Sen. Hillary Clinton scored one of the biggest victories of the Democratic primary yesterday, defeating Sen. Barack Obama 67%-26% (with John Edwards, long out of the contest, pulling 7%). However, the consensus in the media this morning is that the victory means little, because Obama has already effectively sewn up the nomination.
In a story titled, "Clinton's Win Brings Little Reward," the Wall Street Journal reports Clinton "trounced" Obama yesterday, "as expected. But her negligible payback in convention delegates illustrates why her rival and her party are turning away from her candidacy to begin the fight against Republican John McCain." The New York Times reports in a front page story that Clinton won a "strong" victory over Obama, but with Obama "still solidly ahead of Mrs. Clinton in the delegate fight, the West Virginia results are unlikely to adversely affect Mr. Obama's chances of winning the nomination." The Washington Post reports on its front page that Clinton "routed" Obama, which "added fresh ammunition to her claim that she is better positioned than Obama to capture critical swing states in November." However, the win "may have come too late to have a significant impact on the trajectory of a nomination battle."
Outcome Unlikely To Change Delegate Count Significantly Bloomberg News runs a report entitled, "Clinton's Wide Margin in West Virginia Won't Cut Obama's Lead," and says, "Obama has scored a net gain of about three times as many superdelegates in the past two weeks as Clinton's expected gain of a net of about 10 delegates with her big West Virginia victory yesterday." The AP reports Clinton "added 20 delegates and Sen. Barack Obama won eight, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. All of West Virginia's delegates have been allocated. Tuesday's primary left Obama with a 166.5-delegate lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. He has 1,883.5 delegates," including superdelegates, while Clinton "has 1,717, according to the latest AP tally."
Media Said To Have Already Written Off Contest In The Politico, Roger Simon writes, "If a tree falls in the forest when everybody expects it to fall, does it make a sound? Yes, says Hillary Clinton. It makes a deafening roar, says Hillary Clinton. SHE WON THE WEST VIRGINIA PRIMARY BY A KAZILLION PERCENTAGE POINTS TUESDAY NIGHT, AND THAT, SHE SAYS, HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING! Except the press doesn't think so. The press is unimpressed. This may be the first time in election history in which the press has withdrawn from a race before the candidate."
A second theme in the coverage of the West Virginia primary is that while the results may not mean much in the primary, they may presage difficulties for Barack Obama in the general election. In a widely-distributed analysis piece for the AP, Nedra Pickler writes that Obama "is in hot pursuit of general election voters, hoping America won't notice he got his head handed to him in West Virginia. ... At Obama's Chicago headquarters, advisers said there was no reason to worry" but "maybe the Obama camp should be more worried. The voters who went against Obama Tuesday night - white, rural, older, low-income and without college degrees - don't just live in West Virginia. They live everywhere in the country, in places Obama needs to win." The New York Times reports the outcome "could raise fresh questions about Mr. Obama's ability to carry swing states in a contest against Senator John McCain in the fall." The Politico reports, "Barely one-third of Clinton supporters said they would vote for the Illinois senator over McCain in the general election, according to exit polling conducted for the Associated Press and television networks. Just as many said they would vote for the Republican over Obama, while about 25 percent said they would not cast presidential ballots."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Yesterday Sen. Barack Obama made an appearance in a conservative rural region of Missouri in an attempt to refocus his campaign on likely general election swing states. The New York Times reports, "Even as...Obama prepared to suffer one of his worst defeats of the primary season on Tuesday, aides said his lead in delegates and in the popular vote had him feeling like a winner. And his visit here [Cape Girardeau, MO] with garment workers in a district that President Bush swept in 2004 was an intended show of strength, with Mr. Obama affecting the manner of a general election nominee raiding opposition territory." The AP also reports that yesterday in Missouri, Obama "gave the clearest sign yet that he considers the Democratic presidential nomination in the bag, and he's not waiting for a Clinton concession speech to start campaigning all-out against" John McCain. The Financial Times says Obama's "schedule for the next 10 days pays cursory attention to the remaining five primary elections on the Democratic calendar."
