President Obama lifts the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research

President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to lift the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research put in place by President Bush in 2001. Obama's new executive order now allows scientists to apply for government grants to study the versatile cells. (Time/CNN)

Obama avoids race on King's 'Dream' anniversary

Long before Denver, the drum roll of history began: If Barack Obama could capture the Democratic nomination for president, he would deliver the biggest speech of his life exactly 45 years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s immortal "I Have a Dream" address.

And so Obama accepted the nomination Thursday night standing on the shoulders of King and thousands of others who suffered and bled to give blacks the right to vote - Yet Obama did not speak King's name.

...Forty-five years later, Obama did not utter the words "black" or "African-American."

We are caught in a bind. A lot of our time is being taken up fighting this Obama character. It's catch 22. Obama can hurt the African American community. It can also hurt the African-American community if we focus on Obama too much. The same can happen if we pay to little.

No matter who is president, public pressure must be applied to support or push against whatever issue is at hand. What are the problems in our country. What are the underlying reasons for these problems. How can we fix them. It doesn't matter if it is Obama, McCain or the Devil himself.

Re: Nothing Unique About It

Letter to the Editor of Times Magazine in response to Gwen Ifill's column "Nothing Unique About It"

While I have become acquainted with the person Gwen Ifill and realize I have been seeing her for many years without fulling recognizing her, I am afraid I knew little about her before her commentary in the Times titled "Nothing Unique About It". I asked my parents, the ones who were part of the "Martin Luther King-era wave of activism", about Ifill and they replied she "has her head on straight most of the time." They agreed with me, though, that her commentary did not represent one of those times.

It is ironic she used an anecdote about Lowery chastising her for the use of the term "post-civil rights" in describing the new generation of African-American politics then went on to contrast the "transformed" version of Black politics with the Lowery led politics.

In her words, Lowery led activism was demanding access to lunch counters, school house doors, and voting booths. The article leaves the reader with the impression that these days are over and there are no problems that parallel the past. Yet, today's activism is demanding access to loans, a just legal system, and fair employment. Instead of Ifills recounting of past activists demanding accountability in the town squares that were the sites of lynchings and protests there are calls for accountability in the government's response to Katrina and the unfair treatment of the Jena 6. Yet, she failed to define what this new black politics is. Instead she said black politics has transformed into appealing to a broader audience while honoring the contribution of their forebears.

She fails to see that is not the case. The situation is the same pig with a new shade of lipstick. These "new" Black politicians who fear alienating the broader, multiracial audiences are running the risk of making Blacks and their problems invisible because of their treatment of these subjects.

In addition, the example of Coy Booker against Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James is a rather poor one. Those two former mayors behavior does not embody the spirit of the 60s or 70s civil rights era or its members. Why not compare Booker to Bobby Rush or Charlie Wrangle who I am sure have the enough "metabolism" to gain mention.

The representation Ifill chose for the civil rights era and the "post civil rights era" are perfect for saying old era bad, new era good; Jesse Jackson Sr. bad, Jesse Jackson Jr. good; "Angry" Black bad, docile Black, good; or my favorite >3rd generation, bad, <2 generation, good.

Yes, I'm afraid Gwen Ifill needs more soul searching. She may want to touch roots with Lowery and the Lowery led activists to reframe her way of thinking.

On Barack Obama's announcement to run for president of the United States at Spring Field Illinois' Old State Capital

On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama announced his run for president of the United States in front of the Old State Capital at Springfield Illinois, notable for its association with Abraham Lincoln as a legislator. He incited the name of Lincoln in his announcement, crediting the man with helping free the slaves and organization “the forces arrayed against slavery”. Truthfully, Abraham Lincoln was not only ambivalent about the freedom of slaves but wanted to create an amendment calling for all people of African descent do be thrown out of the country. He believed in a natural inferiority of African descendents and wanted the social casting of his time to remain in place. What African American, especially one in the position to be as educated as Barack Obama, would choose to announce his candidacy at such a dubious locale?

