[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The race for the Democratic nomination reminds me of a friend of mine who's baby is nearly two weeks overdue. "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl at this point. I just want it out," she told me the other day.

I get that. But what I don't get is if she'd said that when she was seven months pregnant. (Well, actually I do, but that's another story entirely).

And that's exactly what Obamamaniacs who thought the race should have ended weeks and weeks ago. If it were up to them, Pennsylvania Democrats wouldn't have had the opportunity to weigh in, nor would those in Texas nor Ohio. Now, as Obama is showing to be a weaker general election candidate by the day, the cries that the race should be over are growing even louder in some quarters.

Yet Hillary Clinton is looking like a stronger general election candidate, as evidenced by fresh Quinnipiac polls that match her up vs. McCain in states that will tilt the general election. ...

There's more...

Image courtesy BlogHillary.

by chuck nasmith [courtesy of Blog for America]

After McGovern  and the anti war convention choosing him lost in the general election, the Democratic Party decided to have Super-delegates so the Party, not the people ,could control future surges by  anti-war delegates. The Democratic Party must ban super delegates if they want to represent the people, and not the special interests. Is this what Democracy looks like ?  Super-size Democracy, not war.

by John Barta [courtesy of Blog for America]

We call this the World's Most Important Poll because it shows that one popular Democratic candidate also has many Democratic voters that find them to be their least favored candidate, thus raising questions about their ability to succeed in the general election if they get the nomination. It costs only a few dollars to create this poll and you'll end up registering lots of voters in the process. This has energized our voter contact activity!

The poll does many other things as well:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Art Pulaski
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation

Next year will be a complex year for California voters. In addition to the June primary and the November general election, we will vote on a number of important ballot initiatives in February 2008. To help voters better understand these initiatives, the California Labor Federation has carefully analyzed each of the measures and announced its positions based on the impact these initiatives could have on California’s working families.

The California Labor Federation Firmly Opposes the Indian Gaming Compacts on the Ballot and Urges a "No" Vote on the Referenda Propositions. California’s unions have stood in strong opposition to these tribal gaming compacts since they were originally proposed in 2006. Under tribal law, casino workers on Indian reservations have no enforceable right to organize into a union unless it is expressly specified in the gaming compacts. These four gaming compacts do not include provisions to protect the rights of these workers, which is why labor will continue to oppose these compacts as referenda.

by Timothy Horrigan [courtesy of Blog for America]

During the debate earlier this week in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton was justifiably ridiculed by John Edwards for saying she was moving into "General Election Mode" even though (as she herself points out in her speeches) no votes have been cast yet.  Her speech on a grey November afternoon in Durham, NH was, however, very much in General Election Mode.

For starters, during her UNH speech, she never even acknowledged that anyone else was running for the Democratic nomination.  (Although, in Philadelphia, there were half a dozen other candidates on stage with her, all of whom politely but firmly took issue with her stands on the issues.)  Strategically, this is understandable: she is very far ahead in the polls, and also in terms of locking up the endorsements of the party's apparatchiks.  The only way she can lose is if 1.) her campaign implodes and 2.) one or two candidates emerge from the pack as alternatives to Hillary.

by Julia Marden [courtesy of Blog for America]

A round of congratulations to DFA-List Candidate Deborah Langhoff! Deborah earned enough votes to force a runoff against incumbent Nick Lorusso. Nick has the odd distinction of engendering dislike from both parties for his flip-flop votes on Katrina relief. Visit Deborah's website to help her out any way you can: www.electdeborah.com. The Louisiana general election is Nov 17.

by George Robertson [courtesy of Blog for America]

I need to know the candidate will be John Edwards not Clinton.  I wanted   the party to equalize or at least neutralize the influence of the big money disparity in the primary race.   I did not get that.  Even though doing that would have guaranteed victory in the general election by  minimizing the cost of the primary for all democrats, and by making the Democratic party the party that had stepped up to really embrace campaign finance reform, in 2008 in a meaningful way (without unilaterally disarming in the general election).   Now the huge disparity in primary money is distorting and distracting  discussion away  from any discussion of  my interests as an ordinary American, and making who has the most money the only topic that matters.   The Democrats are no more credible than they've ever been, maybe less.   The base is disgruntled and we have another election about money  and not  about me and all of the othe 350 million working Americans like me.