Political State Report: State News Straight Up

This may be what they call, closing the deal.

With final results still to come in, the margins of victory are closing in both races. But the clear victor of the night, matching and slightly exceeding expectations, is Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton after a good run of wins, met the voting base of North Carolina and faced a core block of people don’t like her in Indiana. As of writing, Obama is up by 16 and Clinton is up by 4 (with 75% of the vote counted)

Tonight will be painful for Clinton supporters around the Web, though already seen is the pattern that, yes, this is how the race should go - through people voting. There’s nothing unfair about results (Nov. 2000 the largest and most obvious exception).

Obama supporters will start using Clinton campaign arguments without missing a beat - that the small remaining states don’t matter.

Clinton could easily win all the remaining races but tonight the narrative was written for the rest of the campaign. The biggest decision for the Clinton campaign now is how best to withdraw from the race, with grace and dignity. If Obama supporters will let her.

The left side of the blogosphere will be packed with recriminations from here on, and likely through Election Day in November. John McCain has been polling way ahead of Obama but that is, while not meaningless, fairly insignificant because the question when only two candidates are in the race is an entirely different question.

I’ll have more about swallowing pride and being given reasons for doing so in an upcoming post here. This race has fundamentally changed the future of the Democratic Party and who it caters to. It’s not all positive.

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (2)

With 19% counted in Indiana, Clinton up 14% but it isn’t called. CNN calls North Carolina solely based on exit polls. That seems foolish, as if maybe they couldn’t wait until a percentage of actual votes came in.

It’s highly possible, by the way, that with North Carolina’s higher delegate count, Barack Obama will come out ahead in that count tonight.

UPDATE: I know it doesn’t mean anything but after having called North Carolina for Obama with no results, the first results show CLINTON with 60% of the vote, with about 1,400 votes to Obama’s 40%.

UPDATE 2 Now early results how Obama with 69% in North Carolina. CNN also joked (joked right?) that Roland Martin had not come out in support of either candidate.

Forty percent counted in indiana and it’s not called for Clinton yet with 12% lead. Perhaps understandable, but I remember last election the races were too close to call for a loooong time and the percentages stayed the same. … Each state is different.

UPDATE 3 CBS NEWS is the first to call Indiana for Obama. CNN’s John King says we want to count the votes as reason for not calling it. By the way, 49 % of vote in for Indiana, 11% of vote in for North Carolina. …. Clinton now ahead by a smaller 10% in Indiana.

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (0)

As Hillary Clinton continues to watch superdelegates make another choice, she faces another election day in Indiana and North CArolina.

I think conventional wisdom, which of course has tracked with the polls, will hold true. Clinton will win Indiana by about the same amount she loses North CArolina. And if she wins North Carolina - very unlikely - then the rules of the “game” have changed big time, and it’ll be Obama on the ropes, still being unable to deliver that knock out punch to his fellow Democrat.

I am certain that the delegates are, of their own volition - in most cases (ahem, Joe Andrew) - slowly opting for Obama because, well, I’m not sure but “inspired” seems to be a key word. That’s fine. It’s part of the process.

Among the most partisan of Democratic voters - the net-punditry - Clinton has become more unpopular for a variety of reasons, many manufactured or left over from the right-wing crazy narrative of the 90s. She’s equally a pariah among the national media punditry, of course, thus demonstrating little difference among pundits no matter the medium.

But she has also become unpopular among Democratic leaders by making these superdelegates make a tough decision. And this is partly, of course, because voters keep on voting for her in heavy amounts thus making her decisions easy - to stay in until the voters clearly reject her candidacy.

I clicked on the following to get a broad feel for what people are thinking about and the title - Time For Obama To Deliver Body Slama - seemed to illustrate my point:

Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperObama. Now has come the time to transform those words of hope into a plan of action. So the saying goes, “you can’t bring a knife to a gun fight anymore than you can invoke the Marquess of Queensberry rules to a street brawl.” When your opponent, be it man, woman or desperate, shrill politician decides to discard the rules of engagement, you have no alternative but to follow suit.

Trouble is, the “Time for Obama…” was March 10.

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (2)

Thoughts on thoughts and news from around the Web.
ABC NEWS should have absolutely found someone else other than former Bill Clinton press secretary George Stephanopoulos to moderate and ask questions of Hillary Clinton on Sunday. Barack Obama and John McCain were also invited, and though it’s not directly accurate to say they refused, they’re not […]

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (4)

A nonprofit group Women’s Voices, Women Vote that has registered 400,000 people in the last nine months is under fire for some poorly planned, poorly worded calls in North Carolina.

The most serious charge from online pundits is that their efforts were deliberately misleading and manipulative. That has resulted in a letter from the North Carolina Attorney General (PDF and reprinted below).

The truth seems to lean on the edge of some very accomplished people doing a few incompetent things. Their robocalls in North Carolina were meant to be reminders to unregistered voters for the general election to register and vote. But since they’re coming out before the primary, with a registration packet scheduled to come in the mail there has been obvious confusion. The calls say people need to sign and register before they can vote. In some cases, the people called were already registered.

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (3)

For those wondering how the Democratic Party heals once a Democratic nominee is elected and selected, North Carolina’s GOP may have given us an inkling.

The state’s GOP released this ad today, titled “Extreme” that highlights the offensive words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s longtime pastor, now retired.

This ad does not directly address racist emotions, as “God Damn America” doesn’t come from any particular background or tradition. And it’s hard to believe that the appeal will sway the Democratic primary election for governor, though it has future implications. Of course, the ad also comes just before North Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary when all eyes - interested in politics - are now directed its way.

Not only does the ad highlight Wright’s words, however, it also tries to connect Obama’s continued support of Wright with two Democratic candidates’ support of Obama. The ad asks how people can support Democratic governor candidates Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore when they support Obama.

The Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign have asked - for public consumption only? - for the ad to be pulled. The four remaining Republican governor candidates - Bob Orr, Pat McCrory, Bob Graham and Fred Smith - have not yet voiced objections to the ad.

Both parties hold their gubernatorial primaries on May 6. Early voting started today.

Interestingly, Moore, (current Treasurer) and Beverly Perdue, (current Lt. Gov.) have, like Obama and Clinton, expended serious energy attacking each other hard. Perdue is attempting to become the state’s first female governor.

If Obama is the nominee and the GOP tilts hard racist demagoguery and imagery then - because they won’t take kindly to such appeals - erstwhile Hillary Clinton supporters will rally behind him.

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (4)

The announcement that Obama and Clinton had agreed to another debate was made quietly. Or rather it was not a big deal to the online and offline punditry class.
But, indeed, there will be another debate. The fourth head-to-head match involving only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is to be at the at the National Constitution […]

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (0)

John McCain has an interesting choice to make as to who should be his vice presidential running mate. In the most basic of terms the considerations are wide. It’s not even clear the so-called “Maverick” would pick a Republican, though it would be a pretty craven Democrat who would accept his request. What’s that, Joe Lieberman?

A woman? Someone in a wheelchair? A general?

How about Colin Powell? Woah, that one is worth a long, considering pause isn’t it?

Regionally does it matter? Likely not another southwest presence but what about Arnold Schwarzenegger to help drag California to his side? I think it is technically constitutionally legal for a naturalized American to be vice president. National media would shine the biggest spotlight on this campaign.

Laura Ingraham? McCain likes the blondes.

Would he want to strengthen his hawkish (to put it mildly) positions or push someone who would balance where he is perceived as weak.

Does he accept that he is not conservative enough and that being more conservative would actually help with the general electorate?

Would he bring Jonah Goldberg aboard so the right-leaning blogosphere would finally come aboard?

Michael Bloomberg is a serious consideration. What say you?

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BY: Temple Stark | Comments and Links (2)