McCain Downplays Mideast Gaffe

A Southern Bystander in Cobb County Georgia

A man waiting for a car repair sees the Obama speech on TV. People come and go and watch. Not everyone in this country is like the National Review crowd:

I haven't had that many "standing around with strangers watching events unfold" moments in my life. In roughly chronological order, the Challenger explosion, the OJ verdict, 9/11, the Red Sox winning the World Series. Maybe one or two others scattered through my 33 years. But not many. Most events are, I suppose, not big enough, not loud enough, not important enough to make people stop and just watch. Today was another one of those days.

I've watched the speech again since this morning, and it didn't disappoint, but just at that moment I stopped watching it ... and started watching the people around me. The young black man. The elderly white couple. The two white women, one college-aged, one in her late-20s. One middle-aged white woman. Two white men, one college-aged, one in his late-30s. One Asian couple. All of them were watching the speech. Rapt. Nodding.

Gradually, the twentysomething white woman went back to her laptop, but kept smiling when Obama would say something important. The elderly white couple whispered in their Southern accented way: "He's really good... He's saying good things... He's a good young man..." The young black man chuckled when Obama said that Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America, but was otherwise simply watching. And at one point, the middle-aged white woman asked one of the dealership folks, in another thick, thick Southern accent if she wouldn't mind turning up the volume, because she really wanted to hear this speech.

She, this white Southern woman from the suburbs, wanted to hear this speech, delivered by a Black man with a funny name running for President. And she was nodding.

But she wasn't the only one.

A Change of Seasons

Obama's Speech on Race

Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race this morning showed off exactly why he's become the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. He's absolutely willing to challenge the conventional way of how politicians approach controversy. In my opinion, it was the best speech so far in this campaign.

Andrew Sullivan: "I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian."

Charles Murray: "Has any other major American politician ever made a speech on race that comes even close to this one? As far as I'm concerned, it is just plain flat out brilliant -- rhetorically, but also in capturing a lot of nuance about race in America. It is so far above the standard we're used to from our pols."

Ben Smith: "A smart colleague notes that this speech is the polar opposite of this year's other big speech on faith, in which Mitt Romney went to Texas to talk about Mormonism, but made just one reference to his Mormon faith. Obama mentions Wright by name 14 times."

First Read: "His tone throughout was quiet and thoughtful. The same speech could have been delivered in a fiery tone. But Obama chose one that was quiet and thoughtful. It did little to lessen the impact and may have added to the weight of his words."

Marc Ambinder: "How it plays will determine how it plays. If the media focuses more on the Wright defense-by-renouncements and then juxtaposes them with clips of Wright's comments, then I think the trouble remains. The seeds of doubt about who this guy really is may be nourished. I know that Obama believes that a discussion about race plays to his benefit, no matter what people think about white working class voters and their latent feelings. Perhaps this is the beginning of his opportunity to lift the veil and get everyone -- not just himself and the media -- to talk openly."
Courrtesy: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

Florida: No Revote

Letter from state party chair says: “We researched every potential alternative process – from caucuses to county conventions to mail-in elections – but no plan could come anywhere close to being viable in Florida.” Read letter here. Courtesy Mark Halperin

Clearance from the Trib

Chicago Tribune indicates that it's satisfied with Obama's account of Rezko.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama waited 16 months to attempt the exorcism. But when he finally sat down with the Tribune editorial board Friday, Obama offered a lengthy and, to us, plausible explanation for the presence of now-indicted businessman Tony Rezko in his personal and political lives.

The most remarkable facet of Obama's 92-minute discussion was that, at the outset, he pledged to answer every question the three dozen Tribune journalists crammed into the room would put to him. And he did.

My take on this one is that while it's not going to go away, and while both Obama's judgment and his slow disclosure are legitimate issues, the missing piece is an indication that Obama reciprocated with valuable favors, something that hasn't been shown.

Senator Obama on Olbermann

Obama Denounces Controversial Remarks

7 Days and Counting

Sen. Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton among Democrats nationally, 50% to 44%, according to the latest Gallup tracking poll.

Obama has led in this poll for seven consecutive days.

Quote of the Day

"She did not sit in on national security meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not attend meetings in the situation room. She conducted no negotiations. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy."

