Articles of Interest 3-6-2008

244 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Senator John McCain meets with President Bush and later with RNC Chairman Mike Duncan as he formally becomes the Republican nominee for President!

Why principles matter and so does John McCain’s candidacy:

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/03/if-principles-m.html

Citizen’s for Traditional Values will be holding their annual Legislative Briefing on Tuesday, March 11, 2008, in downtown Lansing. You will hear the inside scoop on hot button issues and efforts being made to preserve traditional and family values in Michigan. A lot is at stake this year, not just on the national presidential level but here in Michigan.  For more information go to:

http://www.ctvmichigan.org/events/legislativebriefing.htm

BECOME A PRECINCT DELEGATE!!  Fill out and return the Affidavit of Identity to your county clerk or send it to the state party…we’ll handle the filings.   Link to form

Many folks have asked…what does a precinct delegate do?  Here is some basic information about how we try and organize our precinct delegates to be part of our “political machine” to help elect Republicans.

We have had so many areas where more than one person wanted to serve…I am going to encourage our county & district parties to “open” up the participation and attempt to “maximize” the number of potential precinct delegates…not minimize them.  If you are willing to run, work and be part of the team…we want you on board!  Our party needs to grow!!!

Let’s at least DOUBLE the number of precinct delegate slots available and start encouraging those who are interested to join!

MPLP’s 13th annual fundraising dinner is Thursday, March 6 at Laurel Manor in Livonia. It will be followed on Friday, March 7 by the 6th annual fundraising breakfast at Noto’s Old World Italian Dining in Grand Rapids. Dinner is set for 6 p.m. Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m.

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/MPLP/fundraisers.htm, by emailing knuthb@msu.edu or by calling MPLP Program Administrator Barbara Knuth at          517-353-0891       .

THE REST OF THE STORY:

No further commentary today.

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/OPINION01/803060317/1007/OPINION

Opinion

Reform state, don't pretend and spend

Declining revenue requires lawmakers to make bold fixes in government costs

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tom Watkins 

Happy days are here again in

Lansing

. There seems to be a can't-we-all-just-get-along? refrain coming from both sides of the political aisle. This attitude adjustment is an improvement after the fiasco of 2007, when partisan bickering made

Michigan

look like a circus on steroids. Gov. Jennifer Granhom has received accolades as she called for investment in more State Police troopers, K-12 education, community colleges and our state universities -- all with no new taxes or increased fees. While solid proposals, the question remains: Are they realistic? They weren't during the 2006 gubernatorial election. There were calls for these same investments and, lo and behold, after the election, the state had a $1 billion deficit. And three departments over-spent their allotted budgets by $69 million. But as the economy melts down, both sides of the political aisle seem content to play election-year economic make-believe about making tough choices about the state budget. The outlook for state revenue may not be as good as state officials initially assumed. Prices of homes are plummeting as a result of the high foreclosure rate, causing local taxes collected by counties, municipalities and community colleges to plunge. Auto sales are down. The national unemployment rate has jumped from 4.7 percent to 5 percent.

Michigan

's national-worst jobless rate is 7.6 percent.

The state treasurer and heads of the state House and Senate fiscal agencies have reduced their revenue estimates made last May by about $370 million for the current fiscal year, according to the Associated Press. January revenue came in about $40 million lower than expected after it was higher than expected in the two prior months.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/303050048

State AG program seeks to inform parents, kids on Internet safety

The Enquirer

Sarah Garrett sat silently as a representative from the Michigan Attorney General’s office broke down the dangers of Internet predators. “I’m quiet because I’m fearing for my child,” Garrett said after the presentation.Garrett was the lone parent who showed up to

Northwestern

Middle School

today to take part in the most recent installment of Attorney General Mike Cox’s Cyber Safety Initiative. Rolled out in September, the statewide traveling show seeks to inform students and parents about the prevalence of online stalking and abuse. Two representatives, including Aaron Simmons, are in the midst of giving 43 presentations to the Battle Creek Public Schools. “We want to make sure we’re trying to get to every student in the state,” said Simmons, who soldiered on through the sparsely attended presentation with a mix of humor and startling facts. With 55 percent of fifth- through eighth-graders admitting they had given their personal information — things like address, phone number and name — to strangers in a chat room, Simmons said it was imperative for parents to bolster their Internet savvy.  Garrett said her fifth-grade daughter frequents the site Stardoll.com, and found another user online that “she could trust because his name was ‘Jesus Lover.’”

http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_065093629.html

         

AG to take action in alleged price-gouging

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

Published: March 05, 2008 09:36 am

GRAYLING -- Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox will take action against a group of northern

Michigan

affiliated propane companies for charging excessively high prices.

