By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

The concept of appearance of impartiality seems to be a difficult one for some in the DNC to grasp. Not surprisingly, Josh Marshall is oblivious to how bad this looks:

An ostensibly "neutral" member of the DNC has just taken a side in a fight that could be before the Convention. I can only hope no one plans to appoint her to any committee that has to make a decision at the Convention.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Via commenter white n az, a report from the Eschacon Media criticism forum (see also Susie Madrak's own report, she was the moderator):

Media Matters' Eric Boehlert. . . . [T]here's a new phenomenon ... it goes back to Gore's press in 1999 which was "really unfair and really weird." What's happening online now is potentially dangerous: HRC has gotten dreadful press, not fair, "gotcha," and so on -- there's a portion of the blogosphere that has ignored that and there's a portion that has encouraged that. It's dangerous because the media criticism has to be consistent and relentless, and we can't very well say, "You can't go after our candidates ... except this one." I get nervous about pushback regarding disingenuous coverage - our response needs to be, "You can't treat Democrats this way." When people in the left blogosphere are quoting an anonymous Matt Drudge source, it makes me nervous.

[Susie] Madrak: the rule of thumb is that if you read or hear something that makes you hate another Democrat, you need to dig down further because there's more to the story. The real enemy is the media, and they see themselves as the only superdelegates.

(Emphasis supplied.) BTW, Eschacon sounds great, Krugman will be discussing DFH economics with Duncan. MORE . . .

Barack Obama's campaign has acknowledged Sen. Obama made a factual error in stating the Kennedy family paid for his father's emigration from Kenya to the U.S. in 1959.

Addressing civil rights activists in Selma, Ala., a year ago, Sen. Barack Obama traced his "very existence" to the generosity of the Kennedy family, which he said paid for his Kenyan father to travel to America on a student scholarship and thus meet his Kansan mother.

The Camelot connection has become part of the mythology surrounding Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Research subsequently revealed the Kennedy family didn't make a financial donaton until 1960.

Contrary to Obama's claims in speeches in January at American University and in Selma last year, the Kennedy family did not provide the funding for a September 1959 airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the United States that included Obama's father. According to historical records and interviews with participants, the Kennedys were first approached for support for the program nearly a year later, in July 1960. The family responded with a $100,000 donation, most of which went to pay for a second airlift in September 1960.

The Obama campaign has acknowledged the error: [More..]

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Obama supporter Josh Marshall:

Sen. Clinton gave a pretty astonishing interview to the Washington Post in which she appears to say she will stay in the race till the convention in August, where she will take her fight to the credentials committee to have the delegates from the non-sanctioned Michigan and Florida primaries seated.

(Emphasis supplied.) What did Clinton actually say?

Who is gonna make it?
We'll find out in the long run

....Well, we're scared, but we ain't shakin'
Kinda bent, but we ain't breakin'
in the long run

This race isn't over. 12 million voters will weigh in between April 22 and June 3. Hillary will go the distance, until the votes are in and Michigan and Florida are resolved.

This is a late night open thread.

Via John Heileman at New York Magazine:

According to a Democratic strategist unaligned with any campaign but with knowledge of the situation gleaned from all three camps, the answer is simple: Obama blew it. Speaking to Edwards on the day he exited the race, Obama came across as glib and aloof. His response to Edwards’s imprecations that he make poverty a central part of his agenda was shallow, perfunctory, pat.

Clinton, by contrast, engaged Edwards in a lengthy policy discussion. Her affect was solicitous and respectful. When Clinton met Edwards face-to-face in North Carolina ten days later, her approach continued to impress; she even made headway with Elizabeth. Whereas in his Edwards sit-down, Obama dug himself in deeper, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about health care, insisting that his plan is universal (a position she considers a crock), high-handedly criticizing Clinton’s plan (and by extension Edwards’s) for its insurance mandate.

The take-away: [more...]

Much is being made of PA Senator Robert Casey's endorsement of Barack Obama. Some got so carried away they suggested Casey be Obama's VP nominee. Others saw through that pretty quick. Where does Casey stand on issues? Here's some of his positions:

• He believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned and opposes embryonic stem cell research.
• He supports Bush's warrantless NSA spying program and thinks the Patriot Act is a vital tool and a necessary one.
• He supports the death penalty and opposes legalization of all drugs.
• On the war in Iraq, he's been against a deadline for withdrawal.
• He supported the Defense of Marriage Amendment and opposes gay marriage.
• He supports teaching "abstinence plus" in schools and the posting of the Ten Commandments in government buildings:

Some specifics below the fold:

The results are coming in from the Texas county conventions.

