Now that I've lured you in this is the reaction currently going around on DKos members and their support for Obama and his public statements on FISA...

Some of our support for our candidate "now" hinges on one issue, ONE FUCKING ISSUE.  

Okay you want to stop FISA, well I'm going to help you, I'm going to give you some advice to stop FISA and fan the outrage that has taken DKos by storm the last two weeks.  Learn the ways after the jump.

I'm new to campaign finance reform but am keenly interested in the impact McCain-Feingold is having during this election cycle.  

As most who have made a campaign donation know, any money that we give to either a political candidate or a PAC it is not tax deductible.  This differs from a contribution to a qualified not-for-profit.  For example, if you were to donate over $250 to The March of Dimes, and you itemized the donation, you could subtract it from your adjusted gross income.  If you give that same money to the Democratic National Committee, you aren't able to deduct the amount of your donation.

"Clinton aides said late Sunday she would report raising about $20 million in March and that she had more than $8 million for the primary available at the beginning of April."  (AP Story)

Now looking at the filled report for March 08 we see:

1. From Funds Contributed by State:

District of Columbia  $6,996,575.65 (or about 35% of TOTAL March contributions.)
link: http://query.nictusa.com/...
and

2. From Funds Contributed by Date:

MARCH 31, 2008 $8,525,621.13
link: http://query.nictusa.com/...
So H. Clinton's campaign says she had ~$8 mil available for the Primary at the start of April. It appears that ALL of that was given on MARCH 31.  And where from?  It seems we should look to Washington D.C. And please remind me: who lives in Washington D.C. and hands out lots of money? That's right: THE LOBBYISTS.

This needs to be checked further.

Obama for America just released their FEC report for the month of March.  One amazing bit of information is that even after campaigning in the expensive Texas and Ohio markets on Super Tuesday II, he still managed to end the month with more Cash on Hand then when he began the month.

Here is the FEC summary for the Obama's March 2008:

Isn't it time for one big fuckin' march?

Obama March Number:

March Fundraising by the Numbers
Total Raised in March: More than $40 million
Contributors in March: More than 442,000
First-Time Contributors in March: More than 218,000
Average Contribution: $96
Total Contributors to Date: More than 1,276,000

H. Clinton March Numbers:
Said by her campaign "to be close to $20 Million."

This means that the NEW Obama supporters ALONE gave MORE than ALL of Clintons supporters in March. This has extremely important implications for the viability of H. Clintons campaign.

Of course in Clinton Math "close to $20 Mil" may be as little as $15 Mil.  ;)

According to TIME, Obama has raised more than $30 million in the month of March.

http://www.time.com/...

There is a major march forming through the grassroots ranks of the Obama supporters.  It involves the 5 largest cities in PA and people from all over the country...More after the fold...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a wide-ranging interview today with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters and editors, said she would have left her church if her pastor made the sort of inflammatory remarks Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor made.

"He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/...

While I respect Hillary Clinton's right to express any opinion on any topic, I find her judgment peculiar and a bit ahistoric, given her own personal history and choices.  

Fundraising is the one remaining area where Clinton could still plausably "pull ahead."

Obama crushed Clinton in February, raising $55M to her $35M. Could Clinton come back to beat him in March? That's what she's hoping.

While the media is focused on the February numbers and on Clinton's low finances as of March 1, she's revamped and gone over to a web-based fundraising operation much like Obama's, focusing on smaller donations from more people. The word is she's been doing very well, but we have no current numbers (that I know of) as of now.

Could she be planning a stealth run at winning the March money primary? Then she'd once again be able to paralyse the party with another "the tide is turning" diversion.

Beware Senator Clinton the Ides of March are upon you! They confirm that you can not honestly win the Democratic nomination for president.

I was going to hear a speech by Obama at Penn State Beaver campus today.
But apparently he had to head back to DC for a budget vote, so his speech was canceled.
Apparently the vote was on a budget amendment designed by the Republicans to mock Obama.

So we take RI

Looks good in OH so far, still very early.

and getting tight in texas

UPDATE: HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON WINS OHIO.

As March 4th nears, most of the conversation on the democratic nomination has come the conclusion that Sen. Clinton must win Ohio and Texas to continue. Most seem to believe that she must win both by considerable margins to continue, else she has no hope of catching up on pledged delegates.

However, there is an alternate path. One which in which she could even split OH and TX and stay in, and remain competitive.

This is, of course, a redo of Michigan and Florida sometime around the Pennsylvania closed primary. The states have 471 delegates between them, and a Clinton sweep would put her right back into the pledged delegate mix. Especially if she picks up 15-20 delegates (or more) on Tuesday.

A bit more after the break. Why the sudden rebirth of the redo? An article on Bloomberg with Florida Gov. Crist saying he'd support a redo of the primary. Here's the link. http://www.bloomberg.com/...

Are you sitting at your computer, perhaps home alone on this Saturday evening ?  Welcome to a guest edition of Saturday Night Loser's Club!  Number 95 (coming up on the 2nd anniversary).  

March is my least favorite month.  So tonight I will explore the attributes of March as a month and word.  You are welcome to promote your own favorite and/or least favorite months.  I'm not a fan of astrology, so I'll skip that part, which of course you may add in.  

Sometimes I think I hate March.  

According to the latest poll of polls by Real Clear Politics, Obama is ahead in Texas by roughly 2-3 percent and trails Clinton in Ohio by 7.  If both states were to vote today, however, Obama would win Texas by a substantially larger margin and probably split Ohio with Clinton.  Why? Two reasons: young voters and what I call "the cell phone effect."

Obama has outperformed the polling data in almost every contest on and since Super Tuesday. Heading into the Potomac Primaries, Obama registered 18 and 22 point leads, respectively, in the latest Virginia and Maryland poll. When the votes were counted, Obama had won Virginia by 29 and Maryland by 23.  Obama defeated Clinton 64% to 35 in Virginia, overperforming the polls by 11 points, because he won the 18-29 vote 76% to 24.  Obama defeated Clinton in Maryland 60% to 37, but only slightly overperformed the polls because he won young voters by a similar (but still lopsided) 64% to 33 margin.  In other words, young voters don't seem as significant when its a multi-generational blowout - as it was in Maryland.  However, young voters can and have to date turned otherwise close contests into big wins for Obama.  

I created this banner for the upcoming primaries in Texas and Ohio.  I don't live in either state, but I wanted to do something to help GOTV.

So get out and vote Texas and Ohio!  Barack needs every vote!

Now that it's made the front page of DKos, this is a bit late.  But...this, not the returns from Wisconsin or Hawaii, not the speeches by the candidates, not the foolish bickering over who quoted who in which speech when, this is the story of the day.