Barack Obama won the Guam caucuses by 7 votes. Pilar Lujan won the caucuses for chair of Guam's Democratic party. She had been uncommitted.

Friday, she announced she is supporting Hillary. That means Guam's delegates are split 4-4. There is one superdelegate left, Guam Senator Ben Pangelinan , who hasn't yet declared.

Obama's Guam campaign complained about Lujan's endorsement, saying she had promised to go with the popular vote and while 7 votes isn't much, she still should have honored it. Thay asked her to reconsider.

I thought Obama's camp thought the popular vote didn't matter. They didn't complain when John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and several others endorsed him despite the preferences of the majority of their states' voters for Hillary.

In endorsing Hillary, Lujan said: [More..]

Who's going to watch Recount tomorrow night?

This is an Open Thread.

Bob Somerby writes:

Readers! It may be hard for some Dems to believe, but an increasing number of mainstream scribes are now hacking away on your side! . . . Something else happens when hacks take your side—Josh Marshall rushes to praise their hackistry.

Somerby's mistake is that the Media scribes are taking Obama's side, not the Dems' side. Obama is the Media Darling. Not "a Dem." I think this lasts through his probable battle with McCain, which must come as a great shock to the "Straight Talk Expresser." But there it is.

Is it enough for Obama to win in November? I do not know, but it sure don't hurt.

Discussing the same Somerby piece, Digby worries the love affair won't last.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Comments now closed.

(larger and clearer version here.)

Update: On Hillary's speech in Aguadilla Sat. night:

Clinton spoke at an evening rally in Aguadilla, where she reminded the crowd of her ties to Puerto Rico as a first lady and then as senator from New York, which has approximately 1 million Puerto Rican residents. "My commitment to Puerto Rico did not start last month or last year," she said. "I will always be your voice as president." Through her speech, Clinton drew applause by insisting Puerto Ricans should get the same tax breaks, health care and economic opportunity afforded mainland U.S. citizens. "You deserve a president who will give Puerto Rico's issues as much attention as the president gives to any state," she said.

****

The Democratic candidates today are in Puerto Rico. Hillary will be in Aguadilla tonight, on the northwest tip of the island.

There are 3.9 million people in Puerto Rico and 2.5 million registered voters. The major parties are the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Progressive Party (NPP). In 2004, 2 million people voted. [More...]

Via Yglesias, Barack Obama said (and here Jeralyn on the same speech):

[D]emagogues like Hugo Chavez have stepped into this vacuum [of a failed US Latin America policy.] His predictable yet perilous mix of anti-American rhetoric, authoritarian government, and checkbook diplomacy offers the same false promise as the tried and failed ideologies of the past.

I agree with Obama's assessment of Chavez. One of Obama's big blog supporters and a good friend of mine, Al Giordano, does not. Al does not mention that in his review of Obama's speech. I had a debate with Al about Chavez in ancient blogging history at Daily Kos, where his admiration and support of Chavez was plain and unstinting. More. . . .

A Quinnipiac Poll shows Hillary leading and Obama trailing McCain in two of the three critical swing states, and Hillary leading Obama as to McCain in all three:

May 22, 2008 - McCain Leads Obama In Two Of Three Key Swing States, Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Clinton Has Big Leads In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania --- FLORIDA: Clinton 48 - McCain 41; McCain 45 - Obama 41; OHIO: Clinton 48 - McCain 41; McCain 44 - Obama 40: PENNSYLVANIA: Clinton 50 - McCain 37; Obama 46 - McCain 40

..."The numbers for Florida and Ohio are good news for Sen. John McCain and should be worrisome for Sen. Barack Obama. That is especially true about Ohio, which decided the 2004 election. Ohio's economy is worse than the rest of the country and the Republican brand there is in disrepute. McCain's Buckeye lead may be a sign that nationally this may not be the easy Democratic walk to the White House that many expected," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In the popular vote, Jonathan Last of the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board comes up with much the same numbers that I did a few days ago, using Real Clear Politics and the most expansive number of voters available, one that includes Florida, Michigan and the caucus states. [More...]

