Open Thread

JIbber jabber.

Recommended diaries at 9 pm, Tuesday, May 06, 2008 :

Indiana Voter IDs: They're Blocking NUNS by Adam B While we're waiting - A new superdelegate for Obama by BoBo2020 Investigate the Pentagon Pundit Program [updated] by John Kerry The North Carolina Democratic Primary: Tracking Results by PocketNines [UPDATED]I just got "polled" by the Clinton campaign by Praxxus [Important UpdatedX2: Apologies for Flawed Diary] Deduct <15 Percent from Hillary's IN Margin by creweeny IN & NC Primary Results With Graphs! by FleetAdmiralJ Don't Fall for the Expectations:  MEDIA HYPE by icebergslim

•  Is there an election tonight or something?

  Think I heard something about that.

  by phenry on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:16:00 PM PDT

  •  ha

    drip drip drip

    by AndrewMC on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:17:15 PM PDT

  •  Stole my line. (n/t)

    by wmtriallawyer on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:17:26 PM PDT

    •  well

      "drip drip drip" may become the Obamequivalent to "Whee, first reply!"

      by AndrewMC on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:23:29 PM PDT

  •  Yeah

    I think it's for County Commissioner or dog catcher or something.  ;-)

    by WayneNight on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:18:58 PM PDT

•  OBAMA:

  Less than 200 delegates away from victory

  by rdbaker43 on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:16:42 PM PDT

•  Hey

  Obama's speaking.  Kos told me so.

  by TigerMom on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:16:45 PM PDT

  •  And he's saying stuff...

    ...stuff that sounds presidential.

    by JeffW on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:25:45 PM PDT

•  What's still out in IN

  Almost everything that's still out in Indiana should go for Obama:

  Hendricks county, 0% in
  Lake county, 0% in (Gary, Chicago suburbs)
  Tippecanoe county, 0% (Lafayette)
  Monroe county, 9% in (Bloomington)
  Hamilton county, 35% in
  Montgomery county, 44% in
  Marion county, 73% in (Indianapolis)

  Lake county and Marion county are huge.

  by Yirmiyahu on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:16:51 PM PDT

  •  GARy indiANa

    gary INdiana GARy indiANa -- let's see those votes!

    by Seneca Doane on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:30:37 PM PDT

•  Obama will win Indiana

  Gary will come hard and strong for Obama like Kansas City came hard and strong for Obama in the Missouri primary.

  by Woodwards Friend on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:17:19 PM PDT

  •  If that happens, I picture a sleepless Hillary

    in a stained and tattered pantsuit, walking the rural highways at 3 a.m., trying to figure out what the hell happened.  It will give new meaning to "Wander Indiana."

    by Seneca Doane on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:19:31 PM PDT

    •  She can't be out walking...

      ...the rural highways at 3 a.m.

      What if she gets a phone call?

      by WayneNight on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:23:51 PM PDT

      •  "Can you hear me now?" n/t

        by AndrewMC on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:25:33 PM PDT

    •  It's 3:00 AM and Hillary Clinton needed that job

      Hillary Clinton's new ad for West Virginia:

      by Woodwards Friend on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:35:00 PM PDT

•  400 k victory in NC?

  by Texasblu on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:17:56 PM PDT

  •  I think Hillary still wins Indiana, though

    Maybe not by as many votes as Obama won Guam, but a win is a win.

    by Seneca Doane on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:21:28 PM PDT

    •  Yeah, she probably will...

      ...which is too bad.