Cox issued a notice of intended action on Tuesday, the first step toward suing Inergy Propane of Kansas City, Mo., under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. The company is accused of price-gouging hundreds of customers, charging upwards of $4.39 per gallon when the average price was $2.45 or less."Residential consumers of Inergy-supplied propane gas are having to spend more to heat their homes this winter because of these excessively high prices," Cox said. "If a consumer has a 500-gallon propane tank, and is being charged even $1 over the market price to fill the tank, the consumer is being overcharged by $500. That is unacceptable."  When consumers complained, they were told they could either pay up or have the gas and tank removed for additional fees that weren't included in many customers' contract language.Cox said the notice included a number of retail facilities across the state, including Blue Flame Gas, Gaylord Gas, Lagasco Propane, McBride Oil & Propane, Northwest Propane, Northwest Energy, Petoskey Propane and Progas Propane.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/303050040

CMU reprimands controversial student for violations

The Associated Press

LANSING

—

Central

Michigan

University

has issued a letter of reprimand to a student who has been highly critical of an assistant professor running for Congress.

Outspoken conservative Dennis Lennox said today he will appeal a letter finding he violated school code. A conduct proceedings officer ruled that

Lennox

provided false information to a university official, identified himself as Dick Cheney to a professor and improperly posted fliers on hallway benches.Lennox said he wasn’t able to defend himself because a secret disciplinary hearing was held during spring break. There was an initial hearing last week, but

Lennox

and the school clashed over whether he could videotape it.  The hearing officer wrote that

Lennox

refused to participate in the hearing when he wouldn’t stop videotaping it. 

Lennox

has followed Gary Peters around campus with a video camera to pressure Peters to choose between his three-year teaching post and a congressional run. The former lottery commissioner is seeking the Democratic nod to face Republican Congressman Joe Knollenberg in

Oakland

County

.  Central Michigan spokesman Steve Smith said he could not discuss specifics of

Lennox

’s case because of privacy laws.

Lennox

had warned he could be expelled. But Smith said the purpose of the conduct code is to educate students “with punishment and sanctions as a secondary measure.”

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/303050041

Michigan

and

Florida

: Interest in holding new nominating contests

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

— Officials in

Michigan

and

Florida

are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign.  The governors of both states, along with top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That’s a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the states’ delegates are allocated.

Clinton

won both contests, but the results were meaningless because the elections violated national party rules. Neither Clinton nor her rival Barack Obama campaigned in either state, and Obama’s name wasn’t even on the

Michigan

ballot.  The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all their delegates for holding the primaries too early, and all Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state.

Florida

and

Michigan

moved up their dates to protest the party’s decision to allow

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

to go first, followed by

South Carolina

and

Nevada

, giving them a disproportionate influence on the presidential selection process.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/UPDATE/803050473

Michigan

,

Florida

governors: Seat Democratic delegates at convention

Mark Hornbeck /

Detroit

News

Lansing

Bureau

Michigan

and

Florida

governors today are calling for their national Democratic convention delegates to be seated this summer, possibly leading to repeat primaries or caucuses in the two states that were penalized by the parties for holding early elections.  The prospect of do-over elections was prompted by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's resurgence against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in Tuesday's

Ohio

and

Texas

primaries. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a

Clinton

supporter, said she might favor a privately funded caucus or a "firehouse primary" agreed to by both presidential candidates. But she doesn't want an election to be financed by taxpayers who already shelled out about $12 million for the Jan. 15 contest. A firehouse primary is a vote of declared Democrats who would stop by a fire station or union hall that would be open all day, and vote by secret ballot.  "Our delegates must be seated in

Denver

and I am consulting with our party leaders on how we can make that happen. I've always supported the most open and inclusive process possible," Granholm said.

