The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan
Gallup still shows no change. Im beginning to suspect that the only segment left in America that genuinely feels that elitism is a problem for Obama are … the elites. How funny is that?

TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo |
We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.

Give me a fucking break, are these people willing to shoot the party in the head so Hillary can satisfy her ambition and gargantuan sense of entitlement? The longer this primary goes on the greater my feeling of revulsion for the Clintons and their supporters.

Update: The Carpetbagger Report has more on the thuggery of Clinton supporters.

“I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia,” she said, in remarks that aides described Monday as not being part of her prepared speech. “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”

Take a look at the video. No running with heads down, no bullets snapping the ground around them, no snipers. Maybe the school girl in the greeting party waiting on the tarmac was a really, really well disguised sniper. And I have to ask, why in God’s name would she have brought Chelsea on such a “dangerous” mission. Like the CBS reporter says, you better make your speech match the video tape.

Update: Olbermann had a segement on Countdown last night called BS-NIA CONFLICT. How apropos is that?

The Long Defeat – New York Times
First, Barack Obama weathered the Rev. Jeremiah Wright affair without serious damage to his nomination prospects. Obama still holds a tiny lead among Democrats nationally in the Gallup tracking poll, just as he did before this whole affair blew up.

Second, Obama’s lawyers successfully prevented re-votes in Florida and Michigan. That means it would be virtually impossible for Clinton to take a lead in either elected delegates or total primary votes.

Third, as Noam Scheiber of The New Republic has reported, most superdelegates have accepted Nancy Pelosi’s judgment that the winner of the elected delegates should get the nomination. Instead of lining up behind Clinton, they’re drifting away. Her lead among them has shrunk by about 60 in the past month, according to Avi Zenilman of Politico.com.

Oh snap! I’d like to believe the Clinton campaign has died, but I don’t they’ll be out until someone drives a stake into both of their hearts, beheads them and burns the bodies. Their ambition may break the party first.

Krugman nails exactly what I was thinking when I heard that Clinton wants Greenspan on a blue ribbon commission to find a solution to the mortgage crisis. Hey, let’s appoint Wiley E. Coyote to build effective road-runner traps! That will solve everything!! Hooray, let’s all go back to our over-leveraged homes to celebrate!!! Oh wait, the Sheriff has put our stuff out in the street.

Clinton and Obama Split Over Florida and Michigan – New York Times
“The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored,” she told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here.

Ferraro defends controversial comments on Barack Obama – The Daily Breeze
“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”

She should probably gone with the ever popular “no comment” until after the election. Gerry, you probably ought to shut up now, you ain’t helping!!!

So will Hillary embrace this narrative and become the campaign of down trodden white people? Remember kids, we’re on 231 year streak of white people running the country. I’m going to get physically ill if the Hilldog embraces her “victimhood”.

Mike Dorning and Christi Parsons at the Chicago Trib do job on the experience meme pushed by the Hillary camp.

Firedoglake » Enough! I’d Like Some Answers, Please
Should we conclude that the Clinton campaign believes their best strategy for capturing the nomination is to convince the superdelegates/party leaders they must choose her because she’s prepared to make it impossible for Senator Obama to beat John McCain?

Give me the nomination or the party gets it in the head? I’m really beginning to get tired of the Clintons bullshit.

Hillary’s New Math Problem | Newsweek Voices – Jonathan Alter | Newsweek.com
Hillary Clinton won big victories Tuesday night in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. But she’s now even further behind in the race for the Democratic nomination. How could that be? Math. It’s relentless.

To beat Barack Obama among pledged delegates, Clinton now needs even bigger margins in the 12 remaining primaries than she needed when I ran the numbers on Monday—an average of 23 points, which is more than double what she received in Ohio.

Counter point from Andrew Sullivan:

Still, we think “the math” will make all the confusion disappear. Sorry, but no matter how many graphics generators, telestrators or calculators we deploy, this is politics. It is not algebra class. And in this campaign, it looks like the only count that matters will be the first ballot at the Democratic national convention.

I agree with the argument that it benefits Clinton more to have Obama at the bottom of the ticket, than it does Obama to have Clinton as his running mate. He brings new voters in that may stay home without him. Her strength is with democratic insiders and rank and file that would vote for either nominee. At some point the party leadership needs to tell her to back down and put Obama at the top of the ticket. It is what best for the party. Sadly, it seems like Clinton thinks it’s more about what’s best for her.

Clinton targets pledged delegates – Roger Simon – Politico.com
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination.

This strategy was confirmed to me by a high-ranking Clinton official on Monday. And I am not talking about superdelegates, those 795 party big shots who are not pledged to anybody. I am talking about getting pledged delegates to switch sides.

