| 10:19 PM: | McCain camp claims it has money lead over Obama. Carly Fiorina, an adviser to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, said Tuesday that the Arizona Republican has more funds at his disposal than does Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama. The Hill. | |
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| 9:00 PM: | Late in the Term, an Exodus of Senior Officials. With eight months left in President Bush's term, scores of senior officials already are heading for the exits, leaving nearly half the administration's top political positions vacant or filled by temporary appointees, federal statistics show. Washington Post. | |
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| 8:59 PM: | McCain and Bush: 47 Seconds of Love. Sen. John McCain was seen in public at last with President Bush -- for all of 46 seconds. WSJ. | |
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| 8:57 PM: | In Book, Ex-Spokesman Has Harsh Words for Bush. A new memoir by Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary, is the first negative account by a member of the tight circle of Texans around President Bush. NYT. | |
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| 7:29 PM: | McCain economic policy shaped by lobbyist. "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" reported Tuesday night that lobbying disclosure forms, filed by the giant Swiss bank UBS, list McCain's campaign co-chair, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, as a lobbyist dealing specifically with legislation regarding the mortgage crisis as recently as Dec. 31, 2007. MSNBC. | |
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| 7:26 PM: | Five Questions About the Puerto Rico Democratic Presidential Primary. 1. So what exactly is Puerto Rico's relationship with the rest of the United States and its role in the presidential elections? CQ. | |
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| 7:26 PM: | Dems seek to avoid meltdown. But Clinton/Obama struggle may go into overtime at Rules Committee meeting. Politico.com: Roger Simon. | |
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| 7:25 PM: | VA Secretary To Vets: Suck It Up And Deal. How long can the Republican Party sustain this level of cognitive dissonance? How long before voters start noticing that all of Dubya and the GOP's support-our-brave-troops rhetoric thinly veils a fuck-the-troops worldview? And how much of an effort will the Democrats make to expose that hypocrisy and claim their rightful mantle as the Pro-Troops Party? Firedoglake. | |
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| 7:24 PM: | The Logical, Mathematical Dismembering Of Lanny Davis. Leave it to Poblano. Math never gave me this much satisfaction. Davis' lies can be read here. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 7:23 PM: | Bush hits '08 trail; do Republicans want his help? U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday helped raise about $2.5 million for the man he hopes will succeed him, but did it in private amid questions about whether the unpopular president hurts John McCain's chances in the November election. Reuters. | |
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| 6:44 PM: | Dee Dee Myers on "Hillary's Bone-headed Argument" Hillary Clinton's comments on Friday -- invoking Bobby Kennedy's assassination after the California primary in 1968 to shore up her argument that Democratic primaries are often unresolved in June -- were bone-headed on two scores. HuffPost. | |
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| 6:15 PM: | Gaffe....You Want A Gaffe? Barack Obama was on the campaign trail this weekend, celebrating and honoring veterans along the way. While talking about the service of his grandfather and uncle in WWII at an event, he said that his uncle had been devastated by the effects of war, particularly after helping to liberate Auschwitz. A minor mistake by Obama because it was, in fact, the Soviets that liberated Auschwitz. His uncle served in the 89th Infantry Division, which liberated Buchenwald, another concentration camp in Germany. Daily Kos. | |
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| 5:28 PM: | Obama Hits McCain on Closed Door Meeting with Bush.
