In arguing against a Unity ticket, Mark Schmitt writes:

[Clinton] still suffers under the reputation, developed during the 1990s, that she is some sort of quasi-socialist. That's the worst possible combination: perceived as more liberal than she actually is, while being demonstrably more conservative only on less popular points.

That simply is no longer the case. Schmitt wants to continue to believe that Obama is still seen as some moderate unifying figure and Clinton as some liberal demon. The reverse is fast becoming the perception. Obama supporters do not realize the danger zone Obama is in now. They continue to play ostrich. Time to wake up. We're not in Iowa anymore.

As for his other arguments on the Unity Ticket idea, I find them very weak. A surprisingly poor effort from the usually sharp Mark Schmitt.

By Big Tent Democrat

(Comments now closed 11:29 pm MT)

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer:

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he would like to see the race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama continue to Montana's June 3 primary, the last contest in the nation. . . . "Ya know, it's nearly tied," Schweitzer said in an interview. "I think it's been good for the Democratic Party. There's millions of new voters, lots of excitement and energy. I don't know, let the voting continue. Might as well let Montana finish the voting." . . ."It was exciting that the presidential candidates came to Montana, and they now have active presidential campaigns in Montana," the governor said.

Cue the Netroots denunciations of the evil Schweitzer.

By Big Tent Democrat

Kevin Drum agrees with this:

[M]y guess is that if she had voted against the war Clinton would be the Democratic candidate. Given the closeness of the race, her inherent advantages going in, and that the war had to be a liability it's hard to imagine that she wouldn't have prevailed without the Iraq albatross.

If that were true, then it would be a great thing. But I think it is not. Consider the exit polling. In Iowa, Obama and Clinton won the same number of voters who said the economy was the biggest issue as said Iraq was the biggest issue. In Wisconsin, perhaps Obama's most important win, 45% of voters said the economy was the most important issue, and Obama carried them 57-41. He carried Iraq voters 60-39.

It would be nice if people chose Obama based on Iraq. That does not seem to have been the case.

By Big Tent Democrat

John Edwards on MSNBC's Morning Joe said he's made up his mind and the person he voted for in the N.C. primary is the one he will ultimately endorse.

You have to listen for yourself to see if he said "him" or "em".

Then David Schuster, another MSNBC host, interrupted: “So it was a him or a her that you voted for?” Mr. Edwards backpedaled a bit, saying, “No, no,” and laughing.

Of course, it is possible that he meant “them,” which he shortened to “’em,” or simply misspoke. (Or he could blame his Southern accent.)

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Hillary Clinton will blow out Obama 66-23:

Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 57% to 27% among men (43% of likely Democratic primary voters). Among women, Clinton leads 72% to 20%. Clinton leads 70% to 19% among white voters (93% of likely Democratic primary voters). Obama leads 91% to 3% among African American voters (5% of likely Democratic primary voters).

But West Virginia is a state that does not count to the Obama Movement. It has those white working class voters that the Creative Class is trying to purge from the Party:

Cultural Shift: Out with Bubbas, up with Creatives. . . . Obama has all the markers of a creative class background, from his community organizing, to his Unitarianism, to being an academic, to living in Hyde Park to shopping at Whole Foods and drinking PBR. These will be the type of people running the Democratic Party now, and it will be a big cultural shift from the white working class focus of earlier decades. . . . Culturally, the Democratic Party will feel pretty normal to netroots types. It will consistently send out cultural signals designed to appeal primarily to the creative class instead of . . . the white working class.

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While Barack Obama has the Problem, there is no doubt he is electable. Heck, any Dem would be in this political climate. Paul Krugman explains why:

First, votes are affected by the state of the economy — mainly economic performance in the year or so preceding the election. Second, the approval rating of the current president strongly affects his party’s ability to hold power. Third, the electorate seems to suffer from an eight-year itch: parties rarely manage to hold the White House for more than two terms in a row. This year, all of these factors strongly favor the Democrats. Indeed, the Democratic Party hasn’t enjoyed this favorable a political environment since 1964.