Re: Obama and the Racism Card

This is written in response to Rich Lowry's op-ed "Obama and the Racism Card" from Townhall.com, Monday, August 4, 2008.

Rich Lowry attacks Jesse Jackson and Senator Barack Obama in an August 4th op-ed saying Barack Obama resorted to "hair-trigger" charges of racism of the sort Jackson has "built his career on". Lory then claims these charges have made Jackson "radioactive and anathema to the political center."

Lowry must mind Jesse Jackson's career with an attentiveness similar to that of Barack Obama's attention toward the McCain "Celeb" ad because their respective judgements of both is equally inaccurate.

Jesse Jackson has worked to improve he social and economic conditions of African Americans and other minority groups since the early late 50's. While in school, in the early 60's Jackson participated int he civil rights movement and was closely associated with Martin Luther King. He became a field director for the Congress of Racial Equality. In 1966 he helped found Operation Breadbasket, an African American self help program associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1971 he founded another organization called Operation PUSH. (People United to Serve Humanity), for self help human rights. As national president from 1971 to 1983 he promoted economic development, housing development, health care programs and economic excellence.

Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988 garnering 13 state primaries and caucuses in his second run. He formed the National Rainbow coalition, a political organization that is now merged with Operation PUSH to form Rainbow/PUSH. he spoke out for social and economic justice, peace, and environmental reforms. Jackson is still influential in politics and is an important voice inside and outside of America.

The resume of Jesse Jackson does not reflect the "hair trigger" behavior Lowry depicts and Jackson remains a key player in the political sphere despite claims from columnists and pundits of Lowry's ilk.

In order to conclude Jackson's activities are poisoned one must ignore hits career and his continued fight against the current inequalities that plague America. The Kerner Commission concluded in 1968 and then in 2008 that the United States remains two nations, one Black and one White. Rich Lowry, unable to appreciate this, finds it appropriate to attack Jesse Jackson with the kind of hair trigger charges he accuses Jackson and Obama of.

Barack Obama, who also appears blind to the divisive nature of this country, continues to preach change, new politics, and end to the divisive era, and moving past "racial guilt". Ironically, he uses the race card at his convenience, tearing down Bill Clinton after the president's Barack Obama-Jesse Jackson analogy, then Tavis smiley for even inviting him to the Black State of the Union in '07 and '08. Obama disowned both his church and pastors of 20 years to appease White America. Recently, he attacked John McCain, unwarranted, over an ad titled "Celeb" that likens Barack Obama to a celebrity such as Paris Hilton or Britney spears rather than a ready politician.

Barack Obama tried, unsuccessfully, to play the "race card", a divisive tactic that, when used appropriately, combats an divisive problem. McCain's ad had not one association with race in it though. Barack Obama claimed McCain was preying on people's fear of race, possibly because he cannot judge when race is being injected into an issue or not.

The difference between Lowry, Obama and Jackson is that Jackson knows what he is talking about. He is not lacking in assessment skills and judgement.

Barack Obama's War Chest Growing Stronger

I was just going through my email and crossed an Obama campaign email (I get emails from McCain, Obama, and Clinton [as infrequent as hers come in now]). On first glance it would appear Senator Barack Obama is being out funded.

I have some big news we want to share with you.

In the month of June, supporters like you helped raise $52 million. And together with the DNC, we now have nearly $72 million in the bank. That's a very strong financial position to be in.

But we remain at a massive disadvantage to our opponents.

As I mentioned in my video message earlier in the week, the McCain Campaign and the Republican National Committee finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank.

We can't stop now. It's going to take everything we've got to defeat John McCain and his allies in November.

Can you make a donation of $5 now to strengthen our movement for change?

https://donate.barackobama.com/junenumbers

I know this isn't the first time we've asked you for financial support, and it won't be the last.

We have developed a strategy -- a very aggressive strategy -- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money.

That strategy will work, and it has to. The stakes are too high and the need for change too great.