What? Isn’t that impossible? A pledged delegate is pledged to a particular candidate and cannot switch, right?

Wrong.

Pledged delegates are not really pledged at all, not even on the first ballot. This has been an open secret in the party for years, but it has never really mattered because there has almost always been a clear victor by the time the convention convened.

But not this time.

UPDATE: Ezra brings it all together here

MSNBC report that the estimated delegate count, including super delegates Obama now leads by 1306 to 1270. Hillary has to win by better then 60% in the remaining contests to win. The math is looking rough for her. She will, of course, try to get Florida (where Obama did not campaign) and Michigan (where he wasn’t on the ballot) counted. At this point Obama is in lead in the popular vote. It’s looking bad for the Clinton camp.

TPM has the post election speeches here.

The Associated Press: McCain Seals GOP Nod As Romney Suspends
John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. “I must now stand aside, for our party and our country,” Romney prepared to tell conservatives.

“If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,” Romney will say at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Really the irony here is that the only remaining candidate to really state that they would immediately get all troops out of Iraq was Republican Ron Paul. Obama and Clinton both see a long term need for an America troop presence in Iraq for counter-terrorism operations, force protection and training Iraqi forces. To say otherwise is a flat out lie. It’s ugly, mendacious and plays to fears the GOP does their best to nurture. In other words the normal run of the mill Republican rhetoric.

CBS Poll: Clinton, Obama Tied, McCain Has Big Lead Among Republicans; Also, Most Americans Think Economy Is In Recession – CBS News
With only one full day remaining before voters in more than 20 states head to the polls on Super Tuesday, the races for the Democratic and Republican nominations could not be more different, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are running neck-and-neck among Democratic primary voters, while John McCain appears to have solidified his status as the Republican Party’s front-runner, opening up a wide margin over his nearest rival for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

John McCain seems to have firmed up his lead over the remaining GOP hangers-on. The Unholy Trinity of greater Wignuttia (Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham) must be really pissed off about right now. Let me enjoy the Malkinfreude of it all for a few minutes.

UPDATE:

Others are less than convinced this will end up as an Obama victory. Also this nugget is buried in the text of the CBS Poll story:

The picture in the states voting on Super Tuesday is not nearly as close as the overall picture and offers some good news for Clinton. Among voters in those states, she leads Obama, 49 percent to 31 percent, with 16 percent still undecided.

Ouch, they really really don’t like McCain. About the only thing that would get them out the door to vote on election day would be voting against Clinton.

I don’t watch Fox Noise, if I can help it. There’s nothing worse than being forced to listen to a fool like Steve Doocy blather on in a waiting room because it someone’s bizarre idea of a “good news show”. Ewwww

Anyway, Auggie took one for the team and posted this segment from Hannity and Colmes where the High Priestess of Adam’s Apples and Hatin’ on Liberals, Ann Coulter swears that she will campaign for Hillary if McCain is the Republican nominee. Can you see it? Can you picture what that might look like in your mind’s eye. Me neither. Maybe Hillary will take her up on the offer. That would really be taking “keep your friends close and your enemies even closer” to a ridiculous extreme.

Update:

Sully loves it when Hugh Hewitt gives Ann a good talking to.

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008
Barack Obama has now cut the gap with Hillary Clinton to 6 percentage points among Democrats nationally in the Gallup Poll Daily tracking three-day average, and interviewing conducted Tuesday night shows the gap between the two candidates is within a few points. Obama’s position has been strengthening on a day-by-day basis. As recently as Jan. 18-20, Clinton led Obama by 20 points. Today’s Gallup Poll Daily tracking is based on interviews conducted Jan. 27-29, all after Obama’s overwhelming victory in South Carolina on Saturday. Two out of the three nights interviewing were conducted after the high-visibility endorsement of Obama by Sen. Edward Kennedy and his niece Caroline Kennedy.

I take this to mean there still is hope for his campaign after the Clinton pseudo-victory in Florida. I certainly hope and pray the democratic party has the intelligence to nominate someone other than Clinton. I think he has broader appeal in a general election. Nothing would unite a fractured Republican party faster than the prospect of another Clinton administration.

On a related note, my sure that if it’s at all close Hillary’s first move at the convention will be to seat the Florida and Michigan delegate, since she did well in both states.

Then there’s this little tidbit about Obama raising $32 million in a month. That’ll should help going into Super Tuesday.

Update:

Make that 4 points away from Hillary:

The latest Democratic numbers show Hillary Clinton with a 43% to 39% advantage over Barack Obama among Democratic voters nationwide. That 4-point lead is the narrowest since early January, and it is a continuation of gains by Obama. The impact of John Edwards’ exit from the Democratic race is less clear.