Thu, February 21, 2008 - 11:34 AM

WASHINGTON – The New York Times has taken “something of a cheap shot” at John McCain, says Rep. Adam Putnam, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House.

Putnam, the House GOP conference chairman, was referring to a Times’ story this morning, which he says falls short of substantiating any inappropriate behavior between the Arizona senator and a female lobbyist, much less a romantic affair.

“McCain has a right to be angry and indignant,” said Putnam, of Bartow.

Putnam predicted that unless something more comes out about the senator and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, it will have no lasting impact on the presidential race.

Putnam said he himself has “never laid eyes” on Iseman, though he certainly is acquainted with the Arlington, Va.- based lobbying firm she works for.

“Alcalde & Fay represent almost every public entity in the Tampa Bay area,” Putnam noted.

That includes Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Community College, the City of Clearwater, the Tampa Port Authority and the City of Sanford, according to the firm's Web site.

-- Billy House

John McCain has had a rough 24 hours.

We at the Herd don’t mean to pile on. But since we did tell you about the will.i.am video done for Barack Obama, it seems only fair that we point you to a spoof of the video focusing on McCain.

Here's the video, called john.he.is



-- Amy Dominello

Wed, February 20, 2008 - 6:15 PM

Barack Obama has just received the endorsement of freshman U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, who also is a superdelegate to the Democratic convention.

But wait a minute! Doesn't Obama say delegates and superdelegates from Florida shouldn't have a vote at the convention?

Even so, maybe this announcement represents a big deal in Obama in terms of the general election. After all, Castor also will be Obama's state co-chair along with Florida U.S Rep. Robert Wexler of Boca Raton.

But the reality is that Castor was unlikely to back Republican John McCain in the general election, anyhow?

So, then, what exactly is the news here?

Perhaps it's that Obama may be maneuvering to get unpledged Florida superdelegate support, even though he and the Democratic National Committee are stating publicly that its delegates should not count at the covention.

Obama says they should not count because he and the other Democratic presidential pledged not to campaign in Florida before its Jan. 29 primary. As a result, he says, Hillary Clinton's victory in that primary was not reflective of a real race.

The candidate boycott pledge came on the heels of the Democratic National Committee's decision to strip Florida of its delegates to the nominating convention because the state had moved its primary date earlier than Feb. 5, against party calendar rules.

But now we have Obama and Florida superdelegate Castor announcing her endorsement of him -- an endorsement that really doesn't mean much, unless it reflects that Obama may be pressing Florida superdelegates for their support at the convention, despite his public pronouncements.

In a statement released by her re-election committee, Castor called Obama the “right person at the right time.”

“Obama now leads nationally in the number of pledged delegates, in the popular vote, and the number of states won,” said Castor. “It is time for our party to coalesce around Barack Obama’s nomination for President.”

She added: “I ran for Congress in 2006 to fight for a new direction for our country. Senator Obama offers the most determined and coherent plan for a new direction and change and I am proud to endorse him for President of the United States.”

Obama, in a statement, said he was proud to have her support.

“In her first year in Washington, she has shown that she will work hard to expand health care and increase educational opportunities for families in her district,” said Obama. “I look forward to fighting with her to end business-as-usual in Washington and bring about real change in this country.”

There is no mention of the superdelegate controversy. Stay tuned.

-- Billy House

Texas State Sen. Kirk Watson could have used a little more prepping before he went on MSNBC Tuesday night to talk about why he's backing Barack Obama. When host Chris Mathews asked Watson to name some of Obama's legislative accomplishments, Watson (after some hemming and hawing) had to admit he couldn't name any.

Hillary Clinton's campaign, not surprisingly, has been making political hay out of Watson's appearance. The video below is currently featured front and center on HillaryHub.com.



-- Mark Young

The New York Times has a graphic that charts some of the "borrowing" that's occurred in political speeches during the 2008 campaign.

Looks like everyone is fired up and ready to go.

-- Mark Young

Tue, February 19, 2008 - 10:14 AM

In case you missed it over the weekend, residents in Alabama may have an interesting gubernatorial race to look forward to.

But for better or worse, it won’t be until 2014.

Charles Barkley, the former NBA superstar and television sports analyst, appeared Sunday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” to talk about his support of Barack Obama.

He also told host Wolf Blitzer he has political aspirations of his own and plans to run for governor of Alabama in 2014.

Raised in Leeds, Ala., Barkley currently lives in Phoenix. But he told Blitzer he bought a house in Alabama at the end of last year to meet the state’s residency requirement.

Don’t laugh too hard. Let’s not forget about Minnesota’s former governor and pro wrestler, Jesse “The Body” Ventura.

At least Barkley played a real sport.



-- Amy Dominello

The Clinton campaign has made no secret about its focus on delegate-rich Texas, saying the former first lady’s popularity and long-held ties to the state’s Hispanic community will give her an edge there.

But a primary vote simulator from The Lone Star Project, a Texas Democratic Web site, shows Clinton will need to win the state’s primary March 4 by a wide margin to come away with any significant bump in the delegate count.

For example, what would happen if voter turnout was the same as in the 2004 primary and Hillary Clinton won 55 percent of the vote in each of the state’s 31 state Senate districts? The site shows Clinton would still leave Texas with only a net gain of 12 pledged delegates.

Plug your own numbers in here to see how the state’s 126 delegates could break down.

--Neil Simon

Barack Obama picked up a tasty endorsement Monday when Ben & Jerry's Ice cream founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield announced they are backing Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The ice cream barons are also lending Obama's Vermont campaign two Honda Elements dubbed "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state handing out scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream.

The Clinton campaign responded by alleging that Cherries for Change tastes suspiciously like Baskin Robbin's Cherries Jubilee ice cream. (Just kidding!)

