| 7:03 PM: | Will the Libertarians Spoil McCain's Chances? The Libertarians say they're not out to ruin McCain's chances. But they could cost him. Newsweek. | |
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| 6:56 PM: | Good McClellan book round-up. McClellan charges that Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war; the White House press corps was too easy on the administration; Some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be "badly misguided"; Two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them; Rove & Libby "had at best misled" him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.
Politico. | |
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| 6:09 PM: | Obama Considers Second Trip to Iraq. Sen. Barack Obama, under fire for having only taken a single trip to Iraq, is considering another visit before the November election. WSJ. | |
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| 5:39 PM: | An early defeat for Clinton on the matter of Florida and Michigan. Democratic Party lawyers told a committee looking at the fate of disputed delegates from Florida and Michigan that at most they can restore only half of their 368 total delegates. Daily Kos. | |
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| 3:46 PM: | TV buys are window into McCain's general election strategy. John McCain 's campaign is spending $1.135M on ad buys between May 6 and June 16. Per my media buyer source, here are the states McCain's team is targeting: Ohio -- $483,184 Pennsylvania -- $228,159 Michigan -- $227,978 Iowa -- $107,940 West Virginia -- $84,275 As On Call reported earlier this month, the McCain campaign has two 'head-fake' buys in Oregon and Wisconsin, for $1,405 and $2,181 respectively. The bigger numbers, meanwhile, provide a window into the GOPer's general election strategy. McCain is hoping to snag PA and MI, both of which went for Democrats in 2000 and 2004. Iowa narrowly voted for President Bush in 2004, and in 2000, voters gave the edge -- by 1% -- to VP Al Gore . OH and WV went for Bush both cycles. A McCain spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. ( JENNIFER SKALKA ) Natl Journal. | |
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| 3:44 PM: | McCain targets Obama for not going to Iraq. Sen. John McCain strongly criticized Sen. Barack Obama Wednesday for not visiting Iraq in more than two years and for turning down the Arizona senator's suggestion that the two should make a joint trip to the country. CNN. | |
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| 3:27 PM: | Maliki's Midas Touch. A Look at How the Iraqi P.M. Turned His and Sadr City's Fortunes Around ABC News. | |
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| 1:30 PM: | Don't Blame McCain For McCain's Predicament. Over the weekend, the New York Times and the Politico published stories about growing worries in Republican circles about the direction of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign...The complainers implied that if McCain only did X, or if his campaign did Y, then they'd be more comfortable...What was missing from many of the complainers was any insight about the scope of McCain's challenge, any sense of time, and any true evaluation of the causes of the malaise... Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 1:27 PM: | Unifying Narratives Work. Microtrends Fail. David All argues that the proliferation of competing "agendas" now emanating from individual Republican House members misses the point... Republicans should ditch any hope for a Contract-style agenda... Patrick Ruffini. | |
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| 1:22 PM: | Obama Camp Looks Past DNC Meeting to November. On a conference call held by Sen. Barack Obama's campaign to discuss the state of the race and Saturday's DNC Rules and Bylaws meeting, advisers to the Illinois senator looked ahead to November... ABC. | |
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| 1:12 PM: | Bush compares Iraq, Afghan wars to World War II. President Bush told the 2008 graduating class at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Wednesday that the "only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves." CNN. | |
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| 1:12 PM: | John Kerry: Is he angling for secretary of state? Is the Massachusetts Democrat positioning himself to be secretary of state in a potential Barack Obama administration? AP. | |
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| 1:11 PM: | The conservatives’ new online hope. The Next Right, the conservatives’ new online hope, has launched. The site — a project of former Fred Thompson staffer Jon Henke, strategist and former John McCain staffer Soren Dayton, and techPres’ Patrick Ruffini — reminds us a lot of OpenLeft, though it lacks a similarly unifying philosophy. It’s a bit more on the call-to-action side of things: "As a community-driven grassroots action website for the right, we’ll feature in-depth political analysis, on-the-ground reports, and strategic discussion and debate." With these three at the helm, we know this will be quality, smart stuff. Personal Democracy . | |
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| 1:04 PM: | Hillary Clinton’s Swing-State Advantage. In the 20 states where Hillary Clinton has claimed victory in the 2008 Democratic primary and caucus elections (winning the popular vote), she has led John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily trial heats for the general election over the past two weeks of Gallup Poll Daily tracking by 50% to 43%. In those same states, Barack Obama is about tied with McCain among national registered voters, 45% to 46%. Gallup. | |
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| 11:05 AM: | Crowd-sourced campaign strategy. an Obama "idea bank," to which Obama supporters can submit strategy Ben Smith. | |
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| 10:51 AM: | Plouffe: Creating 'chaos' not helpful. On a conference call with reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe appeared to take a swipe at Clinton supporters' planned protests. Ben Smith. | |
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| 10:17 AM: | Nader Loses Lawsuit Against Democratic National Committee. On May 27, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina, a Clinton appointee in the District of Columbia, dismissed Ralph Nader’s lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee for its actions taken against Nader voters and Nader in 2004. Ballot Access. | |
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| 10:16 AM: | Edwards' Florida delegates to Obama? Would the Clinton camp accept a FL delegate distribution that gives John Edwards' delegates to Barack Obama? Natl Journal. | |
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| 10:14 AM: | Clinton says she expects lead in popular vote, primary delegates. In a letter sent to superdelegates Wednesday, Hillary Clinton contends neither she nor Senator Barack Obama will have the required number of delegates to clinch the nomination after Montana and South Dakota vote next Tuesday, leaving it up to party insiders to put one of them over... CNN. | |
