Sen. Barack Obama is making a final push to secure the super delegates needed to secure him the nomination and simultaneously begin preparing for the general election. The Washington Post reports in a front page story that Obama "began taking the first steps to unify the fractured Democratic Party" for the general election, making a surprise visit to the floor of the US House yesterday. Obama was "mobbed by well-wishers as he walked onto the House floor. But behind the scenes, his campaign worked with a light touch to win over uncommitted superdelegates and allies of Clinton, mindful of not appearing overconfident and of the fact that they would need the backing of the candidate, her husband and their supporters in the fall." The USA Today says Obama is pressing his case with the superdelegates "after his decisive victory Tuesday in the North Carolina primary gave him the upper hand." The AP reports Obama "got a front-runner's welcome back at the Capitol" yesterday, and on the House floor, "he was quickly surrounded by well-wishers calling him, 'Mr. President' and reaching out to pat him on the back or shake his hand," including several backers of Clinton.
The New York Times adds in a front page story that behind the scenes, "there were new discussions between Mr. Obama and the party leadership. Senior Democratic officials said he met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi when their paths crossed at Democratic Party headquarters." Obama and Pelosi "had spoken by telephone earlier in the week," but Pelosi "and Mrs. Clinton have had no known recent talks."
More Supers Move To Obama Camp Obama did succeed in scoring the backing of a number of superdelegates in the last 24 hours. The AP reports this morning that North Carolina Rep. Brad Miller (D) endorsed him yesterday, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Washington State Rep. Rick Larsen (D) did as well. The AP reports that Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio (D), whose state holds its primary on May 20, also backed Obama yesterday. The Newark Star-Ledger reports this morning that New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne (D), who had formerly backed Clinton, switched his allegiance to Obama yesterday. The AP reports that ex-Congressman David Bonior, who is not a superdelegate but is notable because he managed John Edwards' presidential campaign, threw his support behind Obama yesterday. The Christian Science Monitor reports that by yesterday morning, apparently not counting the above changes, Obama trailed Clinton by only 13 superdelegates.
However, it was not all Obama's way yesterday the AP reports Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Carney (D) came out for Clinton, citing her 2-1 victory in his district in the primary.
In interviews with NBC and CNN Thursday, Sen. Barack Obama discussed many issues, including whether or not he is the "presumptive nominee." On NBC Nightly News, Obama said, "Not yet. I will be if Sen. Clinton decides not to go on or if we complete these six contests and we are ahead as we are now. But nothing is certain. I don't want to take it for granted." Asked, "Have you had any discussions about declaring that victory on the 20th after Kentucky and Oregon are decided?" Obama said, "That will be an important day. If, at that point, we have the majority of pledged delegates, which is possible, then I think we can make a pretty strong claim that we've got the most runs and it's the ninth inning and we've won." On CNN's The Situation Room, Obama said, "We've got six more contests left. And then we've got a lot of work to do to bring the party together, but obviously, we felt very good about our win in North Carolina on Tuesday." With Mother's Day coming up, both interviews also dealt with Obama's relationship with his mother, who died of cancer in 1995.
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Sen. Hillary Clinton, amid more speculation that her days in the race are numbered, is taking fire today for comments in an interview published yesterday that some say are racially charged. The Financial Times says Clinton "added fresh fuel to the racially charged Democratic presidential race on Thursday when she touted her appeal among 'hard-working' white Americans. ... Critics accused her of 'race-baiting' for equating white people with hard work and said the remarks would further inflame racial splits within the Democratic party." The New York Daily News says Clinton yesterday "got slammed" for the comments, and "some of her supporters -- including Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan) -- slammed the comments. 'I can't believe Sen. Clinton would say anything that dumb,' Rangel told The News as he headed to the House floor, where earlier he had embraced Obama." In a story headlined "HILL DROPS A RACIAL BOMB," the New York Post reports that Clinton "played the race card yesterday," dismissing Obama "as a candidate who will have a hard time winning support from 'white Americans.' It was the most starkly racial comment Clinton has made in the campaign, and drew quick condemnation from some Democrats." There is a moderate amount of criticism of Clinton's comments on the opinion pages this morning, including Eugene Robinson's column in the Washington Post and Peggy Noonan's column in the Wall Street Journal.
