Reuters polled Wall Street top level insiders for their "Opinion" about who would be a best for the economy and determined that that would be John McCain, apparently due to the enormous tax cuts that McCain wants to give them, in addition to making permanent Bush's temporary ones.  This bizarre conclusion comes about, apparently, because the highest paid Wall Street executives confuse themselves with the whole economy:

"My personal opinion is I would argue that McCain is probably the better candidate for the economy and that is more or less because of his tax policies," James Caron, head of global rates research at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, said at the Reuters Summit this week.

"In this environment that we're in right now, the last thing you want to have is higher taxes and taking money out of the consumers' pockets," he added.  [My emphasis]

This despite the fact that most consumers live below the $250K annual level, and will be receiving tax cuts, not increases.  Maybe the writer should have shared this info with the respondents; you know, where they provide some information and ask the question again?

This is just a wakeup call to any of you few who, like me, let this one creep up on you.  Yes, we voted for the presidential nominee some months ago, but today is the regular primary!  Two very important ballot initiatives are at stake; one must go up and one must go down:

Vote NO on Prop 98
Vote YES on Prop 99

San Franciscans:

Vote YES on Measure A!  Please make teaching children a decently paid profession again, if just a little!  

You know the facts; even this late, every little bit counts!  there's still two hours left to vote!   Call a friend!  Go vote and then have a beer!  Or some chamomile tea.  More below the fold.

So I was reading an article in TheHill.com, ostensibly about Rahm Emmanuel crashing Republican meetings, and continued on page two, reading about power struggles in the NRCC occasioned by their recent disaster in Mississippi.  I began to wonder if some Republicans aren't catching on.  From the once and future chairman of the NRCC, Tom Davis (R., VA):

Davis called for shifts on healthcare ("the weakest issue for Republicans") and immigration: "John McCain, being from a border state, may be out of sync with many Republicans but he has standing among Hispanics. Barack Obama has not made the sale to Hispanic voters. Thus this issue is a tar baby for anyone who touches it, with land mines everywhere. But the Democrats control Congress and are doing nothing. This needs to be highlighted. Put the onus on them to produce a bill. Put them on defense."

Hmmm, this guy Tom Davis is practically conceding Health Care and Immigration, which is smart because they will sink with those cement overshoes.  This guy sounds reasonable.  Perhaps he's too smart?  And he's identified a weakness in the Democratic...

... wait a minute... hold on...

Okay, this may be a throw-away thread, but I've read bunches of comments about some guy named "Lanny Davis."  

I don't have Cable, and I was watching NCIS, and now an instructional dance tape for children is being previewed on my TV, so I have no chance of seeing this guy tonight.  Has anyone recorded this person, and if so, would you please be so kind as to put up a clip on YouTube?

Then maybe post it in a comment here?  I'm sure many would love to savor these moments.  Or any desperate Clinton surrogate trying to make lemonade from lemon rinds and old coffee grounds.  Please post, and I'll post the most rec'd in the body of this diary in an update.  (With credit, of course!)

I found this story posted as comments in blogs, but find no mention of it in the recent MSM.  Here's Carpetbagger Report.   and this is from the first comment posted by "cobsjo" (scroll down):

A status conference hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 25, 2008, in Los Angeles California, to finally set a trial date in Paul vs. Clinton.

California Superior Judge Aurelio N. Munoz delayed setting a trial date back in February, but is scheduled to set a trial date this Friday.

Judge Munoz ruled back in February that Paul’s legal team can begin seeking depositions from a host of big names – including Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, along with an A-list of Hollywood celebrities that allegedly were witnesses to an effort by the Clintons and top Democratic leaders to extract millions of dollars from Paul in illegal donations and then cover it up. Discovery in the trial is expected to start in May.

The hearing is TODAY!  Trial starts SOON!  Please, please take this story and do your own blog, diary, comment, yard sign...

