I'm by no means an Electoral Map geek, but I have followed with interest the fact - let's face it - that Obama hasn't done well with working-class, older, lower-income whites: the old-line "classic" Democrats.

And I've been concerned that this phenomenon, given the way that the Electoral College magnifies even a narrow win within a single state, could indeed translate to a McCain victory this fall.

I'm all for party unity, and getting past identity politics, but Hillary's USA Today comments threw me over the top and merit a detailed response.

Not because they were overtly racist. But because they are factually inaccurate.

Not surprisingly, the TM jumps full at the racist/dog whistle angle, and doesn't even bother to examine the underlying claim for validity.

So, here it is. I broke down every contest so far by percentage of black population. I broke it down into three (somewhat arbitrary) metrics: < 10%, 10% <x < 20%, and > 20%.  What did I find:</p>

States under 10% Black Population: Obama: 15-9
States between 10% and 20% AA Pop:  Clinton 7-3
States over 20% AA Pop: Obama 10-0 (incl. DC and VA at 19.9%)

This seems to fly in the face of HC's statement. A little bit more detail and then some analysis.

Today Kevin gave his opinion about Hillary for Veep. Here are my two comments in response.

UPDATE: To all the people who complained that I wrote another "Hillary Clinton as veep" diary when a bunch of others did, I am a regular diarist (over 30 recent diaries, always receiving comments and recs) and people may want to see my point of view on this rather than have it be buried among 400 other comments. I am not going to keep quiet like a whipped dog on this just because trolls gang up and write 30 diaries on whether Hillary should be veep to keep anybody from writing an even moderately pro-Hill diary on this. I definitely remember all the ridiculous investigations the Republicans poured millions of dollars into when Bill was in the White House. I know who are enemies are and I know they do not like the Clintons, but those Republicans can take a hike as far as I am concerned.

I've been watching USA Today and the NC State Board of Elections, and after nearly 2 days of stagnancy, the NCSBOE numbers have changed. There are still gaps, and still a disagreement between USA Today and SBOE about what the delegate count in NC-2 will be. Highlights:

1. Between 90,000 and 150,000 (depending on the source) votes are not assigned to a Congressional District, meaning final delegate numbers are still in the air.

2. The sources disagree on the delegate outcome of CD 2

3. USA Today is still behind in most vote counts from SBOE

4. Both SBOE and USA Today have a significant number of votes unassigned to a Congressional District. When these are properly reported, they could affect some of the delegate splits

5. CD 6 is very close (fewer than 700 votes). A tip here could give Obama 1 more delegate.

6. In CD 13, both sources have Obama just under the 64.29% needed for a 5-2 split.

Charts after More...

Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t

Today's Daily Flipper - McCain Corruption Edition you will read:
McCain Pushed Key Land Deal For Fundraiser
McCain Misses The Mark In Michigan
McCain Doesn’t Know Much About The Judiciary Either
McCain Gets Support From EU Trade Minister
Cindy On Release Of Tax Returns
As The Money Woes Continue
McCain Wants His FEC
Ron Paul Supporters Plan Takeover of GOP Convention

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

I've wanted to do this for some time, but I didn't want to write something random that people would read and forget. I guess what I'm saying is that I wanted people to think; in this case I wanted them to think about the folks out there that are on the verge of changing their vote to our side for the first time in their lives, and maybe how to encourage them to do so. This is my first diary, so please be gentle.                                                          

Mr. Obama, I’m the last vote you’ll get. I’m the one that hasn’t made up their mind. I’m the one the pollster hasn’t counted. I’m the one that will surprise you on Election Day. I’m the one that will change a win into a landslide.

I’m the wife of that pompous professor who makes a living repeating Republican talking points for the media about the environment, or the economy, or culture, and I think about how different he is from the free-thinker I married as I step into the voting booth.

The issues of experience and race and "working class" (I mean, don't we all "work"?) have obscured the real elephant in the room, and that is gender. Until gender issues are addressed, the Clintons will continue to exploit them, and the danger of fragmenting the party will persist.

