Boy, if you want to talk about a presidential candidate who "can’t close the deal"—how about John McCain?

I mean—he is the de facto GOP nominee, but his peeps keep voting for other candidates anyway—even a guy who’s dropped out of the race!

I’m talking about this article:

I realize most DKos readers are for Obama, but I'm not yet taking a break from trying to convince actual voters to support him.  So if you agree with my theme below, and know people in the remaining primary states, share this with them:

Obama knew it would be hard to get out of Iraq; it's part of why he opposed going in! FORTUNATELY,

This is going to be quick, as I am sick as a dog today and need to go back to bed.

I personally cannot believe anyone is seriously considering either the idea of having Clinton as Obama's VP, or the idea that Obama should pay off Clinton's debt. I say a resounding hell no to both ideas.  There are tons of  honest, hard working folks out their who would make outstanding VP's.  And I really, really don't want any of the money I have donated going to HRC's campaign or debts.

Yes, indeedie she has. As I read Peggy Noonan's column today, I was reflecting on the past few weeks and while we are all waiting for the Super Delegates and party elders to stop this train wreak, I keep wondering where the hell are these people? According to Peggy, they are in the bar, hiding.

They are in a Democratic club on Capitol Hill, slump-shouldered at the bar, having a drink and then two, in a state of what might be called depressed horror. "What are they doing to the party?" they wail. "Why are they doing this?"

So, as we watch in horror at the Democratic Party Leaders apparently having a nervous breakdown, I keep shaking my head in amazement. This is our election to lose. We hold all the cards in the deck this time around and I'm wondering, what is it going to take to stop Hilary Clinton from destroying the Democratic Party?

Many independents and members of the Democratic Party were distressed to see the negative tone taken by the Clinton campaign. It was hard to watch a Democratic candidate use such rovian tactics against a fellow party member.

However some of Clintons "supporters" managed to do what the Clinton campaign could not, assure us a true candidate for change in the general.

Well, I should make that: There's no reason to call for Clinton to drop out right now.  Hypocrisy, you say?  Not exactly.  Read on.

As a political sportsman, this Democratic nomination process should be breathlessly exciting, the fodder for years of study and conversation....

A black man. A white woman. Two coalitions, two oppressed populations, going head to head in a way that hasn't been repeated since the first Jew compared notes with the first African-America over who had it worse off (with the Native American listening aghast).

History in the making.

Instead, I miss the southern white guy and wish history would have waited a few more years....

The following is a blog repost from OurKarlRove.com as a courtesy to the dK community

I am not in the prediction game, and I've already committed to not backing a candidate in the primaries. After all, as Our Karl Rove, my job is to ensure the Democratic Party is as strong, relevant and productive as possible. Yet as of Tuesday, May 6, a path appears to be clearing for the nomination of Barack Obama.

I'll let this part speak for itself:

"I spent my entire life in the two reddest states in the entire U.S. so please excuse me if I fail to discern the nuances of the arguments sent my way this evening in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign to intimidate the remaining unpledged delegates by threatening to leave the party and vote for a third Bush term if I and others like me don't vote for Sen. Clinton," wrote the exasperated superdelegate. "I have been uncommitted throughout this campaign because I wanted to see how the candidates performed in a variety of settings. I am proud of them both. But I am horrified by this effort to threaten votes for McCain if super delegates don't vote for Sen. Clinton. I have received hundreds of emails from both sides - but I can say without exception that I have not received a single email from an Obama supporter that threatened a vote for McCain if I didn't support Sen. Obama. You really ought to be ashamed."

After all this wrangling about the Super Delegates, and Hillary Clinton wanting to overturn the will of the voters, do you think its time to take another look at how our party nominates presidential candidates?  Should we change to something less than proportional allocation of delegates?

OK, so we know Kentucky is an uphill battle for Barack Obama.  That doesn't mean the Obama campaign is writing off the state.  Every delegate won puts Obama one step closer to the nomination, including whatever delegates the campaign can get in Kentucky.  Below the fold, see the campaign's email to canvass and call Kentucky before May 20.

This comes from an interview with Morning Blow..er...Joe cohost Mika B-something.

I'm willing to bet my bicycle that he will endorse Obama because he mentions his name; in fact it seems as if it was at the tip of his tongue, but he was holding back because he just does'nt wanna do it yet. No idea why though!! Its over!!

As an aside: it appears to me that Mrs. Edwards voted for Hillary; I wonder how comfortable his couch is!!!!

Monty Python says it all here:

And for more Pythonesque comment on this contest, there's always the beloved "dead parrot" skit:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/...

Now all we need is a SNL skit of Hillary at the convention being dragged off the podium by security guards while yelling: "Don't tase me bro!"

I am always baffled by the Clinton campaigns ability to twist and turn from previous statements and positions. We of course remember the moving of goals posts that has occurred multiple times during this primary season, but a previous diary referring to Mark Penn's memo to "interested parties" stuck out to me this morning as I wait in the New Orleans airport for my flight back to Vegas.

One Particular section in Particular.

NYT editorial chimes in again. In yet another critique of the Clintons, the editorial board (which previously endorsed Hillary) lashes out at her on issues ranging from the negative campaing,

But we believe just as strongly that Mrs. Clinton will be making a terrible mistake — for herself, her party and for the nation — if she continues to press her candidacy through negative campaigning with disturbing racial undertones.

and, a bit more surprisingly, about Florida and Michigan recount:

We believe it would also be a terrible mistake if she launches a fight over the disqualified delegations from Florida and Michigan.  

Mrs. Clinton must drop her plans to fight to seat the delegations from Florida and Michigan, which defied the Democratic Party and moved up the dates of their primaries. A lot of people voted in Florida anyway, but Mrs. Clinton should not pursue this nuclear option. It would make the Democrats look unable to control their own, just when they want to make a case that they can lead the entire nation

I found this rather striking: the first clear message to the Clintons to drop it.

So, I'll make this short and sweet. If you go over to ABC News you'll see their banner headline this morning. ABC's count differs from many other media counts, but they are the first to have Obama passing Clinton and that's a big deal.

ABC shows Obama leads Clinton now, 267-265.

Anyone watching John Edwards on MSNBC's Morning Joe?  He just slipped.

No, I don’t have any photographic evidence to prove that Satan’s inferno suddenly has been transformed into a winter wonderland, nor am I meaning to suggest that the threat of global warming has abated.  But it’s evident to me that there has been a climate shift of cosmic proportions.

Let me explain.  My mother, an octogenarian who’s voted Republican her entire life except in 1960 when she elected to support JFK because he shared her Roman Catholic faith, revealed to me on the telephone yesterday that she’s voting in Kentucky’s upcoming primary for Barack Obama!

This is no minor transformation, and it began as a direct consequence of the Bush administration’s war policies combined with the emergence in power of the evangelical community.