Michigan

and

Florida

were stripped of their Democratic convention delegates when the two states opted for primaries in January, in violation of national party rules. The national Republican Party took away half the delegates from the two states. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said he's working with the national party and the Obama and Clinton camps to reach a resolution. He declined to say what options are being discussed.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V7ICS02&show_article=1&catnum=3

Do-Over in

Michigan

and

Florida

? 

Mar 5 05:59 PM US/Eastern

By NEDRA PICKLER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Officials in

Michigan

and

Florida

are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign. The governors of both states, along with top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That's a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the states' delegates are allocated. 

Clinton

won both contests, but the results were meaningless because the elections violated national party rules. Neither Clinton nor her rival Barack Obama campaigned in either state, and Obama's name wasn't even on the

Michigan

ballot.  The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all their delegates for holding the primaries too early, and all Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state. 

Florida

and

Michigan

moved up their dates to protest the party's decision to allow

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

to go first, followed by

South Carolina

and

Nevada

, giving them a disproportionate influence on the presidential selection process.   But no one predicted the race would still be very close this late in the year.  Ironically

Michigan

and

Florida

could have held crucial primaries if they had stayed with their traditional later dates. They may yet do so if they decide to hold news contests as Clinton and Obama compete to the wire.  Clinton has been insisting that the desires of more than 2 million people who cast Democratic ballots in the two states should be reflected at the convention, which would help her catch up with Obama's delegate lead. Obama has said he wants to see the delegates from the two critical swing states participate, too, but not if

Clinton

is rewarded for victories in boycotted primaries.  Now the

Clinton

campaign has begun expressing openness to a do-over. "Let's let all of the voters go again if they are willing to do it," said

Clinton

adviser Terry McAuliffe Tuesday night on MSNBC. "Whatever we have to do to get people in the system, let's do it."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/POLITICS01/803060373

Will

Michigan

Dems hold do-over?

Shunned delegates may hold key to

Clinton

, Obama nomination

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Mark Hornbeck and Deb Price / The

Detroit

News

Hillary Clinton's born-again presidential campaign revived the possibility Wednesday that party outcasts

Michigan

and

Florida

will play decisive roles in determining the Democratic nominee. 

Clinton

's wins in

Ohio

and

Texas

on Tuesday slowed Barack Obama's bandwagon and increased the likelihood that either candidate will need

Michigan

's and

Florida

's shunned delegates to win the nomination. And it intensified talk of a do-over primary or caucus in the two states whose delegates were stripped by the national party for voting in January, earlier than rules allowed. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said in a joint statement Wednesday that it's "reprehensible" the voices of 5.2 million people who voted in the two primaries would be discarded. "It is intolerable that the national political parties have denied the citizens of

Michigan

and

Florida

their votes and voices at their respective national conventions," the governors said.

Michigan

's and

Florida

's members of Congress met Wednesday night in

Washington

but failed to reach a consensus on options for getting their states' delegates seated.

Michigan

has 156 delegates and

Florida

210. The two states, whose primaries were won by

Clinton

, can make a huge difference in a national contest that Obama leads by 101 delegates. "They're at the point where the

Michigan

and

Florida

delegates could actually make the difference," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the

University

of

Virginia

. "There has to be a compromise reached with those states and that compromise might determine the nominee."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/80305051/1003/news01

TEXT-MESSAGE SCANDAL

Kilpatrick recall effort can continue, election commission says

By ZACHARY GORCHOW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • March 5, 2008

A proposed recall effort against Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick was given the green light today.The Wayne County Election Commission ruled that one of the six petitions submitted by Douglas Johnson was sufficiently clear under the law that requires it to be clear enough for Kilpatrick and the public to understand it.  Alan Canady, the lawyer representing Kilpatrick in the meeting, said afterward Kilpatrick would appeal the ruling to the Wayne County Circuit Court.  The commission rejected Johnson's other five petitions for lack of clarity.