Since it's a holiday weekend, let's go off politics for a bit. Has anyone seen the new Indiana Jones movie? I'll see it, but only because Karen Allen is in it. Here's what she's been up to in real life these past years.

It has been 27 years since Ms. Allen, 56, played Harrison Ford’s rugged romantic interest in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Following breakthrough roles in “Animal House,” “Manhattan” and “Starman,” and more recent work in “The Perfect Storm” and “In the Bedroom,” she moved with her son, Nick Browne, to Great Barrington, Mass.

Today, she owns a knitting shop there and teaches acting at Bard College at Simon’s Rock — but a call from Steven Spielberg, inviting her to join the newest Indiana Jones movie, thrust her back into the spotlight.

The Times article leaves out omits my of two favorite films with her: "The Wanderers" and "A Small Circle of Friends."

Everyone's probably seen The Wanderers, about a Bronx "gang" in 1963, but I'd bet virtually no one remembers Small Circle of Friends. I do, because it came out when I was very pregnant and I ended up naming the TL kid Nic after one of the characters. Turns out Ms. Allen named her son Nick. Probably a coincidence, since her son is now 17, but...[More..]

Who is Mike Murphy? Well you have seen him bloviating on Meet the Press all the time as the GOP operative though he has always operated as sort of a "maverick" GOP operative. So why do I say he could be Obama's salvation? Because the NYTimes says he advised McCain to do this:

Mr. Murphy urged him to tone down his attacks on Mr. Obama and stop coming across as so angry. He recommended that Mr. McCain concentrate on running as a reform candidate to strip that issue from Mr. Obama . . .

More . .

Denver is one of five aiports in the country that has begun "full body scanning" of passengers.

The Transportation Security Administration today will start screening travelers at Denver International Airport using a machine that bounces radio waves off skin to produce a graphic, whole-body image. The scan aims to reveal weapons, explosives or other items hidden on a passenger's body. But because the image is anatomically explicit, millimeter-wave screening is controversial.

DIA and five other U.S. airports are using the new technology in pilot programs to assess its capabilities, said David Bassett, TSA's federal security director in Denver.

Passengers who object can request a pat down search. The other cities:

Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Los Angeles International, JFK International in New York, Baltimore-Washington International and Albuquerque International.

This is a very invasive machine. [More...]

I'm off to go hold a "Count the Votes!" sign and/or yell at a cloud.

Have a good Saturday.

This is an Open Thread.

Comments closed

In today's top story in The Miami Herald:

Asked by The Herald why he doesn't just concede Florida to Clinton since he's so close to the nomination, Obama didn't answer directly. He said he wanted the state to participate in the convention, but he didn't get into specifics about how many delegates should be there and whether they would be divvied up according to the Jan. 29 vote.

"'We want the Florida delegates to be seated and we intend to make sure they have a voice at the convention," he said. "The DNC has a decision to make and we're not in the way." Pressed on why he doesn't use his influence to grant Clinton the extra Florida delegates and end the dispute, he said he doesn't control the DNC. "The delegates aren't mine to give," he said.

(Emphasis supplied.) There is an old saying - "Lead, follow or get out of the way." It seems clear now that on the question of Florida and Michigan, Obama has chosen to get out of the way.

In other words, Obama is offering to hold Florida's coat while it fights for its delegates.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Comments closed

Newsweek poll sez:

Obama 46
McCain 46

Clinton 48
McCain 44

Newsweek notes:

Clinton's white support [44%] is unusually high: at a comparable point in the 2004 election, Democratic nominee John Kerry received the support of 36 percent of white voters, compared to George W. Bush's 48 percent, and in June of 2000, Bush led Al Gore 48 percent to 39 percent.

It appears that the issue is not so much Obama's relative lack of appeal to white working class voters vis a vis typical Dems like Kerry (indeed, Obama exceeds Kerry's white support), but rather it is Hillary Clinton's strong appeal to that demographic. In other words, it is not that there is something wrong with Obama but that there is something RIGHT with Clinton.

See also andgarden on the subject.

By Big Tent Democrat

Comments closed