I don't have much background about the Diageo/The Hotline outfit, but they've been a favorite over at MYDD because it consistently reports HRC as leading, until now, that is:

         Table 1: Primary Vote Among Democratic Primary Voters:
                            Dec.      Jan.     Feb.     March  
Barack Obama      30%      35%      43%     50%
Hillary Clinton       35%      38%      45%     38%

Her lowest showing ever.  More details under the glyph ~~~

The latest poll by the New York Times and CBS is now posted on Real Clear Politics.  This is a national poll covering voter preferences and thoughts and feelings about the candidates.  ("Bread and Butter" issues.)  Obama maintains his lead over Clinton in all the crucial spots:

Choice for the Democratic Nomination
(among Democratic primary voters)
                Now        March 8th
Clinton        43%        43%
Obama        46%        46%
DK                8%         8%

This poll contains lots of good news for Obama. In other areas, Obama's ratings are back to where they were pre-Wright Controversy, still maintains highest favorables, lowest unfavorables.  More details below the fold.

I was going to title this, "The Quinnipiac poll and How It Is Being Reported."   Here's CNNwith the most pertinent facts:

Clinton lead narrows in Pennsylvania

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton holds a 9 point lead over Barack Obama in the crucial state of Pennsylvania, a margin that is slightly narrower than that found in a similar poll released earlier this month.

In the just released Quinnipiac University Poll, Clinton draws 50 percent of support from likely Democratic voters in the state while Obama gets 41 percent. In a similar poll taken two weeks ago, Clinton was at 53 percent and Obama was at 41 percent.

Or, you can lead with everything BUT the fact that Clinton's lead in the actual poll that will be counted April 22 has slipped 3 percent, like Bloomberg:

Clinton Leads Obama in Pennsylvania as Electorate Split by Race

Not that CNN is famous for unbiased coverage, but come on Bloomberg!  

This just crawled across my newsfeed, from the LA Times:  [emphasis mine]

Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," Pelosi said that the Democratic superdelegates have a right to vote their consciences rather than just be bound by the results of the contests in their home districts or states.

Previously, Pelosi (D-San Francisco) had said she thought the votes of the superdelegates should follow the results of the contests during the primary and caucus season. That view seemed to support the position of the Obama campaign and was immediately criticized in a letter by 20 key fund-raisers for the Clinton campaign.

The issue focuses attention on the power that the almost 800 superdelegates will wield in the Democratic nomination process....

Wow,... for a moment there it looked like she might be catching on.  Time to remind everyone that Nancy Pelosi faces a primary challenger.  

I haven't seen this explicitly stated yet, but come ON everybody!  

Obama has declared that HRC can stay in as long as she wants, because he knows he'll win and it doesn't look good to be demanding that your closest competitor drop out.  It's unsportsmanlike, it even betrays a slight fear.  Since this statement and the dawning on us all that Clinton has no chance so long as Obama stays focused,  I have noticed a significant (not total) drop off of anti-Hillarism in the diaries and comments, and I hope everyone else gets it and refrains from demanding that she drop out of the race.  Provided, of course, that she refrains from scorched-earth campaigning while this plays out.  It hasn't helped so far, so perhaps this will be the case.

But I think the real reason that Senator Clinton is still in it should give us all some comfort:  She needs the campaign donations.

I find this intriguing:

In the very first words she uttered reacting to John McCain's speech on the housing market crisis Tuesday, Hillary Clinton evinced part of her appeal to older voters: her frame of reference is theirs.

"It sounds remarkably like Herbert Hoover," Clinton said of McCain's assertion that he is not inclined -- and probably never will be -- to embrace aggressive, sweeping government efforts to confront the problem of rising home foreclosures.

My god, have we been neglecting a vital demographic?

My local TV news station, KPIX 5, is a usually reliably mainstreamy show, not likely to take their news cues from any internet hubbub.  In fact, they're STILL covering the City of Berkeley's Marine recruiting station protests, for no good reason that I can see.  I use them as my MSM lab rat.  If it shows up here, there's probably a general infection.    

Last night they covered the new Clinton Inevitability story from Politico, being that she has practically no chance, after the news from Florida, Michigan and Governor Richardson.  They didn't quite focus on the fact that a superdelegate override would cause riots in the streets, but the flag is up, at least.

Strangely, this report was not included in their internet report, at least not yet.  But I became curious as to how far this story is penetrating the MSM's deflector shield.  