"Today, John McCain is having a different kind of meeting. He's holding a fundraiser with George Bush behind closed doors in Arizona. No cameras. No reporters," Obama said before a town hall in Las Vegas, "And we all know why. Senator McCain doesn't want to be seen, hat-in-hand, with the President whose failed policies he promises to continue for another four years. But the question for the American people is: do we want to continue George Bush's policies?" ABC News. | |
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| 5:20 PM: | McClellan Blasts Bush White House. According to Politico, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan "writes in a surprisingly scathing memoir to be published next week that President Bush 'veered terribly off course,' was not 'open and forthright on Iraq,' and took a 'permanent campaign approach' to governing at the expense of candor and competence." Political Wire. | |
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| 5:19 PM: | Democrats waste no time trying to link McCain to Bush. As President George W. Bush helped fill Republican presidential hopeful John McCain’s campaign coffers this week, the Democrats wasted no time cutting a new video arguing that the Arizona senator would just be an extension of the Bush administration’s policies on issues like the Iraq war and taxes. Reuters. | |
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| 5:18 PM: | Obama admits reference to Auschwitz was wrong. Democrat Barack Obama admitted on Tuesday he was wrong to say his uncle helped liberate the Nazis' Auschwitz concentration camp after Republicans said Soviet troops freed the camp. Reuters. | |
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| 5:18 PM: | Will Lieberman Skip Hagee Event? Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut is scheduled to appear as the featured speaker at a July conference in Washington for a group run by the Rev. John C. Hagee. NYT. | |
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| 5:18 PM: | Full Metal Webb. A glimpse of the man on the campaign trail. No shrinking violet -- and maybe a good temperamental foil for Obama. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 5:17 PM: | Last 3 Primaries: Why So Few Polls? We have consistently seen a flurry of polls ahead of every democratic primary contest -- however, since Oregon and Kentucky polls have all but gone silent. Pollster.com. | |
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| 5:16 PM: | Is this a sign of a McCain-New York Times feud? In what I interpret as retaliation, the McCain campaign froze the New York Times out of direct access to the candidate's medical records last week. Slate. | |
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| 5:16 PM: | Obama's not on his own in the housing crisis. Today, Barack Obama, gave a speech on the housing crisis. In the speech, he said: I do not accept an America where Washington's only message to working people is: "you're on your own." But Barack Obama didn't need Washington when he was buying a house. Because he had a politically connected real estate developer, Tony Rezko, under federal criminal investigation who subsidized his house. Redstate. | |
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| 5:13 PM: | Clinton’s Grand Design. You know it's not over when the campaign is still cranking out new t-shirts. And you can pick which one they make. NYT. | |
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| 5:12 PM: | Clinton: It isn't over til it's over. While Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain argue who would be the better president, once-overwhelming White House favorite Hillary Clinton is trying to convince voters she’s still relevant. It’s a tough sell. Reuters. | |
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| 5:02 PM: | Obama Says No To Baghdad Stroll With McCain. Barack Obama has decided that he has no interest in joining John McCain on his next "Baghdad Stroll." TPM. | |
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| 2:49 PM: | Bloggers on Obama's latest gaffes. Conservative bloggers are parsing Barack Obama's gaffe-filled Memorial Day speech, and everyone else is in a tizzy over Emily Gould's confessions-of-a-blogger New York Times Magazine cover story. Slate. | |
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| 2:49 PM: | Obama and the Holocaust. Conservatives seized on a story Barack Obama told about his uncle liberating Auschwitz to claim he's a liar and that he was exploiting the Holocaust, but the truth seems simpler. Salon. | |
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| 2:48 PM: | Obama Heads To Michigan Next Week. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) will make a stop in Michigan next Monday, less than 48 hours after an expected ruling by the Democratic National Committee about the fate of the Wolverine State's delegation to the party convention in August. Washington Post. | |
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| 2:47 PM: | Campaign says Obama mistaken on Nazi camp. Barack Obama's campaign says the candidate made a mistake when he said a great uncle helped liberate the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz during World War II. AP. | |
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| 2:46 PM: | Bush stumps for McCain behind closed doors. President Bush is in Arizona today to raise funds for Sen. John McCain, the first time in more than two months the unpopular president will appear with the man he hopes will succeed him. CNN. | |
