A short diary for people to comment on this keynote discussion between Markos and Ford on Democratic Party infrastructure. Right now they have MeetTheBloggers on.

You can also watch live on the Netroots Nation website, here.

Recommend this if you like. The stream is also frontpaged by Scout Finch.

Nate Silver (aka Poblano) was on CNN's America Morning with John Roberts and Kyra Philips this morning. Unlike many political pundits, Poblano is focusing on only five swing states (Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania) as determinative for the Presidential election, at this time. And that caveat is highly important. At this point in 1988 Michale Dukakis was well ahead of George Bush.

Also noteworthy for Nate Silver is word that Rasmussen has entered into an agreement with " fivethirtyeight.com to use its data in helping construct the Rasmussen balance-of-power calculator." As noted by distantcousin earlier.

Jonathan Martin at Politico passes on an e-mail obtained and apparently verified as authentic sent directly from Dole to Scott McClellan for the release of his new book highly critical of the current Bush administration.

A new form of political protest has emerged: the flying penis.

Former world chess champion turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov has been on the receiving end of an unconventional prank launched by his political foes - one that draws its inspiration from the virtual world of Second Life.

Kasparov was attending  a weekend meeting of a coalition of opposition groups which had assembled in Moscow to launch a symbolic alternative parliament. As he was addressing the gathering of more than 500 delegates, he was buzzed by a remote-controlled flying phallus.

I'll add some more later. As per this suggestion, consider this an open thread for any more daring souls who wish to endorse.

From NBC's Ken Strickland
North Carolina Congressman (and superdelegate) Brad Miller today will endorse Obama, according to his office.

Miller represents the 13th district, which includes Raleigh and Greensboro.

Miller met with Obama today.

*** UPDATE *** So with Miller's endorsement, here's NBC's delegate breakdown:
PLEDGED: Obama 1590, Clinton 1426
SUPERS: Clinton 273.5, Obama 261
TOTAL: Obama 1851, Clinton 1699.5

There are now 260.5 undeclared superdelegates.

From Fox:

Hillary Clinton says Obama should stop complaining about taking hard questions at Wednesday’s ABC News debate — since he’ll have to face a lot tougher issues if he becomes president.

In an interview with Fox 29 in Philadelphia, Clinton said of her Democratic opponent, "I know he spent all day yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked. Being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressures you face inside the White House."

We were both asked some pretty tough questions. That's part of what happens in a debate and a campaign. And I know he spent all day yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked.

But you know, being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressures you face inside the White House. And in fact when the going gets tough you can't just walk away...

I think we need a president who can take whatever comes your way.

Michelle Obama campaigned in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University with Teresa Heinz Kerry on Tuesday. The local CBS affiliate (KDKA) there streamed the video.

Michelle Obama and Teresa Heinz Kerry greeted voters yesterday at a rally at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Obama praised Heinz Kerry as an "exceptional mentor." (Keith Srakocic/Associated Press)

It has become abundantly clear to many, and has been for quite some time, that Michelle Obama has been her husband's greatest asset in this race. What is less well-known is that she is also a strong speaker in her own right. Her stump speech is impassioned and still seems emotionally raw, although I've heard her deliver this message of HOPE and DREAMS perhaps a dozen times now through the wonders of modern technology. In less capable or believable hands her words would seem cloying and trite. Here every word rings true. Whether this is because we want them to be true --need them to be-- it is undeniable that the Obama's are touching upon a fundamental principle of the American Dream.

The video below is the last 7 minutes of a nearly one hour speech.

This was pretty funny, in a bizarre universe upset down sort of way, as Fox News host Chris Wallace bashed Fox News for bashing Barack Obama over the Wright affair. This diary is entirely from Media Bistro but is just too funny not to share.

Chris Wallace turned his Friday Fox & Friends segment, where he normally teases what's coming up on Fox News Sunday, into a smackdown of the show's hosts. He prefaced the six minute exchange by saying "I love you guys, but..."

Wallace, who said he'd been watching since 6am, thought "Two hours of Obama bashing is enough." He took issue with the characterization that hosts, Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Gretchen Carlson were giving to Sen. Barack Obama's "typical white person" comments.

Basically, if it's close heading to the convention, all bets are off is what I'm taking from her quote today:

There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they're all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose. Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to.

Now, a few weeks ago Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer adamantly denied active pursuit of Obama's pledged delegates would happen:

We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. It's now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions.

