They’re doing it.

The Republicans.

They’re doing it.

And as we know, all so painfully well, they are good at it.

During a conference call yesterday, on the heels of Keith Olbermann's tirade special comment about the seemingly covert racism that supposedly pervades Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson was asked for a comment.  Given the nasty, unforgiving tone of Mr. Olbermann's rhetoric, Mr. Wolfson's response, which apparently amused Mr. Olbermann, may surprise you.

Cross-posted on MyDD.

Merry Christmas, John McCain!

Well, in a year where all of the signs were pointing to decisive Democratic victory in the November general election, the progressive movement is imploding, deadlocked on how to handle controversial primary votes cast in Michigan and Florida and bickering over controversial comments made by 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

The widely celebrated Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll report that reported a statistically insignificant 2pt lead for Barack Obama among Likely Democratic Primary voters contained another piece of worrying news about a Barack Obama nomination:  the economy.

New polling released today shows that voters trust Clinton more than McCain on the economy and McCain more than Clinton when it comes to reducing government corruption. Those preferences are reversed when McCain was compared to Obama.

Today's Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll Report challenges two pieces of conventional wisdom about Obama's march to the Democratic Nomination:

First, that Hillary's supporters would be more likely to support Obama than his supporters would be to support hers.

"I am confident I will get her votes if I'm the nominee," Obama stressed. "It's not clear she would get the votes I got if she were the nominee."

Second, that Democratic voters would oppose the Superdelegates throwing their support to the candidate who did not win the majority of the pledged delegates.

This is not going to be a hit diary on a Democratic politician who is straying to far to the right.  You'll have to look elsewhere for that.  This morning--it's morning here in China--I watched a YouTube video tribute to Ann Richards, the feisty, witty former Texas governor on Hillary Clinton's website.

If a nominee emerges on Wednesday morning, he or she will have the daunting task of unifying the Democratic after a long, expensive primary battle.  Although the conventional wisdom is that Democrats will quickly rally around whoever wins the nomination, there is the potential for the supporters of the losing candidate to be so deeply offended by the actions of the winner (or his or her supporters) that they stay home in November.

And if that happens, we all lose.

When Bush was elected in 2000, I was unhappy, but optimistic.  I believed that he was an empty suit and that our republic was strong enough to withstand four years of conservative rule.  One term.  Like father, like son.  Even after 9/11 and three years of reckless fiscal policy, I was positive.  

After the heart-breaking election of 2004, an election in which anti-gay marriage amendments were used to GOTV and religious conservatives were credited with saving Bush, I wrote off politics for good.  I never thought that I would ever care again.  I never thought that I would ever again support a politician.  But I was wrong.

In January 2007, a candidate entered the race for the Democratic nomination, a candidate who has inspired my confidence like none other.  This candidate has made me excited about politics again and made believe that America’s best days really are ahead of her.  This candidate’s story and message have made me optimistic about the future and proud to be an American.  This candidate’s record demonstrates that there was finally a politician who understands people like me, people who exist on the margins of society, people for whom there are no easy choices.  This candidate is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Hillary Clinton’s charge that Barack Obama offers "change that you can Xerox" has been dismissed as a desperate attack by a losing candidate.  Of course, every criticism and contrast that Senator Clinton lays out for voters will be met with that response by the Obama campaign and its supporters and much of the MSM.

But the authenticity of any candidate’s message is important.  When the message is the basis of the campaign, it is even more important the message be scrutinized.  Hillary Clinton’s campaign is based on her record and her experience.  Barack Obama’s campaign is based on his message and ability to inspire people with his words.  If the authenticity of Hillary Clinton’s experience and her history of partisan warfare matter, then so do the authenticity of Barack Obama’s message and his record of inspiring people.  If (and I emphasize if) Barack Obama’s candidacy is based on a message that is not his own, a message that his been manufactured and adapted by his campaign team to fit a man with the right oratory skills, then we are voting for another George Bush, a charming man, but an empty suit.

Disclosure:  I’m a Clintonista.

What is likely to be the final Democratic Presidential Debate is just half a day away.  Tonight will mark the beginning of a furious sprint to Super Tuesday, when the Democratic nominee may be decided. Even if the nominee is not determined, if either candidate wins more than 60% of the delegates, the momentum, the money, and the endorsements will go to that candidate.  As the next five days are likely to be tense, if not acrimonious, I thought it would be wise to remind us all what exactly is at stake in November.  Regardless of who emerges with the momentum on Wednesday morning, we all (hopefully) share a common goal—a democratic victory in November.

Although I believe that Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to stand before the American people in November and ultimately lead our country for the next four (eight) years, I have accepted the possibility that she could be defeated on Tuesday with Barack Obama emerging as the nominee.  As much as I don’t want to vote for him, I would.  One look at what Rudy McRomney has in store for this country is enough to remind me that it is important that we all come together in November to support the Democratic nominee.

The Obama campaign is having fun with Hillary’s victory in Florida, calling it a tie in the delegate count:  Obama 0, Clinton 0.  Was Florida just a beauty contest?  

The first four major contests—Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina—were all about retail politics—voter Q&A’s, town hall meetings, lunch at local diners.  The next seven days leading up to Super Tuesday are going to be completely different.  The campaign will appear more like a general election campaign with large rallies scattered across the country and heavy advertising.  Voters will be relying on free and paid media to make their decisions, much like Florida.  Florida voters had to rely on the internet and TV news to learn about the candidates, as all of the democratic candidates had signed a pledge not to campaign there.  There was no retail politicking, and Florida voters went overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton.  

UPDATE:  I forgot to point out that in addition to defeating Barack Obama, Hillary also beat John Edwards.

I’m not usually big on parsing polls, but I took the time to examine the just-released Bloomberg/LA Times national poll as it was the first poll released since the candidates called a truce to the racial tensions that had exploded on the campaign trail.  

This poll found that, contrary to Senator Obama's assertions, he is not the best candidate to go against John McCain in November.  In fact, Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama, will defeat John McCain this fall.  In that campaign, Hillary will get more support from women, Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans.