This won't be a long diary, so pardon me if it doesn't meet guidelines.

So I hear Terry McAullife today on MSNBC and CNN, and it's nothing but some good laughs outside of Bill O'Reilly these days, when he goes on about there being "2210" delegates, how Obama will lose big in states McAullife has written off, and basically giving the same strategy that has drove the Democrats into the ground during the decade.

He's also made mention of how they'll have had their 3rd best month ever, and that they'll have $10 million to fight on until the end. Never mind the fact that she's launched a Nixonian attack on the media as if it were all their fault for her losing. Never mind the fact that the whole hope that their entire block of supporters would even think of blowing this golden opportunity at a Democratic president out of bitterness (No pun intended). And never mind the fact that nobody cares about her anymore and her joke of advisors.

Since I'm aiming for laughs here, I think this photo will best describe Clinton headquarters Election Night and the day after...

A few moments ago, I got a call from a real live person affiliated with Tom Cole's (Republican National Committee chairman) office at the RNC, offering me some sort of "Congressional honors"...I'm sure at a price.

May has been a busy month and it is more than half over.  I have a few important things to announce this week.

1. CHANGES IN THE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION -- We are going to make several important changes to the campaign organization this week.  These moves will bring in some new people with important knowledge, experience and expertise to the campaign and will change the roles of some people already involved with the campaign.

"Follow the money" is perhaps the ultimate truism of our capitalist society.  And if you follow the money in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, it is clearer than ever that it is increasingly going in one direction: to Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton's top donors are defecting to Obama in growing numbers, according to an analysis by the New York Daily News published today.  Top donors for both candidates met this week to take the first steps at unifying behind Obama, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. And that most brutal of all indicators, the Intrade predictions market, has Obama selling at 92.8 (meaning they currently give him a 92.7% chance of winning the nomination) -- up from 74% just a few weeks ago.  Follow the money after the jump.

If the Internet replaces the fund-raiser as the primary source of campaign cash for Democrats, that ought to increase our ability to pass laws that voters, as opposed to donors, like.  

Ever since Tony Coehlo figured out that the only way to keep Congressional Democrats competitive in the money race was to sell out to Little Oil, we've been losing votes at the polls because things we'd like to do and that our constituents would like would cost too much in the way of contributions.  Oil, financial services, telecommunications, entertainment, high tech, and various chunks of the health care and health-care finance industries have all be important parts of the Democratic donor base, and each has extracted its pound of legislative flesh.

That may be about to change.  But how?

First off, let me say "Howdy" to everyone. I'm a long time lurker, first time diarist.  I'm from Texas, but right now I'm living abroad in Japan. このサイトに日本語が分か 427;人がいるかな？こんにちは ！ Living abroad, I've been a bit removed from the excitement of this year's presidential race.  So I got to thinking that even though I'm thousands of miles aways, I could use the internets, that wonderful collection of tubes, to try to do something to help out.  So I am organizing an online fundraiser - a moneybomb - for the DNC to be held on June 3rd.

I've created a website and a Facebook group to promote this effort:

http://www.dncmoneybomb.com

http://www.facebook.com/...

There is more info after the jump.  I hope many of your can join me in this effort, and thanks for reading my first diary!  

This is from the FEC website up to the end of the first quarter.  The numbers have been there for awhile but I just got around to checking them out.  A lot of Democrats are doing very well in fundraising.  

The first figure posted is the total as of March 31, the second figure  posted in brackets is as of December 31.  I posted both so you can see how well they did in the quarter.  When only one number is posted it's as of March 31.  No previous number would be posted in most cases because the candidate hadn't entered the race as of December 31.  

I've broken the candidates down into a few categories, they are strictly my opinion.  This is just House candidates, not U.S Senate candidates.

In my mailbox yesterday was a yellow envelope marked "EMERGENCY TELEGRAM" and "EXTREMELY URGENT: EXPEDITE DELIVER" and "DELIVERED BY THE POST OFFICE" the return address was (in sum toto) "Senator John McCain".

WHERE TO START? First, someone should tell McCain that "telegrams" come via "telegraph" NOT the US MAIL. For those of you too young to remember what a telegram is, it would be as if the envelope said "EMERGENCY TEXT MESSAGE - Delivered by the Post Office". And like Texts, you pay by the character/word, and this puppy went 3 pages.

