Howard Dean said:

[Superdelegates] have every right to overturn the popular vote and choose the candidate they believe would be best equipped to defeat John McCain in a general election. . . If it's very very close, they will do what they want anyway. . . I think the race is going to come down to the perception in the last six or eight races of who the best opponent for McCain will be. I do not think in the long run it will come down to the popular vote or anything else.

I hope Howard Dean is wrong. While it is true the super delegates have the power to vote by any criteria, I hope they respect the will of the people as demonstrated by the popular vote (the pledged delegate count is NOT a reflection of the will of the people.) I know Jeralyn disagrees with me, but calculating who is more electable and ignoring the will of the people is simply wrong in my view.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

A new Rasmussen Pennsylvania poll finds Hillary Clinton still more likely than Barack Obama to beat John McCain in in November.

Key points:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Pennsylvania finds McCain with a statistically insignificant 44% to 43% advantage over Obama. Clinton attracts 47% of the vote against McCain while the Republican earns 42%.

Two weeks ago, in Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a nine-point lead over McCain and Barack Obama had an eight-point edge over the Republican hopeful. Now, however, Clinton’s lead is down to five points and Obama trails McCain by a point.

More results:

....Clinton is currently supported by 78% of Democrats, Obama by 65%. Among unaffiliated voters in the state, McCain leads Clinton by twelve and Obama by five.

Obama's favorability ratings are down in the state: [More...]

American Research Group has released a new Indiana poll. Hillary leads Barack Obama, 50% to 45%. 5% are undecided.

Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton 51% to 43% among men (43% of likely Democratic primary voters). Among women, Clinton leads 56% to 40%.

Clinton leads 55% to 39% among white voters (85% of likely Democratic primary voters). Obama leads 91% to 7% among African American voters (11% of likely Democratic primary voters).

Obama leads 55% to 41% among voters age 18 to 49 (51% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Clinton leads 59% to 35% among voters age 50 and older.

25% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary and 34% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary.

Where have we heard all this before? Everywhere.

As I've written before, Barack Obama tends to be all over the place on gun rights.

Via Instapundit and Say Uncle, I see he has given a new interview to the Chicago Sun Times on his position.

In it, Obama argues for federal legislation putting more cops on the street (a position shared by Hillary who has issued a detailed plan on the topic) and for more gun control laws.

Here's what he had to say: [More...]

The trial of former Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano on illegal wiretapping charges was just about to wind up. But the Government today decided to call a rebuttal witness to impeach the credibility of former police sergeant Mark Arneson, one of Pellicano's co-defendants, and it blew up in their face. The witness may now be charged with a crime and the Judge is considering a mistrial.

Allison Hope Weiner has been in the courtroom and writes up what happened for Huffington Post. For those of you who like good trial theater, this is it.

Today, Tweety (NBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews) brings up Bill Clinton's 1990 promise to not run for President in 1992. To Tweety this proves what untrustworthy people the Clintons are. Of course, Tweety is oblivious that, unlike Hillary Clinton who made no such statement, Obama also said he would not run for President:

Russert: When we talked back in November of ‘04 after your election, I said, “There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?”

Obama: Absolutely. I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.

Russert: So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?

Obama: I will not.

I do not write this to criticize Obama. Pols do this type of stuff all the time. I write this to criticize the brazen and shameless hypocrisy of Tweety and NBC. Their hatred of the Clintons deranges them.

By Big Tent Democrat

Greg Sargent reports (a report marred by some nonsense which I will discuss below) that Keith Olbermann expressed regret for his unfortunate remarks:

This line drew some very sharp criticism from The Huffington Post's Rachel Sklar, who noted acidly that Olberman could "only mean one thing: Beating the crap out of Hillary Clinton, to the point where she is physically incapable of of getting up and walking out."

Which prompted Olbermann to send Sklar an apology:

It is a metaphor. I apologize: the generic "he" gender could imply something untoward. It should've been "only the other comes out -- from a political point of view." You could've called for reaction first if your main motive had merely been criticism.

Here is my question - shouldn't the apology be directed to Hillary Clinton, not Rachel Sklar? More . . .

If the Obama campaign is behind Rep. Jim Clyburn's boneheaded attacks on the Clinton camp, they are making a big mistake. Sending Clyburn on to Olbermann tonight (when Rev. Wright will be on Bill Moyers, Wright will be making speeches the next two days as well) to make racially inflammatory and ridiculous charges is just plain dumb. Craig Crawford writes:

Once again, a racial dispute over Bill Clinton’s words erupts in advance of a Deep South primary where African-American voters are crucial. And once again, Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., is at the forefront of attacks against his party’s former president. . . . Clyburn is leveraging his status as the highest-ranking black leader in Congress to stir the pot in advance of North Carolina’s May 6 primary. . . . The danger for Obama is that another racial meltdown in the Democratic Party could add to his already complicated efforts in appealing to some white voters.

Complicated indeed, especially after Clyburn throws the dynamite. This is a terrible mistake. On Olbermann, Clyburn tried to walk it back. Too late. Damage done. If the Clintons were REALLY willing to do anything, they would go after Clyburn for this.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

(Comments now closed.)

Via Confluence, Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe says:

Fairly or not, the majority of voters don’t trust Senator Clinton.

Well, fair or not, voters think Obama lacks experience. Which all goes to prove, Geoff Garin was right.

By Big Tent Democrat

The Gallup Daily tracking poll shows a boost for Hillary Clinton and a tie between her and Barack Obama wth Obama at 48% and Hillary at 47%.

The latest results, based on Gallup Poll Daily tracking from April 22-24, include two days of interviews conducted entirely after Tuesday's Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Support for Clinton is significantly higher in these post-primary interviews than it was just prior to her Pennsylvania victory, clearly suggesting that Clinton's win there is the catalyst for her increased national support.

Obama's lead dwindled steadily all week, falling from a high of 10 percentage points in interviewing conducted in the three days just prior to the Pennsylvania primary. However, the percentage of Democrats supporting Obama has changed little (declining from 50% in April 19-21 polling to 48% today). Most of Clinton's increased support (from 40% to 47%) has come from previously undecided voters.

Hillary is also doing better than Obama against John McCain: [more...]

The U.S. Sentencing Commission says 3,000 crack cocaine sentences have been reduced since the guideline amendment went into effect in March.

There are 19,500 inmates serving time for crack cocaine.

In the 40 or so motions I've seen filed in Colorado (cases in which I had one of many co-defendants) the Government seems to file an objection to every request. It either says the guideline doesn't apply or the court should exercise its discretion and deny the relief.

I've mentioned before that the reductions are small, and only apply to a limited group of defendants. I only have one client out of dozens of crack defendants I've represented who appears to be eligible for relief. Sure enough, the Government is opposing the request.

The Sentencing Commission's report is great news for the 3,000 who have obtained relief so far, but it's a drop in the bucket as to what's needed. Congress needs to change the mandatory minumum sentencing laws. It needs to make the penalties for crack cocaine and powder the same without raising the levels for powder. [More....]

Keith Olbermann's latest: A discussion with Howard Fineman about the need for a superdelegate to "take [Clinton] into a room and only he comes out."/p>

Bloggers say he called for Hillary's murder. Here's a different take by RiverDaughter at Confluence:

Ok, so I interpret your statement to mean that you would like a superdelegate to take Hillary Clinton into a room and somehow intimidate her, you don’t specify how, to drop out of the race and that at the end of this process, only one of them, preferably the superdelegate, would emerge.

Hyperbole? A figure of speech? Sexist? Or a call to snuff her out?