Hillary Gets First Super-Del Of The Day, But Still Lags Behind Obama
In a sign that they're trying to seize some momentum after the primaries last night, the Hillary Clinton camp is first out of the gate with a super-delegate endorsement this morning, coming from Ohio add-on delegate Craig Bashein.
Barack Obama still leads in super-dels, though, which are essentially Hillary's last chance to win the nomination since he clinched the pledged-del majority.
The latest super-delegate numbers from DemConWatch: Obama 304.5, Clinton 278.5. With both pledged and supers added together, Obama leads with 1,961 against Hillary's 1,780.
Not counting Michigan and Florida, Obama only needs 64 more delegates to clinch the nomination -- and adding the two rogue states into the mix wouldn't radically change the math, either.
Late Update: Obama has picked up his own super, Congressman Joe Courtney of Connecticut.
Momentum, this year's Santa Claus.
May 21, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not counting Michigan and Florida, Obama only needs 64 more delegates to clinch the nomination -- and adding the two rogue states into the mix wouldn't radically change the math, either.
Glad to hear this piece, Eric. I've been seeing too much of the "Michigan and Florida will change the outcome of the election!" crap in the reader blogs (from Trolls, no doubt). Still, kudos!
May 21, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
It will be about 10 minutes before Obama rolls out another Superdel to cancel out Hillary's "big" announcement.
May 21, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Add-on superdelegate for Clinton.
Obama just got his first SD of the day--Rep. Joe Courtney.
May 21, 2008 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm guessing Hill's financial management skills were the clincher with Mr. Bashein.
(Either that or his pantsuit fetish.)
May 21, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
When Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota contestes are finished, hillary clinton will have won the over all popular vote, even "IF" michigan and florida aren't counted.... Hillary Clinton will use "the will of the people have spoken" to get the super delegates and pleaged delegates to switch and vote for her in Denver.... also she will say look " i have won the BIG democratic states and most polls show that I am stronger against John McCain then Barack Obama" She will also say " I have more experience and leadership skills than Barack Obama".
So she is going to when this November in the general election:):):)
GO HILLARY!!!!!!!!!
Go to hillaryclinton.com:):)
YES WE WILL YES WE WILL:):)
May 21, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
It does not matter what she SAYS. She has LOST.
May 21, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
HC08, you seem like a nice and reasonable person and I know you are committed to your candidate. But, you do realize that the problem with holding to the popular vote argument, besides the fact that it does not actually serve as the basis for choosing the Democratic nominee, is that you can't actually tally all of the popular votes, because those States that select their candidates through a Caucus cannot be included such a count. You see that, don't you?
May 21, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nice, yes. Reasonable, not so much. To be "reasonable" requires a person to LISTEN TO REASON.
May 21, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dream on HillaryClinton2008. You've got yourself a nice little fantasy going there.
May 21, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
She will also ask..."But why does America hate me and my husband"
May 21, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
So TPM's recently announced policy of not covering
news of individual super delegate endorsments only
applies to Senator Obama, but each one that
declares for Hillary gets trumpeted by TPM
Thank you Hillary's Sargent At Arms.
May 21, 2008 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think we have to cut TPM slack on this one. Since they come at a lower pace for Hillary, when they do, it's news. So long as they also frame it with an update on Obama's count, I'm cool with it.
May 21, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
oops... error, not when, its win:):)
May 21, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
New Reuters Poll:
Obama has opened up a 10 point lead over McCain (O-47%, M-37%) and a whopping 26 point lead over Clinton (O-59%,C-33%).
From WaPo:
"But Zogby said the attacks on Obama by Bush and McCain, who have been critical of his willingness to talk to leaders of countries like Iran,
did not appear to hurt Obama. If anything, he said, it reminded voters of McCain's ties to Bush, whose approval rating is still mired at
record lows.
"The president is so unpopular. To inject himself into a presidential campaign does not help John McCain, particularly when McCain is tied to Bush," Zogby said."
May 21, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
DUHHHHHHHHH!!
Can they be so incredibly stupid that they don't see that? McCain is drowning and Bush is an anchor.
