, according to Republican sources.

Sounds like junior high school. McCain has his friends passing notes to the right wingers.

Dear Rush:

I think John McCain kinda likes you now. __Do you like him? or __Do like like him? __No way. Check one.

Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

DC is crawling with even more creepy conservatives than usual. They are all in town for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And, they are all here -- except Coulter. She didn't get invited back this year after her gay bashing outburst last year. McCain is trying to find some love from the wingers. I may wander over to check out the scene -- disturbing as it will be.

But, I'm on my way to the vet shortly. My dog, Boomer, needs to have a couple teeth removed. Right now, he's trying to figure out why I'm not feeding him. Makes for a stressful morning.

Anyway, let's get it started. Read the rest of this post...

Rice will 'talk to President Karzai' about journalist sentenced to death

The US response still seems weak. Young Afghan journalist Sayed Pervez Kambaksh is currently being held in prison because he downloaded and distributed a report on women's rights. If the US is supposed to be bringing democracy, as the administration likes to tell everyone, they ought to be moving much more aggressively to assist Pervez who is sitting in miserable conditions. Is this the best Rice can do? From his family in Afghanistan:

While the international campaign to free Sayed Pervez Kambaksh grows, life in jail for the 23-year-old student is, according to his family, "nothing but enduring hell day after day".

He shares a cell meant for four people with 30 others at the prison in Balkh province where he has been held for more than three months. In that time he has been attacked by Taliban prisoners who have been told by officials that Mr Kambaksh is guilty of blasphemy. His food has been contaminated by guards, he has lost weight, and is traumatised.

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Banks: Bail us out or else everything will get worse

Nice. Remind me again why easy money was such a good thing? Banks became greedy and stupid and they threw money around like it was free. (Considering the way the Federal Reserve handed out money, it was cheap and now it's cheaper than the rate of inflation.) This brought down the whole economy and now they're telling us it will somehow be different this time. Uh huh, right. There's no need to drag out this misery and hiding it behind more funny money, creating the problems of tomorrow.

Banks have plenty of clever people and they will no doubt find a way out eventually. I suspect things will get worse for banks and the economy in general. Giving away more now is not the solution for the problems. Let the banks live with the problems they created and let consumers come back to planet earth with spending instead of spending more than they earn. Read the rest of this post...

Hillary still ahead in New Mexico, 98% of vote counted

CNN has the live returns. Read the rest of this post...