ABC World News reported Sen. Hillary Clinton is "heavily favored" to win today's West Virginia primary, and told supporters yesterday it will be "a crucial turning point." McClatchy also says Clinton is "expected to win handily," and adds that she said yesterday, "I wouldn't be in this race, I wouldn't be going up and down West Virginia...I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe I could be the best president for West Virginia and America."
However, while Sen. Barack Obama did make a quick stop in West Virginia yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports he is "signaling he has written off" the contest, and instead "took aim this week at the five remaining Democratic contests -- and the fall election, planning a stop in suburban Detroit, home to many 'Reagan Democrats' a generation ago."
The West Virginia contest, along with next week's primary in Kentucky, could throw a bit of cold water on Obama's campaign. The Politico reports that the current "high spirits" in Obama's campaign "could be tempered in coming weeks when West Virginia and Kentucky voters render their verdict on the Democratic race," and they could "further underline Obama's lackluster support in Appalachia, a region that is ground zero for the sort of populist Reagan Democrats both parties will covet in the fall."
ABC/WPost Poll: 64% Of Democrats Want Clinton To Remain In Race ABC World News reported, "As Hillary Clinton's money and superdelegates have slipped away, there's been talk that she should get out of the race. Most Democrats, however, don't think so. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds 64% say she should stay in the race. And 56% say the protracted race will make no difference to the Party in November."
The AP reports Sen. Barack Obama's "wave of superdelegate endorsements puts him within reach of the Democratic presidential nomination by the end of the primary season on June 3 - even if he loses half of the remaining six contests." According to the AP, Sen. Obama "has picked up 26 superdelegates in the past week. At that pace, he will reach the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination - 2,025 - in the next three weeks, when delegates from the remaining primaries are included."
Obama picked up the backing of two more members of Congress yesterday. The Hill reports that Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka endorsed Obama, making him the 15th senator to do so. In a statement, Sen. Akaka called Sen. Obama "the antidote we need to cure Washington of the uninspired, partisan politics that has plagued our country far too long." Roll Call meanwhile reports Maine Rep. Tom Allen, who is running for Senate, also came out and endorsed Obama.
Clinton Delegate Swaps To Obama The Washington Post reports that Prince George's County (MD) Executive Jack B. Johnson, a Democratic superdelegate who had supported Clinton, said he now "thinks Sen. Barack Obama has 'in a real sense' won the Democratic nomination and that he now plans to support Obama at the August convention." According to the Post, "This is Johnson's second change of heart in the race. He had allowed his name to be listed as a supporter by the Obama campaign in December."
Carville Expects Obama To Defeat Clinton The Greenville (SC) News reports that James Carville, a longtime supporter of the Clintons, "predicted at Furman University on Monday that Sen. Barack Obama would secure the Democratic presidential nomination. Carville said he's been pulling for his former boss' wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, but that Obama is likely to win over a nation hungry for change."
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Yesterday, in a speech at a Portland, OR, wind turbine manufacturer, Sen. John McCain outlined his proposals for dealing with climate change. McCain touted his support for a cap-and-trade system meant to gradually reduce domestic carbon emission, which he portrayed as a market-friendly approach. McCain's plan received few positive reviews from environmentalists, while many conservatives, most notably, the Wall Street Journal editorial board and the Club for Growth, issued scathing critiques of what they deem a massive expansion of the federal regulatory sphere.
The New York Times, in a front-page article titled, "McCain Differs With Bush On Climate Change," says McCain "sought to distance himself from President Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change. ... He took a shot at Mr. Bush. 'I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears,' Mr. McCain said pointedly. 'I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges.'" The Washington Post describes the speech as "a sharp break with President Bush." Sen. McCain is quoted as saying, "The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. ... We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great. The most relevant question now is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." The Washington Times says Sen. McCain "lashed Mr. Bush for his failure to offer an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. ... 'I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto,' he said."
