Blog Buzz: Obama, McCain, Bush, and Coattails, Primary History, Iraq, and Nonproliferation

Our daily look at stories and topics lighting up the Internets:

Coattails: Obama and the Guy Not on the Ballot

DailyKos's BarbinMD thinks that McCain is learning how hard it is to run with Bush in the atmosphere. Multiple mentions around the Web of Nick Beaudrot's spreadsheet trying to use demographics to predict Obama coattails in districts around the country. Meanwhile, Marc Ambinder reports that the Obama campaign is salting away quiet pledges from superdelegates to line up behind him in early June—after the DNC's credentials committee meets this weekend.

Clinton '92: It Wasn't Over Until He Said It Was!

TPM's David Kurtz notes that Clinton can't remember how it went down in his first run. Taegan Goddard notes on Political Wire that Clinton himself said the race was over in April 1992.

Iraq: Optimism on the Right

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey thinks that the question facing the next president will be how, not whether, to withdraw. The Weekly Standard's Dean Barnett wonders why, with things looking up in Iraq, the left isn't celebrating.

McCain's Nonproliferation Speech: Fire From the Left

Jon Wolfsthal slams McCain on Democracy Arsenal for adopting too narrow a lens on nuclear weapons, calling his nonproliferation policy "a wolf in sheep's clothing." Ilan Goldenberg adds on Democracy Arsenal that on North Korea, McCain is more extreme than Bush. Meanwhile, ThinkProgress notes that antiwar protesters interrupted McCain's speech, chanting "End this war! End this war!" But the Boston Globe's Foon Rhee, on Political Intelligence, argues that McCain, who responded, "I will never surrender in Iraq, my friends," took the protest in stride.

—Robert Schlesinger and Johannah Cornblatt