I give permission for Senator Barack Obama, or any of his staff, to use the following joke, written by me, when campaigning in Pennsylvania:

Hiya folks!  It's great to be in Pennsylvania, its a very friendly place.  It's one of the best state names in the United States, but I gotta tell ya, there's something that I've always wondered about the name of the state of Pennsylvania:  Why is it that, whenever we hear the name, "Transylvania," we think of a scary, frightening place populated with vampires, but when we hear, "Pennsylvania," we aren't even a little bit scared?

Oops!  I'm sorry; I must take that back.  I promised Hillary I wouldn't be making any "Monster" jokes.

Rarely does the enemy make his ignorance a campaign issue in his own ads.  This should be brought up in the science debate.  

McCain has been denouncing and ridiculing a particular scientific study on bears as "a waste of money," in an effort to appear tough on pork.  In fact this is a perfectly valid and valuable scientific study about counting bears, according to WAPO.  So why does this project draw his ire?  Apparently because it has something to do with DNA.  Also plainly obvious is McCain's total ignorance of the scientific value of DNA sampling.  Quote McCain:

"Approach a bear: 'That bear cub over there claims you are his father, and we need to take your DNA.' Approach another bear: 'Two hikers had their food stolen by a bear, and we think it is you. We have to get the DNA.' The DNA doesn't fit, you got to acquit, if I might."

The only things Senator John McCain seems to know about DNA is from watching CSI and Judge Judy and the OJ trial.  Has any candidate since Reagan so loudly declared his scientific ignorance?

This poll is directed at a very specific group of people: Those who voted in  the California, Texas, or New Hampshire primary or caucus.

This is a question I have been curious about for some time: Would you now change your vote if you could vote again today?  Simple question, but in order for this poll to provide any indication of reality, respondents must agree to vote from only one profile, and not stuff the box with your alts' votes.  I'm sure that some will do this, but maybe enough people want to know the real answer to this question and enough people will answer honestly.

I wonder why no one has ever asked this question out loud yet, but I have a day job so maybe someone did, but the news isn't out there.  So I ask you, has any thing about the nomination contest since you voted, whether ads, comments, revelation or media behavior, cause you to wish you could change your vote, and if so, which way?

In order for this to work, you should answer the poll even if you DON'T want to switch.

Obama supporters decry Clinton's kitchen sink tactics for the damage McCain could later cause if Obama were to win the nomination.  But Clinton ought to pay attention to the damage its causing her own chances against McCain:

The commercial was credited as one factor enabling Clinton to turn her campaign around in Texas last week. But, 42% of all voters said the person they’d most want to answer the phone was John McCain. Among all voters, 25% picked Clinton and another 25% named Obama as the person they’d want in the White House when a foreign policy crisis call arrived.

Note that the national poll says that Clinton and Obama are tied for loosing to McCain on this issue.  National, as in a combined sample of all voters, much like, you know, a general election.

Would you please stop following the Lieberman play book now?  Just win or loose with honor and prepare to support the victor no matter what?  

We may not get Texas Caucus results for quite some time, according to the rules for reporting them:

Texas Democratic Party officials got results from fewer than half the caucus precincts by Thursday after crowds in Tuesday's election caused so much chaos that police were called to some polling places.

The 8,247 precinct officials are required only to mail the results of their caucuses to their county party chairmen 72 hours after the primary election day. County chairmen don't have to reveal those results until county or state Senate district conventions on March 29.

So that's what's going on.  Funny, I kinda figured that most election officials would be interested in getting results back fast, to avoid the appearance of corruption if nothing else.  But, this is Texas, after all.    Of course it gets better.

"Creative Financing", otherwise known as gross malfeasance, is the open, runny chancer sore on the face of the Republican party.  Creative financing has put millions in the pockets of the attorneyed classes, robbed directly from the pension funds and taxes of the little people.  It has fueled gross corruption, destroyed innocent lives, has sent our whole economy into a recession.  It is also the last defense for John McCain in his attempts to back out of a bank loan which he took freely.

Here's his latest defense:

The loan documents specifically state that the collateral did not include McCain's right to the public funds. But the agreement with Fidelity & Trust Bank of Bethesda, Md., required him to reapply for matching funds if he withdrew from public financing and lost early primary contests.

In other words, the Bank gave McCain a loan based on documents that attempt to re-define what "Collateral" means.  

John McCain the reformer?  How can a man who doesn't grasp the criminality of Enron be expected to attack this insidious rot at the heart of America's economic institutons?