      Had she lost both, she might have seen more pressure to drop out from the party elite.  Indeed, some of her own advisors have even said that they would advise her to drop out of IN is a loss.

      by WayneNight on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:22:57 PM PDT

      •  I have a feeling that

        if she wins by under 4, it may no longer be in her hands.  I don't think she wants to quit just before a big victory in West Virginia and another in Kentucky, but the superdelegates may make her going in start to seem silly.

        by Seneca Doane on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:32:04 PM PDT

•  Cougar huntin' at UCLA

  LOLOL.

  by BruinKid on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:18:11 PM PDT

•  Right wing radio host Victoria Taft

  ...is proudly boasting of her "Democrat for a Day" campaign, to tilt the results toward HRC. Indiana has an open primary...
  I think we can safely assume that Obama has easily won the votes of the majority of REAL Democrats in that state, and the remaining unpledged delegates should be aware of that.

  by DFH on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:18:41 PM PDT

  •  I'd love to know...

    ...what percentage of those who voted for Hillary in Indiana were Republican vandals.

    by Rex Manning on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:20:27 PM PDT

    •  ..as well as Texas & Ohio

      County officials in Ohio are investigating whether Rush Limbaugh broke the law encouraging people to falsely swear allegiance to the Democratic Party's principles in order to vote in the Democratic primary

      http://www.alternet.org/...

      by DFH on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:27:40 PM PDT

•  He shouldn't have (almost) conceded IN yet

  by ratmach on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:19:13 PM PDT

  •  not a problem

    if he does win, which is quite unlikely, it will come across as greatly beating expectations.   And he will have come across as gracious in his remarks.

    by teacherken on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:20:31 PM PDT

  •  He's the bigger man nt

    by butchcjg on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:22:35 PM PDT

•  NORTH CAROLINA!!!!!

  Thank you ya'll!  I know I love me some southern hospitality.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

  by Black Magic Woman on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:19:24 PM PDT

  •  You're welcome. :)

    I just voted for the first time today. (I'll be 18 in November)

    by William S on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:22:35 PM PDT

    •  congratulations!

      I cast my first vote for Bill Clinton when I was 17.  I'm still proud of that vote - but not as proud as I am of the vote I cast today for Barack Obama.  :-)

      Welcome to the family!

      by thisniss on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:27:21 PM PDT

•  totally not on the primary

  A diary on the Webb GI Bill entitled This is not exactly first-class treatment of the nation’s warriors  

  The title is a line from Bob Herbert’s column today, which is what led to my writing the diary.  Please take a look.

  Peace

  by teacherken on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:19:36 PM PDT

•  I wonder what the spin will be..

  ...by Jerome over at mydd.com tomorrow. I hope that it's entertaining at least.

  by justalittlebitcrazy on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:20:53 PM PDT

  •  it will be Rush Limbaugh's fault.

    I think he will throw Rush under the bus for not delivering for his candidate.

    by jalapeno on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:21:48 PM PDT

•  It's Tuesday!

  Overnight News Digest- NOW WITH with additional Baltimore Herald content

  by ek hornbeck on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:21:10 PM PDT

  •  Now Open for Business. n/t

    by ek hornbeck on Tue May 06, 2008 at 08:59:40 PM PDT

•  North Carolina

  North Carolina seems to be tightening a bit, even though I know he'll carry it big time. But what do you think the final outcome will be in NC?

  by boomersun on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:21:24 PM PDT

  •  I predict 18

    The piedmont will be solid for Obama. My congressional district is running around O+30, but the triad and down east will boost Hillary, but not nearly enough.

    Plane

    by PlaneCrazy on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:27:42 PM PDT

•  Not tonight, openthread;

  I have a headache.

  by GOTV on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:21:27 PM PDT

  •  Openthread can be so insensitive.

    by turnover on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:22:20 PM PDT

    •  Such a noodge,

      by GOTV on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:23:36 PM PDT

•  Carolinas don't count

  That'll be Clinton's spin tomorrow...  any state with Carolina in the name doesn't count.

  by butchcjg on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:22:16 PM PDT

  •  That'll be her public spin.

    Her private spin will be that any state with an African American population of more than half a dozen people who are not on her payroll doesn't count.