-- Former Clinton White House aide Greg Craig, in an interview with the National Journal, adding that Sen Hillary Clinton has "in serious ways overstated, if not grossly exaggerated, the nature of her experience."

What "A Fighter" Means...

A reader of Andrew Sullivan writes about Hillary Clinton's strategies and her possible presidency.

One thing that both Hillary Clinton and her supporters say is indisputably true: she is a fighter. Clinton and her supporters believe that she will fight her opponents to accomplish her goals. But what does that mean?

Right now, her opponent is a man with whom she agrees on nearly every issue; a man she says she respects and is honored to campaign against. Despite the undisputed stature and dignity of her opponent, Clinton "fights" him with the most divisive and negative methods she can find. Instead of simply convincing the American people that she is the better candidate, she feels compelled to throw every possible negative charge against him and see what sticks.

Now, imagine this "fighter" in the White House, attempting to actually achieve the goals she says she'll fight for: universal health care, bringing troops home from Iraq, etc. If these are the methods she uses to "fight" an honorable opponent with whom she generally agrees, can you imagine what she'll do as president to opponents with whom she disagrees?

If this is the level of negativity we see when she fights a supporter of universal health care who wants us out of Iraq, just try to envision what she'll throw at anyone from any party who actually disagrees with her goal, or her method of accomplishing her goal. If this is how she treats someone with whom she is "honored" to campaign, imagine how she'll behave with someone she thinks is wrong, or evil?

The divisive politics would continue and Main Street Americans would have a government that does not function.

Could She Ever Win The Popular Vote?

The logic behind this seems inescapable to me:

For the record, Senator Obama came out of the Mississippi primary with an advantage of 99,000 votes over Senator Clinton, more than I had predicted based on his edge in Alabama. That puts his margin in the nationwide popular vote -- by a measure that includes Florida but not Michigan -- at more than 500,000.

As I noted yesterday, it will take a colossal victory, almost 60%, for Clinton to get a 200,000 vote edge out of Pennsylvania. And if she does that, there is no plausible scheme under which she could pick up the remaining 300,000 votes to gain even the dubious moral claim of an edge in the popular vote.

Courtesy The American Prospect

The racial stuff is a sign of desperation. The Clintons have to find a way to destroy Obama in the next month or so or his claim on the nomination will be democratically irresistible. Obama needs to chill and fight fairly on. It's his to lose - unless they get into his head, and everyone else's, with the kind of emotional hoopla that Ferraro represents. Eyes on the prize...

Olbermann on Ferraro Uproar

New Poll in Pennsylvania

While a new poll among Pennsylvania voters shows Clinton leading by 18 points, both Obama and her lose to McCain in head-to-head match ups. According to the Strategic Vision (R) poll, which will be released tomorrow, Obama fares better in a contest with McCain.

In the Democratic contest in the Keystone State, Clinton leads Obama outright in Pennsylvania, 56%-38%.

But in hypothetical match ups for the general election...see below...Maybe the party elders and media need to be watching these numbers over the next six weeks as we head into a date with Pennsylvania voters.

If the election for President were held today and the choices were John McCain, the Republican, and Hillary Clinton, the Democrat for whom would you vote?

John McCain 48%
Hillary Clinton 42%
Undecided 10%

If the election for President were held today and the choices were John McCain, the Republican, and Barack Obama, the Democrat for whom would you vote?

John McCain 47%
Barack Obama 44%
Undecided 9%

John McCain's Iraq Problem...

Grim new evidence of our miscalculation:

An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week, did confirm that Saddam's regime provided some support to other terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East, U.S. officials told McClatchy. However, his security services were directed primarily against Iraqi exiles, Shiite Muslims, Kurds and others he considered enemies of his regime.

McCain has two problems if he wants to pursue President Bush's policy in Iraq. How is he going to fund the occupation for another 10, 25, 50 years? Second, how is McCain going to bring in more troops into the armed services because as the Pentagon states we cannot maintain the armed services with our current numbers and stay in Iraq...these are bad times for the United States in trying to retain soldiers and recruit them. Will John McCain propose raising taxes and implemeting the draft once in office? Serious questions need "straight talk" from both sides of the political aisle.