The Wall Street Journal reports that Obama "unofficially kicks off his campaign against John McCain Wednesday in Michigan. ... Because Sen. Obama...didn't compete in the Michigan primary, he needs to build from scratch the kind of political operation he has been assembling for months in other states."
Despite his thrashing in yesterday's West Virginia primary, the superdelegates continue to move to Obama. The Hill reports Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and former DNC chairman, "said Tuesday that there is no way" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "can win the nomination," so he was backing Obama. The AP reports Romer "was the third superdelegate to throw his support to Obama on Tuesday, after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and" IN2 Rep. Joe Donnelly (D).
For the second day in a row, Sen. John McCain yesterday touted his break with President Bush and conservative orthodoxy regarding climate change. The AP, in an article titled, "McCain Casts Himself As Environmental Steward," reports McCain "cast Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton as latecomers to the environmental battle, saying he would be willing to debate the issue with either of them in the general election to underscore his experience with the issue. 'People will trust my stewardship not only because of my background and knowledge, but also my vision for the future,' he told reporters ... 'They have never, to my knowledge, been involved in legislation nor hearings nor engagement on this issue.'" The New York Times, in an article titled, "Stumping On Climate, McCain Faults Bush," reports McCain "was on his second day of a trip to the Pacific Northwest, a potential swing region in the November election, to promote his plan to slow global warming and appeal to the region's many independent voters who view the environment as an election issue of critical concern."
However, the move is not playing well with conservatives. For example, MSNBC's Hardball reported, "If you listened to talk radio at all this week, you know that McCain's plan to tackle global warming is not sitting well with conservatives, at least some of them. In fact, it would be an understatement to say that conservatives are merely angry with McCain." MSNBC showed a video clip of Rush Limbaugh saying, "I have not faced a situation where a major Republican presidential candidate sounds just like a liberal Democrat. This is embarrassing, and it is frightening." Sean Hannity, on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes, said, "He sounds like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Conservatives are angry."
The Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins contends that in his speech on Monday, McCain "exhibited...a complete lack of consciousness of the fact that evidence of warming is not evidence of what causes warming. ... Which brings us to today's irony: He who finds a six-figure earmark an affront to humanity is prepared to wave through a trillion-dollar climate bill without, as far as anyone can tell, a single systematic thought about costs and benefits." National Review Online posted at least five articles deploring Sen. McCain's cap-and-trade proposal yesterday, including an editorial stating that "support for this policy is the biggest mistake his campaign has made so far."
A new poll out this morning from Quinnipiac University shows both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama holding single-digit leads over John McCain in general election trial heats. Obama leads McCain 47%-40%, while Clinton tops him 46%-41%. Despite the media theme that the general election contest is over, Obama holds only a small lead over Clinton among Democrats â 45% say they would like to see Obama as the nominee, while 41% would like to see Clinton get the nod. Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said this morning that Clinton's "never-say-die campaign still has lots of fans. Just as in delegates, states, money, you-name-it, Obama leads her in national support â but only by a bit." Quinnipiac surveyed 1,745 registered voters nationwide from May 8-12.
While it is being heavily overshadowed by the Democratic primary in the media, the AP reports this morning that Democrat Travis Childers won the special election in Mississippi's First District "helping his party to a third victory in recent months for seats long in Republican hands." Childers topped Greg Davis (R) 54%-46% in one of the nation's most Republican districts. The Hill says the defeat "could send shockwaves through the Republican Party, where murmurs about a leadership shakeup have become more and more audible." The first district "voted 62 percent for President Bush in 2004 and, by that measure, is one of the most conservative seats Democrats have taken from the GOP over the last 18 months."
