The Democratic Party is in crisis. With Sen. Barack Obama clinching the title of presumptive nominee thousands of Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters are bolting from the party and lining up with Sen. John McCain. It has to be true because blogs and websites are popping up all over the Internet saying it is so and self proclaimed former-Clinton-supporters-now-McCain-backers are angrily calling Air America radio shows proclaiming they know of many supporters who are leaving the party because they don't believe in Obama as a strong candidate.

But hold the phone, if this is the case, where the hell is the McCain bump?

There is quite a bit of attention being paid on Rawstory and some other sites to the so-called Clinton Supporters for McCain sites that have been popping up. I have two phrases for everyone to adopt: "Don't believe the hype!" and "Don't play the game!"

I have no doubt there are plenty of outraged Clinton supporters going through a grieving process. I understand what they are feeling, I was a Deaniac through and through and when Kerry stepped up I vowed to write in Dean to prove a point. In the end, I didn't because, honestly, I didn't know what I actually would have been proving and I could have ended up with four more years of Bush.  Of course, I did end up with more Bush anyway. So it goes. The point is, most of these folks need to grieve so let them have space and time. Don't start pushing Obama down their throats. Instead, give them space for a week or so. I needed time to come to terms and come to grips for a short race, they've been in it for 50 states plus some odd territories.

Senator John McCain has learned that a lot can change in two months, or at least, once you secure your party's nomination for President and are sure no one else can surge and take you down. In what will surely become a trend in the coming weeks, McCain has begun flip flopping on statements he made when he was running against a full slate of Republican candidates.

The Republican Party is in complete denial when it comes to entering a recession. Fearless Leader has repeated over and over again, most recently on February 28, that he doesn't believe the United States is heading into a recession. Of course, McCain, in order to secure the nomination needed to join the Republican chorus in denying that the economy could possibly be taking a dive.

I'm just about on political overload here in my home city of Madison. Chelsea Clinton dropped in Monday, Barack Obama blew the gates off the city last night (conservatives say we have big progressive gates surrounding the city to keep reality out, bless their hearts), Mike Huckabee is making a startling appearance tomorrow morning (props to the Huckster for making an appearance), and rumors are swirling that Bill Clinton is going to show us what love is all about on Valentine's Day (every media source has broken the story that he is coming, but none of them seem to know when or where). I really can't handle it. How am I supposed to get any work done? If Mike Gravel shows up I'm going to collapse.

My post today was supposed to be a recap of the Chelsea Clinton event on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus yesterday (if you want you can see pictures here). However, the recent news that Senator Herb Kohl has voted in favor of retroactively protecting the telecoms has my blood boiling to such a state that I can't even think straight enough to recap the event. All of my political energy is being consumed by Herb Kohl and I'm done with him.

I don't understand how Wisconsin can elect Kohl time and time again while also electing Senator Russ Feingold. I know I'm supposed to be happy that we have Feingold and a luke warm Democratic Senator in the form of Kohl instead of Feingold and a Republican - right?

I've never felt more excited to be a Wisconsinite then I do right now. No, it isn't the record breaking snow burying our frozen state, it is the energy and excitement currently buzzing in every single corner about this election. From Lake Michigan to the Mississippi everyone is tuned in and turned on. So much so that on Super Tuesday we had numerous reports of Wisconsinites actually going to the polls so they could cast a vote.

Wisconsin is going to matter because in 2004 we were second only to our fine neighbors in Minnesota when it came to youth voters in the country.

Seeing as the Democratic nomination may come down to the Superdelegates I'm curious how exactly it works. They aren't committed so I'm assuming we can write to our representatives and ask them to be a delegate for the candidate that we believe best represents the country?

Wikipedia (quoted below) also suggests that Superdelegates become locked in on March 1, 2008. Is this true? There isn't a source for this information linked on Wikipedia. So, collective brain of DailyKos, enlighten me. How do superdelegates work? Why do they exist?

Looking at the polling results on the front page showing California going to both Obama and Clinton I have a suggestion, after all of this primary election hoopla is over why don't we take a hard look at the pollsters. The ones that  have done the best job can be quoted on Kos and the ones that really mucked it up consistently are voted off. I don't know about the rest of you but all of the poll updates yesterday made me vomit on my shoes (hence my diary).