But the content was the fun part. The bottom line is that John McCain needs to raise money. From the "telegram":

"To stay competitive and ultimately win this election I must raise $21.5 million in the next month...And I cannot do it alone"

(True John, but maybe you should ask Cindy to raise your allowance, instead of just loaning you her plane. She has the extra money from just selling off her Sudan assets this week.)

If you live in the Greater Los Angeles area -- especially in Orange County, western Riverside or San Bernardino Counties, or even San Diego County, you will want to know about this:

Ambassador Joe Wilson -- who went to Africa prior to the Iraq War to investigate rumors that Iraq was trying to acquire yellowcake uranium, bravely told the story publicly of what he did not find in Africa, and was rewarded with the Administration blowing his wife's deep cover as an agent monitoring Iranian nuclear weapons activity -- is coming to town.  He wants to meet with people like you.

This event is a fundraiser for the candidacy of longtime Koster Ron Sheptston (the once and future CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream, who is running for Congress against the ethically challenged Rep. Gary Miller (R-Housing Crisis.))  Tickets start at $35.  See a disclaimer and more information about the event after the fold.

The Republican National Congressional Committee recently spent $3 million dollars to try to win special elections in 3 districts. They lost in Louisiana’s 6th district by 3% (which voted 59% for Bush in 2004), in Illinois’ 14th district by 6% (56% for Bush) and most recently in Mississippi by 8% (62% for Bush).

What’s more, that $3 million was 42% of their cash on hand as of the last reporting cycle.

So anyway, if my public education serves, the RNCC should still have around $4 million left. They spent $1 million per district on some of the reddest districts in the country, and got their hats handed to them. There are 199 Republican representatives left.

Because I gave $25 to McCain in 2000, trying to stave off Bush (and back when he seemed to truly be a "straight talker," silly me), I'm on his email list. So I have received a fundraising letter with the subject line "My First Term."

Thought I'd share it with DKos, with the bolds as provided in the email; I've added some comments, [in brackets].

Just received a letter from Hillary Clinton requesting money to support her continuation in what she terms "a neck-and-neck race," and inviting me to join her campaign.

How nice of the good senator to send a postage pre-paid envelope for my response.

According to CNN, both Clinton and Obama reached a joint fundraising agreement with the Democratic National Committee called the "Democratic White House Victory Fund".  This comes after Clinton's $20 million and growing debt becomes a growing public concern of the Clinton Campaign, the media and many voters.

The agreement, announced Wednesday, creates a new entity, the "Democratic White House Victory Fund" — a move which will allow both candidates to fundraise for the cash-strapped Democratic National Committee, and to help shoulder some of their primary and general election expenses. John McCain has already created his own Victory Fund with the Republican National Committee – but those funds are usually created after a nominee has been decided.

CNN

It is time to hit every elementary school in the United States.  We need to help eliminate Bill and Hillary's 20 million dollar debt to their campaign.  We need to get every kid to get on board and fast.

(Cross-posted at Talking Points Memo)

Minutes after Senator Hillary Clinton finished her victory speech in West Virginia, AARP Senior Fraud Defense lawyer Roberta Flume received a panicked call from Senator John McCain.  According to Ms. Flume, the call went as follows:

I admit it...it's been a while since I donated to Barack.  When the race genuinely seemed too close to call, I was down for giving a little bit as a reward for each victory and encouragement after each setback.  But then...well, life happened, as you may have read in my previous diary, and the "He's got it sewn up" talk meant that I could stash away my pennies for the general.

But today I decided that's not the way to go...if Hillary is going to fight on, then I've got to support BHO all the way!

Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t

Today's Daily Flipper - McCain Flips on Environment and Abortion Edition you will read:
If You Don’t Like John McCain’s Environmental Position, Just Wait Five Minutes
McCain Advisor Forced To Resign
Here Comes The Exodus
Another Installment Of McCain 2.0

Read all the detail and take action on the flip. Flip it good.

Right wing bloggers in Minnesota are discounting Kosovo and Iraq Veteran Steve Sarvi and his run for Congress against John Kline.

One recent right wing blogger suggested that Republicans push money out of Kline's district into others.

Blueman responds...