May 21, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I can't believe it - they don't seem to have a clue how deeply in trouble they are and I'm truly puzzled by this.
May 21, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely.
McCain needs to sell himself separate from Bush, but he can not. If nothing else, all those pictures of them hugging.
May 21, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Republicans are truly screwed. They have nothing to run on - with no choice but to act like what Bush has done is A-okay. It will be an interesting charade and I can't wait to watch how Obama handles them. Like a cat batting around a mouse, I imagine.
May 21, 2008 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
No Other Like Ted Kennedy
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/kennedy_news_a_blow_to_everyon.html
May 21, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Will we see the "Pelosi Club" go public this week, or wait until June 4?
May 21, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think supers are going to continue doing what they have been doing... a steady flow every day to Obama.
This way, they achieve the same result but 'knee-cap' any charge Hillary would have made that the supers are trying to shut this thing down.
That's the only reason they haven't all flooded out yet.
They're worried about what it would look like since they missed their opportunity to do it after Obama won 11 in a row.
May 21, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. Steady flow from now to June 3 and then the rest come out.
May 21, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
On the other hand, Obama needs to be free of primary mode (and any concern for hurting Clinton supporters' feelings) so that he can take the offensive on the economy. The superdelegates would, in that sense, do the nominee a great favor by ending this thing.
The sentence is written - in stone. We're just waiting for punctuation. Let's add the exclamation mark and start pummeling the Old Man!
May 21, 2008 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary will keep doing what she's doing, but it doesn't seem to be stopping Obama from campaigning for the GE. Particularly now that he's hit to ver 50% mark for the Pledged Dels, and with more SuperDels coming his way in the next couple of weeks, I think we'll see more momentum from him.
I'm starting to think that things are going to take their natural course. Hillary will throw tantrums, but the Party will take care of her - probably behind the scenes.
May 21, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I kind of agree with the theory that was floating around MSNBC last night: they will wait and see how Hillary's people handle the Credentials Committee (?) meeting later this month. If she is reasonable, they will sit back and let her finish this thing out; if she is unreasonable and asks for too much, they'll come down on her like a ton of bricks.
Either way, I'm afraid that Hillary and her supporters are going to scream that the superdelegates are pushing her out of the race - despite her "lead" in the popular vote.
May 21, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lol, rogue states.
If I didn't know this was a Democratic Party, I'd say Greg Sargent's real name is Dana Perino.
And of course, those who want to count rogue states belong to the axis of evil.
May 21, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's time Supers did their job. Surely out of over 200 left, 60-70 can come forward and effectively END this thing?
Hillary can campaign all she wants till June 3rd, but she'd best not go any further with this or all heck will break loose.
May 21, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Holy crap, people! What's up with the InTrade predictor and Al Gore's number?!?!
May 21, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Total the percentages--122%. A percentage Yogi Berra could love.
May 21, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good grief. Look at the Rasmussen Poll for Florida. Clinton beats McCain by 6 points. McCain beats Obama by 10 points. We've got a problem with Florida, and we can't afford it.
May 21, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why? Is Florida the only state that gets to vote in November?
May 21, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
No. West Virginia does, too.
May 21, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
But that would be "Appalachia", the official home of the bitter, gun-clining village idiots whose votes this Party doesn't need.
I'm waiting for Obama to admit that the 50-state strategy was a lie all along.
May 21, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Clinton Has $31 Million in Debt now
May 21, 2008 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Due to a mathematical error, Hillary Clinton's loans to herself were counted twice in this morning's item on her campaign debt, which is $20 million not $31 million. We will be publishing a corrected item asap, but wanted to alert you as quickly as possible."
From LA Times email.
May 21, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh good. $20 million in debt is SO MUCH BETTER than $31 million. I was starting to think that HRC had terrible management skills. Oh wait . . .
May 21, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama up by 8 in Pennsylvania! Obama dead heat in OHIO! Obama up by six in Michigan!
Florida Schmorida. They can't run a legitimate election to save their lives. The heat has fried their brains. They f*cked up in 2000 and the f*cked up in 2008.