According to the New York Times, "Mimicking a strategy that proved successful in 2006, Democrats ran staunch conservatives in both this and the Louisiana race, forcing their Republican opponents to attack national party figures as surrogates. ... Both Mississippi candidates depicted themselves as down-the-line conservatives on social issues, and there was little difference between them on abortion and gun rights: staunchly against the first, and for the second."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
In the New York Times "Economic Scene" column, David Leonhardt says "only a month ago," the "notion that the economy could avoid a recession altogether seemed fanciful. It looks less fanciful today." And the Wall Street Journal says a "funny thing happened to the economy on its way to recession: It's taken a detour." That "is the view of a growing number of economists -- including some who not long ago were saying a recession was all but inevitable. They note that stock and credit markets have steadily improved since the Federal Reserve intervened to keep Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy in early March, while a series of economic reports have been stronger than expected."
But Polls Show Public's Pessimism The Washington Post reports, "Nearly seven in 10 Americans are worried about maintaining their standard of living, as concern has spiked higher in just the past five months, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Soaring consumer prices are a major challenge, with many people struggling under the weight of the rising costs of fuel, food and health care." Overall, "68 percent of people surveyed in the new Post-ABC poll said they were concerned about their ability to keep up their lifestyles, a jump of 17 percentage points since December." The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, reports most Americans "see little hope that the economy will improve in the next six months, and many also are decidedly pessimistic about the direction of oil prices and inflation, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll."
Economic Impact Of Stimulus Assessed USA Today rates the benefit to the national economy and individual consumers' bottom lines of several ways of spending stimulus checks. Adding to "a down payment to purchase a home" is given five stars for the economy, but only one star for the consumer. At the opposite end of the spectrum boosting an emergency fund doesn't directly help the national economy, but it gets five stars for helping individual consumers.
Ahead of his departure yesterday for the Middle East, President Bush yesterday gave an online interview to The Politico and Yahoo News, in which he discussed Iraq and prospects for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, among other topics. The Politico notes it was "a president's first for an online audience," and reports Bush "warned...that the Democratic presidential candidates' plans to withdraw abruptly from Iraq could 'eventually lead to another attack on the United States' and would 'embolden' terrorists." The AP reports Bush also expressed disappointments in the "flawed intelligence" before the Iraq war. A question "submitted from the online audience asked Bush whether he felt he had been misled about Iraq as he made the decision to go to war. '"Misled' is a strong word,' he said. 'Not only our intelligence community, but intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment. And so I was disappointed to see how flawed our intelligence was.'"
Bush Has Given Up Golf Because Of War The Politico also reports that "for the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families." Said Bush, "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf. ... I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal." The Washington Post focuses on that aspect of the interview in a story titled "Bush Says He's Not A Golfer In Wartime."
Bush: Faith Increased While In Office The AP reports that during the interview, Bush also "said his Christian faith increased while in office, saying he sought to understand his weaknesses, better himself 'and get closer to the Lord.'"
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
The New York Times reports congressional Democrats "said Tuesday that they had reached a tentative agreement on a budget blueprint that embodies their priorities and sets spending levels somewhat higher than President Bush had requested." The agreement "rejects Mr. Bush's effort to squeeze major savings out of health programs." USA Today notes the majority Democrats "are leaving grim decisions on automatic tax increases to the next president and the newly elected Congress under a freshly negotiated House-Senate blueprint for the upcoming budget year."
In a largely symbolic move, both the House and Senate voted on provisions to temporarily halt government purchase of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Financial Times reports the "main area of agreement between the parties is that the Bush administration should stop adding between 70,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a massive government stockpile at four sites along the Gulf of Mexico." The New York Times says that despite "initial resistance from the White House, the Senate voted 97 to 1 to stop putting 70,000 barrels of oil a day in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the remainder of this year; the House later approved a similar bill by a vote of 385 to 25."
The Wall Street Journal reports Democratic senators "said they plan to introduce legislation that could block $1.37 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, an effort to spur the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, to produce more crude. The White House has vowed to veto such a measure if it passes Congress." The Hill, Washington Times and USA Today also report the story.