The Streets of Los Angeles

Jamiel Shaw was just three doors from his house on March 2. His father told the 17-year-old high school football star to be home before dark. That is exactly what he was trying to do when, just before dusk, gunshots rang out.

Gang members pulled up in a car and asked Shaw if he was in a gang. Shaw didn't have time to tell them "no." He was mowed down before he could answer, police say.

His dad heard the shots from inside his house and immediately called his son's cell phone to warn him to stay away. But within seconds, the father realized what had happened.

"I just ran down there," Jamiel Shaw Sr. told CNN.

His son was wearing the same shirt his dad had pressed for him that morning. "He was laying on the ground and his face was so peaceful. I knew he was dead."

"For three hours, I was just completely blacked out walking."

More than 7,500 miles away, Army Sgt. Anita Shaw was serving her second tour in Iraq. Her commanding officer called her into his office and told her to sit down next to the chaplain. He then informed her that her son had been killed on the streets of Los Angeles.

"I freaked out," she said. "I wanted to run out of the room. I was screaming and kicking. I was shouting, 'No.'"

Anita Shaw is now back in Los Angeles to bury her son. Hundreds of family members and friends are expected to attend the funeral Tuesday for Shaw, a standout running back and sprinter at Los Angeles High School who had good grades and stayed out of trouble despite his rough neighborhood. Among the schools recruiting him was Stanford University.

"He was a Christian and I thank God for that because I know he's in a better place," his mom said, trembling as she sobbed. "He'd just try all the time to do the right thing. He was so good."

Shaw is one of several innocent victims in a horrifying three-week spate of gang-related shootings around Los Angeles. A man was gunned down as he held a 2-year-old baby in his arms. A 13-year-old boy was shot to death last week as he went to pick lemons from a tree. In another incident, a 6-year-old boy was critically wounded when he was shot in the head while riding in the car with his family; two gang members have been arrested in connection with that shooting, according to police.

"I think what is particularly unnerving for all of us is just the random nature of these shootings," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said last week.

Mississippi takes center stage

Today, Mississippi Democrats "are deciding the last in a series of presidential contests between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton before the two rivals settle in for a six-week battle to win Pennsylvania" the Bilxoi Sun Herald reports.

Turnout is expected to set a record, according to the Clarion Ledger.

"Mississippi is one of those rare Southern states that might be in play in the general election if Obama becomes the nominee. One Dem statistician tells First Read that there are three red states that could swing if African-American turnout was ever maximized (both in registration and in actual turnout): Georgia, Louisiana and, yes, Mississippi. So don't assume this is just one of those untouchable red states for the Dems when watching returns roll in tonight."

Thirty-three delegates are at stake. Polls closed at 7 p.m.

Obama Counters Clinton Veep Talk

Mehlman, Rove boost McCain campaign

John McCain is getting much more than President Bush's endorsement and fundraising help for his campaign. He’s getting Bush's staff. Courtesy Politico

It’s no secret that Steve Schmidt, Bush’s attack dog in the 2004 election, and Mark McKinnon, the president’s media strategist, are performing similar functions for McCain now.

But other big-name Bushies are lining up to boost McCain, too.

Ken Mehlman, who ran Bush’s 2004 campaign, is now serving as an unpaid, outside adviser to the Arizona Republican. Karl Rove, the president’s top political hand since his Texas days, recently gave money to McCain and soon after had a private conversation with the senator. A top McCain adviser said both Mehlman and Rove are now informally advising the campaign. Rove refused to detail his conversation with McCain.

Rove explained that he and McCain “got to know each other during the 2004 campaign.”

Where did the Maverick go I fear this may not help McCain with Independents this fall. This only enhances the slogan, McBush

Obama, Back In The Saddle in Wyoming

“Wyomingites are pretty independent,” Mrs. Dunn said. “We like somebody who speaks like him.”

Obama led rival Sen. Hillary Clinton at 58 percent to 41 percent, with 91 percent of precincts reporting.

The caucus thrust the state, which has only 12 delegates, into the spotlight because the close race between Obama and Clinton means that every delegate counts.

Although Wyoming typically is not a stop for Democrats looking for delegates to clinch the party's presidential nomination, its numbers could make a difference this year because of the delegate deadlock.

With slightly more than 600 delegates left at stake, every remaining contest is crucial to both candidates.