Wednesday-Night

Excellent source for campaign coverage

For those who are somewhat confused by the primary process, or who seek more detail, we recommend About.com; the excellent primer by WN’s David Jones; The Washington Post’s Fast Track Campaign ; and/or the BBC’s somewhat more selective Primary Roadmap and poll tracker.
For an exhaustive array of information and links to analyses, along with up-to-date polling data, try Real Clear Politics , perhaps a misnomer as it tends to information overload. The New York Times maintains a calendar of the Republican and Democrat primaries/caucuses and their results Of course, all the networks have election centers.
We like CNN’s Election Center and the Congressional Quarterly (CQ) whose link is provided at the top of the page. IPS offers another site dedicated to U.S. Elections 2008
For lively, gossipy without malicious intent, up-to-the minute coverage, Talking Points Memo cannot be beaten. We also have a great fondness for The Huffington Post.
We will no doubt find many more nuggets among the specialized sites and the myriad of blogs in our endeavor to offer you facts, analysis, news and opinion.
Fact Box
On 5 February 2008, voters in 24 states and one territory head to their primary or caucus to cast a vote to nominate a candidate for the 2008 Presidential race. This table shows the type of nomination process (caucus or primary); whether the event is open or closed; and how many delegates are at stake and how they are allocated.
Alabama, Alaska (caucuses), Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado (caucuses), Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (D, caucuses), Illinois, Kansas (D caucuses), Massachusetts, Minnesota (caucuses), Missouri, Montana (R, caucuses), New Jersey, New Mexico (D), New York, North Dakota (caucuses), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, American Samoa (caucuses)
California is the most populous state, with more than 15 million registered voters, and has the eighth-largest economy in the world. California sends 441 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and 173 delegates on the Republican side, by far the most of any state voting on Super Tuesday. The majority of these delegates are allocated based on the winner in each of the state’s 53 congressional districts.
New York is the third most populous state with more than 19 million residents, 8.2 million of them in New York City. Polls close at 9 P.M. EST Wednesday. Democrats award (281) delegates on a proportional basis, while for Republicans, the winner takes all (101).
Of the 12.9 million people in Illinois, 9.5 million live in Chicago and its suburbs. 185 delegates for the Democrats; 70 for the Republicans, however, it’s a complicated process.

