The media appears to have left the BBQ, returned to reality and will now start reporting real stories on John McCain again... let's see where this one goes... it has all the markings of a Whitewater type deal, Land for Benefit and Quid Pro Quo...

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Details Below.  Thanks for the Rec List... Nothing like dissing the enemy for Unity eh?

If Obama wins the nomination (and it looks like he will now), everyone who voted for Hillary in the primary needs to vote for John McCain in November.  It makes perfect sense.  Hillary, as we all know, is a policy wonk. She has a firm grasp and is well versed on all the issues that matter most to Americans. That is the appeal of the Hillary candidacy.  It has nothing to do with the symbolism or historical significance of a woman president; it's not a white person thing; it has nothing to do with her husband's presidency. It's all about policy.  

So let's examine the issues and the stances taken by all three candidates. Afterwards you will all understand very clearly why Hillary supporters could never vote for Barack Obama and must defect to John McCain in November:

All data gathered from OnTheIssues.org, except where otherwise linked.  All Boldface print indicates where the candidates agree.

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."

Well, actually, I don't know if your mother wears combat boots, but I know mind used to. To this day she blames those plain, black leather military issue boots for her Fred Flinstone toes and big ugly bunions. Since it's Mother's Day weekend, I thought I'd tell you a little about mine, and you can tell me a little about yours. Yeah?

In the Autumn of 1941 my mother enlisted in the British Army. The Nazis were sweeping through the center of Europe and the blitzkreig on London was soon to begin in earnest.  She was trained in a specialized form of field communications. With 4 English women, 1 Irish woman, and my Mother - the lone Scot, they became a unit that traveled under secrecy and were never permitted to move about without an armed guard.

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Friday, May 09, 2008

Rasmussen Reports has been tracking the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination daily for nineteen months... since November 2006. For the last few months, the most remarkable feature of the race has been its consistency and stability. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both running historic campaigns and both have captured the votes and hearts of distinct and important constituencies within the Democratic Party. Obama has won Primaries in states where the demographics favor his campaign and Clinton has won in the states that favor her campaign.

However, while Senator Clinton has remained close and competitive in every meaningful measure, she is a close second and the race is over. It has become clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.

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.

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Good morning fellow super delegate news junkies.   The trickle has been turning into a steady stream lately: +4 on Wednesday, +2 yesterday, and every day we get closer to that magical moment at which Obama will surpass Clinton in SDs - a nice media moment that will further confirm what everyone (finally) seems to realize: that Obama is the Democratic nominee.  According to ABC News' count, he already has (more on that below).

Consider this an open thread, and I will update throughout the day as news comes in.  All news tips are welcome, so if you hear of anything, please let us know in the comments.  

In the meantime, we start the day off well with the news that Rep. Payne of New Jersey has switched from Clinton to Obama and Oregon Rep. DeFazio endorsed Obama as well.  

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.

so says Eugene Robinson in a column today entitled The Card Clinton is Playing  As per usual with Robinson, as those who watch him on MS-NBC know, he offers keen insight and an ability to sum things up precisely.   Note especially his penultimate paragraph:

Clinton's sin isn't racism, it's arrogance. From the beginning, the Clinton campaign has refused to consider the possibility that Obama's success was more than a fad. This was supposed to be Clinton's year, and if Obama was winning primaries, there had to be some reason that had nothing to do with merit. It was because he was black, or because he had better slogans, or because he was a better public speaker, or because he was the media's darling. This new business about white voters is just the latest story the Clinton campaign is telling itself about the usurper named Obama.

Just the latest story. . .

Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) penned a letter at Blue Oregon today, relating his experience on the House floor today as Barack Obama took the chamber by storm.  Earl serves as co-chair of Obama's campaign in Oregon, and he was clearly delighted to see so many Clinton supporters and GOPers coming to shake the hand of our presumptive nominee.  

This really caught my eye:

My sense is that at least 95 percent of the super delegates know exactly who they are going to vote for, and most will support Barack. Many were looking for an opportunity to solidify in their own mind or perhaps express to him where they are and where they are going.

The Oregonian reports Congressmen Peter Defazio has endorsed Senator Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic nomination for POTUS.

This is a snippet:

Tonight Rep. Peter DeFazio became Oregon's third Democratic congressman to endorse Sen.Barack Obama, putting the Illinois politician one delegate closer to the presidential nomination.

DeFazio said that Obama, who will begin a two-day campaign trip to the state Friday morning, "represents our best chance of winning in November."

"We must not allow Senator McCain to continue the failures of the Bush foreign policy, war in Iraq and disastrous economic policies," DeFazio added.

According to the Politico Superdelegate Counter, DeFazio is the 3rd superdelegate from Oregon to endorse Obama, joining Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. David Wu.

Seven Oregon superdelegates remain undeclared.

Dear Jeralyn, Armando (Big Tent Democrat), Jerome Armstrong, Taylor Marsh, etc.:

I'm confused about something.  You all keep saying that it is vitally important that we count every vote before determining who the nominee should be.  It's a fine principle, and one that is familiar to all Democrats from the last two presidential elections.  So, if we agree to count all the votes from Michigan and Florida and to seat all the delegates based on those votes, and Hillary Clinton is still behind in the pledged delegates (as she would inevitably be), it is my understanding that you then expect the superdelegates to vote overwhelmingly in the opposite direction, thereby not only countering, but reversing the will of the voters.  

The actual vote totals from the Indiana Secretary of State are in at last.

They show that the final contest in Indiana was even narrower than the difference popularly reported.

Details after the fold.

I noticed comments were disabled on your latest post, but I thought some on this site might appreciate an open thread to send you our wishes and thoughts.  

As someone with two elderly grandmothers (or really anyone with loved ones) can attest, they gave us our parents and occupy a special place in our lives.  I can only hope that Eli has the opportunity to meet her, as meeting her great-grandmother is an experience that will last her whole life, even if her memory of the moment is fuzzy and supplemented by her parents reminders.  

I have no doubt she is proud of you, what you've done and who you have become.  Of your family, your career and your service to your country (even if her's is still El Salvador) both in uniform and in civilian life.

We will miss you while you are away, and look forward to your return, but understand and expect you to take as much time away as you feel appropriate and necessary.  The political world will continue...

There is a bigger question before us tonight than whether and when Barack Obama will be named the nominee of the Democratic Party for 2008, though that eventuality is, I promise you, a certainty.

The bigger question is this: what are you and I going to do, what role are we going to play in this the second election cycle in what has been a battle for governance of the United States? And, more importantly, what, collectively, will our actions, our words and our organization mean to the Democratic Party and to the future of our nation in 2008?

 May the good Lord be with you
   Down every road you roam
   And may sunshine and happiness
   Surround you when you're far from home
   And may you grow to be proud
   Dignified and true
   And do unto others
   As you'd have done to you
   Be courageous and be brave
   And in my heart you'll always stay
   Forever young, forever young

   From "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

Tonight we remember Pvt. Corey L. Hicks, a brave soldier who worked to find and destroy improvised explosive devices, saving a countless number of lives

My friend Rachel Maddow walked on to the set last night saying she'd just heard a prophesied "dog-whistle" tell-tale sign, earlier in the show (namely that Dianne Feinstein had just given anything less than a cheerleader-style answer to the prospect of the Clinton campaign continuing).

I replied I'd just heard a different whistle that the end was nigh, but I couldn't say anything yet pending additional sourcing.

I can say it tonight and before the tv audience gets the full thing, I thought I'd offer up a little preview: At least one very prominent Clinton campaigner has just this week started shopping for a book deal.