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| 2:14 PM: | McCain Vows to Work With Russia on Arms. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, distanced himself from the Bush administration on Tuesday by vowing to work more closely with Russia on nuclear disarmament and by calling for a reduction in tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. NYT. | |
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| 2:12 PM: | A new low in Clinton bashing. Can anyone truly believe her remark about Robert Kennedy's assassination was anything other than an unfortunate reference to another June primary battle? Salon. | |
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| 1:14 PM: | Gallup Daily: Obama Leads Clinton by 51% to 43%. Dave Winer. | |
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| 1:13 PM: | Blitzer: Coult the DNC move the goalposts this weekend? The Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee meets in Washington on Saturday and may decide to move the goalposts. At issue: what to do about those Michigan and Florida pledged and super delegates. CNN. | |
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| 12:45 PM: | Clinton Super Switches. Reps. Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza, both from California, announced their support for Obama this morning. Cardoza had previously endorsed Clinton. From Cardoza's statement: "I am deeply concerned about the contentious primary campaign and controversy surrounding the seating of delegates. Time. | |
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| 11:58 AM: | The Last Bushie. John Hinderaker argues that we are safer thanks to Bush; he says there were no successful attacks "against American interests abroad" between 2004 and 2008. But Iraq and Afghanistan do not count. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 11:37 AM: | McCain ad features Obama supporter. A reader notices an odd choice, or oversight, in John McCain's latest television spot: The woman at left is wearing an Obama t-shirt. Ben Smith. | |
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| 10:41 AM: | The pro-Obama case against MSNBC's pro-Obama political coverage. MSNBC's bias has actually hurt the Illinois senator. After all, it was the Obama cheerleading from MSNBC (among others) that helped lead to Clinton's New Hampshire comeback. And even if you think (as I do) that the Clintons have made too big of a deal out of the "sexist" and "unfair" portrayal their candidate has received in the press, if you watch enough MSNBC, you realize that their claim isn't without truth. New Republic. | |
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| 10:22 AM: | Did HRC stay too long? Given the thud with which Clinton's RFK flub was received, it's starting to become clear that perhaps she erred in deciding to stay in the race this long. Imagine had she suspended her campaign and still won primaries. Wouldn't that have put her in an even stronger position than now? MSNBC. | |
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| 10:19 AM: | Obama Takes All Sides on Chavez. Another day, another position on Hugo Chavez from Sen. Barack Obama. Redstate. | |
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| 10:18 AM: | Democrats may need time to heal, Richardson says. Democrats will eventually unite once the hard-fought presidential nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is resolved but that process may take time, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said on Monday. Reuters. | |
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| 9:56 AM: | Clinton's Grim Scenario. A woman uniformly described by her close friends as genuine, principled and sane has been reduced to citing the timing of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination as a reason to stay in the race -- an argument that is ungenuine, unprincipled and insane. She vows to keep pushing, perhaps all the way to the convention in August. What manner of disintegration is yet to come? Eugene Robinson. | |
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| 9:24 AM: | A Gay Wedding At Crawford? Jenna blurts out her real feelings... Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 9:08 AM: | Coburn: Act Like Republicans. I could hardly imagine a more appropriate day for this WSJ op-ed by Tom Coburn to come out than on The Next Right's launch day. Sen. Coburn encapsulates what many here already believe: the Right needs to help itself before we can start winning again: Many Republicans are waiting for a consultant or party elder to come down from the mountain and, in Moses-like fashion, deliver an agenda and talking points on stone tablets. But the burning bush, so to speak, is delivering a blindingly simple message: Behave like Republicans. Patrick Ruffini. | |
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| 9:07 AM: | Bush: An asset or a liability for McCain? Is President Bush an asset or liability to John McCain's presidential bid? That's the question being asked Tuesday as the president prepares to make his first campaign appearance with the presumptive Republican nominee later Tuesday at a private fundraiser in Phoenix. CNN. | |
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| 9:05 AM: | NYT Editorial: The Frenzy for Campaign Money. All three candidates are promising to rein in the role of money in politics by updating the Watergate public subsidies â€" right after this campaign is over. NYT. | |