I'll be so happy when an election cycle takes place and the leaders in FL aren't the center of news.
May 21, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
WOW, she won ONE SD after Kentucky.......hello? Is anyone out there??? What's with all of those crickets chirping????
Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo????
May 21, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Greg - help! commenting is fucked up again!
May 21, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, by the way...all of you delusional Shrillary supporters who think the "popular vote" is in your favor, sink your vampire fangs in this.
Shrill will NOT win in SD or Montana, but she will win in Puerto Rico (oddly a province that won't be able to vote in November) - she will NOT get the popular vote and Obama's wins will fizzle out the remaining 150,000 vote advantage Shrill won last night in KY.
Second, superdelagates do NOT vote by popular vote! That's like giving the prom king or queen the job of school principal simply because they're so popular.
You see, we're adults now and Superdels know that they must and will vote for whoever has the most pledged delegates.
So, Shrillary supporters, do yourselves a favor and come back to reality. Your favorite lost and she knows it - she's doing nothing more than trying to bow out gracefully and on a high note. I completely commend her for that, but again...
SHE LOST!!!!!! GET OVER IT!!!!!!!
May 21, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
How can you claim to be an adult when you talk like a thug?
May 21, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did anyone else catch Michelle Bernard on MSNBC last night, around 11:30 or so, trying to explain to Geraldine Ferraro that the "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" move is from a song, and not some kind of hidden, sexist code?
Surreal. Now I know how the Kennedy supporters must have felt when the Early Bird Special crowd started complaining about him not wearing a hat.
May 21, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Like I said yesterday - Ferraro has officially made herself look 150 years old, publicly.
She's acting for all the world like a charter member of the GOP which nows stands for Grumpy Old Party.
May 21, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's pretty insane. Maybe if Obama breaks into the Lindy Hop at his next appearance, she'll have a change of heart and endorse him.
May 21, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Lindy Hop" :-) LOL. Line of the day.
May 21, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, and thank you for keeping your promise to return to your former avatar! One can only handle so much change, after all ;-)
May 21, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yeah, and she's $31 million in debt! Now THAT is a fiscally conservative President I want to have in office!!!
OBAMA '08!!!!
May 21, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I can't believe it - they don't seem to have a clue how deeply in trouble they are and I'm truly puzzled by this.
May 21, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well no one should be surprised that you would be "truly puzzled" by this or anything miss "i'd cut my own throat" hussein.
I imagine that the flushing of a toilet truly amazes you too!
May 21, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
What is truly amazing is the fact that the Racist Turd, RaeKKK stays afloat in the toilet.
May 21, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
THIS IS NOT THE REAL RAEK - I HAVE BEEN HACKED!
I am a fervent Hillary supporter, but really - I would not be on this site were I not a Democrat.
I am about my gal, but I am not, nor ever have been about hate.
Ban fake RaeK! Let the real gal have her say!
May 21, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
The REAL RaeK is not about hate either.
She is about REALITY.
Reality is:
Obama will lose general election which he should! (He's not competent for the job)
Hillary would WIN the general election.
That's about it, fake raeK. Nothin to do with "hate".
May 21, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
RaeK -- I can't tell if you're the real one or the fake one. But please, just answer this: Who would you rather have a president: McCain or Obama? Where would you focus your energy if those were the two choices?
May 21, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about that?
1 lousy super rewards her for a 35 point thumpin.
Wow.
May 21, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now, now, GotALife. I know that you're in the tank for Obama and all, but let's not go overboard. It IS still all about unity, right?
So, let's give credit where it's due, okay? Hillary earned the support of that SuperDel. So, a big hand for Hillary and her hard work this campaign...hear, hear!
May 21, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Total crap McSame hacker
I opened my mind a little yesterday, this is my reward from troll town
GFY troll, I am real gotalife
You are sad
May 21, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
isn't there enough room on this board for two gotalifes? I'd really like to be gotalife as well. Thank you.
May 21, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hopefully these last super delegates that have yet to come out will see that it is NOT just about the math as Obama keeps pushing.
Its about WHO CAN WIN...
That is why we have super delegates.