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-51/1204761842263770.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

Language OK'd on Kilpatrick recall petition

3/5/2008, 6:57 p.m. EST

The Associated Press   

DETROIT (AP) — The Wayne County Election Commission has approved language on one of six recall petitions aimed at removing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office.  Douglas Johnson filed the petitions and has said a text-messaging sex scandal and $8.4 million whistle-blowers' lawsuit settlement are part of the reason he wants voters to recall Kilpatrick.  The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press report that the 42-year-old is a candidate in the 2009 Detroit City Council race.  Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey says 57,357 valid signatures are needed to schedule a recall. They must be collected within 90 days. A Kilpatrick spokeswoman criticized Wednesday's decision by the election commission.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/NEWS01/803060420/1003

Recall petition gets go-ahead

County panel says language is clear; mayor will appeal

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • March 6, 2008

An effort to recall Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over the text message scandal passed its first key hurdle Wednesday when an elections panel unanimously ruled that activists have proposed a sufficiently clear petition.  Kilpatrick's attorneys said they would appeal the decision of the Wayne County Election Commission in court.  If the courts uphold the commission's decision, recall forces could begin collecting the signatures of 57,328 registered city voters, a number that must be reached within a 90-day window. Douglas Johnson, a 42-year-old paralegal who moved to

Detroit

from

Sterling Heights

, is the recall organizer.  "Because he's an unknown political entity, there's no guarantee that he'll be able to put the resources together to get the signatures," said Eric Foster, a political consultant with Detroit-based Urban Consulting Group. "He's going to have to reach out to institutions and elected officials that are not supportive of Mayor Kilpatrick and get them on board."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/BUSINESS06/80305058/1008/news06

Mich.

unemployment rate dips to 7.1%

By JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

March 5, 2008

Michigan

’s labor markets started the year on a slightly better note, as unemployment declined slightly, the state reported this afternoon. 

Michigan

posted a 7.1% jobless rate in January, down from December’s revised 7.4% rate. Even with that improvement, however,

Michigan

is likely to lead the nation again for unemployment.  “January was a relatively stable month for

Michigan

’s labor market,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives.  The state’s battered manufacturing sector shed another 6,000 jobs in January, bringing the state’s estimated total to 596,000. At the beginning of this decade,

Michigan

employed roughly 900,000 factory workers.  Elsewhere in the state’s economy, the trade, transportation and utilities sector added 4,000 jobs during January, while construction added 2,000 and leisure and hospitality services added 2,000.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/303050039

Michigan

unemployment dropped in January

The Associated Press

LANSING

—

Michigan

’s unemployment rate improved in January. The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 7.1 percent, or three-tenths of a percentage point from 7.4 percent. December’s rate originally was higher but was revised downward, state officials said today.

Michigan

’s December rate was the highest in the nation.  The national jobless rate in January was 4.9 percent.  State officials say January was a relatively stable month for the labor market. Total employment rose by 33,000 and unemployment fell by 19,000.Michigan had modest job gains in construction, the first monthly increase since May. The state also added a few thousand hospitality and retail trade jobs.  But the state lost an estimated 6,000 manufacturing jobs.  Most other employment sectors, including government and professional services, stayed about the same.  The state’s jobless rate has hovered around 7 percent since 2003.

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/POLITICS01/803050453

John McCain gets endorsement from Bush

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President Bush endorsed Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain on Wednesday, two bitter rivals from the 2000 presidential race joining together now in hopes of preventing Democrats from winning the White House this fall.  "John showed incredible courage, strength of character and perseverance in order to get to this moment and that's exactly what we need in a president -- somebody who can handle the tough decisions, somebody who won't flinch in the face of danger," Bush said, appearing with McCain in the Rose Garden.  Bush's embrace of the

Arizona

senator as the party's next standard-bearer comes a day after McCain clinched the GOP nomination by getting the requisite 1,191 convention delegates. Republicans won't officially nominate McCain until early September at the GOP's national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.  A while back I don't think many people would have thought that John McCain would be here as the nominee of the Republican Party," Bush said. "Except he knew he'd be here and so did his wife, Cindy."  With his low poll ratings and an unpopular war on his shoulders, Bush could hurt McCain with some groups, while helping with others.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGNmZGYzYTJkMWZlNWI5N2RlZjI4NjY5M2Q5ZGZlMzg=

The Road to ‘President McCain’

Contrasts become clearer.

