Barack Obama is supposed be having a rough week – and, no doubt, Hillary Clinton and Bill O’Reilly are doing everything in their power to make it one. But he continues to increase his delegate lead. A month ago, before the Pennsylvania Primary he led by 125 delegates. Now his lead is up to 143!

John Nichols, The Nation Magazine, May 1st 2008

But Obama keeps pulling super-delegate backing.

Today the senator from Illinois will get an endorsement that sends a powerful signal that even Clinton’s closest allies are coming to conclusion that the senator from New York needs to quit running a race that is harming not just Obama but the Democratic party.

Joe Andrew, the Indiana politico who served as Bill Clinton’s chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1999 to 2001, has throughout this year’s campaign been a Hillary Clinton loyalist.

Andrew endorsed the former First Lady on the day she announced her candidate for the presidential nomination and he has always been counted at the top of her list of reliable super delegates to this summer’s convention in Denver. After Clinton suffered a series of primary and caucus setbacks in February, Andrew told an Indiana newspaper that his support for Clinton remained “profound.”

That was before the primary process turned ugly, and destructive.

At a planned press conference in his hometown of Indianapolis, Andrew will urge Indiana Democratic primary voters to cast their ballots on Tuesday for Obama.

The good of the party depends on it, says the former DNC chair, who will argue that “the primary process has devolved to the point that it’s now bad for the Democratic Party.”

This is a very hard hit for the Clinton camp.

Not only will Andrews move Obama – who yesterday got super-delegate endorsements from House members Baron Hill, D-Indiana, Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and Lois Capps, D-California – to within 285 votes of the total he’ll need to be nominated, the veteran Clinton operative outlines a powerful case for why Hillary Clinton needs to quit the contest.

The way to send that message to Clinton, says Andrew, is to vote for Obama next Tuesday.

“[A] vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain,” write Andrew in a letter he will circulate today. “While I was hopeful that a long, contested primary season would invigorate our party, the polls show that the tone and temperature of the race is now hurting us… John McCain, without doing much of anything, is now competitive against both of our remaining candidates. We are doing his work for him and distracting Americans from the issues that really affect all of our lives.”

And what of the pastoral challenges Obama has faced in recent days? They don’t trouble Andrew. In fact, he’s encouraged.

“[Obama] has shown such mettle under fire,” writes the former chair of the New Democrat Network. ” The Jeremiah Wright controversy just reconfirmed for me, just as the gas tax controversy confirmed for me, that he is the right candidate for our party.” Indeed, Andrew is so convinced of the need to make the switch that the man who knows just about all of the prime players within the Democratic party is urging “fellow superdelegates across the nation to heal the rift in our party and unite behind Barack Obama.”

By DAVID STOUT, New York Times, May 1, 2008

WASHINGTON — Lurita A. Doan has been forced out as head of the General Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees billions of dollars in contracts and manages thousands of government-owned buildings.

In a stormy two-year tenure as the agency’s administrator, Ms. Doan was accused of improperly mixing government business with politics and of trying to steer government contracts to her friends. Democrats in Congress said she violated the Hatch Act, which makes it illegal for government employees to take action that could influence an election.  But with the Justice Department controlled by the White House, charges are not expected.

Ms. Doan’s resignation was requested by the White House on Tuesday and takes effect immediately, the agency said Wednesday. Ms. Doan said in a statement, “It has been a great privilege to serve our nation and a great president.”

The agency said that its deputy administrator, David L. Bibb, a career employee, would take over, at least for the time being.

Much of the criticism of Ms. Doan came after it became known that on Jan. 26, 2007, a deputy to Karl Rove, then President Bush’s chief political adviser, gave a briefing to employees of her agency that identified Congressional Democrats the Republicans hoped to unseat in 2008, as well as Republican incumbents who seemed vulnerable.

Several people at that meeting said later that Ms. Doan had asked how her agency could be used “to help our candidates.” Ms. Doan said she did not remember making that remark.

The White House said that there was nothing wrong with having White House political appointees brief political appointees at government agencies, and that the briefing in question was not intended to tell employees of the agency what to do to hurt Democrats and help Republicans.

The briefing at the G.S.A., which has some 12,000 employees, was one of a series of political talks given by Mr. Rove’s staff at federal agencies. Click here for more on this story in the New York Times.

USA Today, May 5th, 2008
Letter to the Editor From Jerry Lujan

I don’t necessarily agree that age brings wisdom (re letter in 4/22 issue). I believe age brings experience but even young people can have experiences beyond their years. Much depends on what they do with the experiences. Do they learn from their successes or repeat their mistakes?

I do disagree with the letter writer’s examples of best vs worst. He compares apples and oranges — commander in chief vs president. The latter includes the duties of commander in chief, as well as a whole host of other duties.

Reagan was a class B actor as well as president. Despite the long and expensive investigations, and eventual impeachment, Bill Clinton was head and shoulders above Reagan as president. Don’t forget Clinton left offce with a budget surplus, which Bush quickly went through; putting the US in debt to China, Saudia Arabia, and others for billions. The country was much better off then than it is today. Bush has the worst disapproval rating of any president in 70 years, regardless of age, and his term in office isn’t over yet! (Page 7A, USAToday 4/22).

I don’t believe age has that much to do with whether a person would make a good or bad president. It is the decisions one makes while in that office and Bush has made unbelievably bad decisions since he became president, and he was the youngest of all.

Jerry Lujan
Retired Foreign Service Officer

According to several reports, the Clinton Campaign is on the ropes and Barack Obama looks to be the presumptive nominee.

Clinton is on the ropes
By Klaus Marre and Sam Youngman
The Hill, a Washington DC Political Newsletter and Website

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential aspirations took a severe blow Tuesday night when frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) soundly defeated her in North Carolina and the former first lady was unable to counterpunch in Indiana.

While Clinton has lost by greater margins and once suffered through a long losing streak, Tuesday’s results were devastating because it took the wind out of the sails of a campaign that had tried to convince voters and superdelegates that the tide had turned in her favor.

Clinton supporters had hoped that she could win convincingly in Indiana and close the gap to Obama in North Carolina. Instead, the Illinois senator won the Tar Heel State by 14 percent and more than 240,000 votes while the Indiana race remained too close to call until well after midnight.

Earlier in the evening, Obama had indicated that Clinton would win in the Hoosier State and the former first lady, in a speech from Indianapolis, claimed victory. However, as counting progressed her once comfortable margin shrunk until only a few thousand votes separated the rivals and it was deemed “too close to call.

Clinton, on stage with husband Bill and daughter Chelsea, vowed to fight on but also noted that, “no matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party, because we must win in November.”

Obama, in his North Carolina victory speech, sounded very confident.

“You know, when this campaign began, Washington didn’t give us too much of a chance. But because you came out in the bitter cold, and knocked on doors, and enlisted your friends and neighbors in this cause, because you stood up to the cynics and the doubters and the naysayers, when we were up and when we were down, because you still believe that this is our moment and our time to change America, tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States,” he said. Click here to read more of this story in The Hill.

The New York Times reaches similar conclusions in this article.  However, the article added these comments on the financial situation of the Clinton Campaign.

Clinton advisers acknowledged that the results of the primaries were far less than they had hoped, and said they were likely to face new pleas even from some of their own supporters for her to quit the race. They said they expected fund-raising to become even harder; one adviser said the campaign was essentially broke, and several others refused to say whether Mrs. Clinton had lent the campaign money from her personal account to keep it afloat.

Hillary Clinton Seeks a Way to Hang On Despite Results

New York Times
By JEFF ZELENY and LARRY ROHTER May 8, 2008

With her hopes for a shift in campaign momentum deflated by Senator Barack Obama’s commanding victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, his strong showing in Indiana and signs of mounting financial problems, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton nonetheless vowed to fight on, heading early Wednesday for a new round of speeches, rallies and town meetings in West Virginia, which holds its primary on May 13.

Highlighting the financial woes of her campaign, Mrs. Clinton has lent her campaign more than $6 million over the last month, according to campaign officials. She did so, they said, in three installments: $5 million on April 11, $1 million on May 1, and $425,000 on May 5. Click here to read more in New York Times.

