Obama is now up four superdelegates, according to RCP, after nabbing several new endorsements over the weekend. Cartoon by Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant

RCP’s Tom Bevan shares a Clinton letter sent today to Obama re: Florida and Michigan. My completely biased, semi-tongue-in-cheek translation of that letter follows, below the fold. I’m sure this translation will offend many people, so if you’re a Clinton supporter and agree with her efforts vis-a-vis these states, please either (a) skip this post, or (b) let me have it in the comments section.

Showing up on the Google “Quotes of the Day” widget this morning, these back-to-back entries struck me as potentially relevant to the ongoing Democratic primary season. Garrison Keillor, perhaps channeling Sen. Clinton on her chances to win the nomination: “I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.” Philip K. Dick, perhaps channeling the Obama campaign in response: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

At Slate, John Dickerson channels Hillary Clinton on Iraq to offer some perspective on … Hillary Clinton and the Democratic primary. The kicker: … Clinton’s words to Petraeus could be read as advice to her after Tuesday’s primaries: ‘I give you tremendous credit for presenting as positive a view of a rather grim reality. I believe that you … were dealt a very hard hand. And it’s a hand that is unlikely to improve, in my view.’ I’m biased, of course,...

According to Real Clear Politics this morning — from Pennsylvania to Guam, from Indiana to North Carolina — Sen. Clinton achieved a delta of 3,365 votes and 0 delegates. Elaborating: Of the 349 pledged delegates up for grabs in the three most recent primary states plus Guam, RCP estimates Clinton took 171 and Obama took 171 — for a delta of 0, with seven yet-to-be-determined. Of the 5.1 million votes cast and counted, Clinton received 2,558,526 … Obama received 2,555,161 —...

In two words — combat and composure — the NYT’s David Brooks says a lot about the fundamental difference between Clinton and Obama. Excerpts: Clinton signaled that she wasn’t going to concede even an inch to the vast elitist conspiracy. She wasn’t going to feel guilty about ignoring the evidence. She was going to stomp on it, flay it and leave it a twisted mass of jelly quivering on the ground. She was going to perform the primordial duty of an alpha dog leader — helping...

You go, girl.

Math time again. According to RCP, Obama has 1,738 total delegates (1,489 pledged plus 249 super), leaving him 286 shy of the magic 2,024 he needs to clinch the nomination. As of today, again according to RCP, he’s holding at roughly 45% in national polls on average — a threshhold that he has effectively been at or above for the last two-plus months, despite all the kitchen-sink and bus throwing that’s been going on. Assuming he picks up (on average) a minimum of 45% of the remaining...

Here and elsewhere, much has been written about the latest chapter in the saga of the angry preacher from Chicago — perhaps too much. Regardless, I hope you’ll tolerate at least one more (seriously belated) take on this story. First, it’s no surprise to regular readers that I’m an Obama fan. I’ve been especially passionate about defending him in the wake of the Wright debacle — so much so that I’ve grown terribly frustrated with those who suggest this debacle...

Thanks for trying, Senator Obama. Thanks for trying to rise above the fray, for trying to embrace a post-partisan world and impart a sense of promise and empowerment that many of us have not felt for a very long time. It was wonderful while it lasted. And though I hope I’m proven wrong, I’m increasingly concerned the mass electorate is simply not ready for you. This concern is based on much more than the Rev. Wright’s recent assault on your campaign. Though I largely agree with...

Would you take advice from Karl Rove? Should Sen. Obama? I don’t know. But this set of suggestions actually strikes me as sound counsel.

I rely on them frequently, but honestly, I hate summaries. That’s why, on this subject, I intend to DVR* the interview (if I don’t forget), watch all of it as soon as I can, and provide my reaction (here) afterward — not to prolong the ridiculousness, but simply to learn. I’m anxious to see and hear the Rev. Wright in a more complete (and secular) context. ___________________ * Commonly used to refer to the noun, digital video recorder (TiVO is an example), but also occasionally...

For the cynics responding to my McCain post yesterday — and there were several of you — Andrew Sullivan channels the Politico‘s Jonathan Martin channeling a commenter at Martin’s blog, vetting your collective smirks. That said, I think Martin hits the right balance, in the end: “I’m not sure that is how the RNC and McCain exactly wanted it to play out, but they’ll need to be careful if there is too much of the good cop/bad cop routine.” Exactly. At...

