By Big Tent Democrat

David Brooks writes what he thinks is a damning column regarding Hillary Clinton's life long fight for universal health care. I believe it reveals Hillary the Fighter, the anti-triangulator. Brooks writes:

By Big Tent Democrat

And if Zogby is right, Barack Obama wins the nomination tonight, not on delegates, but on winning. [NOTE: I do not believe Zogby is an honest pollster, I believe he is a disingenuous pundit.]

Zogby has Obama winning by 13 points in California. If that happens, it is over. No spin. No excuses. Of course if Hillary wins by double digits, as SurveyUSA predicts, then I believe Hillary wins the nomination tonight also.

I know, I know, the race "goes on," but it will largely be over in either scenario imo. Of course, if it is neither scenario, we will have to look to the other states to see if tonight effectively ends the the race. And yes, I believe winning is more important than the exact delegate count tonight. No matter what the Media says.

More . . .

Hillary Clinton is holding a national town hall meeting now on the Hallmark Channel. I just tuned in, Bill Clinton is appearing from San Francisco, fielding questions from the audience for Hillary to answer.

You can also watch at Hillary's website. She's discussing veterans right now and promising legislation.

Now they are in Birmingham, AL, and an attendee asks a question about outsourcing jobw.

It's very low key, not like a campaign stump speech but a conversation.

By Big Tent Democrat

Jeralyn's buddy, Dan Abrams of MSNBC, is now talking about the anti-Hillary bias in the Media now. Good for him.

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John Nichols of the The Nation says it is possible:

What would a sweep look like? Obama would not have to win every state or every delegate, but he would have to dominate the map in a manner that left no doubt that Democratic primary and caucus voters prefer his candidacy to that of the woman who not long ago was busy outlining her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech.

Fair enough, if rather vague. But Nichols outlines his vision of this sweep:

By Big Tent Democrat

Ezra Klein notes Krugman writing:

By my count, 3 of my last 10 columns have criticized Barack Obama. 7 of Frank Rich’s 10 last columns, and 6 of Maureen Dowd’s last 10 columns, have criticized Hillary Clinton. But, of course, that’s different: Hillary is eeevil, and deserves it.

By Big Tent Democrat

Paul Krugman puts his finger on it:

. . . [M]any health care experts like Mr. Gruber strongly support mandates. . . . [T]here is, indeed, no guarantee that Mrs. Clinton would, if elected, be able to pass anything like her current health care plan.

But while it’s easy to see how the Clinton plan could end up being eviscerated, it’s hard to see how the hole in the Obama plan can be repaired. Why? Because Mr. Obama’s campaigning on the health care issue has sabotaged his own prospects.

. . . If Mr. Obama gets to the White House and tries to achieve universal coverage, he’ll find that it can’t be done without mandates — but if he tries to institute mandates, the enemies of reform will use his own words against him. . . .

John Edwards has expressed the same view of this as Krugman did. It seems impossible for me to see Edwards endorsing Obama's approach to health care, given his expressed views.

By Big Tent Democrat

Tomorrow is a day for winning. Not for tales about "running out of time" or "the celebrity endorsements" or for any excuse period.

No excuses for the Clinton campaign. No excuses for the Obama campaign. Everybody has had their shot.

Winning means winning.

They might be Giants. They might be inspirational. But now they have to win. And no, it is not just about delegates. Indeed, it is more about winning than delegates. Especially in California.

By Big Tent Democrat

This is what we do NOT need

Imagine if Bill Clinton had said that? Michelle Obama needs to straighten this out immediately. Really bad stuff from the Obama campaign.

Update (TL): More than 300 comments, this thread is closing. Thanks for your thoughts.

I'm in a room with around 400 of my fellow citizens waiting to be called or excused from jury duty.

No lawyer has ever let me serve on a jury. It's too bad because I'd like to see the process from that perspective.

Anyway, it looks like I'll be here for at least a few hours before being sent home, so here's an open thread for you.

USA Today/Gallup, CBS/New York Times and McClatchey/MSNBC have new polling results. The full CBS Democratic poll is here (pdf).

Nationally, Hillary and Obama are close to being tied. CBS says Hillary is substantially ahead in the Super Tuesday states:

Among voters in those states, she leads Obama, 49 percent to 31 percent, with 16 percent still undecided.

Clinton also holds a big edge on the issue of most concern to Democratic voters: the economy. Nearly 60 percent say she would do a better job of managing the economy than Obama. However, more than two-thirds of Democratic voters see the policy differences between the two candidates as minor.

McClatchy-MSNBC polled 9 states, and found Hillary ahead in all but Georgia. (Remember the maps showing the Florida counties won by Obama? All 9 were in the most northern part of the state, 7 bordered on Georgia and 1 on Alabama.)

More...

What I really like about this Super Tuesday in the Democratic race is that the time for spinning and the time for excuses is over. We have two solid, talented, well funded and well known candidates. The voters know them. They have had time to consider their choices. Throw out New York and Illinois if you like, but no one has any excuses in any other state. If your opponent wins, he won. If you win, you won. I do not want to even hear about moral victories now. Winning means winning.

This also holds for tonight's Super Bowl. I do not want to hear about distractions, injuries or spying. When the Giants shock the world tonight, I do not want to hear New England whine about the pressure, the Media or Tom Brady's ankle or hangnail. Winning means winning.

This is an Open Thread.

By Big Tent Democrat

My take is more like Paul's, I do not question that Obama is a progressive and will WANT progressive policies. My leap of faith is based on believing Obama will adjust his political style and tactics and become much more of a contrast candidate and a Fighting Dem. I think his last debate performance was evidence of that change in style. Unfortunately, too many of his supporters, like Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano right now on CNN, still play the kumbaya game in stumping for him. They need to stop.