But victory is only possible with your continued help.

We can't do this without you.

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

I take it with a grain of salt. Barack Obama was out funded by Hillary Clinton early in the race and he eventually steamrolled her. On the other hand, Barack Obama was never under as much attack as he is now. Political cartoonists are getting bolder. Plouffe feels he has to downplay the money the DNC has to increase donations. AFP news reports the DNC having $92 million.

Whatever the total, Barack Obama's campaign raised $52 million in comparison to McCain's $22 million in June. How long will the GOP be able to keep pace?

Barack Obama's Poor Judgement: What Plane to Fly?

For one who prides himself on judgment, Barack Obama fails to use the resource wisely when choosing his mode of travel across country. (second story of the same)
On Monday, July 7, 2008, Barack Obama, aides, and journalists were riding on an McDonald Douglas-81 when the plane had to make an unscheduled landing in St. Louis, en route from Chicago to Charlotte, North Carolina, after the pilots found they were having difficulty controlling the plane.

"After landing, an inspection found the unusual cause of the problem -- an emergency evacuation slide deployed inside the plane underneath the tail. The tail cone, the very rear of the fuselage where passengers would exit in an emergency, did not pop off the plane when the chute inflated."

Barack Obama downplayed the incident with reporters saying "Any time the pilot says something's not working the way it's supposed to, then you make sure you tighten your seat belt." This particular MD-80 series jet is a "substitute for the usual campaign plane now being overhauled ahead of the November election push" and is also used to carry sports teams.
The Boeing MD-80 was originally made under McDonald Douglas and was certified nearly 28 years ago by the Federal Aviation Administration in August of 1980 and entered airline service on October of the same year. The MD-80 was produced at the Long Beach Division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes until December 1999.
Barack Obama said this was the first time his campaign charter plane had to ever be diverted. If anyone had been looking out for Obama's safety they might have seen that the MD-80 has been under inspection multiple times this year. Thousands of flights have been canceled because of MD-80 inspections. (1)
The MD-80 failed to comply with an FAA directive for securing wiring. The failed compliance occurred shortly after inspections only a couple months before. Only one day after Senator Obama's campaign plane was diverted the FAA is ordering U.S. airlines to check for cracked overwing frames resulting from reports of such damage already on some planes.
Imagine a potential president of the United State's poor judgment in choosing a plane that endangers his life. Barack Obama might want information before he or his aides make such a judgment call.

Black community increasingly protective of Obama

In black America, oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Bill Clinton is no longer revered as the "first black president." Tavis Smiley's rapid-fire commentaries on a popular radio show have been silenced. And the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., self-described defender of the black church, has been derided by many on the Web as an old man who needs to "step off."

They all landed in the black community's doghouse after being viewed as endangering Sen. Barack Obama's chances of being elected president. And the community's desire to protect the first African American ever to be in this position may only grow with his win in North Carolina and his close loss in Indiana.

It is this that shows to me that Black people are unfaithful. They will turn on you for the latest trend. Sadly, Obama does not appear to be a good trend to me. He waters down the race issue. I would rather he speak the truth instead of dancing around the issue the way he does. He gave a... nice... speach on race. But that's gone now. It's just going to be a nice speech on race. He, in all probability, going to go up against the McCain machine.

If he wins he becomes a part of the institution. I guess the same can be said of Clinton. But the thing that bothers me most, is that Obama will be put on a pedistal for all Blacks to see, a pedistal that is not really built for them.

Obama's Race: Shhhhhhh, Don't Mention It

But I will mention it because "Obama can't escape that skin color is a factor". E. Thomas McClanahan of the Kansas City Star says what I say should be said with regards to Geraldine Ferraro's statement that Barack Obama is where he is because of the color of his skin.

Obama was supposed to be the transcendent candidate, the one who would move us all beyond race, but the race thing won’t go away, and how could it? The fact of Obama’s race is integral to his mystique and his political success.

