The World Around You

…but this is a bit much.

Here is what fun filmmaker Spike Lee says about the Clintons: “The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bullshit. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with. These old black politicians say, ‘Ooh, Massuh Clinton was good to us, massuh hired a lot of us, massuh was good!’ Hoo! Charlie Rangel, David Dinkins—they have to understand this is a new day. People ain’t feelin’ that stuff. It’s like a tide, and the people who get in the way are just gonna get swept out into the ocean.” Why hasn’t Al Gore thrown Tom Daschle under the bus yet? [New York Magazine]

Wonkette: Rae Over Gender: Spike Lee Throws Clintons Under the Bus

No real surprises here…

McCain was favored by 52 percent to 30 percent of those surveyed against Clinton while 5 percent picked another candidate and 13 percent didn’t know or didn’t answer. Going head-to-head against Obama, McCain was chosen by a 57-33 percent margin, with 2 percent choosing another candidate and 11 percent who were undecided or didn’t answer.

McCain also held a substantial lead over both Democrats in mid-February when Mike Huckabee was still in the race.

It’s interesting that more people settle on one of the two major candidates in a McCain-Obama race and that the spread is slightly wider. Of course movements of that degree are all within the margin of error anyway.

Poll: Alabama voters favor McCain over Clinton or Obama - NewsFlash - al.com

The news changes daily, but it appears that Hillary is taking a bigger hit for her tactics than Obama is for his preacher. Her approval rating is at 37 percent…not exactly a sign that she would be strong in a general election, but things change.

The polling of a general election match-up with McCain is still within the margin of error for both Obama and Clinton, I don’t see that changing. This will be another close election, decided on the basis of a handful of states, it will not be won running away by any of the remaining candidates.

Hotline On Call: NBC/WSJ Poll: Hillary’s Negatives Highest Of Contest

…I say outrageous.

I asked a top HRC adviser this a.m. to assess the argument that all of this is hurting the inevitable nominee — Barack Obama. The adviser was blunt: “So now Obama expects to win the nomination without toughening up and lasting all fifteen rounds?”

The weird implication: if Obama is the nominee, all of this is _good_ for him in that it, as a father is want to say to a son, puts hair on his chest. In other words: this would have come up anyway, and because Hillary is making Obama fight for the nomination, she’s “toughening” him up if he wins.

It’s a pretty audacious argument.

Hillary and her advisors have gone off the flipping deep end. I saw another observer say earlier today that the only reason she could be staying in is become she somehow really believes that Obama CAN’T win. Well guess what sister, you’re not helping him by stretching out the inevitable…

Marc Ambinder (March 25, 2008) - It Puts Hair On His Chest

I am the strongest supporter of Senator Evan Bayh you could ever find, but give me a break Senator!

“So who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose the president of the United States,” Mr. Bayh said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

Hillary Clinton’s supporters need to get a grip and take a step back. The reality is that there will be no revote in Michigan and Florida, which means she has almost no chance of overcoming Obama’s pledged delegate lead or his lead in the popular vote. To try and come up with some metric which she wins, in order to justify the superdelegates overturning the elections that were held.

This argument doesn’t really merit any kind of response, but in case you think it has some logic… We do elect presidents through the electoral college, but that happens in the general election, we have a different method of selecting a candidate and that is set-up by the parties. The Democratic party has rules and the candidates knew what the rules were before they started.

Certainly, the superdelegates can make their choice by whatever method they choose, but no one should believe that there won’t be a serious and potentially violent uproar if the candidate who got the most votes and the most pledged delegates is denied the nomination.

I’m certain if Obama were behind I would be grasping at the same kind of straws, but I’d like to believe I wouldn’t be asking the superdelegates to overturn the will of Democrats across the country.

Clinton Backer Points to Electoral College Votes as New Measure - New York Times

Hillary Clinton’s records from her time as first lady reveal some interesting information about her role in foreign policy that she so often touts…

For instance, when the Good Friday agreements between factions in Northern Ireland were being finalized, a deal in which Hillary claims to have had a hand, the first lady was away. When Bill Clinton dropped US missiles on Serbia, as part of a NATO strike, she was touring ruins in Egypt.

Papers Show First Lady Away at Key Foreign Policy Moments - Newser

According to CNN, the margin in Mississippi (61%-37%) will allow Obama to increase his lead over Senator Clinton by another six delegates.

Now we have 41 days until the Pennsylvania primary…who would have thought this would have dragged on this long?

I heard an idea proposed over the weekend that I am seeing as more and more likely to be the only way to finish this…a superdelegate primary. Immediately following the Puerto Rico results in June, every superdelegate must state their preference and let that be the end of it. Whoever gets the votes they need, wins. Will Obama supporters (like me) be upset if the superdelegates reverse the tide? Yes. Is it fair? Given the rules that were laid out when this all started, yes.

Having Michigan and Florida revote isn’t going to solve anything. Both of those states will be too close to see a significant delegate swing either way, and it simply pushes up the threshold for the number of delegates needed to win the nomination.

Election Center 2008: Primary Results for Mississippi - Elections & Politics news from CNN.com