But being electable does not mean he will win. Krugman recognizes the problem:

When some people think of tort reform, they think it's about lawyers' fees. It's about much more than that, including maintaining an injured person's access to the courts.

Barack Obama told Chris Wallace on Fox News last Sunday:

I would point out, though, for example, that when I voted for a tort reform measure that was fiercely opposed by the trial lawyers, I got attacked pretty hard from the left.

In 2005, Barack Obama voted for CAFA, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Who voted against it? Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy, Joe Biden, Barbara Boxer and other progressive Democrats. Even Harry Reid. Who voted with Obama? Republicans, from Trent Lott to Lindsay Graham to Jeff Sessions and Democrats Joe Lieberman and Diane Feinstein (big surprise.)

What CAFA was about:

The Class Action Fairness Act would move most class action lawsuits, including civil rights, worker protection, product liability, and consumer fraud cases from state courts into the federal court system.

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According to Matt Stoller and The Washingtonian, Barack Obama is likely to pick Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama for Attorney General. Checking Davis' website, I found this:

From 1994 to 1998, Congressman Davis established a 98 percent conviction rate as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama fighting white-collar criminals and the scourge of drugs and violence on our streets and in our neighborhoods. From 1998 until his election to Congress, Congressman Davis worked as a litigator in private practice.

On issues, in 2006, NORML rated him -20,indicating a "hard-on-drugs" stance. The National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) rated him at 88 for being tough on crime.

Great, just what we need, another drug warrior. Politically, he's a centrist. His website notes:

He is the co-chair of the centrist New Democrat Caucus.

He voted for the bankruptcy reform bill. This article in The Black Commentator makes him out to be a corporate shill.

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An update to my earlier post about the Barack Obama campaign considering offering to pay off Hillary Clinton's campaign debt and cammpaign expenses if she drops out:

Edsall has this update:

Under federal campaign finance law, the Obama campaign cannot directly pay off Clinton's debts, or the $11.43 million she has loaned the campaign, because that would violate campaign contribution limits. But if Obama is the nominee, he and his donor base could provide invaluable help to her in raising money through signed appeals, joint fundraisers and by other methods.

The Obama campaign does not want to be identified as having discussions about Clinton's finances. Obama aides used the term "chit-chat" to dismiss any such discussions.

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This is the supposed Michigan compromise.

The state party’s executive committee voted today to ask the national party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee to approve the 69-59 delegate split when it meets May 31. The plan would shrink Clinton’s delegate edge in Michigan from 18 to 10 and allow the state’s 157 delegates and superdelegates to be seated at the convention.

Clinton won the Jan. 15 Michigan primary and was to get 73 pledged delegates under state party rules, while Obama was to get 55. The state also has 29 superdelegates.

The 69-59 split was proposed last week by four prominent Michigan Democrats who have been working for months to find a way to get Michigan’s delegates seated at the Aug. 25-28 convention in Denver: U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and DNC member Debbie Dingell.

Shorter version: It not only gives Obama all of the uncommitted delegates, a number that includes those who voted for uncommitted for Edwards, it includes those who voted for Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel and gives him some that voted for Hillary. [More...]

Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McCauliffe today said the primary race will be decided by June:

As talk swirled this morning over when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton should end her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign chairman predicted the party would have a presumptive nominee in June and, if it's not Clinton, she would campaign for Sen. Barack Obama.

As for Hillary, she said today:

"The delegate math may be complicated, but the electoral math is easy," Clinton said, arguing that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is a "formidable opponent" and that she has won more "swing states" -- such as Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- than Obama.

Hillary's campaign schedule is as full as always: [More...]

Ed Kilgore on why a Unity Ticket is a good idea:

I know this is a deeply unpopular, even infuriating, suggestion to many Obama supporters who've watched the Clinton campaign savage their champion for many months. Indeed, some of them think the vanquishing of the Clintons from power in the Democratic Party is the whole point of the Obama "movement." Why, many ask, should Obama take on Hillary's "baggage" after finally defeating her at the cost of so much blood, sweat, tears, money, and approval-ratings points?

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