By Alvin S. Felzenberg

With the media preoccupied with the Democrats, the real victor of Super Tuesday II was John McCain. He won more than the necessary 1,191 delegates necessary to secure the Republican presidential nomination. McCain reminded his listeners that he did not grow up expecting to be president or believing himself entitled to the job. The contrast he made between himself and the two Democrats competing for the right to oppose him could not have been clearer.  McCain talked about protecting the nation, assuring the safety of its citizens, bringing its enemies to their knees, keeping the United States competitive in an increasingly global economy, preparing its workers for the jobs that economy demands, and using the strengths of the free-enterprise system to preserve the best health-care research and delivery system in the world and using market forces to make its benefits available to more Americans. That is what the next president will be expected to do   One of McCain’s would-be opponents sees the presidency as a reward for years spent in the trenches gaming electoral systems. The other acts as if he regards the nation’s highest office as deferred compensation for the lucrative legal career he set aside in order to serve as a community organizer, before attempting to leapfrog his way over more seasoned professional politicians to the top prize. Both talk about “making history.” Yet both see the race primarily in terms of symbolism, and as about them. McCain talks about the rest of us.  However the Democratic race comes out, McCain starts out with an edge. His nomination assured, he lost no time appealing to independents and those whom Ike used to call “discerning” Democrats. He promised two things the nation has not experienced since the glory days of Reagan: a 50-state campaign, and a president committed to serve all the people, including those who opposed his election. Talk about making history.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1719605,00.html

The Luck of John McCain

Wednesday, Mar. 05, 2008

By MICHAEL SCHERER

Despite his superstitions, John McCain likes to describe himself as "the luckiest man you will ever meet." Most of the time, he is speaking of the past — the fire he narrowly escaped on the U.S.S. Forrestal in 1967 or the the five years of torture and confinement he survived in

Hanoi

. But that luck continues to this day. His victories Tuesday in

Ohio

,

Texas

,

Rhode Island

and

Vermont

sealed for him both the Republican nomination and one of the most remarkable runs in modern political history.  So it was not much of a surprise Tuesday night when McCain clarified his position on destiny before hundreds of supporters in

Dallas

. "I have never believed I was destined be President," he said at one point, between the cheers. "I don't believe anyone is predestined to lead

America

."  Still there is no denying the good fortune that has helped McCain secure the nomination. Just two months ago, the Arizona Senator was still a distant long shot, operating a bare-bones campaign on a bank loan with a dilapidated staff of mostly unpaid advisors. Then almost everything broke his way: Mike Huckabee won

Iowa

, crippling the powerhouse campaign of Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani abandoned

New Hampshire

, allowing his moderate supporters to shift to McCain. Fred Thompson stayed in the race until

South Carolina

, bleeding enough votes away from Huckabee to allow McCain to win that key state. Even Huckabee seemed to cooperate, devoting crucial days to a foolhardy effort in

Michigan

and swearing off any negative attacks on McCain before he bowed out of the race Tuesday night.   And luck continues to break his way for now. As McCain celebrated wrapping up the nomination, the Democratic results painted a different picture of a divided party with more fireworks expected to come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/us/politics/06elect.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Clinton

Success Alters Delegate Race’s Dynamic

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and CARL HULSE

Published: March 6, 2008

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s victories in the primaries on Tuesday barely dented Senator Barack Obama’s lead in delegates, but they seemed to slow the Democratic Party establishment’s move in his direction while giving her campaign time to try to turn the race in her favor.  Mrs. Clinton’s victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island cut into Mr. Obama’s delegate lead by 15 delegates at most, and by as few as 5, depending on the final accounting in Texas, which was expected Thursday afternoon.  Mr. Obama now has 1,299 delegates, compared with 1,180 for Mrs. Clinton, based on a count of pledged and projected delegates prepared by The New York Times. A candidate needs 2,025 to claim the nomination, a figure that neither Mrs.