In some not-so-obscure ways, HRC represents the plight of literally millions of American women, who have sacrificed careers for family, who have bumped up against the glass ceiling, whose husbands have cheated on them, who have seen male bombast and "charisma" trump thoughtfulness, consensus building, and loyality.

She is an icon, not a person.

MORE

At GOP.com, our crafty little nemeses have created an engine so "regular folks" can ask Obama the questions that concern them.  Of course, the site does not let you see which questions have been asked, does not let you vote on which questions are most important and provides absolutely no forum for discussion of the merits of any given question.  VERRY Grass Rootsy.

http://net.gop.com/...

Some questions I'd like to ask Obama include, but are not limited to, questions like:  1)Why do you care if the U.S. was misled into Iraq under false pretenses?  2) Can you explain why GOP economic policy has nearly bankrupted our Country?  Is your temperament less volatile than John McCain?

Watching Hillary Clinton’s performance this week is like rubber-necking a 20-car pile up. It’s gruesome to look at, but you just can’t take your eyes off of it. If the stakes weren’t so damned important, it would almost be fascinating to watch Hillary Clinton committing political suicide in front of our very eyes.

Hillary’s ambition has taken on Shakespearean proportions.

Like Caesar, her ambition is a grievous fault and, like Caesar, she is likely to answer for it in a most grievous manner. It should be sad to see a true public servant like Hillary implode the way she has, but her act of political suicide is not a victimless crime.

Her venom and vitriol won’t just spell the end of her political career, it may spell the end for any real hope of a Democratic Party victory in November. As she’s going down, she’s trying to drag the whole party with her.

Following her resounding defeat in North Carolina and her razor-thin victory in Indiana, Clinton should have had the decency to pull out of the race. The numbers don’t lie. Barack Obama is going to be the party’s nominee.

As we finally put the endless Democratic Primary race behind us, and heads begin to turn to the general election matchup between Barack Obama and John McCain, we find the opening salvos already flying - from who loves terrorists to who is too old.

But all the back and forth aside, or whether anyone believes McCain's age to be a legitimate issue or not, it is important to know who first openly suggested that McCain is too old to be elected President.

And who was that person?

John McCain.

So, who do you think belongs on the All-Star team?

As the primary winds down, as it dawns on the MSM that Obama is our nominee, as we turn to the hard work of beating McSame in November, let us not forget HOW we are going to beat McSame.  We are going to beat McSame by registering new voters, GOTV drives, donating time and money and more.

But let us also not forget the less visible and well known need of working the polls on election day! This is a critical and often overlooked effort in making sure votes are counted and voting is executed well.

I became a pollworker in the 2006 election and what I experienced was truly frightening.

Follow me on the flip......

Well, well, well... I guess I'll be flamed for saying this, since more and more people on here are becoming "soft",on HRC, and saying that we have to "embrace her" and are saying that this is "over".

IT AINT OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been watching cable news more than I could possible care to in recent days and all of it seems to exist in a void , that while declaring the race over, fail to explain properly why the race is over. This includes talking about MI and FL as if Clinton's hope really rested on these two states. It simply does not, Senator Clinton needs both FL/MI and Super Delegate Coup, not one but both.

(See Sen. Clinton and the Campaign NY Times - EDITORIAL - May 9, 2008)

TO: NY Times -- EDITORIAL.

Regarding your previous endorsement of Clinton, and your most recent article, wherein you state ...

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

The discussion that is making the rounds is that the Primary is over and we have a nominee. This comes complete with pictures on the cover of time blessed by the high priest of punditry Tim Russert. Daily Kos has exploded with diaries dedicated to the end of Clinton’s campaign, pleas for unity and speculation about paying off Clinton debt. I wonder though why we have this sudden and absolute switch from she has a good chance to she is mike huckabee.

If you haven't learned the rules of Calvinball you simply have not been paying attention.

I wanted to be optimisti, hopeful even.