Early results tallied by The Associated Press showed that Clinton had 301 delegates, or 60 percent, compared to Obama's 202 delegates, or 40 percent. That's out of about 7,300 delegates expected to be selected at about 280 county and senate district meetings across the state Saturday.

The major metropolitan areas which should go heavily for Obama aren't in yet. There were a few surprises.

At the Travis County Senate District 25, after a credentials committee heard complaints, 12 Obama delegates were removed and two Clinton delegates were removed.

In Webb County on the Texas-Mexico border, where Laredo is located, Clinton surprisingly swept all 51 delegates because Obama did not meet the 15 percent threshold of caucus support.

Burnt Orange is tracking the results as they come in. As of 5:45 CT, only 19% of the vote is in. It's going to be a long night.

Today's conventions pick delegates to the Texas state convention. According to the Texas Delegate Selection Plan (pdf),Texas has a total of 228 delegates and 32 alternates. Of those, 126 will be primary delegates, 67 will be caucus delegates and 35 are superdelegates. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

One of the objections stated by the Obama campaign to revotes in Florida and Michigan was that Clinton supporters were willing to contribute money to the Democratic Party in Florida and to the State of Michigan to fund them. The phrase "buying an election" became the standard Obama supporter response. Nothing better proves how mendacious that excuse was from the Obama camp than this:

When Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, she said she'd found a candidate who "gives us a reason to believe again." Obama believed in her, too, donating $10,000 from his political action committee to McCaskill's 2006 campaign. She received nothing from the PAC of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

. . . Since 2005, [Obama's] PAC has donated $710,900 to superdelegates, more than three times as much as Clinton's PAC has. Her PAC distributed $236,100 to superdelegates during the three-year period.

If funding an ELECTION, where no money goes to the voters themselves, can be questioned, what do we make of giving money DIRECTLY to the "voters" (the super delegates in this case)? I do not mind the donations - I mind the mendacious excuses to block the will of the voters of Michigan and Florida. The dirtiest trick of this campaign was Obama's blocking of the revotes in Michigan and Florida. Yes, I am quite angry about that.

NOTE - Due to the misinformation on FL/MI that is coming in some comments, I have chosen to close comments.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright made his first public appearance last night since the Obama embroglio. He got a thunderous welcome.

Barack Obama's former pastor, who canceled several public events after an uproar over his incendiary comments, surprised a Chicago congregation by attending an event to celebrate poet Maya Angelou's birthday.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright got a raucous standing ovation when he entered Saint Sabina church on the South Side on Friday night, video from WBBM-TV showed. Members yelled "Hallelujah!" as Wright embraced the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Saint Sabina's pastor.

Here's more on the "thunderous welcome" and some video from cbs2chicago.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

It is quickly being proven that the Obama network (NBC), the Obama pundits (the NBC pundits, Ed Schultz, etc.), the Obama blogs, the Obama endorsers (Leahy, Dodd, Casey) and the Obama campaign do not know how to close the deal in this race. (For those who want a more negative viewpoint on Clinton to leaven the point being made here, I recommend this post.)

The way NOT to do it is to attack Hillary Clinton at every turn. It does not exude inevitability. It exudes fear. It alienates the Clinton supporters who would have to accept and support Obama as the nominee. It is harmful and divisive. And more pragmatically, it STRENGTHENS Clinton. Todd Beeton explains:

I finally replaced my 3 year old home desktop with a brand new Dell (Windows XP, not Vista)and I'm going to be busy transferring files and loading software most of the day. I set it up last night and happily nothing was DOA.

If you're online, here's an open thread and some reading recommendations.

• On superdelegates, William Arnone, who wrote these excellent analyses of the key states in the Democratic race, has just sent me his newest analysis -- it's on superdelegates. He crunches the numbers, not just as to who's winning in the delegate, popular vote and SD race, but also which states are top-heavy on superdelegates. He also adds electoral votes into the mix and gives a concise, unbiased and in my view, accurate history of the superdelegates, their functions and their options. I've uploaded it here.

More below: