Has anyone else noticed this?  Seems to me that this is exactly the kind of ridiculous move that should drum up some negative mocking press coverage, especially coming the day after his miserable attempt to "define himself" in Kenner, Louisiana.

So everyone's all up in arms trying to explain the mixed signals coming from the Clinton campaign and media, but the simplest explanation is quite clear.  Clinton will be conceding at least something tonight, and someone on her campaign leaked this information.  Clearly, NO campaign wants that information leaked while voters are going to the polls, so they had to counter it immediately to put out the fire.  

Only time will tell, but Harold Ickes' statement to MSNBC indicates this may be what is going on:

Clinton senior adviser Harold Ickes has told at least one top Clinton backer in the House that "it's over," according to an aide that was privy to the conversation.
"Per the aide, Ickes told the Democratic member yesterday: "It's over and the end will be gracious, beginning with HRC's comments at Baruch College tonight. This will be over by Thursday at the latest."

From Oliver Willis.....too funny:

And we are united, we are a united party.  We've got to energize the party.  We've got a lot of work to do, my friends, and a little straight-talk.  But I guarantee you, that if we do everything right, and we can and we will, I  will win in January, and I will be the next President of the United States with your help and your support.

So apparently the little troll Larry Sinclair is working the crowd outside the Rules and By Laws Committee and distributing fliers that allege Barack Obama is gay, a druggie, and a murderer.  At first, some thoughtful people attempted to get him to leave the area, but overall he's been well-received by the pro-Clinton crowd, as reported by Eve Fairbanks, from the New Republic:

He's not kidding. Clusters of people in Hillary shirts ask to take their photo with him, one woman covered in Clinton buttons introduces him to Greta Van Susteren, and he estimates he has handed out 500 fliers. "You could improve your credibility if you downplayed the gay sex and focused on the drugs," sagely advises one Hillary supporter with auburn hair and elegant makeup. But in this universe, Sinclair's credibility doesn't seem to be suffering too much. In fact, he's treated nearly as well as he might be at a meeting of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy. In the thirty minutes I stand with him, only one woman expresses disgust at his fliers and his willingness to chattily discourse on whether Obama is "good in bed."

So this is what it's come to?

For any left who still think she'd be "dreamy" as the V.P., this should put it to rest.

From the New York Post via Americablog:  

Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

This is definitely "Worst Person in the World" material.

For those who don't trust the NY Post, the site has video confirming the statement, and having listened it it myself, it is downright disgusting.  Jon Chait was right, she is temperamentally unfit to be president.

Keith Olbermann asks if this comment spells the "end of her political career"?
I hope so.

My boyfriend took a job with the Obama campaign in Merrillville, Indiana and I joined him there to help out and document our experiences.  On election day, Lizardbox from Daily Kos called the office supervisor to ask if we needed food and then ordered pizza for the flood of volunteers that we received that day.  I just wanted to post some pictures and stories as a "thank you" to Lizardbox and everyone else here who helped out on what was the campaign's biggest day since the Iowa caucuses.

This photo was taken about one hour before Tim Russert called the nomination race for Obama, and you can see the mounting excitement in our faces:

So I was able to attend tonight's rally at West Side High in Gary, Indiana and heard Michelle Obama give a rousing speech.  I must say that I was very impressed with her and came away with the feeling that she's the real orator in the family.  Her speech hit all the right notes:  the absurdity of the media's elitism charges, the substance behind the change that Senator Obama is proposing, and their very impressive story of overcoming the odds through hard work to achieve what they have.  

I hope Michelle's stump gets more play in the future as it really put to rest all of these stupid narratives floating around.  

More News and Pictures below the fold:

So I just wanted to put a diary/thread about reports from Indiana.  Two things I wanted to fill everyone in on:

*** Robocalls last night went out linking Senator Obama to partial-birth abortion.  The Robocall did not state the source of the call, in violation of Indiana state law.

*** A well-known figure in the community went to vote and was told she didn't look like her picture I.D.  The pollworker (white) refused to allow the voter (black) to vote until the voter asked to speak to the pollworker's boss.  The supervisor came over and, recognizing the voter, asked her what the problem was.  The voter relied on the supervisor's personal knowledge of her identity in order to get her ballot.  There are various reports that others have been denied for this same reason from this particular pollworker.

More news and photos below:

This closing is so brilliant.  It ties together the story of his life with his message of hope and rebuts the doubts about his patriotism that have plagued this campaign.  Obama effectively frames his story in the larger context of  the American dream to achieve a better future.  Finally, he challenges the Democratic party, and the super-delegates implicitly, to believe in his message and in his ability to win this election.  It was a brilliant speech and addressed the problems the media has focused on but did so through a narrative more persuasive than any argument.

