Where do they keep getting this "less than 1% of the more than 27 million votes cast" difference?

What is Rendell talking about "less than 1%"? Obama leads by 2.5-3% in the popular vote (RealClear numbers). Unless of course he's including Michigan and Florida - which I guess he is. If that's the case, are they really going to make the case that she's won the poplar vote by including those two non-contests and drag this out all summer?

Leaving what Rendell said aside, everytime I see him on TV he looks like a used car salesman who is about to try and sell you a lemon. I dunno. I just get a weird This-Guy-Is-A-Huckster vibe from him.

I got nothing wrong with what he is saying quoted above, though.

Thanks for the instant Clinton campaign spin Greg.

Greg Sargent = Clinton campaign surrogate.

who buys the Vote are all weighted into voter-delegates.
Counting all the sanctioned contests.
82.5% of the voter-delegates have been assigned, 53.1% to 46.9%, it isn't very close.

"By virtually every measure, this race is neck and neck"

Um, no Ed. That's just not true.

By virtually every measure

Except:

Pledged Delegates: +167 (O)
Contests won:+16 (O)
Popular Vote: +800,000 (O)
Money raised: +40MM (O)

Other than that, I agree 100% Ed.

Hell, I think Obama should fight for PA- not just to lose narrowly there, but to win.

The last Rasmussen poll had them ten points apart. He's got almost a month until the primary. No other state has a primary on April 22nd, so he'll be able to campaign there, and only there, if he so chooses.

I don't care what the demographics are. I think he can take it.

The central irony of this is Hillary had planned for this to be over Feb. 5. None of these states were going to get a say....

I'm sure, though, if the situations were reversed Hillary would keep her commitment to letting every state vote.

Do they not teach arithmetic in law school?

campaign financing in the red

only way to win is to destroy the other candidate

disapproval rating soaring

drop out all ready, damn

By virtually every measure, this race is neck and neck with less than 1% of the more than 27 million votes cast forming the difference between the two candidates.

"Virtually every measure...that is, that we make up as we go.

Understand that most pledged delegates doesn't count, most primary pledged delegates doesn't count, most caucus delegates doesn't count, most states won doesn't count, most popular vote doesn't count. Anything that is logical doesn't count.

We will decide what counts when we decide it and not a moment before."

The fact is... it is not equal, she has no chance of winning and she needs to go.

I'm just glad that Ed Rendell is going to be there to help with the final nail, once Hillary finishes with her feet and the first hand.

The campaign will definitely go on until Clinton is mathematically eliminated for certain. There is no second act for her from here - I don't think she has any interest in being VP and her chances in 4 years would be slight against the likes of Warner and Obama if he lost in November.

So Hillary will keep her hat in the ring right until August. Even if after June Obama has enough pledged delegates and declared superdelegates, she will keep her hat in the ring until the floor vote. What if Obama gets caught for DUI over 4th of July?

As I mentioned in another post, the Democratic party needs to be ready to move on in July whether she has dropped out or not. Dean seems to be paving the way for such an eventuality. By July we will see Obama with 2025+ delegates to his name and the party will treat him as the nominee. He'll have more than 4 months as our candidate.

I mostly just want the primary to be over so we can start hitting McCain.

He's sort of been making an ass of himself while no one's watching. I want Obama to start going after his ass.

Do they not teach arithmetic in law school?

No. Most of us go to law school for the very reason that we can't add or substract.

At least that was one of the deciding factors for me - no math.

:)

Honestly at this point I don't see how anyone could say that the Obama camp isn't behind, or at least a part of the calls for Hillary to quit the race. An Obama spokesman just today essentially said that people should stop calling for Hillary to quit because Hillary is smart enough to see for herself that it is time to quit. In other words, a top Obama spokesman says that it is time for Hillary to quit. And to say that the people of Pennsylvania would only think Obama is trying to "diss" Pennsylvania if he came right out and told Hillary to quit is to say that the people of Pennsylvania are not very bright. Let's be real here. Everyone knows Obama wants the race over before Pennsylvania.

With all the calls for Hillary to quit the campaign, why is it something bad or unexpected that her supporters would be calling for her not to quit? And how can anybody say that Ed Rendell's statement above isn't correct? Despite all the hype, the race IS extremely close. And quite a few states haven't even voted yet. First of all, Hillary isn't a quitter. Secondly, even if she were, it would be extremely foolish of her to do so.

On a separate matter, Obama told ABC today that the notion that Pastor Wright was a "mentor" has been overstated. That's a bit of a slip for him to say that, because aside from the fact that Write has played that kind of role in Obama's life and was even until last week a member of the Obama campaign's religious advisory counsel, Obama himself described Wright as an "important mentor". Even as his efforts at damage control continue, Obama keeps the story going.

As far as Obama's claim today that Jeremiah Wright is now "contrite" about his inflammatory sermons, I would like to hear that from Wright himself. He has been very silent recently, even canceling appearances. It gives me the impression that he has been silenced.

Really classy comment.

maybe someone should ask Bill Clinton if it were him in Obama's position and his challenger in 1992 in Hillary's position, he'd want the losing candidate to drop out.

Obama needs to start hitting back at this "let the remaining states have their say!" crap that the Clinton campaign is floating. everyone knows Hillary only believes these states count until they vote for Obama, or unless they are caucuses, or contain too many black people or "latte-sipping liberals". no campaign in this race, including those of Republicans, has so consistently and intensely disparaged voters this year as Clinton's campaign. to then turn around and say "we want these voters voices to be heard!" only once she believes it is (however tenuously) politically expedient for her is laughable.

Telling Clinton to quit now is like saying because your team is six games out of first place on July 4, you should forfeit the rest of the season.

I am also suspicious of folks who said they supported Bill Clinton once upon a time but are ridiculing him now for supporting his wife. Methinks they are as loyal and have the same ethics as Dick Morris.

Actually, it's more like when your team is six games out of first place with six games left in the season, and you're having to bring up players from the minors with .100 batting averages because all your regulars are injured. Technically, it's possible you could win the season: all your new players could blossom into reincarnations of Ruth, the other team's plane could crash, the other team's city might get nuked, etc., but the odds don't favor you.

Oh, and by the way, since you are a supporter of HRC, you might want to avoid putting the words "ethics" and "Clinton" in the same paragraph. It calls up unfortunate associations.

So am I the only one who's noticed that in in Clintonista speak, caucus states and small states, that do count because they submitted a valid delegate selection plan and abided by the rules, don't count and states that don't count, because they did not submit valid delegate selection plans and broke the rules, do count?

It's clear Hillbilly will not bow out gracefully.
But that's actually to the best: the longer she fights on in her increasingly quixotic effort, the less leverage and influence she will retain when this is over - no discussion any more about VP slot, senate majority leader etc. Which is great because it will allow president Obama to implement his pro citizen/anti corporatist agenda to the benefit of the country without being sabotaged by a 5th column.

CLINTON-HUCKABEE '16!!!!!

"Now they want PR to have its say."

Yes, one of their more hilarious arguments is that the popular vote in Puerto Rico should decide the nomination because, well, we all know how important the PR popular vote will be in November.

The reason that Hillary won't get out in spite of the delegate math is two fold:

1. She believes he is toast against McCain, and therefore she is the last best chace the Dems have, and she is hoping that the Super Delegates will get their heads out of their @sses.

2. There is no reason to believe Obama can do the job. ( Assuming he could get the job, which I don't believe) We will not be better off trading a Republican who is not up for the job for a Democrat who is not up or the job. I would remind you that when the tab for four years of Carter came due, the price was eight years of Reagan. That's worse math than the odds facing Hillary.