According to McClatchy, McCain "went against orthodox Republican thinking. High-profile GOP congressional leaders, such as Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, have questioned whether global warming exists. The Bush administration has been accused of censoring reports that highlight its dangers." McClatchy also notes, "Monday's climate-change speech comes three weeks after a high-profile tour of poverty-stricken parts of America, during which McCain said in New Orleans that the Bush administration had failed miserably in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
Fox News' Special Report says that McCain is following up his speech with an ad in Oregon that portrays global climate change as a national security issue.
The Wall Street Journal blasted the speech in an editorial today, saying McCain backs a "cap and trade" system, which the Journal charges "is the worst choice for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions." In contrast, the Washington Post, in an editorial, says McCain "promised a dramatic shift from Bush administration policy on global warming. ... Since both Democratic candidates also support decisive action, climate change will get the aggressive attention it deserves from the White House, no matter which party wins in November."
The New York Times reports this morning that while Hillary Clinton campaigned in West Virginia, Barack Obama "sought to shift the focus ...to the national election in November," turning his fire on John McCain. Obama "assailed the Bush administration's treatment of returning troops and said the country needed to do more to help its veterans." Obama criticized McCain "for opposing Democratic legislation that would set up a program essentially underwriting public college tuition for people who have been on active duty for at least three years." The CBS Evening News noted Obama "is now focusing on issues likely to be raised in the general election, like questions about his patriotism." Sen. Obama: "My grandfather, Stanley Dunham, enlisted after Pearl Harbor and went on to March in Patton's army." According to the AP, Obama "said patriotism means more than saluting flags and holding parades. ... 'At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War,' Sen. Obama said of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, 'the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us.'"
The Washington Post, in a front-page article titled, "U.S. Outlook Is Worst Since '92, Poll Finds: Results Give Democrats Edge," reports, "Americans are gloomier about the direction of the country than they have been at any point in 15 years, and Democrats hold their biggest advantage since early 1993 as the party better able to deal with the nation's main problems, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll." However, "despite more than eight in 10 now saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, coupled with growing disaffection with the Republican Party," Sen. John McCain "remains competitive in a hypothetical general-election matchup with Sen. Barack Obama...and he runs almost even with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton." The ABC News/WPost poll shows Obama leading McCain 51%-44% and Clinton leading McCain 49%-46%.
Sen. Hillary Clinton may be the prohibitive favorite in West Virginia today and Kentucky next Tuesday, but Sen. Barack Obama looks strong in Oregon, which also holds its contest next Tuesday. A Portland (OR) Tribune /KPTV-TV poll shows Obama leading Clinton 55%-35%. The poll surveyed 400 likely Democratic primary voters from May 8-10.
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The Senate Banking Committee is expected to approve Chairman Christopher Dodd's foreclosure relief bill. Although similar to the measure that passed the House last week, Dodd's bill will need bipartisan support to pass. The Wall Street Journal reports the "efforts by Democrats and Republicans to broker a bipartisan deal have failed so far." Dodd's bill would "allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages. It would create a new regulator for mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks." A similar measure "passed the House of Representatives last week, but because of Senate rules and the Democrats' slim majority, passage in the Senate is very difficult without a bipartisan deal."
The New York Times, meanwhile, profiles House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank in a front page story, noting he has "emerged as a key deal-maker, an unlikely bridge between his party's left-wing base and the free-market conservatives in the administration, particularly Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr."
Media reports express little hope for progress toward Mideast peace during President Bush's upcoming trip to the region. In a markedly skeptical report, the AP says Bush has "set an ambitious target for an agreement about 250 days from now, reaching for a peace deal that has eluded other administrations that invested more time, energy and prestige than his administration has." But "nearly six months after the new process was launched in Annapolis, Md., there is little sign of progress and widespread skepticism about reaching an accord." McClatchy remarks on the "dimming prospects for brokering regional peace deals during the Republican administration's waning months in power." After a "Palestinian rocket killed an elderly Israeli civilian Monday, Israeli leaders warned that a deadly showdown with the militant Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip may be on the horizon." The New York Times says "the woman, about 70, was the second such Israeli fatality in less than a week."