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| 9:05 AM: | POLL: Gallup '08 Confidence by Party. A new Gallup Panel survey, conducted May 19-21, finds 61% of Democrats saying they are confident their party will win the election, including 35% who are "very confident." Meanwhile, only 39% of Republicans are confident, with only 13% saying they are very confident. Pollster.com. | |
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| 9:04 AM: | Obama Delaying Superdelegate Announcements. Marc Ambinder confirms reports that the Obama campaign has "begun to bank delegates." Political Wire. | |
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| 9:03 AM: | Obama looks to the West. I remember questioning a few months ago, what his electoral strategy would be, around February. At that point, that line of questioning looked obscene to those that viewed Obama as the candidate whom would be competitive "everywhere", but clearly now, we know he's not. MyDD. | |
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| 8:27 AM: | Minister: Split with McCain 'best for both of us' Texas televangelist John Hagee said Friday that his political divorce from Sen. John McCain is "best for both of us" and urged reporters to return to "the pressing issues of the day." CNN. | |
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| 8:26 AM: | McCain: Obama criticisms are 'cheap shots' Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday is trying to appeal to voters in Florida who might be reluctant to embrace his candidacy. CNN. | |
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| 8:25 AM: | Evacuations in Beichuan. Obviously, it's bad news that the Chinese government is now rushing to evacuate survivors in case a dam created by the earthquake breaks. Yglesias. | |
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| 8:24 AM: | How To Think About The Vice Presidential Process. When the laity looks at the vice presidential sweepstakes, we tend to misread the priorities of the process. For us, it's all politics. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 8:18 AM: | George Soros: rocketing oil price is a bubble. Speculators are largely responsible for driving crude prices to their peaks in recent weeks and the record oil price now looks like a bubble, George Soros has warned. Telegraph.co.uk. | |
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| 8:03 AM: | Iran Working on Nukes? No Way! Iran's military has produced powerful centrifuges -- the kind that can be used to enrich uranium and speed up development of nuclear weapons. Weekly Standard. | |
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| 8:00 AM: | Hillary Clinton still sprinting as Barack Obama closes in on win. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Tuesday begin the final sprint in their epic battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, with the windup contests one week away and the Illinois senator inching closer and closer to victory. NY Daily News. | |
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| 5:28 AM: | Obama signaling he will fight for Western states. It's the first event on the first day of a campaign swing through three Western states, and Barack Obama is covering all his bases. AP. | |
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| 5:26 AM: | Political Perceptions: Oprah, Paying a Price for Obama Support? Could Oprah Winfrey’s staunch support for Barack Obama be hurting her ratings? WSJ. | |
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| 5:22 AM: | Beyond Bush. The hue and cry for the GOP to file for divorce against President Bush is reaching a crescendo with Tom Davis’s acid-tongued barbs and this more gracefully worded column by 2004 Bush campaign advisor Peggy Noonan. Patrick Ruffini. | |
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| 5:21 AM: | More Veepstakes Picks. Steve Chapman gets in on the fun: There are plenty of good options available. In the spirit of bipartisanship, let me suggest two. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 5:21 AM: | McCain, Obama Fight for the West. The Senators lavish attention on the region, considered up for grabs in November. New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada on both candidates’ itineraries. Time. | |
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| 5:20 AM: | Morning Show Summary. On ABC’s "Good Morning America," George Stephanopoulos said the race is "almost certain to end" after the primaries next week. Predicted "several dozen" superdelegates will move to Obama shortly after June 3. Time. | |
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| 5:18 AM: | Daschle Featured in New Obama South Dakota Ad. The former Senate Democratic leader vouches for his candidate in 30-second spot airing in his home state. Watch it above. South Dakota votes June 3, one of the last two contests for the nomination. Time. | |
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| 5:16 AM: | McCain to Make a Rare Appearance With Bush. President Bush and John McCain will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix Tuesday, the first time in nearly three months that the Republican presidential candidate will be seen beside the man he hopes to succeed. WSJ. | |
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