Working Man’s PhD

In my Indiana-North Carolina postmortem, I noted my hatred for the term "working class" because "it implies that those putting in 60 hours a week at high paying jobs don’t work." Recently promoted full professor Dan Drezner, who is about to enjoy three months off from work ("if you don't count editing one book, writing part of another book, prepping ...

‘Sociopaths’? Really?

I know that Andrew Sullivan is a fan of hyperbolic rhetoric ("fifth column", anyone?), and I also know that a lot of time I enjoy his hyperbole, even when I don't agree with it. But the past few weeks of his tirades against the Clintons have gotten tiresome, and I say that as someone who was never a fan ...

Hillary Clinton Losing Millions

Hillary Clinton may take a hit to her personal finances in excess of $11 million, Bret Schulte reports for U.S. News. With rounds to fight running out, the self-described Rocky Balboa of politics will soon be forced to assess the damage sustained by the most expensive primary bout in history. Sen. Hillary Clinton doled out $6.4 million of her own money ...

Heath Shuler Endorses Clinton

Always the master of timing, Democratic superdelegate Heath Shuler announced that he would support Hillary Clinton the morning after her poor showing in North Carolina convinced just about everyone that she was toast. This is especially interesting given that the first-term congressman represents North Carolina. Don Frederick describes the play thusly: A cynic might note that in announcing his support for ...

Hillary’s Math Problems

George Will notes, as I have many times, that Hillary Clinton, rather than being almost a sure loser, would have had this thing wrapped up a long time ago had the Democrats operated on rules similar to those the Republicans use. [S]he was too late in understanding how much the Democratic Party's mania for "fairness," as mandated by liberals like her, ...

Going Out Like Al Gore

Tom Edsall argues that Hillary Clinton would get some "Big Rewards" if she drops out of the race now. She has ruled it out, but a prompt withdrawal from the contest for the Democratic nomination offers Sen. Hillary Clinton the prospect of major rewards. One of the most inviting is the near certainty that the Obama campaign would agree to pay back ...

Hillary Clinton Fighting On

As predicted, we'll continue to have Hillary Clinton to kick around: Hillary Rodham Clinton says she will remain in the presidential race "until there's a nominee." The former first lady declined to say whether that meant through the roll call of the states at the Democratic National Convention this summer. I'm not convinced she'll drop out then, either. UPDATE (Alex Knapp): For ...

Hillary Clinton to Surrender?

After falling further behind last night, Hillary Clinton is "returning to Washington, D.C. today to meet with advisers and discuss the future of her campaign," Taegan Goddard reports. Given that her campaign is about out of money, can't win absent a miracle, and most party activists want her to withdraw from the race, could it be that she's going ...

Indiana and North Carolina Postmortem

Barack Obama moved to within 200 delegates of securing the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, scoring a 56-42 blowout in North Carolina while narrowly losing, 49-51, in Indiana. Barring revelations that would make the Wright affair look insignificant in comparison, the race is all over but the shouting. Obama Wins the Night AP's Calvin Woodward: On the rebound, Barack Obama left Hillary Rodham ...

Clinton Wins Indiana, Obama Takes North Carolina

While there's still plenty of counting to be done, it looks like today's primaries went as expected: a comfortable Obama win in North Carolina and a solid Clinton win in Indiana. The only surprise, really, is the margin of the victories. Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday but fell behind Hillary Rodham Clinton ...

Obama Losing Two-Front Race War

Andrew Sullivan fears that, whatever the outcome of tonight's primaries, the press will frame it as about race. [W]hat Obama has been subjected to is a classic pincer movement: the Clintons have attacked from the right, subtly and not-so-subtly framing Obama's candidacy as a racial one, and evoking Bill's own Bubba identity and Hillary's totally fabricated working class white credentials. And ...

Gasoline Tax Honesty

Bloomberg's Catherine Dodge wins line of the day honors for her lede, "Never before have two presidential campaigns staked so much on 18.4 cents." Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are closing out their marathon campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina tussling over Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal tax on each gallon of gasoline for the summer months, one of the ...

Indiana and North Carolina Primary Predictions (Updated)

Voters in Indiana and North Carolina go to the polls today having far more impact on the race than anyone would have thought possible four months ago. If Barack Obama wins both states, even narrowly, it will be difficult for Hillary Clinton to justify staying in the race. If Clinton wins both, it will be evident that recent ...

Obama, Clinton Appear at Dinner Honoring Racists

Yesterday, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spoke at a Jefferson-Jackson Dinner sponsored by the Indiana Democrats. As it turns out, this is merely one of many Jefferson-Jackson dinners attended by the candidates. I am shocked and outraged. As you may not be aware, the Jefferson-Jackson dinners are hosted to honor and celebrate the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, ...

“Windfall Profit” Tax

Both Matthew Yglesias and John Cole agree that the Obama/Clinton proposal to tax the "windfall profits" of the oil companies is a bad idea, and you'll get no argument from me. However, one thing that I did notice when I was doing a little google-fu on the issue is that there appears to be approximately 20 to 50 billion ...