Suggestion for Obama:

The next time Hillary uses the recycled red phone ad, counter with one of your own. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, have a woman’s voice, with a flat Midwestern accent, answer it and say, “Hold on” into the receiver. Then she should shout, “Bill! It’s for you!”

Dick Morris is a chumbucket, but a smart one.

Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There’s only one problem with this analysis: they can’t count.

I’m no good at math either, but with the help of Slate’s Delegate Calculator I’ve scoped out the rest of the primaries, and even if you assume huge Hillary wins from here on out, the numbers don’t look good for Clinton. In order to show how deep a hole she’s in, I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt every week for the rest of the primaries.

I love definitive articles like this one. Tip of the hat to Jonathan Alter.

A conference call announcing the endorsement of Hillary Clinton by Joseph Wilson was just held with bloggers to hear the breaking news. This is a huge deal for Candidate Clinton and a big endorsement for her candidacy. That it was broken on the blogs sends a powerful signal.

Wow, this is a painful indictment of the liberal blogosphere…

This was the top story on Memeorandum, meaning that lots of political bloggers are linking to it …

I had to read the story to remember who Joseph Wilson is (the former Ambassador whose factfinding trip to Niger blossomed into the Plame scandal).

Who cares who he endorses?

Wilson’s endorsement will switch zero votes in the general election. This is strictly an Obama v. Clinton issue, and, to repeat, who cares? The unfortunate cynical truth is that the entire primary race is going to be decided by massive amounts of TV advertising in January 2008.

Technorati Tags: Joseph Wilson, who cares?, HIllary Clinton, Obama

… we’ve invited all the presidential candidates to come visit our headquarters in California and share their ideas in town hall-style meetings with our employees.

In February we were honored to host Sen. Hillary Clinton on campus for the first candidate visit, and last Friday we welcomed Sen. John McCain as our second visitor. We’re flattered that the other candidates have responded positively to our invitations, and we’re working to schedule their visits over the next few months.

Just as the Internet poses interesting policy questions, it also helps empower citizens with more information. So, to help potential voters learn more about the candidates and their views on the issues, we’ve posted the complete, unedited videos of these candidate talks on YouTube. Take some time to check out Sen. Clinton’s talk and Sen. McCain’s (as well as a special interview that Sen. McCain did with YouTube’s CitizenTube).


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What? Obama hasn’t been to Google yet? That’s one of those events that seems so inevitable that it’s surprising it hasn’t happened yet.

Obama’s instinctive cautious progressivism will play well at the GooglePlex.

Here’s a hypothetical question for Google employees to pose at the confab: if Larry Page and Sergey Brin offer to let Obama use their 767, will he renounce his “no private jets” pledge?

[poll=5]

Technorati Tags: Google, Obama, Google Obama

Peter Osnos was Obama’s first publisher at Times Books, for Dreams From My Father.  He writes:

Now comes the part in which Obama showed a steely side and displayed an element of character which, while completely legal and entirely within his rights as a writer, makes me uneasy  …

After his victory, Obama, on the advice of friends I have been told, decided to replace Dystel as his agent with Robert Barnett, the formidable Washington lawyer who has represented the Clintons and a host of other major Washington political figures and writers. Whereas agents take a flat percentage of all the clients’ earnings—usually 15 percent these days—Barnett charges by the hour, which means that the bill is substantially smaller as a portion of the proceeds on big deals. Dystel, a feisty sort, was furious. I have no idea about the details of interaction between Barnett, Dystel, and Obama, but I would bet it was not warm and fuzzy.

Between Election Day 2004 and his swearing in as a Senator, Obama signed a two-book deal with Crown for “seven figures” (probably somewhere in the vicinity of $1.5–$2.0 million). By signing the contract before taking office, which Hillary Clinton also did on her book deal, Obama does not fall under various requirements for disclosure and reporting that applies to members of Congress. …'

OMG.  When a publisher thinks you’re unethical, you’re not just smokin’, you’re on fire!

I saw him on Larry King Live when Audacity of Hope was released.  Larry King asked him whether he would consider running for President.

Obama wasn’t very coy.  He told a funny story about how every U.S. Senator wakes up in the morning and sees a future President in the mirror.

It was the non-verbals that really struck me.   His grin got bigger, and I thought to myself, “there is someone whose head has been turned.”

Pro: humble people don’t usually become President.

Con:  he might as well have painted a bulls-eye on his back.  How long does he think it will take for Bill and Hillary Clinton to figure out a way to take Obama down a peg?

… Had Kerry not lent himself millions to reach the Iowa caucuses, and had Dean not been so green a candidate, Dean probably would have been the nominee.

Dean lost, but the point was made. No longer would D.C. insiders impose their candidates on us without our input; those of us in the netroots could demand a say in our political fortunes. Today, however, Hillary Clinton seems unable to recognize this new reality….

Wow, this is just suicidal. Dean Democrats are passionately scrambling to block a Hillary bandwagon. Thinly-veiled subtext: “bloggers rule.” If all Kos can do is slam one of his party’s leading figures, how does he expect the Democrats to assemble a majority?