NBC Nightly News reported Hillary Clinton "was back on the campaign trail today, not giving any ground, even as one of her top advisers hinted that the race won't go all the way to the Democratic Convention in August." The New York Times reports Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said on NBC Thursday morning that Clinton "might not take the battle all the way to the convention at the end of August." McAuliffe said, "I don't see it going to the convention. ... I think the superdelegates are going to move very quickly. After June 3, this is going to come to a conclusion." The Los Angeles Times says McAuliffe's comments "seemed aimed at persuading superdelegates and Democratic Party leaders that Clinton would not hurt party unity by pressing her campaign" through June 3. McAuliffe said, "She can win the states we need to win in the general election. Until there is a nominee with the number of necessary delegates, why should she get out?"
McAuliffe made similar comments later on CNN's The Situation Room, saying, "We're 100 percent in it. She's in three states. There are thousands of people in South Dakota right now meeting her. She's on to Oregon tonight. She's been in West Virginia twice. The polls show her way up in West Virginia, way up in Kentucky. We're in. We've got six contests to go. ... Sure, the math is tough. But is it impossible? Absolutely not. That's why she's fighting."
The New York Times reports this morning that the "once-formidable fund-raising machine of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun to sputter at the worst possible moment." Noting the cash-short campaign "has curtailed spending on political events and advertising," the Times adds, "Mrs. Clinton's diminished political momentum, following Tuesday's loss in the North Carolina primary and her narrow victory in Indiana, appears to have had a dampening effect on her fund-raising, aides said, increasing the likelihood that Mrs. Clinton will lend her campaign more of her own money beyond the $11 million she has already provided," something she has told her campaign she is willing to do.
The media may be writing of Hillary Clinton's chances, but she is keeping up a heavy campaign schedule, appearing in three primary states yesterday. The Charleston Gazette reports that in Charleston, WV, on Thursday, Clinton "gave no indication she was pulling out of the presidential race anytime soon...when she spoke to about 400 supporters in the state Capitol Rotunda. 'I'm running to be president of all 50 states,' Clinton told the crowd under the Capitol dome. 'I think we ought to keep this going so the people of West Virginia's voices are heard.'" West Virginia holds its primary on Tuesday. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader (5/9, Ellis) reports that Clinton, campaigning in South Dakota, which holds its primary on June 3, vowed to make the state the "Saudi Arabia of wind energy" when she "brought her never-say-die campaign to a hangar at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport." Clinton then ended her day on the far side of the country, campaigning in Oregon (May 20 primary) where The Oregonian reports, she "has tailored her message to issues she hopes resonate with rural Oregonians, specifically the economy, forest health and an expired federal timber payment program that once funneled $23 million a year to Jackson County programs."
Poll Shows Clinton With Huge Lead In West Virginia A poll by Democratic firm TSG consulting taken Saturday and reported on by the Charleston Gazette shows Clinton with a massive lead over Obama in West Virginia. The survey of 300 likely Democratic primary voters shows Clinton leading Obama 63%-23%. However, the poll was taken prior to Tuesday's primary results and the rash of negative press for Clinton that followed.
The Washington Times reports Barack Obama on Thursday "accused" John McCain "of 'losing his bearings,' prompting the Arizona senator's campaign to say the younger man was attacking Mr. McCain's age." On CNN, Obama was asked "to respond to Mr. McCain's saying on the campaign trail that Hamas favors the Democrat for president." Obama said, "For him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don't need name-calling in this debate." The Boston Globe reports that the McCain camp "issued a strongly-worded response" to Obama's remarks, "arguing that by using the words 'losing his bearings,' it was 'a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue.' ... 'This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning,' said the memo from senior adviser Mark Salter. 'We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record, and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is.'"
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Defying a White House veto threat, the House on Thursday passed the housing aid bill sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank. However, as the Financial Times reports, "the measure did not garner enough votes to override a potential veto from the White House." The AP notes the tally was "266-154, with 39 Republicans -- mostly from areas suffering worst from housing woes -- supporting it." The Hill says "GOP supporters included Reps. Jon Porter (Nev.) and Steve Chabot (Ohio), who have both been targeted by Democrats for defeat and hail from states hit hard by the mortgage mess."
However, says the Los Angeles Times, "backers contend the bill -- or something close to it -- has a good chance of becoming law even though Senate Republicans have criticized it and the White House" has threatened a veto. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports in a front-page story that the Administration "has alternately criticized the plan and offered encouragement," and the New York Times notes that despite the veto threat, "Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who has been able to work with Mr. Frank in the past, has promised to keep working for a bill that the president would sign, and House Democrats wooed Republican votes by attaching to the Frank bill items that President Bush favors, like an overhaul of the Federal Housing Administration."
