UPDATE:  (8:14PM EST)  Howard Fineman is reporting on MSNBC's Countdown that it is down
to three men:  Bayh, Biden, and Kaine.  They have all been vetted and approved.  It's up to Obama to pick one now.

Ok...according to the pundits it has come down to a final few:
Kaine, Bayh, Sebelius and Biden are the one's being vetted and now floated
publicly.   Is this the best we have?

No matter what the Clinton campaign may have said during the primary season,  they knew that the
Democratic Nomination would undoubtedly mean the presidency.  All the numbers from the past few weeks
have shown this to be the case, although I think the freshness of Obama was always more appealing than a Clinton restoration.

Today's Washington Post has a truly inspiring story about a 52 year-old
California woman, Linnie Frank Bailey, a political neophyte, who last summer gave $10 to Senator Obama and eventually became an elected delegate.  Her story is really the story of how this campaign has become a movement.

I know that most of you are tired by now of the entire popular vote mantra canard propogated by the Clinton forces and their supporters.  I know. so what, let them have their cake and we will eat it.  But the more we let them have it, the more her supporters feel some terrible injustice.

Campaigning in Puerto Rico today Senator Obama was asked about his reaction to Hillary Clinton's
egregious statement about the month of June and past Democratic presidential nominating contests.
As always, when so many of us want him to finally give it to her good, he backs off knowing once again that his approach has worked best and will continue to work.

On tonight's PBS News Hour interview being broadcast Wednesday  Nancy Pelosi tells Judy Woodruff what she thinks of the state of the race.  The main soundbite is her pushback on Clinton's popular vote argument as well as emphatic rejection of an Obama-Clinton ticket.

One of the big concerns of the Obama campaign is getting most of HRC supporters on board in November. It doesn't help to have Hillary Clinton running around Kentucky telling everyone the BIG LIE that more people have voted for her than Obama.  If that does not feed into Obama hatred on the part of Clinton supporters I don't know what does.  

After today's stunning 75,000 person rally in Portland, Oregon, Senator Obama has one more event in the state before blitzing Montana all day tomorrow. Curiously, I have just seen Senator Clinton's schedule for tomorrow.  Me thinks the end is near......  

In another great strategic move from a campaign that has had many, the Obama campaign will spend its big night pivoting from the nominating contest to the general election with a prime-time speech on Tuesday night live from Iowa.

The state of Oregon will be holding its Presidential Primary next Tuesday May 20. A week after the Clinton blow-out in WV,  Oregon is the 16th "whitest" state in the Union but it's more educated and environmentally concerned populace has been becoming more progressive as the years go by.  They have voted Democrat in every Presidential Election since 1988. 52 delegates are at-stake in the MAIL only primary.

Just out this evening at 6:30 PM Eastern Time is a new ABC News/Washington Post Poll.  The numbers look good for Senator Obama both against Clinton and more importantly against McCain.  This is the first-post presumptive nominee poll.  Enjoy it!

The Politico has a great piece up about a 50-year old lawyer named Jeffrey Berman who is Senator Obama's Director of Delegate Selection.  Most of you already know the story--the Obama team has performed brilliantly during this campaign making the much vaunted Clinton campaign look like amateurs. But this is another confirmation in detail about the meticulous preparation that was made for this campaign.

Now that this whole 2008 Democratic Presidential Nominating contest winds down, lots of folks are dropping their guard, particularly in the media.  Those of us on DailyKos spend a lot of time on the net, plus on the cable networks getting our fix. We have seen and heard lots of opinions under the guise of reporting.

If there is one thing we can all agree on is that the 11 magical days last February (immediately after Super Tuesday) when Senator Obama proceeded to rout Hillary Clinton in 11 straight contests provided the crucial delegate gap between the two campaigns--a separation that was never challenged since.

Hillary Clinton's scorched-earth campaign against Barack Obama may not get her the Democratic Nomination but it is winning the hearts and minds of many right-wingers who only months ago were reveling in her downfall.  Why?

Tonight's Town Hall in Wilmington, NC with Senator Barack Obama features
one of the best unscripted moments in the entire campaign. A moment which
could help Obama put this thing away.

You know this campaign is too smart and too shrewd to NOT have something big
up its sleeve in the next week.  He wouldn't be sitting back and letting HRC
attack and attack if he knew something big was coming down the pike. But what is it?

In today's New York Times there's a wonderful article about how the French (both the right and left) are appalled at their new president whose  cultural affinities run decidedly low-brow.  How refreshing to have a country up in arms about the boob they elected to their presidency.  Meanwhile back in this lovely country,  politicians have to pretend to be as regular as joe six-pack.  What a fucked up country this is!