The (London) Sunday Telegraph's Tim Shipman: 'Barack Obama believes he has already secured the private support of enough super-delegates to beat Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic White House nomination, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
***'The McCain camp is also examining a suggestion by Mark McKinnon, a media strategist for the Republicans, who has suggested that his boss and Mr Obama agree to campaign together in some states, attending joint town hall meetings and debating each other without a moderator. ... [A] refusal from Mr Obama could be used against him.
' 'The town hall meeting is John's best format,' the aide said. 'He's a natural campaigner up close with the public. That would test Obama's claims that he wants a clean fight on the issues. John is also strong on finance reform. If Obama reneges on public funding it will look bad.' '
NBC's Ron Allen on 'the Chris Matthews Show': 'May 20th: Oregon, Kentucky - the day that Obama thinks he's going to get a majority of the pledged delegates. He's probably going to have a big speech, not in Louisville or Portland, but probably in a swing state - Michigan or Florida - and really make a pitch to get this thing moving to the general election.'
*****
Plus:
Wedding swelter: Crawford to hit 94 degrees - currently 82, feels like
86 ... HRC loses her last talking point as Obama becomes
super(delegate) man ... Newsweek cover: The O Team ... Romney-Huck
rematch in 2012? ... and 'Idol' scandal: The Jazz won but the
Archuletas lost.
***The (London) Sunday Telegraph's Tim Shipman: 'Barack Obama believes he
has already secured the private support of enough super-delegates to
beat Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic White House
nomination, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
***'The McCain camp is also examining a suggestion by Mark McKinnon, a
media strategist for the Republicans, who has suggested that his boss
and Mr Obama agree to campaign together in some states, attending joint
town hall meetings and debating each other without a moderator. ... [A]
refusal from Mr Obama could be used against him.
' 'The town hall meeting is John's best format,' the aide said. 'He's a
natural campaigner up close with the public. That would test Obama's
claims that he wants a clean fight on the issues. John is also strong
on finance reform. If Obama reneges on public funding it will look
bad.' '
***A Mike Luckovich cartoon in today's N.Y. Post shows the Clintons
watching cartoons, with Porky Pig saying, 'That's all Folks.' The
President turns to the Senator, pouting with her arms crossed, and
mutters, 'Aw what the @*$# does he know ?! ... '
That was Al Hunt you saw on 'NBC Nightly News,' which used a clip of
Senator Kennedy saying on Bloomberg Television's 'Political Capital
With Al Hunt,' of the chances of an Obama-Clinton ticket: 'I don't
think it's possible.'
Bloomberg News adds: 'That is because of the 'tenor of the campaign' in
recent weeks, Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley said later.'
***ECONOMY HURTING McCAIN IN POLLS - L.A. Times A1, 'Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama beat John McCain in Los Angeles Times poll: She's seen as best able to manage voters' top priority, the economy, and the Republican is seen as least able,' By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar: '[B]oth Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama probably would win the White House against presumptive GOP nominee John McCain if the election were held now, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.
'Arizona Sen. McCain remains competitive, but the poll identified one important vulnerability: Voters ranked him lowest among the three candidates on who could best handle the nation's economy - by far the most pressing concern for the public irrespective of party, gender or income. Of the three main candidates, New York Sen. Clinton inspired the most confidence on the economy.
'In a hypothetical matchup, the poll gave Illinois Sen. Obama 46% to McCain's 40%, with 9% undecided. Clinton led McCain 47% to 38%, with 11% undecided.'
----------
'Swift Boat times five' this fall — The President and Jenna dance to 'You Are So Beautiful'- May 09, 2008
LIMBAUGH to J-Mart: "In my universe, there is no doubt it worked like a charm. ... My audience loved it, they participated in it, they had fun with it, as did I. ... If anything, my impact will increase with a McCain presidency. The question is whether the MSM's impact will be lessened, which is slowly happening all around us. I will thrive as always ... One of my next objectives is to try and convince Republicans to cross over and vote for McCain down the road." Ha.
C-SPAN NOW - Some of the best minds from three worlds: Steve Scully, Steve McMahon and Kevin Madden all got special dispensation from their wives to appear on a special "Washington Journal." Maddog says Rep. Eric CANTOR (R-Va.) "is starting to bubble up" as a strong V.P. possibility. Also love for Sen. THUNE and Ambassador PORTMAN. Steve says Senator Clinton is clinging to the 'small, small chance that this thing could turn.' He says it could happen but he doesn't expect it.
Madden on TIME's Karen Tumulty: 'She always turns out being right in the end.'
Newsweek's Richard Wolffe and Evan Thomas cover story on "The O Team" - "How Obama and his team will battle the GOP onslaught" - includes a passage certain to fuel a cable, talkradio and blog eruption:
"Another McCain adviser, who asked for anonymity discussing internal campaign strategy, bluntly warned: 'It's going to be Swift Boat times five on both sides ... The candidates will both do their best publicly to mute it. But in a close race, I don't see how to shut that down.' Indeed, two of the most experienced attack artists are already gearing up. Floyd Brown, who produced the infamous 'Willie Horton' commercial that used race and fear of crime to drive voters away from Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988, produced an ad before the North Carolina primary accusing Obama of being soft on crime.
"[Floyd Brown] tells NEWSWEEK that Obama is 'extremely vulnerable' to questioning about his ties to Chicago fixer Tony Rezko, who has been indicted for political corruption. (Obama is not linked to any wrongdoing.) Another target is former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, whose association with Obama will remind voters of bomb-throwing student radicals of the 1960s. 'There's plenty of stuff out there,' says Brown. 'I'm kinda like in a candy store in this election.'
"Then there's David Bossie, already deep into a mudslinging campaign against Obama through a political organization called Citizens United. Bossie is planning a widespread DVD release of a documentary that will portray Obama as a 'limousine, out-of-control leftist liberal ... more liberal than [Vermont Sen.] Bernie Sanders, who is a socialist,' Bossie tells NEWSWEEK. McCain has little leverage overBossie, who has run ads attacking McCain as too liberal in the past. It's possible that aiming low will backfire."
Random idea: Do something small today that your mom would want you to.
Something to tell your kids, with a wink: Maturity is when you do something EVEN THOUGH your mother would want you to. (Hat tip: Lon Solomon)
Google's search page shows a brown baby duck giving the white mommy duck a red flower.
Maureen DOWD knows the dream ticket will remain just that: "Obama will never be at his best around Hillary; she drains him of his magical powers. She's Jane Jinx to him. It's a similar syndrome to the one Katharine Hepburn's star athlete and her supercilious fiancé have in 'Pat and Mike.' "