As Mickey Kaus pointed out on his blog, kausfiles.com: “If Obama were white, he wouldn’t embody hopes of a post-racial future. Duh! That’s part of his appeal. It seems obvious. … Why isn’t Ferraro allowed to acknowledge it?”

The importance of Obama’s race becomes even more obvious when you consider that black voters comprise much of the Democratic electorate. Any candidate capable of capturing 80 to 85 percent of the black vote while grabbing a goodly share of the white vote will have the advantage.

That’s why Obama was probably the only candidate with the potential to beat Hillary. He’s doing it by yanking away what she formerly considered her base, and he’s doing it in part because he is black.

I back track to a statement he made in his first paragraph.

Geraldine Ferraro sure stepped on a political land mine the other day. Barack Obama, she said, wouldn’t be where he is today if he hadn’t been black.

It was a textbook-level gaffe, meaning Ferraro said something impolitic — but true.

Really, people need to get off of it. I do not think anyone understands what racism is to begin with. People attack with the concept like a false Samurai with a dulled sword.

Obama: He cannot recall

You know how an individual will be examined in court and when an unfavorable question is asked the witness says "I cannot recall". Barack Obama retroactively pulled that stunt when he acknowledged last Friday that Tony Rezko raised $250,000 for three previous campaigns after his original disclosures were that Rezko had raised $150,000 for him.

I guess being a Harvard trained lawyer is superseded by being a political guru who gets so much money he cannot remember where it came from.

Speaking of Race

I notice the people of this country point out that Barack Obama is the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. On Wikipedia the editing community finds the first Hispanic president noteworthy but no one mentions other ethnicities. I just read an article about a Sri Lankan American president of the Harvard Law Review (correct me if I am wrong). I wonder if he is the first. If so, will he get any credit for it?

Either way, congratulations Thiru Vignarajah.

Barack Obama: Offended by Race

Barack Obama is not just fortunate to be Black. He is fortunate to be a fortunate Black man. Throughout Senator Obama’s career he has been more notable because of his success as a Black man. In November of 2004 the headlines did not read “Barack Obama is the 50th U.S. Senator from Illinois”. They read “Barack Obama is the 5th Black U.S. Senator in History”. When he became President of The Harvard Law Review he was not heralded as the 105th President but the “first Black president” of the review. Even the Illinois Senator himself said during the 2004 Democratic convention that his status is incredible, in part, because of the background of his African father. The notoriety of Barack Obama is due, once again, in part, because Barack Obama is Black.

Geraldine Ferraro is making the same assertion when she said Barack Obama’s success is due “in large measure, because he is black” Ferraro expanded upon this using herself as an example.

“Let me also say in 1984 -- and if I have said it once, I have said it 20, 60, 100 times -- in 1984, if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would never have been the nominee for vice president"

Ferraro has an obligation to stand by the truth against those who would be dishonest by censoring a perfectly legitimate statement. Nicole Belle of Crooks and Liars called her statement erroneous and instead of trying to understand what was being said offered these words from Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (I truncate it to its most “offensive” part):

The New York Times has reported the Justice Department statistic that “an estimated 12 percent of African-American men ages 20-34 are in jail or prison…The proportion of young black men who are incarcerated has been rising in recent years, and this is the highest rate every measured.” Just for comparison, note that 1.6 percent of white men in the same age group are incarcerated.

So, let’s see, to follow Ms.Ferraro’s logic, the other 88% of African American men are being promoted to high public office? Facts dictate otherwise. There are more African American men now in prison than in college and the employment rate for African American men has dropped to just over 50%. It’s nigh on to impossible to get a job in this economy anyway, let alone when you have a prison record. Incarceration rates, unemployment and poverty are linked.

Reverend Thistlethwaite criticizes Geraldine Ferraro for being “willfully ignorant”. But Thistlethwaite ignores the fact that Obama is both half white and the son of an African immigrant. A distinction must be made from the African American born in an urban setting with disparaging conditions unto African-American parents and the African American born to a more advantageous setting.