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| 10:14 AM: | Gallup Daily: 87% Continue to Say Economy Getting Worse. Gallup Poll Daily tracking on consumer attitudes finds no signs of change in the dour consumer outlook on the national economy, with 87% of Americans saying the economy is getting worse, and only 17% rating the economy as "excellent" or "good." Gallup. | |
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| 10:13 AM: | Gallup Daily: McCain 46%, Obama 45% John McCain and Barack Obama are now virtually tied at 46% to 45% in a general election matchup among registered voters nationwide, while Hillary Clinton maintains a 48% to 44% margin over McCain in a hypothetical Clinton-McCain matchup. Gallup. | |
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| 10:12 AM: | Symbolism Run Amok. When the traveling press learned we'd be staying near Mount Rushmore overnight, some asked if we could make an quick trip before heading off for the day. The campaign obliged, arranging an early morning bus ride for those interested. Natl Journal. | |
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| 10:11 AM: | White House: "It is sad -- this is not the Scott we knew." White House press secretary Dana Perino released this statement on Scott McClellan's critical book on the Bush White House. MSNBC. | |
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| 10:10 AM: | Clinton's Closing Argument To Superdelegates. In a final plea to undeclared Democratic superdelegates, Sen. Hillary Clinton points to her lead in the popular vote, some recent polling showing her strength against John McCain, and surveys showing that voters believe she is ready to serve as commander in chief. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 9:54 AM: | Clinton Ignores Press at Mt. Rushmore. ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Gone are the days of five-a-day campaign stops. Enjoying a lighter load on the campaign trail with two stops in South Dakota Wednesday and two stops Thursday Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton played tourist at Mt. Rushmore. ABC. | |
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| 9:53 AM: | Krugman Bait. Can't resist: The Bush years have in fact not discredited conservatism, a point made suggestively--if, one senses, accidentally--by, of all people, Michael Dukakis. "'What's conservative about invading Iraq?" he asked in a Washington Post story. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 9:51 AM: | Obama Camp React To McClellan Book. Barack Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan weighs in on revelations in former WH press secretary Scott McClellan's tell-all book: "It's not news that this Administration engaged in spin and deception to lead us into a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged," Sevugan told On Call. Natl Journal. | |
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| 9:49 AM: | Dana Perino Confused By Most Things, But Specifically McClellan's Criticism [Benedict Arnoldz] The White House has issued a Papal Bull in response to former press secretary Scott McClellan 's new book, in which he makes bland accusations about the Bush administration like "they may not have been completely trustworthy" in order to sell his otherwise unsellable crappy account of his pathetic life. Wonkette. | |
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| 9:48 AM: | Former Bush press secretary Snow, sick, cancels Ohio speech. Former White House press secretary Tony Snow, diagnosed with cancer three years ago, canceled a speaking appearance at Ohio's Ashland University because of an unspecified illness, the university announced Wednesday. AP. | |
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| 7:29 AM: | Presidential candidates united on Darfur. The three major U.S. presidential candidates issued a rare joint statement on Wednesday condemning atrocities against civilians in Sudan and demanding an end to the violence. Reuters. | |
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| 7:28 AM: | Democratic Convention In Trouble? The New York Times reports that the Democratic Party and its Denver host committee are still some $15 million short of the $40.6 million it needs to raise by June 16 for its nominating convention. Time. | |
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| 7:28 AM: | Bombshell Book Rocks White House. News of the extremely critical memoir from former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan dominates the headlines this morning. Political Wire. | |
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| 7:27 AM: | The general: Exit polls aren't crystal balls. The AP looks at the fight between Obama and McCain among key demo groups, and notes that Obama is competitive among many of the groups the CW says he'll lose. MSNBC. | |
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| 7:26 AM: | McClellan's Grave Charge. It would be easy to think of Scott McClellan's new book as a piece of dish, designed for sales, pitched for controversy, packed with juicy detail. And it is that, of course. But it is also something more. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 7:25 AM: | Rove's maps: Obama gains, Clinton's still stronger. A source sends over Karl Rove's latest electoral maps, which again suggest that Clinton is a stronger general election candidate than Obama. Ben Smith. | |
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| 7:24 AM: | The Moral High Ground On Federal Financing. Barack Obama is likely to opt out of the federal public financing system for the general election and instead embrace a variant of Joe Trippi's general election funding idea: tap your massive donor base and cap contributions. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 7:24 AM: | Obama, McCain and abortion. Analysts: Will the issue help each reach his base -- but also alienate the middle? Salon. | |
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| 6:04 AM: | Morning Show Summary. All three networks led with Scott McClellan’s book "What Happened." Time. | |
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| 6:02 AM: | Martin: No graceful bow-out for Clinton. Lest anyone think the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination is going to end peacefully in June, forget about it.
Sen. Hillary Clinton will do anything and everything to win, and the idea that Sen. Barack Obama should give in to her demands to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates is ludicrous. When you're ahead, you don't concede any ground. If the roles were reversed, she would do the same. CNN. | |
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| 5:59 AM: | Bush Joins Romney in Utah to Fundraise for McCain. The two will headline a pair of fundraisers — the first at Romney’s home for $30,800 per person, second at a private home for $500 per person, where they’ll be joined by Gov. Huntsman. Time. | |
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| 4:49 AM: | A "West Wing" Rerun? This year’s presidential race is shaping up like the final season of NBC’s "The West Wing." Cato. | |
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