Clinton

nor Mr. Obama can reach without the votes of so-called superdelegates — party officials and elected Democrats who are awarded automatic seats.  Both campaigns maneuvered for advantage on Wednesday after Mrs. Clinton’s strong showing, and they prepared for the next big showdown, in

Pennsylvania

, where the political demographics and issues are similar to those in

Ohio

.

Mr. Obama said he planned to be more aggressive in going after Mrs. Clinton in response to her attacks, setting the groundwork for a tough competition that made some Democrats nervous that the party would bloody itself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030502646.html?sub=AR

Both Obama And

Clinton

Hold Edge Over McCain

By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta

Washington

Post Staff Writers

Thursday, March 6, 2008; Page A09

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) kicks off his general-election campaign trailing both potential Democratic nominees in hypothetical matchups, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.  Sen. Barack Obama (

Ill.

) leads McCain, who captured the delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination Tuesday night, by 12 percentage points among all adults in the poll; Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) holds a six-point lead over the GOP nominee. Both Democrats are buoyed by moderates and independents when going head to head with McCain and benefit from sustained negative public assessments of President Bush and the war in

Iraq

. About two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job and think the war was not worth fighting, and most hold those positions "strongly." A slim majority also doubt that the

United States

is making progress toward restoring civil order in

Iraq

, even as McCain and others extol recent successes there. These views are closely related to voters' choices: McCain does poorly against Clinton and Obama among those who disapprove of the president and those opposing the war.  Among independents, those who see improvements in

Iraq

prefer McCain to either Democrat, while six in 10 of those more skeptical of progress would go for a Democrat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/us/politics/06obama.html?ref=politics

Lesson of Defeat: Obama Comes Out Punching

By MICHAEL POWELL and JEFF ZELENY

Published: March 6, 2008

CHICAGO

— Senator Barack Obama woke up on Wednesday talking of his delegate lead and of taking the fight to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. But after defeats in two of the most populous states, he also sounded like a chastened candidate in search of his lost moment.  Mr. Obama once again failed to administer an electoral coup de grâce, and so allowed a tenacious rival to elude his grasp. Now, after appearing nearly invincible just last week, he faces questions about his toughness and vulnerabilities — never mind seven weeks of tramping across

Pennsylvania

, the site of the next big primary showdown. His goal is to prove he can win states vital to a Democratic victory in November.

In

Ohio

and

Texas

, he drew vast and adoring crowds, yet he came up short on primary day, just as he did in

New Hampshire

in early January. Mrs. Clinton’s attack on his readiness to serve as commander in chief seemed to resonate with some

Texas

voters.

In

Ohio

, Mr. Obama failed to make much headway with voters who live paycheck to paycheck and feel the economic walls closing in, a troublesome sign as he heads to

Pennsylvania

.  But his challenge now is about more than demographics. He must reassure supporters, and party leaders who had started to rally to his side, that he can absorb the lessons of Tuesday’s defeats. And he faces a challenge of rebounding as quickly as he did from his loss in

New Hampshire

.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120476351914515053.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

Clinton, Obama Go on Attack

As Superdelegates Hold Key

By JACKIE CALMES and CHRISTOPHER COOPER

March 6, 2008; Page A1

A day after Hillary Clinton regained her footing in the Democrats' presidential-nominating marathon, she and Barack Obama intensified their attacks on each other, geared up for messy rules fights and wooed the party leaders who could decide the race.

Despite the drama of Sen. Clinton's popular-vote victories Tuesday, she essentially split the 370 delegates at stake with Sen. Obama. He maintains a small but potentially insurmountable 100-plus lead in delegates, out of a total of slightly more than 4,000.

Their battle is now certain to go on at least to the next big-state showdown April 22 in

Pennsylvania

, leaving Democratic leaders worried it will drain the party of cash and unity -- and produce a nominee bloodied by attacks that Republicans can adopt as their own.