One only has to look as far as the studies of Jennifer Eberhardt, who explains:

how this prejudice may implicitly influence policy preferences and causal attributions, even in the face of the widespread belief that discrimination is an issue of the past. Race “influences us in unsuspected and undesired ways despite our wish to be egalitarian,” according to Eberhardt. Her research has shown how “subliminal priming”-flashing images of black males too quickly for conscious recognition-increases the speed with which test subjects recognize weapons and other images related to crime. Her work on lineups and sentencing suggests that “black defendants are punished in proportion to the blackness of their physical features.”

One must even know that a study at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania finds that large numbers of black students at the nation’s most selective colleges and universities are either financially well off or have parents who were born in foreign nations. Barack Obama does not live with the same stigma as African-Americans who are the descendants of American slaves.

Thistlethwaite’s statement comes from a misunderstanding. She removes the context, that of a revered African American, the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, or Cornel West. She removes the context, that of a Black man born of a White woman from Kansas and an African from Kenya. In doing so she lumps together every class of African-American into a simplified unit and forms an argument that is as (if not more) erroneous and willfully ignorant as the Reverend believes Ferraro’s statement to be.

A shell game is being played and not one person is acknowledging the other side of the coin. There should be equal criticizing toward those who are irked by Ferraro’s statement. Those people are guilty of sweeping race under the rug.

Addendum:
If truth should offend Barack Obama, Reverend Thistlethwaite, Nicole Belle, or anyone else of the same ilk then here are some other true “offensive” remarks they may find equally disgusting:
Barack Obama was lucky that he had virtually no candidate to oppose him in his run for the United States Senate in 2004
Barack Obama did hard drugs while he was younger and he refuses to say how much and for how long
Barack Obama was chosen to be an important African American speaker at the 2004 Democratic convention immediately after the African-American Harold Ford was chosen to speak at the 2000 convention.

Addendum 2 (Interesting Reading):
"Roots" and Race - John Harvard's Journal

I'm proud of Hillary Clinton for her wins in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

That's all.

McCaskill gets a Softball from Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews gives Claire McCaskill plenty of time to gather herself so she can answer the question that Senator Kirk Watson could not answer about Barack Obama's accomplishments in the Senate. Even leading up to the interview Chris Matthews seemed to stall to allow Senator McCaskill to form her answer (Let's not even point out that her only reason for showing up was to give this response). She came up with four answers:

Earmark Reform:

She said that Senator Barack Obama created legislation related to earmark reform. Porkbusters.com gives Senator Obama a 25 out of a possible 100. It rates Senators based on their support for earmark reform on 12 votes between 2005 and 2007. Senator Clinton had a rating of 16.66.

“Wounded Warriors” of Walter Reed:

Senator McCaskill introduced a bill along with Senator Obama to fix Walter Reed hospital. I enter a quote from the Washington Post below:

Seizing on an investigative report by The Washington Post's Dana Priest and Anne Hull, Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) will introduce legislation next week to require more frequent inspections of hospitals providing treatment to active-duty military personnel.

Co-partison proposal on finding Nukes:

McCaskall nearly makes a misstatement when she says that Barack Obama, along with Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana proposed an amendment to expand the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to include conventional weapons along with finding and dismantalling nuclear weapons in former Soviet blocks. The Nunn-Lugar act of 1991 had already created the CTRP with one of the goals being dismantalling nuclear weapons well before Barack Obama ever entered the United States Senate. McCaskall made it sound as if Obama had proposed the law that was already in place. The most credit that could be given with regard to nuclear weapons is that the new proposal made the program interdict weapons of mass destruction shipped by sea.
I consider it to be an exaggeration when Obama and Lugar said shoulder-fired missiles, abandoned land mines and other weapons could be as dangerous as a nuclear threat.

Cohort Spending

I'm either too tired or too ignorant to know what she was talking about here. I know Obama did a lot of work on ethics reform and I wonder if it has something to do with nepotism in Washington, but I'll have to get back to it if I ever figure it out.