That’s all. From today to Guam; from Guam to South Dakota. Five weeks until May 29, and five days after that it’s June 3 and the end of the Democratic primary season. Some will argue that it will take another three months, through the convention, to end this race. I doubt it. I doubt it, in part, because I think the superdelegates will follow the DNC’s lead and swarm to the presumptive winner on June 4(Obama). I also doubt it because, selfishly, I’m exhausted with this...

While I increasingly disagree with McCain’s position on Iraq, my respect for his integrity and consistency, on matters like this, continues to grow.

Congratulations are obviously in order to Sen. Clinton and her campaign — as well as to those TMV authors and readers who support her — for the Pennsylvania win Not to peel sour grapes, but as an Obama supporter I’m compelled to be clear: Clinton’s unofficial margin of victory — according to the Pennsylvania Dept. of State Web site (h/t Justin Gardner), as of approximately 9:55 a.m. Central Time today, with 99.44% of districts reporting — was 9.17% … not...

I’ve spent considerable time in Ohio. In a past life, two of my largest clients were headquarted in the western half of the state. I also served for awhile as an interim GM for an office of my former employer in Ohio’s northeast quadrant. One of the things I remember most about my time there was the irrational animosity many Ohioans felt for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As much as that juggernaut of a football team was loved in Western Pennsylvania, it was hated in Ohio, and the closer...

The questions are posed by the WaPo’s Dan Balz. The things to watch are outlined by Carrie Budoff Brown and Kenneth Vogel at Politico. Number two on their list: Don’t be fooled by early results. The cities and suburbs usually report their returns first, which gives the candidate favored in those areas a quick — and sometimes fleeting — lead. The conservative-leaning small towns through the center of the state usually filter in much later in the evening. … So Obama could...

The members of the ISG go their separate ways. I am curious, how does Ed Meese say the following with a straight face? McCain’s Iraq views are “by far” the closest to the ISG’s, says the former attorney general under President Ronald Reagan. “I think the principal, the primary, part of the report was we should go on to support the effort in Iraq and we should not cut and run or surrender,” he says. Granted, I didn’t read the ISG report word for word, but as I recall, it called for...

If you can spare those 6.5 minutes, watch this video. It features former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell — now Governor of Pennsylvania and a prominent supporter of Sen. Clinton’s — speaking in April 1997 to a packed audience at Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, where he shared the stage with Louis Farrakhan and had glowing words of praise for the Nation of Islam. Given this footage, Andrew Sullivan wonders, “Will Clinton reject and denounce?”

Who would have predicted that the Democratic primary might come down to the vote of white guys in Pennsylvania? Very few of us, that’s who. The Christian Science Monitor examines the current strangeness.

While I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Maureen Dowd’s, I agreed with a lot of what she had to say in her column in today’s NYT, in particular, this: [Obama] can create an uplifting new kind of politics if he becomes president, but first he’s going to have to get past the shallow and vicious old politics he says he disdains (even if his campaign knows how to dip into the Clinton toolbox). The thorny questions Obama got in the debate were absolutely predictable, yet he seemed...

The hue and cry for independent and third-party candidates has seemingly died down during the current campaign season — though I doubt those who favor something beyond the R-and-D paradigm will remain quiet for long. Before they renew their efforts, they may want to read and consider the implications of “A systemic problem” — one of the articles featured in The Economist’s recent special report on Israel. From the heart of that article: There are 12 parties in the current Knesset,...

At Politico, John Harris and Jim Vandehei take their turn scolding the media for scolding ABC. Though I don’t agree with everything they write, I do — even as an Obama supporter — agree with their essential thesis: It is not reporters’ job to promote the opposition’s story lines — especially dubious ones like the suggestion that because Obama does not favor flag pins on his lapel it reflects adversely on his patriotism. But nor can serious reporters avert their gaze from...

Regular readers know I’m an Obama supporter. Granted, I’m still not ready to signal my voting intentions in November, but between the Senator from Illinois and the one from New York, I most certainly prefer the former. That said, unlike other Obama supporters, I’m taking the contrarian view on last night’s debate, to wit: I thought the questions from ABC’s commentators were fair game. Were they constructive questions? Hell no. But did they have a place in the larger...