    I'd like to think I'm kidding about this, but I can't.

    by turnover on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:24:46 PM PDT

•  Did anybody catch

  Al Gore on NPR / Fresh Air , today ?

  by indycam on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:23:40 PM PDT

  •  ooh, no, but they have a lovely podcast

    and i will go synch myself up and listen.

    by decembersue on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:25:59 PM PDT

•  non campaign diaries of interest...

  IGTNT 1

  IGTNT 2

  IGTNT, if you've never looked at them, are wakes for fallen soldiers.  IGTNT stands for "I got the news today," imagining family receiving the news of a loved one's death.

  Reminder of the WPA.

  My Last Day of Work.  The future of corporate serfdom.

  Have a good evening, Kossacks!

  by bubbanomics on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:25:26 PM PDT

•  4 points in IN

  by Must Have Been The Roses on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:25:44 PM PDT

  •  I was just about to post the same thing.

    Large counties near Chicago still out.

    by turnover on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:27:40 PM PDT

  •  Gary still out

    and a lot of votes still out in Bloomington and other major population centers.  I don't expect him to pull off a win, but this is getting very fun!

    by Govinda on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:29:28 PM PDT

  •  3.2%

    If my math is right.

    by whosplayin on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:52:48 PM PDT

•  Did anyone happen to glance

  at the Republican numbers in Indiana?

  Huckabee got 10%, Paul 8%, Romney 5%

  McCain is in such trouble... he's won, and he STILL loses 23% of the vote to people who dropped out WEEKS, nay, MONTHS ago.

  Apparently his base doesn't much like him...

  by mmacdDE on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:27:46 PM PDT

•  McCain's numbers stink tonight, too.

  Thus far, it seems the "presumptive nominee" in the GOP can't muster 80% or more in either of tonight's contests.  

  And they say the democrats are "fractured" and "infighting"?

  by teedz on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:29:11 PM PDT

•  Being a truck driver sucks

  especially when you have to go to the hospital over the weekend, spend several days trying to pass a kidney stone, don't get prescribed enough pain meds (war on drugs, doncha know) because your regular doctor (1200 miles away) can refill that for you and you aren't getting paid cause it's not safe to drive with that level of pain/opiate pain killers and the broadcast news stations aren't covering the elections results.

  At least I had the privilege of taking a $10 shower today, which made me feel a little better.

  FWIW: there's a helluva lot of racism out here in flyover country. Go Obama, but... November is gonna be tight.

  by gmhowell on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:29:19 PM PDT

  •  Hope you get to feeling better. n/t

    by cyncynical on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:30:52 PM PDT

•  Give this diary some attention will you, please?

  Texas House Speaker's Affluent Grown Daughter Gets Free Health Care on the Taxpayers, and she is 37 years old, dammit!

  http://www.dailykos.com/...

  Thanks!

  pb

  by panicbean on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:36:05 PM PDT

•  Donna Brazile kicks ass tonight...

  She tore into Begala, but her greatest moment was responding to that airhead next to Bill Bennett, who said Ayers and Wright might  be a serious liability (in terms of Democratic electability).  

  Brazile said; That was small. That was small.

  He said: No, that raises serious questions.

  She said: As serious as taking this ccountry into war on a lie? AS SERIOUS AS 4,000 OF OUR SOLDIERS DEAD?

  Paraphrasing here--I'm in China, don't know the airhead (Bill Bennett was actually damn respectful of Obama).

  But right on DONNNA!!

  by MmeVoltaire on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:40:40 PM PDT

•  Pentagon: Iraq is preventing Afghanistan success

  From AFP:

  WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday that any sizeable increase in much-needed US forces in Afghanistan will depend on deeper troop cuts in Iraq than currently planned.

  Military commanders, worried about a persistent and growing Taliban challenge, have said they require up to three more brigades, or about 10,000 troops, to fill gaps in a NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

  But Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell made clear that relief in Afghanistan can only come from Iraq, where US forces now find themselves embroiled in a bloody struggle with Shiite militias.

  by Wynonie Harris on Tue May 06, 2008 at 07:30:57 PM PDT