I hope I can get a video of McCaskill's appearance on Hardball today so I can go over what she said.

Obama Plagiarizes Patrick

It amazes me when the media and many Barack Obama supporters circle the wagons around the junior Illinois Senator to protect him from being scarred by the discovery of his plagiarism of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Many either dismiss the action entirely or say it is OK, rationalizing that other politicians do it too. Barack Obama said that he and Deval Patrick share ideas all the time and even said his own words have been used by Hillary Clinton before.

It will take digging to find out if this statement is disingenuous. Lou Dobb's asked today what ideas Governor Deval Patrick has taken from Barack Obama. Naturally, it will take investigation to answer that question. Though Dobbs did not ask this question, the next would be "What has Hillary Clinton taken from Barack Obama?"

One blogger uses New Republic's Noam Scheiber to call Hillary Clinton the thief for using phrases similar to those used by John Edwards or even John McCain. The comparison is disingenuous. Every example is a sentence, or rather less than a sentence, as a phrase that is common to the Democratic Party. They are generalized statements and so far I have only seen Barack Obama and those on the media try to use generalized statements to defend Obama.

No one will make the distinction between the long uncommon words of Barack Obama (or rather Deval Patrick) and the short, generalized statements of Clinton. Barack Obama needs to take responsibility for what he did and all of his supporters need to stop defending his action.

Senator Obama's refusal to take responsibility for what he did is an awful flaw in his character. His failure to publicly and forcefully articulate his stances and offer solutions make it more difficult to hold him accountable. Third, Senator Obama is refusing to take responsibility for what he did. He should apologize and move on. His failure to apologize is indicative of a flaw in his character. Especially dangerous is how he hardly articulates his stances publicly (at least not vocally) and how it will be more difficult to hold him accountable when you have to search through vote records and written papers to see what the man is actually thinking.

Obama's generic rhetoric has been made worse by his derivative language. If this is his behavior it shows how much his "change" is actually worth.

A second issue that must be brought up is that both Patrick and Obama are belittling the history of the United States by saying what they said. It took Lou Dobbs to fully articulate this for me and what is important to note is that a lot of blood shed happened to make those words have as much substance as they did. Today Barack Obama talks in relatively quiet times. The media, political members, and publics' comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam, the references to the World Wars and comparisons between the illegal immigrant situation and the Civil Rights era are all belittling the incredible atmosphere of many pasts.

Obama Can Steal With Immunity

Barack Obama plagiarized Massechusetts Governor Deval Patrick last Saturday, February 16, 2008, and said it is not a big deal. Obama said that he and Governor Patrick share ideas all the time. As Lou Dobbs asked today, what exactly has Deval Patrick lifted from Obama?

The answer as we know it now is absolutely nothing. There are those such as Brian Maloney of The Radio Equalizer who claim that Deval Patrick used "Obama like language" when Patrick called 9/11 a "failure of human understanding" but hindsight is 20/20 and Maloney didn't even mention Barack Obama last year when Patrick made the statement.

But the statements are all that people can find. Really short statements. No one can find a whole paragraph like the one that Barack Obama lifted from Governor Patrick. Sentences revolving around basic Democratic principles are flying around blogs in an attempt to heal the wounded Barack Obama but the truth is that Barack Obama plagiarized. Obama should just apologize and move on instead of letting all the starry eyed Obama lovers circle the wagons.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Close As They Vie for the Democratic Nomination

The latest examination by CNN shows Clinton with a narrow lead in the delegate count when superdelegates are factored in.

A string of recent victories and endorsements from key party insiders have Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton running neck-and-neck in the increasingly important battle for delegates.

Clinton holds a narrow delegate lead over Obama, 1,157 to 1,145, down from her lead of more than 100 delegates a month ago, according to CNN's estimate.

Associated Press has Obama ahead by 26 delegates. Both counts give slim margins in a race that requires 2025 delegates to make an official victory.