And the fact that Obama's campaign strategist pulled off a math lead by the use of some Obama supporters organizing those red caucus states, is bullshit. Its winning by legal cheating in our book. And it is NOT an indication of anything real like his liklihood of being able to win the general election.
Looking at the electoral map, he LOSES in the general election to John McCain.
Looking at that same electoral map shows Hillary WINNING against John McCain.
So the fact that he's slightly ahead, in the "math" as he keeps pointing out means NOTHING.
Afterall, we don't spend MILLIONS and go through all of this just to have a democratic NOMINEE as Obama seems to think the *game* is; The whole POINT of all of this is to get the STRONGER candidate against the Republican nominee who can actually win. THAT is what they need to look at!
And so far, Obama hasn't been able to prove that. If anything, he has lost each attempt to show that and Hillary has WON that argument each time.
She is the candidate who can win. And that is what SHOULD COUNT!!
ENDORSE HILLARY!!!!!!!!!!
May 21, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
And strangely enough, despite all of your bluster about Hillary being the stronger candidate, Obama's winning. Hmm....interesting.
I definitely think that we should hand over control of the country to someone who didn't even have enought insight to plan for a campaign AFTER Supertuesday. Kind of sounds like a certain CIC who didn't plan for an occupation after the invasion of a certain Mideast country. I'll give you three guesses on who that might be....
May 21, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
he's winning states a dem WON'T win in the ge. i guess its too complicated for you to understand tho.
May 21, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
RaeK, what electoral map are you referencing?
Check out what is projected on www.fivethirtyeight.com under various scenarios. Even the most conservative scenarios have Obama beating McCain.
May 21, 2008 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Caucuses are cheating? RaeKKK, don't blame Obama because your candidate didn't do her homework and learn the way the nominating game is played. You'd think that with her "35 years of experience," she might have been a little bit better prepared.
May 21, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
DO NOT BUY THIS GAL - SHE IS A TOTAL POS FAKE
I AM THE REAL HILLARY GAL. I SUPPORT HER, BUT I WOULD NEVER SAY VOTE MCCAIN.
DO NOT BELIEVE THIS FAKER. THIS IS THE FAKE RAEK.
May 21, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hahahah
Wow! I have fans impersonating me!
How flattering !
May 21, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't get a big head about it. Seriously, look at the other people who have been impersonated.
May 21, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
What happens if Obama reaches 2025 before the May 31st MI and FL meeting?
May 21, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm betting they've calibrated this not to happen that way. They're not going to create a deluge - just a steady flow.
May 21, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've lived in Ohio for 21 years - and I have no clue who this guy is! This is not exactly like winning the Strickland endorsement.
May 21, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Courtney Endorses Obama
By
Jesse A. Hamilton
on May 21, 2008 9:40 AM
Though he had said he was going to wait until the last of the primaries was over, Rep. Joe Courtney decided to instead make his pick for a Democratic candidate clear this morning, chosing Sen. Barack Obama.
Courtney's was the only district in Connecticut that was won -- in a narrow margin -- by Sen. Hillary Clinton. So, unlike the rest of the state's congressional delegation, he had held out on a presidential endorsement, leaving himself among the last remaining superdelegates.
His choice this morning, which spokesman Brian Farber said he had come to within the last two days, as Kentucky and Oregon decided their primaries, leaves only one Connecticut superdelegate undecided: Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party.
Courtney makes his pick as Obama is singificantly ahead in the delegate count and the Democratic National Convention is just three months away.
[There goes his Clinton Christmas card.]
May 21, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Hillary doen't get the nomination, remember Hill fans,
VOTE FOR MCCAIN !!
WE - AT LEAST 35% OF US - will vote McCain if our gal doesn't get the nomination.
The Dem party screwed our candidate!!
May 21, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dude, I think that's going kind of overboard. Do you really think that the majority of Hillary supporters are looking to sacrifice abortion rights, civil liberties, America's standing in the world, and the environment... to prove a point? I've seen the error of my divisive ways. Please join me, RaeK. Together as Democrats we are stronger. Hillary has opened her eyes to that already. I pray you and others do to.
May 21, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink