By Big Tent Democrat

This is a perfectly meaningless poll imo and I offer it only to give you something to talk about. I have nothing to say about it.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed [Clinton] with 48 percent support to McCain's 45 percent.

[T]he Democratic contest is unchanged from February with Obama at 46 percent and Clinton at 43 percent.

(Emphasis mine.) Ho hum as far as I am concerned.

By Big Tent Democrat

For those not thoroughly fascinated with the ins and outs of Puerto Rico politics and the June 1 primary, here is an Open Thread.

By Big Tent Democrat

There are some interesting developments in Puerto Rico, One of which is a poll Jeralyn writes about. But I think more interesting is the shifting alignments on the island. The most significant development was the endorsement of Barack Obama by Pedro Pierluisi, the Statehood Party's (PNP) candidate for Resident Commissioner in the upcoming November election in Puerto Rico. This could be quite a coup for Obama.

Why does this endorsement matter? I think the endorsement COULD be decisive in Puerto Rico if it signals that the Statehood Party machinery will be mobilized in favor of Obama. At the least, it is clear that it likely will not be completely mobilized for Hillary Clinton. And that is certainly a blow to her.

More . . .

A new Puerto Rico poll has Hillary Clinton 13 points ahead of Barack Obama. The news article is in Spanish, but from my (admittedly not fluent) translation skills, it says:

The poll was done by Research & Reasearch.

Those polled identified themselves as Democrats. They endorsed Hillary by 50% and Obama by 37%. 13% were undecided.

For Francisco Domenech, a superdelegate supporting Hillary, the poll should not surprise anyone "because Hillary knows Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico knows Hillary".

An Obama backer says the result reflects the same tendency that has manifested elsewhere where Clinton always starts at the front due to the recognition factor and then recedes. He predicts that will happen in Puerto Rico as well.

The margin of error is 4.4%. Puerto Rico's primary is June 1.

Once again, Obama takes a cue from Hillary Clinton.

Last Wednesday, April 2: Obama says he's conflicted on Olympics

"I am of two minds about this, ...On the one hand, I think that what has happened in Tibet, China's support for the Sudanese government in Darfur, is a real problem." Still, Obama said, "I am hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest because I think it's partly about bringing the world together."

Monday, April 7, Hillary Clinton calls for Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies.

I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese government.

This Wednesday, April 9: Obama says to put boycott of Olympic opening ceremonies on the table.

"If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security, and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the President should boycott the opening ceremonies.

Comments now closed.

The New Insider Advantage PA poll out today (results here , pdf) has Hillary at 48 and Obama at 38. It concludes she is gaining ground.

InsiderAdvantage’s Matt Towery: “Sen. Clinton has made progress among both men and among all white voters. Her support among women also appears to be consolidating.

“My guess is that whatever damage she might have sustained by recent gaffs and media missteps have been largely discounted by the public. The race in Pennsylvania is clearly still fluid. But, at least for now, it’s tending back towards the result that was originally anticipated by most – a Clinton lead.

Anyone watching American Idol Gives Back? Last year it was great. Annie Lennox is singing now.

They just did a segment on the millions of kids in this country without health care and showed how the donated dollars have made difference in New York. A very moving piece.

This is an open thread.

Ann Althouse and I did a Bloggingheads TV diavlog yesterday. It's almost an hour long -- we covered a lot of topics, and they break it down by segments. If any of them interest you, feel free to check it out.

• The Loneliness of the Pro-Hillary Blogger
• Why Hillary should stay in (until June July anyway)
• Is Hillary a wounded wife, or does she just play one on TV?
• Ann defends making fun of Hillary and her gender
• Jeralyn says rape is about violence, not sex; Ann begs to differ
• Lethal Injection Drugs, Dogs and Euthanasia
• Child-porn case raises questions about the role of juries
• An appreciation of Charlton Heston, actor and activist

Bump and Update: President Bush signed the Second Chance Act into law today. Here are his remarks.

The country was built on the belief that each human being has limitless potential and worth. Everybody matters. We believe that even those who have struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead. One way we act on that belief is by helping former prisoners who've paid for their crimes -- we help them build new lives as productive members of our society.

Our government has a responsibility to help prisoners to return as contributing members of their community. But this does not mean that the government has all the answers. Some of the most important work to help ex-convicts is done outside of Washington, D.C., in faith-based communities and community-based groups. It's done on streets and small town community centers. It's done in churches and synagogues and temples and mosques.

...The bill I'm signing today, the Second Chance Act of 2007, will build on work to help prisoners reclaim their lives. In other words, it basically says: We're standing with you, not against you.

Pittsburgh's mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, is 28 years old. He's the youngest mayor of a big city in the country. The Washington Post has an interesting profile of him, including his unwavering support for Hillary Clinton.

At 28, the youngest big-city mayor in modern U.S. history has become one of Clinton's key backers in Pennsylvania, her top surrogate in its second-largest city and an effective rejoinder to the idea that Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, has a lock on young voters in the state.

He's very popular:

During his 18 months in office, Ravenstahl has persuaded Pittsburgh's professional hockey team not to leave town, balanced the budget, cut city spending and helped promote new housing developments downtown. He was elected to retain office by 63 percent of voters in 2007. He recently announced an ambitious plan to make Pittsburgh more efficient by combining city and county governments -- an agenda that, if executed, would ultimately eliminate his job.

Pittsburgh has been hit by hard times. Hillary has a plan for it. [More..]

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

In one of the more revealing moments of this campaign regarding how simply awful the Media is, NPR's Michelle Norris asked Hillary Clinton this question:

"Senator, I want you to react to something that I keep hearing among voters, and increasingly among people who cover the campaign -- both those who are reporters and those who speak about the campaign on television, on radio -- the statement that the only way that Hillary Clinton can win is if she’s willing to win ugly[.]"

(Emphasis supplied.) What is really amazing is not the classic "some people say" formulation, but that Norris including a "some REPORTERS say" formulation. My, it is good to know they can be objective after saying that. Hillary's reaction was predictable and right: "I understand that there has been, throughout this campaign, something of a double standard. I accept it; I live with it." but after asking that incredible question, Michelle Norris proves how biased she really is - she is so biased she does not even know when she is being obviously biased:

The New York Times reports kids are pestering their parents to vote for Obama, and it's working.

Here's one example:

Megan Simpson, a Penn State senior, had not been able to budge her father, a Republican. But the day before the deadline for registering for the coming Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, she handed him the forms and threw in a deal-sweetener as well. “I said, ‘Dad, if you change your party affiliation in time to vote for Obama,’ ” recalled Ms. Simpson, 22, an Obama campus volunteer, “ ‘I will get you the paperwork the day after the primary if you want to switch back to being a Republican.’ ”

Thus did Ralph E. Simpson Jr., 50, construction company owner, become a newly minted Democrat. “I probably will switch my affiliation back,” Mr. Simpson said, “but I haven’t decided who I will vote for in the general election. If Meg keeps working on me, who knows?”

More...