The Financial Times reports Keith Hennessey, director of the National Economic Council, told the Financial Times that "a proposal to allow the Federal Housing Administration to refinance up to $300bn...of mortgages should be modified to make the programme self-financing and strengthen its underwriting standards." The Wall Street Journal reports, "Several Republicans characterized the plan as a bailout for lenders, speculators and irresponsible homeowners."
Public Divided On Mortgage Aid According to a poll reported on CNN's website, "Americans remain split on whether homeowners about to default on their mortgages should receive special treatment to help them keep their houses, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll." The poll "finds 49% of Americans believe such homeowners should receive special treatment, while 48% feel homeowners should not get assistance."
Prime Mortgage Delinquencies On Upswing USA Today reports in a front page story that the "first concrete evidence that delinquencies on mortgage bills have spread well beyond those with subpar credit shows that even prime borrowers have increasingly fallen behind on their house payments." About "2.3% of prime loans were 60 days' past due in February, the highest level in at least a decade."
Shelby's Ties To Mortgage Industry Noted On its front page, the New York Times reports in a front page story that GOP Sen. Richard C. Shelby "has made millions as a title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer." Now, with "the mortgage mess fueling a national economic slowdown," he "has more say over the revamping of housing finance laws than almost anyone else in Congress." But "over the years, his critics say, Mr. Shelby's ties to the mortgage industry and the Alabama real estate market, and the generous campaign donations he receives from financial services companies, have distorted his perspective and led him to delay critical legislative remedies."
Congressional conferees on Thursday completed work on a $268 billion farm bill. Although a commodity boom has led to a dramatic increase in farm incomes, the bill includes farm subsidies. McClatchy reports after "missing many deadlines, lawmakers unveiled a five-year, $286 billion package that includes record spending on fruits and vegetables combined with crop subsidy reforms that critics consider inadequate."
The Wall Street Journal notes "a top Bush administration official made it clear Thursday that the president opposes the proposed five-year, $300 billion farm bill, citing concerns about spending and subsidies to farmers, among other things." But "senior Republicans from the House and Senate joined Democrats to tout the package."
The Washington Post Speaker Nancy Pelosi "supports the bill." Meanwhile, Administration "officials cited a number of problems, including new protections for sugar beet and sugar cane growers that will require the government to buy excess quantities of Mexican sugar and resell it to ethanol plants at a loss."
WPost Supports Veto Threat The Washington Post editorializes that Bush "should veto the bill, as he has all but threatened to do, and Congress should deny it the two-thirds vote in both houses necessary to override. Then all concerned could sit down to draft a bill that increases food stamps and extends current law for a year."
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Reporting overnight indicated that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, had been captured. However, the AP is reporting this morning, "The U.S. military on Friday denied Iraqi government claims that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was captured and said a man with a similar name had been arrested in the northern city of Mosul."
Marines Could Shift To Afghanistan Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports, "The Marine Corps may begin shifting its major combat forces out of Iraq to focus on Afghanistan in 2009 if greater security in Iraq allows a reduction of Marines there, top Pentagon officials said yesterday." Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "said that the proposal by the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. James Conway, to focus his force on Afghanistan -- which they rejected late last year -- could be reconsidered."
The Los Angeles Times reports from Sacramento, "As state leaders hunt for politically palatable solutions to the swelling budget shortfall, some Democrats are proposing unorthodox ways to generate cash. Strip clubs, six-packs, grocery bags and iTunes downloads," including "pornography downloads, cellphone ring-tones, online books and feature films distributed on the Internet," are "in their sights as alternatives to broad income or sales tax hikes."
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Jay Leno: "Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons" has "filed for divorce," and he is "now trying to evict his wife from the governor's mansion." Gibbons "told the press, 'You know what it's like when a woman just won't get the hint and leave,' to which Barack Obama said, 'Tell me about it.'"
David Letterman: "So here is what happened on Tuesday. Hillary Clinton barely won my home state of Indiana. And she lost in the state of North Carolina. But here is the good news. She has a substantial lead in the state of denial."
David Letterman: "I'm no pundit, but it occurred to me that Hillary Clinton has one thing in common with President Bush. Neither of them has an exit strategy."
Craig Ferguson: "A new poll came out today. It says conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are happier than liberals. Although it might not be happiness. In Limbaugh's case, it might just be the OxyContin kicking in."
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