I know I said I was going into a media blackout until tomorrow, but I just caught these poll results as I was about to power down. Rasmussen now shows Zogby in the lead by only three percent with Survey USA closing the gap. Zogby however has Rasmussen out front by a whopping 13 percent with Suffolk falling far behind. Quinnipiac puts Suffolk and Rasmussen both at a mindboggling 54 percent. The only solution? Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and wait and see what happens. Exhale.

Overall in the state of Wisconsin Barack Obama has consistently led the fund raising race. Combined the Democrats brought in $1,001,778 during 2007 with the bulk going to Obama - $558,120. Hillary is in a distant second place overall with $180,583.

Milwaukee leads in the overall fund raising for Obama  bringing in nearly $206,000. But in the fourth quarter the distinction of best financially supporting municipality goes to Madison, Wisconsin. According to dane101.com, a community blog dedicated to Madison and Dane County, Obama brought in a whopping $71,974 while Hillary only brought in $15,835.

The Clintons have lost their right to represent the Democratic Party. They have taken us from a party of hope and moving forward to a party of - well - Roves. I'm fed up, I'm sick, and frankly, I'm tired. This isn't the party I signed on with when I first was given the privilege to vote in 1994 and certainly, if they move forward, is not the party I want to represent me in the White house.

I just wanted to capture this moment in history. For the first time in the last month (that I can recall) only two of the top recommended diaries are candidate diaries. This is likely only a lull, but it is a nice vacation from the politicking. Enjoy the lull! Screen cap below.

I threw this question into a diary on the main page, but thought it would be worth pondering in an actual post. Folks on the DKos, including Markos, have been saying Obama isn't running as a Democrat. This cuts me as I believe Obama is running as a true Democrat because he seems to care about this country, about its direction, and most importantly, about us. He isn't in the politics of division because he knows that in order to reach the moon we need to come together as a people. I don't see this in Clinton. To me, she doesn't feel like someone who truly believes in what I perceive as Democratic principles, but she does support some of the Democratic policies I believe in. Obama, on the other hand, represents many more of my policies and principles.

Even with only one union endorsements, Barack Obama pulled in just as many union household voters in Iowa as Hillary Clinton. It showed the divide between labor leadership and the rank-and-file. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees led the anti-Obama charge running an expensive negative ad campaign. Obviously, it failed. Now the rank-and-file are taking the International Executive Board to task for their endorsement of Clinton and attacks on Obama. Read it below:

At 2 p.m. central time Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is expected to endorse Illinois Senator Barack Obama. From Dane101:

Doyle's son, Gus Doyle, has already endorsed Obama and spoke when the freshman Illinois Senator spoke in Madison in October. Some had speculated the endorsement would be coming from Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold. Feingold has said that he will not make an early endorsement. Senator Herb Kohl has also not endorsed any presidential candidates.

As a union member I took a number of things away from the Iowa caucuses. The first and foremost is that the union leadership in this country is completely out of touch with the rank and file. It was made fairly obvious last year when the majority of unions began throwing their weight behind Senator Hillary Clinton. The Clintons have only been superficially friendly with labor - if our leadership truly sought a labor candidate they could have gone with Edwards, Kucinich, Dodd, or Biden. All four have a proven labor record. Sadly, our leaders want to bet on what they see as a sure thing instead of listening to us. We want change. We know we need change. That is why union households defied the leadership and went with the one candidate with only one union endorsement - Senator Obama.

Last year the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers broke the endorsement mold when instead of endorsing just a Democratic candidate they also endorsed a Republican candidate. Their candidates of choice? Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Mike Huckabee. Tonight Huckabee will show us just how much he supports labor when he crosses writer's picket lines so he can appear on Jay Leno.

This is an interesting take on how the Christian conservative American Family Association is out to destroy American families. Some background, the group is currently boycotting the Ford Motor Company because of advertising in magazines that support the so-called "gay agenda." Ford's sales dropped in May and the AFA is claiming responsibility and pretty much dancing on the graves of American jobs. Meanwhile, they are also boycotting Toyota who saw a massive leap in sales in May.

From Dane101.com:

One of the primary facts they ignore is a new attitude in America regarding hybrids and Toyota pretty much has that market cornered with 80 percent of all U.S. hybrid sales. I believe most Americans would prefer to buy American, but they just don't have the options. Prius sales nearly tripled last month (more than 24,000 sold in May) over the same time last year. GM has also finally gotten on the ball with more fuel efficient vehicles - just in time for skyrocketing gas prices. Most of GM's sale increases have been in "light" vehicles including the hybrid Saturn Aura and the Chevrolet Silverado.