Administration officials and some analysts, however, see a silver lining in the apparent improvement in the Palestinian economy. Under the headline "New Hope For Mideast Takes Root," the Wall Street Journal reports on Bush's "peace mission that on the surface appears unpromising." However, "administration officials say there is quiet movement on the outlines of a future Palestinian state and that momentum is building on the economic-development front, particularly in the Palestinian West Bank."
The Washington Post notes that while "few doubt the sincerity" of the President's support for Israel, Bush also "faces criticism for pursuing Middle East policies that, many diplomats and analysts believe, have left Israel more threatened than when he assumed office in January 2001." Meanwhile, "the Israeli defense establishment is having second thoughts about Bush's decision to remove Saddam Hussein and the botched occupation of Iraq."
The Washington Post editorializes that Bush "would be better off not taking" the trip, because "rather than consolidating achievements or clearing a path for his successor, the president's tour of Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia will serve to illustrate how much has gone wrong in the region for the United States on his watch -- and how unlikely he is to reverse the tide in his final months."
Bush To Discuss Oil Prices With Saudi King The AP reports Bush "said Monday that when he meets Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah later this week, he'll bring up the effect that high oil prices are having on the US and global economies." In a CBS News radio interview, the President said, "Of course I'll bring it up to him."
In the Washington Post, Max Boot reviews "Wiser in Battle," a memoir by retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez. Boot says that "in an attempt to exculpate himself" for problems in Iraq, "Sanchez casts blame widely. He accuses the Bush administration of 'gross incompetence and dereliction of duty,' not to mention 'the cynical use of war for political gains.'" Some of Sanchez's "charges are overstated or unsubstantiated," though "many are amply justified. There is one person, however, who almost never seems to come in for criticism. That is Sanchez himself."
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In a development that could boost instability in an area of the world seen as key to US security, the Washington Post reports this morning "Pakistan's fragile governing coalition cracked open Monday as one of its major parties withdrew from the cabinet, less than three months after elections that had united rival factions opposed to President Pervez Musharraf." Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, "announced that his party would leave all federal posts after talks broke down with the Pakistan People's Party." The New York Times notes Sharif "said the party would not join the opposition, and would continue to work with its partner, issue by issue. But the duration of the two parties' marriage was a matter of conjecture on Monday."
The Financial Times says the coalition's future "was thrown in doubt on Monday night," even as "the Pakistani rupee slid back towards a record low against the dollar" and "amid worries about the stability of the government and its economic austerity programme." McClatchy also remarks on the "new political crisis" that "engulfed Pakistan Monday," leaving "the nuclear-armed Muslim state, a key ally in Washington's battle against al Qaida and the Taliban, facing a confrontation between its two big political parties." The Washington Times /AP also reports the story.
In an editorial, the New York Times says the US "must make clear, finally, that its goal is not to keep Mr. Musharraf in office but to help the civilian government survive and prosper. The new government has many more problems to deal with, including rising food prices, a deepening economic crisis and a resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda."
US News and World Report reports on its website that the US government "has quietly withdrawn a $5 million reward it was offering for the killing or capture of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, named by Pentagon officials as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq." Al-Masri "had been one of America's most wanted figures in Iraq ever since his identity was revealed in 2006. But US News has learned that the bounty for him was reduced" to $100,000. The magazine notes that officials "insist that the move reflects a shift in thinking about the importance of al-Masri."
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Jay Leno: "Before we begin, in case Hillary Clinton is watching, I'd like to point out the exits."
Jay Leno: "Well, as reported, some Democrats are quietly sending word to Hillary that it's over," but Hillary "said she will not give up, she will go to the convention, and she will win. And then the bartender said, 'Ma'am, it's 3 o' clock. We're closing.'"
David Letterman: "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. That's very nice of you. ... Really, that makes up for not being invited to Jenna's wedding. ... At the reception, President Bush danced with his lovely daughter. It's the first time he has led in eight years."
David Letterman: "Bush danced with all the guests. And then Cheney shot the cake."
Conan O'Brien: "Everyone, apparently, had a very good time at the wedding. And afterwards, the press asked him and President Bush said it was, 'spectacular.' Yeah, when asked why, President Bush said, 'Three words: the Chicken Dance.'"
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