David Plouffe, Barack Obama's campaign Manager said in a letter to Obama supporters that it "will demand energy and resources on an unprecedented scale" to keep the victories going in the upcoming contests in Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Plouffe recognizes that the eight straight victories since Super Tuesday should not let the Obama camp take the following states for granted.

But the race for the Democratic nomination remains close. It's going to be a fight for every vote and every delegate in the remaining 18 contests.

The fight for the Democratic Nomination is likely to continue past March 4 primaries especially considering the delegate distribution system of the Democratic National Committee. In addition to the narrow margins the independent nature of the superdelegates prevents the possibility of having a clear and disisive leader, possibly until the Democratic National Convention convenes.

For the first time, polls show Obama leading in popular opinion in Wisconsin. Public POlicy POlling produced a poll on 2/11/2008 that showed Obama ahead 11 points (50-39%). Ten percent called themselves unsure and with Clinton's history of garnering more of the last minute voters if the numbers the state could end up dividing delegates pretty evenly.

Texas still fails to show any polls newer than the IRV poll that shows Clinton ahead, 48-38%. It was last taken on January 31, 2008.

In Ohio, Hillary Clinton continues to carry the state with double digits according to Survey USA. Barack Obama was behind by fewer than 20 points for the first time in any poll but there were few undecided and even with the margin of error Obama is still behind by more than a dozen points in the best scenario. Former Ohio Senator and astronaut John Glenn announced his endorsement of Hillary today which can only strengthen her standing in the state. Obama's only hope is that his wins in Maryland, Washingtin D.C. and Virginia impress future voters.

Pennsylvania also lacks a recent poll. The Franklin & Marshall College/Philadelphia Daily News/WGAL TV, et al, Keystone Poll shows Clinton ahead 20 points.

If numbers continue to look as they are Hillary Clinton will likely shore up her pledged delegate base and continue to show superior numbers with the help of the superdelegate endorsements. Obama must close the gap in the coming weeks to prevent the Clinton push. It will be enteresting to see if the "Omentum" of Barack Obama continues past March 4, 2008.

Retraction: Obama wins Missouri

I called Missouri for Clinton the day of and then relegated this post to a draft in order to hide it from the world. I just can't delete it because I wrote it and I'm a writing packrat. Obama went on to win Missouri by one percent when Clinton had been ahead in the count the whole day.

The original title of this post was "Hillary wins Missouri. You heard it hear first." because I wanted to call it before any major news network. Looks like I pulled a Fox. Then again, the AP apparently called it for Clinton too. I guess we can all make mistakes...(must start a conspiracy theory that says Obama stole Missouri).

Here is the original post:

I just realized I can call Missouri for Clinton before any of the major networks do. Correct me if I am wrong.

With 94% of the vote in and Obama needing two to one to come back in what looks like a 50/50 cut of the rest of the votes I can faithfully call Missouri for Hillary Clinton.

edit: It looks like AP called it 30 minutes ago. I should have tried to call it earlier. I just kept wondering why MSNBC didn't put that fancy yellow check there.

Then again they are claiming that Clinton and Obama hate each other. The only candidate hated in this race is Mitt Romney. We all know that.

Second place is also called losing

A few hours ago, Dan Abram was on MSNBC saying the media is going to frame today (or tomorrow for us pacific coasters) in a good light for Obama if he wins or comes close, whether he comes close by number of states or delegates.

Basically, Obama gets about 3 chances where Clinton only gets one. Clinton has to get a clear wipeout victory in order to stomp the media’s Barack Fire. Based on current polls, the media has a good chance off framing Barack Obama as the winner even if he loses like Romney.

So I naively believed that Dan Abram was condemning the media for their behavior. But as soon as 10 o clock pacific time came around I saw Dan preeching the same "Obama is closing" crap about New York because Clinton's double digit lead was not large enough.

Voter Volume: I like things that agree with me

DemFromCT on the DailyKos points out that the second place Democrat had more votes than the first place Republican in the New Hampshire primary.

That's sexy