The deepening rift contrasted with the Republicans, where Sen. John McCain, after sealing his nomination Tuesday, started mobilizing his support and raising money for the general election. The

Arizona

senator faces a big task uniting his demoralized party -- though a luncheon at the White House and endorsement from President Bush were steps in that direction. One lesson both camps took away from Sen. Clinton's wins Tuesday in

Ohio

and

Texas

was that her last-ditch aggressiveness against Sen. Obama helped turn the tide. Each side spent the day after the contests questioning the other candidate's suitability for the presidency.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/fight_makes_democrats_stronger.html

Fight Makes Democrats Stronger

By Ellen Goodman

March 06, 2008

BOSTON

-- In the end, the most memorable line of the primary season may belong to Bill Clinton. He told a church group last month: "I've been waiting all my life to vote for an African-American president. I've been waiting all my life to vote for a woman for president. ... I feel like God is playing games with our heads and our hearts."

He might have added that God, or some more earthly force, was also playing games with his party.  Hillary had barely celebrated her Code Blue victories in

Ohio

,

Texas

and

Rhode Island

before worries began to appear like a crawl across the screen during the victory party. A historic campaign could end up in a historic debacle.

Think back to those wonderful yesterdays -- well, yesterweeks -- when Republicans couldn't decide who to vote for because they didn't like their choices. Democrats were undecided because they liked their choices.  Now the worry is that the Republicans have sewn up their nomination while the Democrats are slogging off to the next battleground. While John McCain is saving his money and firepower for the election, Hillary and Barack will be wounding each other in

Pennsylvania

,

Indiana

, even

Puerto Rico

. While McCain can spend months uniting Republicans, Hillary and Barack will spend them dividing Democrats.  I understand the danger in the demographics. On Tuesday, Hillary won white women, older voters, working-class people and Hispanics. Obama won younger voters, African-Americans and the college-educated. I've been at enough tables lately where Democrats who usually side with each other against Bush now tensely size up each other's feminist credentials, anti-war loyalties or good sense. The good choices become hard choices accompanied by hard feelings.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/the_pessimisitc.html

Obama's Pessimistic Message

By Victor Davis Hanson

March 06, 2008

Liberal Democrats from the North haven't had much success in recent presidential elections -- not Hubert Humphrey, not George McGovern, not Walter Mondale, not Mike Dukakis and not John Kerry. Democratic Southerners -- Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton -- have done quite a bit better.  Sen. Barack Obama, of

Illinois

, knows this history. So why does he think he can be the first Northern liberal Democratic president since John F. Kennedy edged out Richard Nixon almost a half-century ago?

First, there is no incumbent president or vice president running for the first time in over 50 years. Add a controversial war, an unpopular incumbent and a shaky economy, and you've got a wide-open race full of voters rethinking things as never before.

Second, as the first African-American candidate to seriously contend for either party's nomination, Obama offers Americans a sort of collective redemption at home and admiration abroad.  When Obama's wife, Michelle, stated that she had never been proud of America until her husband ran for office, she made explicit what seems to be the campaign's implicit contract: Vote for Obama and, at last, America, you can prove you are not a racist country and finally heal centuries-old wounds.  Many Americans are also tired of the flag-burning, embassy-storming and other virulent -- and often violent -- anti-Americanism broadcast into our homes from overseas. They apparently hope a young President Obama would recast the

United States

as a hip, likable multicultural society, marking an end to the stereotype of the

U.S.

as a stodgy white-guy superpower.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/tough_math_on_the_democratic_s.html

Tough Math on the Democratic Side

By Marie Cocco

March 06, 2008

WASHINGTON

-- Hillary Clinton is not the only Democrat with a math problem. But the arithmetical difficulty that Barack Obama faces is fundamentally different from

Clinton

's: She doesn't have the numbers that plot a clear path to the nomination. He doesn't have the numbers that plot a clear path to a Democratic victory in the fall.  The spin-of-the-day from the Obama campaign on the morning after Clinton's victories in three of the four states holding primaries on Tuesday is that the New York senator cannot possibly overtake her rival's lead in "pledged" delegates -- that is, those won in primaries and caucuses -- and therefore has no chance of winning the Democratic nomination.  The arithmetic conveniently leaves out an essential part of the equation: Neither Obama nor Clinton can secure through the primaries and caucuses the 2,025 delegates necessary to win at the

Denver

convention without the votes of the superdelegates. And Clinton's stunning performance on Tuesday, particularly in Ohio, makes Obama's argument that superdelegates should automatically back the will of the voters -- and not use independent political judgment about who can best compete against Republican John McCain in November -- look like an awfully simplistic calculus.  Add up all the states he has won in his historic drive to become the nominee, including all of those small and deeply "red" Republican states where the Obama supporters boast of their candidate's transcendental appeal, and so far Obama has won in places representing 193 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Add up

Clinton

's victories thus far and she has triumphed in states representing 263 electoral votes.