It would seem Clinton is throwing that out there as an open invitation. While they may not pursue (yet) it's pretty clear they won't turn anyone down who has a "change of heart." [sic]

At least this morning on Meet The Press. This will be a really short diary as I'll let the video clips (all quite brief) speak for themselves.

Transcript is available now.

Gov. Ed Rendell's new brand of democracy

From SurveyUSA released a little while ago.

In a Democratic Primary in Ohio today, 02/26/08, the day the candidates debate in Cleveland, and 7 days before the votes are counted, Hillary Clinton is 6 points in front of Barack Obama, 50% to 44%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for WCMH-TV Columbus, WKYC-TV Cleveland, WCPO-TV Cincinnati, and WHIO-TV Dayton. Two weeks ago, Clinton led by 17. One week ago, Clinton led by 9. Today: 6. Clinton holds her ground in greater Cleveland, greater Columbus, and greater Cincinnati. Clinton is steady among seniors, among voters focused on Health Care, among Moderates, among Pro-Choicers, and among women. Though Clinton trails among men, Obama has stopped making further inroads there.  

I don't see this on the SurveyUSA website yet. The crosstabs should be very interesting. The previous SUSA poll (2/10-2-11) had Clinton +17.

Asked of 733 Likely & Actual Voters (Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 3.7%)
If the Democratic Primary for President of the United States were today, would you vote for...(names rotated) Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Or some other Democrat?

52% Clinton
43% Obama
4% Other
1% Undecided

http://www.whiotv.com/...

ABC News is reporting that the Clinton campaign is now at least temporarily in dire financial straits. Earlier today we were seeing the emergence of Hillary Romney Clinton. Now it appears the "R" stands for Rudy.

ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: Members of Senator Hillary Clinton's senior campaign staff have agreed to work without pay for the month of February.  Communications Director Howard Wolfson called the move "a show of solidarity with Hillary Clinton".

Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle is one of those who will forego a paycheck for the month.  Solis Doyle told ABC News she offered the Senator her services for free.  She said she was not asked to take a pay cut.

Front and center on MichaelMoore.com is the Nataline Sarkisyan tragedy, a story which just may vault healthcare into the national consciousness at exactly the right moment. Moore is blunt and unsparing.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

.

Here is how the traditional media is covering story. And a special video by Nataline's brother.

[Edit: CNN video now added.]

According to a poll released tonight by NBC/Wall Street Journal, Rudy Giuliani has gone from 33% down to 20%. If this is true this is an unprecedented collapse of a front-runner this late in the primary season.

How far has Giuliani’s standing dropped? Just 37 percent view him favorably in this survey, compared with an equal 37 percent who have a negative impression of him. In March, a month after he filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, 58 percent viewed Giuliani favorably versus only 14 percent who saw him in a negative light.

"That’s a huge shift on Giuliani," McInturff notes.

"He’s the old man in the sea," Hart states more bluntly. "By the time he gets to Florida, there’s only going to be skeletal remains," referring to Giuliani’s strategy of counting on larger states, like Florida (which holds its primary on Jan. 29) and California, New Jersey and New York (which go on Feb. 5), rather than the early states, like Iowa and New Hampshire.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

Bill O'Reilly has opined that he equates "reading far-left websites with devil-worship", and that the Daily Kos is run by Satan Himself. An interesting theory to be sure. And one we should take very seriously. What do you think? Are we being duped by the Great Deceiver?

I don't normally agree with Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and Fox News but his conclusions of tonight's fiasco were spot on:

When the CNN-You Tube debate among Republican presidential candidates began with a guy named Chris Nandor playing a guitar and singing, my wife Barbara exclaimed, "This is humiliating. This is really bad." Of course she was right. And then things got worse. This debate not only was mortifying to the candidates. It also should have been embarrassing to the viewers, especially Republican voters who might have been watching.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/...

This will certainly shake things up if it's even this close.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the Iowa caucus finds former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee with 28% of the vote, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with 25% support, and everyone else far behind. National frontrunner Rudy Giuliani gets just 12% of the vote in Iowa at this time while former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson is the only other candidate in double digits at 11% (see crosstabs).

Rasmussen Reports

Survey of 839 Likely GOP Caucus Participants
November 26-27, 2007

Iowa Caucus

Mike Huckabee 28%

Mitt Romney 25%

Rudy Giuliani 12%

Fred Thompson 11%

Ron Paul 5%

John McCain 4%

Tom Tancredo 4%

Duncan Hunter 1%