[courtesy of California Progress Report]

How the Pundits are Misattributing Momentum to Natural Demographic Political Differences

By Rob Richie
Executive Director
Fair Vote

Introduction

Sen. Hillary Clinton had a good night this week in West Virginia, winning a landslide victory by nearly 150,000 votes over Sen. Barack Obama. Clearly, she must now have that fickle thing called "momentum," right?

Of course a week ago the same candidates had quite different results in North Carolina and Indiana, where Obama won those states collectively by some 210,000 votes. So, the logical conclusion would be that Obama had the "momentum" and must have now lost it.

But what happened between then and now to change the contest so dramatically?

Nothing, really -- and yet the pundit class and many in the media will try to find meaning (read: momentum) into these numbers. But in reality, too many of the nation's talking heads are playing with a Ouija board and tailoring their analysis to fit the pre-written story-line du jour.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

California Democratic Party Political Director and Young Democrat DNC member cites Obama’s ability to build the party with younger voters

By Frank D. Russo

In a move that puts Barack Obama ahead in most, if not virtually all super delegate counts and reduces his magic number to clinch the nomination, Crystal Strait, the Political Action Director for the California Democratic Party, endorsed Obama for President.

Strait, 28 years of age, the immediate past President of the California Young Democrats, and a member of the Democratic National Committee representing Young Democrats of America, is a powerful boost for Obama. She had been cited as an undecided delegate in an article as late as one appearing in this morning’s Oakland Tribune in which she praised the efforts of Chelsea Clinton to secure delegate commitments to her mother, Hillary Clinton. She becomes the 276th superdelegate to endorse Obama in a rare Sunday announcement from the campaign. Sshe has been active both within California and nationally.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Sacramento voters who were hoping to see a debate last night between the candidates for Mayor were probably wondering if their TV was tuned to The Comedy Channel instead of the local ABC affiliate.

What was billed as a critical forum between the seven candidates vying for Mayor was largely reduced to a laugh-a-thon. It was Exhibit A for why one of the top contenders, Kevin Johnson, has skipped these events in favor of precinct walking.

Why was it a semi-disaster?

Let's begin with the candidates on stage. Most of them had no business being there. They're not running campaigns. They simply paid to have their name on the ballot. Why there wasn't criteria (polling threshold, fundraising or expenditure threshold) for weeding down the field is beyond me. The precious hour of debate had to be divided between the entire field of candidates, giving none of them time to articulate much of anything.

Then there was the format. Candidates had 30 seconds to respond to questions. Barack Obama can't answer a question in 30 seconds. Did the sponsors really think these candidates could? There was no follow-up, no opportunity for candidates to respond to attacks from other candidates.

There's more...

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Apparently, Sen. Feinstein is asking Hillary Clinton for her primary "game plan".

"I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I'm very loyal to her," Feinstein said. "Having said that, I'd like to talk with her and [get] her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is."

Clinton, who eked out a win in Indiana Tuesday night but lost big to front-runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in North Carolina, has not responded to Feinstein's phone call, the California senator said.

"I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party," Feinstein said. "I think we need to prevent that as much as we can."

Interesting.  What I'd like to see is Feinstein show some leadership on the Rules Committee and block Hans von Spakovsky's resurrected nomination to the FEC.  But I'd say DiFi is as good a bellweather as there is of the emerging CW on the Democratic nomination fight.

In other news, California superdelegate Inola Henry committed to Obama today.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Norman Solomon
Elected California Delegate
Sixth California Congressional District

Barack Obama's triumph on May 6 was a victory over a wall that pretends to be a fly on the wall.

For a long time, the nation's body politic has been shoved up against that wall -- known as the news media.

Despite all its cracks and gaps, what cements the wall is mostly a series of repetition compulsion disorders. Whether the media perseveration is on Pastor Wright, the words "bitter" and "cling," or an absent flag lapel-pin, the wall's surfaces are more rigid when they're less relevant to common human needs and shared dreams.

"We've already seen it," Obama said during his victory speech in North Carolina, "the same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn't agree with all their ideas, the same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives, by pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy, in the hopes that the media will play along."

And how, they've played along. From the front pages of "quality" dailies to the reportage of NPR's drive-time news to the blather-driven handicapping on cable television, the ways that media structures have functioned in recent weeks tell us -- yet again -- how fleeting any media attention to substance can be.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Let the tidal wave begin! Fresh this morning, former Senator Hillary Clinton backer George McGovern, who was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972, has now endorsed Senator Barack Obama.

Said McGovern, "Hillary, of course, will make the decision as to if and when she ends her campaign. But I hope that she reaches that decision soon so that we can concentrate on a unified party capable of winning the White House next November."