.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/why_she_isnt_dead.html

Why She Isn't Dead

By Robert Novak

March 06, 2008

WASHINGTON

,

D.C.

-- The scope of Hillary Clinton's latest resurrection can be appreciated only in light of the elaborate preparations that had been made for her expeditious burial. That she is very much alive can be attested to her true grit but also the revelation Barack Obama is not the miraculously perfect candidate after all.

Assuming that Sen. Clinton at best would eke a victory in Ohio Tuesday to end her long losing streak, prominent Democrats were organizing a major private intervention. A posse of party leaders would plead with her to end her campaign and recognize Obama as the Democratic standard-bearer. To buttress this argument, several elite unelected super-delegates (including several previous

Clinton

supporters) were ready to come out for Obama. Those plans went on hold Tuesday night. 

Clinton

's transformation of the political climate by her decisive victory in

Ohio

and unexpected narrow win in

Texas

coincided with Obama facing adversity for the first time in his magical candidacy, and not handling it well. The result is not only the prospect of seven weeks of fierce campaigning by the two candidates stretching out to the next primary showdown April 22 in Pennsylvania, but also perhaps what Democratic leaders feared but never really thought possible until now: a contested national convention in Denver the last week of August.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03052008/news/columnists/obama_better_battle_back_before_its_too__100539.htm

OBAMA BETTER

BATTLE

BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

by Dick Morris

March 5, 2008 -- WITH big wins in

Ohio

and

Texas

last night, Hillary Clinton has finally broken her losing streak and sent a clear message to Barack Obama: I'm not getting out.

For the

Illinois

senator, the meaning of the primaries is clear - he has to get tough. Hillary can still win this nomination. The proportional representation system of allocating delegates chosen by primaries and caucuses mutes the impact of the popular vote. By the time the

Texas

caucuses are fully counted, Obama may have maintained or even expanded his delegate lead, despite Hillary's victories in three out of four states.  Among the remaining 600 delegates to be chosen, Obama should be able to add to his lead.

But there remain 800 superdelegates, each entitled to a full vote. No matter if Obama leads among elected delegates, they can still deliver the nomination to Hillary. Do they dare?  If

Clinton

is able to score a series of popular-vote victories in these late primaries, she could lay the basis for an appeal to the superdelegates to disregard the results of January and February and look instead at her success in the later contests.

The battle of Hillary is over. The battle of Obama has begun. The question of his readiness and experience looms ever larger in the minds of the media and of voters. Her red-phone ad, citing her supposedly superior readiness to be commander in chief, evidently cut deeply among the electorate.  It's time that Obama counters her strategy by hitting back. His lofty politics of hope will avail him little in the aggressive, rough-and-tumble world of modern politics.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8845.html

Dems face a long brawl

By: John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen

Mar 5, 2008 01:28 PM EST

For months, Democrats have congratulated themselves on an embarrassment of riches: Two larger-than-life politicians, both potential history-makers who symbolize the party’s celebration of diversity. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama both won admiration from lots of people backing the other candidate.

Well, forget all that. The up-with-people phase of this contest is over. The clear-the-benches phase has begun — a brawl that now is more likely than not to continue until the Democratic nomination in late August.  Obama’s failure to win

Ohio

and

Texas

and lock down the nomination — combined with

Clinton

’s newly defensible decision to press on despite a deficit in delegates — virtually guarantees Democrats a draining contest that will give Republicans a months-long head-start on the general election.

It will heighten racial, ethnic, gender, and class divisions already on stark display, raise awkward questions about the legitimacy of the nominating process, and inflict potentially lasting wounds on the eventual winner.