-- Mark Young

Mon, February 18, 2008 - 5:20 PM

As Hillary Clinton makes her goal-line stand in Ohio and Texas March 4, she may want to hit small towns.

An analysis by the rural news site Daily Yonder shows no matter how well Barack Obama fares in urban areas, he performs 10 to 15 points worse in rural areas .

At the same time, Clinton has been enjoying success among older voters (more prevalent in rural areas), whom she will need to win the primary.

In Ohio, Clinton already seems to be playing into this rural strategy, sending her top surrogate, Gov. Ted Strickland to his native southeast stomping grounds to find potential Clintonites. Last weekend, Strickland, who has a 60 percent approval rating, campaigned in four Ohio towns with barely more than 50,000 people combined. His wife was at the opposite corner of the state in equally small places, like McArthur – population 2,050.

Ohio’s population is 23 percent rural. About 17 percent of Texans live in rural areas. Nationwide, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 21 percent of the population live in rural areas -- places with less than 2,500 people.

Countryside Campaign Cash
Yonder also has a fun chart where you can see which rural counties have given the most money to candidates. Virginia’s Albemarle County makes each Democrat’s list. Fauquier County is high on both Obama’s and Republican John McCain’s chart. Contributions are analyzed only through last summer.

--Neil Simon

Sat, February 16, 2008 - 7:49 AM

Good morning,

Everybody in Media General's Washington Bureau, which brings you mgwashington.com, has been busy this week finding out about Democratic superdelegates -- the elite corps of Democrats who could decide the party's next presidential nominee.

Bet you've been wondering what life is like for these powerful people most of us have never heard of. OK, we've heard of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter -- but there are about 800 superdelegates in all, and you may be surprised who they are in your state.

Read about them and what they're thinking on each of our state pages. Click on the state tab at the top of the page. Then, let us know what you think about the way the Democrats are picking their presidential nominee. It's easy to register and comment. We want to hear from you.

-- Marsha Mercer

Fri, February 15, 2008 - 10:33 AM

Sen. Hillary Clinton lost the support of a prominent African-American statesman Thursday, when Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., announced he would cast his vote as a superdelegate at the Democratic convention for Barack Obama.

Lewis endorsed Clinton in October, but told the New York Times that Obama is “getting better and better every single day.”

The Georgia Congressmen is weighing whether or not to formally endorse Obama.

UPDATE: A spokesman for Rep. Lewis said Friday that the New York Times article cited above was "inaccurate," though he declined to say what specifically was incorrect about the report.

-- Mark Young

Thu, February 14, 2008 - 5:02 PM

The Republican Party of Florida sent out the snarky Valentine’s Day message below, drawing attention to the controversy over the Democratic primaries in Florida. Because Florida moved it’s primary to Jan. 29th without permission of the Democratic party, Florida was stripped of its delegates at the national nominating convention.

The RNC also meted out punishment to Florida for the premature primary, but rather than strip the state of all its delegates the Republicans only took half of them.



- Mark Young

Here’s some more angst over the idea that those “superdelegates” might decide who gets to be the Democratic presidential nominees.

The Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics today says it has looked at how many of those nearly 800 Democratic members of Congress, governors, and other party officials who could decide the contest, and found which of them have benefited by what totals to be more than $890,000 in campaign donations over the last three year from either Sens. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

The center said it found that 34 out of 81 elected officials who had announced as of Feb. 12 that their superdelegate votes would go to Obama, or 40 percent of this group, have received campaign contributions from him in the 2006 or 2008 election cycles.

Altogether, the senator from Illinois has doled out nearly $228,000 to these supporters from his political action committee or campaign committee since 2005, the center found.

As for New Yorker Clinton, 12 percent of her elected superdelegates, or 13 of 109 who have said they will back her, have received campaign contributions, totaling about $95,000 from her PAC and candidate committee since 2005.

What does all of this suggest?

The center notes that it may seem undemocratic to allow elected officials who have received money from the candidates to have such power in picking their party's nominee.

Then again, the study also notes that Obama's PAC made another interesting contribution in 2006: $4,200 to Hillary Clinton for her Senate re-election campaign.

-- Billy House

An ad the Hillary Clinton campaign started running yesterday in Wisconsin takes Barack Obama to task for declining to debate in Wisconsin prior to the state’s primary on Tuesday. According to the spot, “Wisconsin deserves to hear BOTH candidates debate the issues that matter.”



Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Greg Borowski noted that the timing of the ads was a bit ironic:

Clinton aides framed the debate over debates as Obama trying to hide from Wisconsin voters. The ad, however, was presented on a day when Clinton was in Texas and Obama was here.

Clinton doesn't plan to make a stop in Wisconsin until Saturday.

And the Washington Post points out that the Clinton campaign “had sent mixed signals about how actively she would compete there,” choosing instead to focus on the March 4 Texas and Ohio primaries, which many consider to be must-win contests in order for the New York senator’s campaign to remain viable.

-- Mark Young

Tue, February 12, 2008 - 10:15 PM

10:35 p.m.

Here are some quick snippets from McCain's speech to supporters:

“Thank you voters of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia for a clean sweep --a clean sweep of Chesapeake Tuesday.”

Here was McCain's money-line to contrast himself with Obama without mentioning Obama: "To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people is not a promise of hope. It is a platitude."

"As luck, that product of opportunity and industry, would have it, we are approaching the end of the first half of this election on quite an upswing."

"Hope, my friends, is a powerful thing. I can attest to that better than many, for I have seen men's hopes tested in hard and cruel ways that few will ever experience."

“We are the makers of history, not its victims."

"I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me."

“I am fired up and ready to go.”

The ending music was the rock and roll hit Johnny B. Good.

Aside from some family and Virginia endorsers, McCain brought Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart to the Virginia victory rally

--Neil H. Simon