Senate Rejects GOP Plan To Open ANWR McClatchy reports the Senate "on Tuesday rejected a Republican energy plan that promised to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, an option that was part of an overall package to increase domestic energy development."
The House on Wednesday is expected to pass the long-awaited farm bill, which has come under fire for its largesse at a time when farm incomes are rising rapidly. The move heralds a confrontation with President Bush, who has promised to veto the measure. McClatchy reports the House on Wednesday "will approve a five-year, $280 billion-plus farm bill, accelerating an election-year collision with President Bush. Packed with subsidies, watered-down revisions and special goodies - some popped in at the last minute - the massive farm bill faces a promised presidential veto."
The Wall Street Journal notes the bill "will do little to lift the chances of a deal for the Doha Round of global trade talks, which is mired amid disputes over slashing farm subsidies." Bill supporters say "the sweeping measure attempts to limit payments to farmers, but those limits don't appear to bite deeply into subsidies that critics contend put farmers in poor countries at a disadvantage in competition with American growers."
Roll Call reports that for Bush "to have any chance of defeating the farm bill and sustaining his promised veto, the chamber's fiscal conservatives will in many cases have to choose their budget principles over the interests of their districts."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
In an effort to offset a planned expansion of veterans' education benefits, the Wall Street Journal reports House Democrats "are proposing a new surtax on millionaires as a way to fund an expansion of veterans' education benefits worth $52 billion over 10 years." The proposal "would levy a 0.5% surtax on people earning more than $1 million a year," raising "about $54 billion over 10 years in revenue."
McClatchy reports former White House Counsel Harriet Miers "predicted that her constitutional clash with Congress over executive privilege and the separation of powers doctrine may not be settled until after President Bush leaves office next year." Miers "was sued and cited for contempt by the Democratic-controlled Congress earlier this year for declining to talk about her role in the firings of U.S. attorneys while serving the Bush administration."
Meanwhile, The Hill reports senior House Republicans "have asked a federal court to allow them to weigh in against Democrats' attempt to force two White House aides to testify about the firings of nine US attorneys last year."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
Jay Leno: "I think it is safe to assume...that Hillary Clinton" is "the big winner in West Virginia, which means that one day, she could be president of West Virginia."
Jay Leno: "President Bush announced this week" that "he will go to Saudi Arabia and meet with King Abdullah. That's got to be nerve-wracking for President Bush, huh? Being called to the carpet by the big boss."
Jay Leno: "To give you an idea how low President Bush's approval rating is right now, at his daughter's wedding last weekend, he wasn't in any of the photos."
Jay Leno: "Jenna Bush and her husband, Henry Hager, are honeymooning in Europe right now. ... And President Bush is nothing if not consistent. Like, he said, there's no timetable for bringing them home."
David Letterman: It takes "a lot of money to elect a president." In fact, "Hillary Clinton's campaign, right now, this very minute, $20 million in debt. Now when she gets that 3:00 a.m. call, it's from a collection agency."
Conan O'Brien: "Of course, big primary tonight in West Virginia, that's the story. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton slugging it out. And I guess -- I don't know if Barack Obama's getting tired or what, but in a recent speech," he "said he had visited all 57 states. ... Yeah, after hearing this, President Bush said, 'Ha-ha, he forgot Alaska and Hawaii.'"
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
Click image for larger view.
Smart analysis, insightful reporting, in-depth perspective—in a new, digital format.
Log in | Buy Now | See sample
View sample page 2View sample page 3View sample page 4View sample page 5advertisement
Get your POLITICALBULLETIN
Click image for larger view.
Smart analysis, insightful reporting, in-depth perspective—in a new, digital format.
Log in | Buy Now | See sample
View sample page 2View sample page 3View sample page 4View sample page 5Embed exclusive U.S. News headlines, rankings, columns, and blog postings to your Web site, blog, or social network.
advertisement
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.