Meanwhile, the Pundits Believe It’s Over

New York Times

By JIM RUTENBERG May 8, 2008

Very early this morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued viability as a presidential candidate.

And this morning the Superdelegate choices and celebrity endorsements have begun to turn firmly to Obama. Today Senator and Presidential candidate George McGovern of South Dakota has endorsed Barack Obama. This endorsement is a switch as McGovern had previously supported the Clintons. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to be in South Dakota tomorrow morning and this endorsement is clearly bad news.

McGovern, former Clinton backer, endorses Obama

Associated Press, Dennis Gale, May 7th

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Former Sen. George McGovern, an early supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

After watching the returns from the North Carolina and Indiana primaries Tuesday night, McGovern said Wednesday it’s virtually impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee said he had a call in to former President Clinton to tell him of the decision, adding that he remains close friends with the Clintons.

“I will hold them in affection and admiration all of my days,” he said of the Clintons. Click here to read more of the Associate Press story.

GOP Losses Could Threaten Party Leadership

The Politico, Patrick O’Connor May 7th

The dark clouds hovering over House Republicans hold one silver lining for Minority Leader John A. Boehner, GOP Whip Roy Blunt and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole: Expectations for November are now set so low that a loss of fewer than 10 seats could be seen as a sort of victory.

But if Republican losses break into the double digits, the three leaders could find it hard to hold on to their jobs, and rank and file members could throw their support behind a new generation of members — reformers who say their party should be making dramatic changes to prove to voters that it has learned the lessons that cost it the majority in 2006.

These newer members lack the votes now to overcome the wishes of more entrenched members of the Republican caucus. But a GOP bloodbath in November could change everything.  Click here to read more at The Politico, an online political newsletter.

Obama’s Delegate Lead Over Hillary Now Exceeds 150 Delegates

This post is from MSNBC News, May 7th

The Obama campaign announced three superdelegates – Jeanette Council (NC); Jerry Meek (NC) and Inola Henry (CA) — have pledged support.  In addition, AP is reporting one more, a switch from Clinton in Virginia, Jennifer McClellan. (We’re working to confirm that and will update.)  If true, this would increase Obama’s lead by five more delegates; he’s getting close to surpassing Hillary’s superdelegate totals.

The Delegate Counts:
PLEDGED: Obama 1,588-1,422
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 273.5-259
OVERALL: 1,847-1.695.5

* Obama is 178 from the Magic Number of 2,025.
* There are 262.5 undeclared superdelegates, including about 50 who are not yet named and will be added on at state conventions or the like.

As an aside to this story, readers are reminded that McCain is flying around the country in a corporate jet owned by Cindy McCain.  The expense of this jet is not included in his campaign finance reports as the plane is owned by his wife and therefore is a joint “family asset”.   Whether this is illegal is yet to be determined, but it surely runs contrary to the spirit of the law.  Naturally, the Bush Administration is not going to bring legal charges against John or Cindy.

Associated Press, May 8th 2008

WASHINGTON – Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady.

“You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate,” Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC’s “Today” on Thursday.

Asked if she would release her tax returns if she was first lady, Cindy McCain said: “No.”

The Arizona senator released his tax return last month, reporting he had a total income of $405,409 in 2007 and paid $84,460 in federal income taxes. He files his return separately from his wife, an heiress to a Phoenix-based beer distributing company whose fortune is in the $100 million range. Click here to read the Associated Press story on Yahoo.news.

Staten Island Republican Congressman Admits an Extramarital Affair, Complicated by His Arrest for Drunken Driving.

New York Times, May 8th 2008

Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Staten Island Republican who was arrested on May 1 in Alexandria, Va., and charged with drunken driving, issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging that he had had an extramarital affair with Laura Fay, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and that the two of them have a 3-year-old daughter together.

Click here to read more, if you want to in the New York Times.  So long, Vito!

TPM Muckraker, Greg Sargent, May 8th, 2008

Uncommitted Super-delegates Meet With Obama with Brad Miller switching.  But Gabrielle Giffords does not announce a choice.  According to C. J. Karamargin, her spokesperson, “For the forseeable future, the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will remain uncommitted.  Click here to read more at TPM.