February 14 - Late returns
Clinton Named New Mexico Primary Winner After Late Vote Count
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — New York Senator Hillary Clinton was named the winner of the Democratic presidential primary in New Mexico, as vote counting was completed nine days after the Feb. 5 election. Clinton received 73,105 votes to Barack Obama’s 71,396. New Mexico has 38 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August, 26 of them awarded on the basis of the vote.
February 6
Clinton’s Latino Advantage Decreases, Obama Surges as Latinos Vote Beyond Black and White
Preliminary results of the most intense primary in recent memory indicate that predictions of a monolithic Latino “firewall” for Clinton have fallen short. The candidates split key Latino states in different parts of the country. Clinton won states like New York and New Jersey while Obama won states like Colorado and Illinois. Exit poll results also demolished widely-held notions that Latinos are unwilling to support a black candidate. Obama succeeded in dropping Clinton’s Latino advantage from 4-1 (68% to 17% according to a CNN poll conducted last week) to 3-2 last night. And in almost every Latino-heavy state that voted Super Tuesday, Obama received more than the 26 percent of the Latino vote he got in Nevada just 2 weeks ago.
February 5
Clinton and McCain Win in California; Obama Stays Close as G.O.P. Rivals Lag
Night of Drama as 22 States Vote
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won primaries in New York and New Jersey and captured the biggest prize of all, California, while Senator Barack Obama strung together nearly a dozen victories from Georgia to Idaho as the two Democratic candidates were locked in an intense struggle for convention delegates on Tuesday.
Mrs. Clinton also picked up victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Massachusetts, despite the the endorsements of Mr. Obama by Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry and popular African-American Democratic governor, Deval Patrick.
Because most states gave nominating delegates to both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama based on vote proportions, as opposed to being winner-take-all contests, the two campaigns were predicting on Tuesday that neither candidate would have a blowout lead, setting up an intensifying race as Louisiana, Washington, Virginia, Ohio and Texas hold nominating contests over the next four weeks.
On the Republican side, Senator John McCain of Arizona racked up primary victories on Tuesday night in the delegate-rich states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as well as his home state, but he appeared to be locked in a tight battle with Mitt Romney for the biggest prize of all: California.
McCain Earns GOP’s Super Tuesday Superlatives
Arizona Sen. John McCain won the most Super Tuesday Republican voting contests — and more importantly, the lion’s share of delegates — emerging from the unprecedented 21-state GOP balloting as the consensus front-runner for his party’s presidential nomination.
McCain won nine states, including the day’s two biggest delegate prizes, California and New York. Among the others he won were Illinois, Missouri, Arizona and New Jersey, which also ranked in the top eight in terms of delegates up for grabs. The only sizable states he lost were Georgia and Tennessee, both by narrow margins to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee . According to the Associated Press, the delegate count now stands at 561 for McCain, 222 for Mitt Romney and 172 for Huckabee.
As Romney Falters in Republican Race, Huckabee’s Drive Gathers Momentum
Mr. Romney and his archrival for conservative voters, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, each won at least five states on Tuesday. Mr. Huckabee lost narrowly in Missouri to Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Obama tips scales before California tally
11:39 PM ET CBC News
After trailing behind Hillary Clinton for the first part of the night and suffering a defeat in the delegate-rich state of New York, Barack Obama has made a comeback in the race for the Democratic presidential nod with wins in Minnesota, Connecticut, Kansas and North Dakota.
(Miami Herald) McCain sweeps a string of primaries; Romney, Obama win Utah; Clinton wins Tennessee
WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain swept a string of delegate-rich, East Coast primaries Tuesday night, reaching for command of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama traded victories in an epic struggle from Connecticut to California.
McCain won in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware to gain all 198 Republican delegates at stake there. He also put Illinois and Oklahoma in his column. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won in Alabama and in his home state. He also triumphed at the Republican West Virginia convention.
Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, won a home state victory. He also took Utah, where fellow Mormons supported his candidacy.
Clinton won at home in New York as well as in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas, where she was first lady for more than a decade.
He (Obama) marched through Georgia and won Alabama as well as Delaware, Utah and his home state of Illinois.
By early Tuesday afternoon, one state, West Virginia, favored Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor. At a hard-fought Republican state nominating convention, Mr. Huckabee won 18 of the 30 national delegate slots that were up for grabs, with the remaining 12 to be decided in May.
February 4
Super for whom?
The Economist weighs in with a worthwhile analysis.
California, with 441 delegates, is the ultimate prize: even a narrow victory there will count, in news terms, for a huge amount. Likewise, a loss for Mrs Clinton in her home state of New York would be devastating, though that looks unlikely. Then there are bellwether states like Missouri, which Mrs Clinton was originally supposed to be certain to win; these middle-America states are considered to be accurate predictors of national trends, and will be watched carefully.
With a large number of postal votes that won’t be counted for many days, the results may not be known this week. Probably the most likely eventual outcome is an unclear result followed by a war of words, and a continuing cliff-hanger. That’s good news for political junkies at least.
(The Guardian) De Niro learns new lines for Obama
Celebrity endorsements of politicians do little to influence the outcome of an election, it is generally accepted. But who cares? When Robert De Niro steps on stage, you listen.
The presence of the twice Oscar-winning actor at one of Barack Obama’s last campaigning rallies before Super Tuesday underlined the scale of what Obama calls his “unlikely journey”. Here was a Hollywood star lending his huge fame to someone who six months ago was barely known beyond the political cognoscenti.
February 3
Clinton targets Obama 48 hours from ‘Super Tuesday’
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AFP) — Democrat Hillary Clinton went on the offensive as polls showed her White House rival Barack Obama eroding her lead, 48 hours before the “Super Tuesday” nationwide nominating showdown.
Candidates race against clock
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama took their neck-and-neck battle to the U.S. West on Saturday while John McCain projected an air of inevitability about winning the Republican nomination ahead of crucial Super Tuesday voting. More
McCain’s Success May Be Upsetting N.Y. Mayor’s Plans
(Washington Post) NEW YORK — When the polls close on Tuesday, few will be analyzing the results more closely than Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose own thinly disguised presidential ambitions are likely to hinge on the outcome.
February 1
Shields and Brooks Weigh ‘08 Race, Stimulus Debate
The 2008 presidential race saw more shake-ups this week with the exits of candidates John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani, while lawmakers debated the best way for the government to help boost an ailing economy. Analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss the week’s news.
The California Democratic Debate: CQ Politics’ Bests and Mosts
By Rachel Kapochunas, CQ Staff
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois put the bitter campaigning of the last few weeks behind them for two hours Thursday night, presenting a united front with an eye toward November even as they prepare to do battle in 22 states on Super Tuesday.
They spent much of the debate largely agreeing with each other on a variety of issues including affordable and accessible health care, the need for U.S. withdrawal from the Iraq War, and immigration overhaul without deportations. They seemed determined to focus their attacks on the Bush administration and the Republican presidential candidates despite encouragement from the debate hosts to go on the offensive.
(BBC) Feeling the ‘Billary’ effect
He was supposed to be her greatest asset - but in the view of many, he has now turned into a liability.
January 31
(MSNBC) Potential voting woes loom for Super Tuesday
Record 24 states’ primaries, caucuses open field for confusion, delays
A record 24 states hold primaries and caucuses next Tuesday, the result of a stampede by states to gain prestige and wield clout in extremely tight races. These all-out charges provide ample opportunities for confusion and stalled tallies, voting advocates say.