So we have word from The Field, Al Giordano's excellent blog, that there will be an endorsement tomorrow. The question on everyone's mind is, who is it?  

Here's what we know:

The endorser will be on his/her own for the morning and afternoon.  The initial presser will be Indianapolis.  The endorser will then fly to Evansville and later to Louisville before meeting up with Barack Obama for a joint rally in the evening.

My guess?  

Dick Lugar or Al Gore.

Google Sets seems to agree

So I spent another day canvassing in Northwest Indiana and wanted to share observations from the field and an exhortation to the Obamafans here on Daily Kos. First let me say that the Obama campaign is unlike anything I've ever witnessed.  It's not only a well-oiled machine, it is a family.  Everyone recruits for the effort--classmates, co-workers, friends, family, lovers, and children all volunteer their time so that the staff is not overwhelmed by menial tasks and may focus on honing strategy and delegating.  The most ardent volunteers work 14 hours a day 7 days a week, with no pay whatsoever.  The dedication is inspiring.

So I'm sure some of you have been to Mr. Super--an anonymous super-delegate's blog.  I've been reading his posts and replies to comments to "read in the tea leaves" and I can't come down one way or the other.  Some things I've gleaned, though, are that supers are by and large decided on whom to back.  He says that most have decided, just not declared, and the rest of the primaries may have minimal impact--unless someone wins most or all of the remaining ones.  He also had this tid-bit:

Also spoke to personnel from the national campaigns.  Both are moving forward and preparing to be the presumptive nominee.  One of the camps is preparing to push this effort to Denver if necessary.

An effort to take this to the floor of the convention will not receive any meaningful support from Supers.

This signals to me that the supers are mostly supporting Obama...

I spent the day in Gary and Merrillville, Indiana with the Obama campaign drive voters the polls.   Afterwards, the campaign held a BBQ for volunteers and early voters.  I noticed a few things from my time on the ground there:

1.  No one is absolutely confident Barack Obama will win Indiana.  Indiana is extremely conservative, they warn, and they fear that Republican crossover voting will occur, and at the very least, secure Clinton a few extra points.

2.  Northwest Indiana is as important to Obama in Indiana as St. Louis was in Missouri.  To win the state, he needs to drive the numbers up here.  I was in St. Louis right before Super Tuesday, and the city was crawling with Obama volunteers.  But Chicagoans are NOT out in full force here like they were in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri.  So if you're in Chicago, please volunteer next weekend for what could very well be the final push.

More words and pictures...

This didn't get much play in the press, and Keith Olbermann dismissed it, but I found the statement to be very clever--too clever by half.  Listen to the video as well as the quote, because half of the code is in her facial expressions and voice inflection.

"It's important for you to know the facts.  You can vote for or against any candidate, based on anything.  And we do that in America.  You know, you don't like somebody's--oh, say hair style. It's whatever you chose!  But this is too important an election, and we have to know exactly where people stand.  Not what somebody says, but what they've done. . . . .That's why I want you to approach this like a hiring decision."

The quote is at 1:55:

Link:  http://shockandaww.blogspot.com/...

<iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/24318793#24318793" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

The mayor of Hammond, Indiana, has complained to the Northwest Indiana Times about the local practice of bussing students to polling places.  Field trips have been organized to encourage civic participation, but the Mayor believes the practice benefits Obama.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton denounced it Wednesday as a shameless political power play.

"To me it seems like an orchestrated effort on behalf of the Obama campaign to take kids who should be in school learning to read and write, instead giving them a day off and telling them to vote for Obama.

"When you corral kids together and ship them to polling places, it's completely unethical." McDermott said.

The mayor does not appear to have been bothered by this practice in the past.

Washington said Lew Wallace students have been bused to Crown Point to vote for three years now.

So a Pentecostal Church in South Carolina has put up a sign asking if Obama and Osama are brothers, and our outrage has caused it to be taken down.

Story:

The sign in front of a small church in a small town is causing a big controversy in Jonesville, S.C.
Pastor Roger Byrd said that he just wanted to get people thinking. So last Thursday, he put a new message on the sign at the Jonesville Church of God.
It reads: "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

The pastor took the sign to his congregation who unanimously approved it, Fox news has reported.

UPDATE II: Push-back works, folks.  Thanks.  Ken Bell of the Central Church:

We, too, deeply regret such a disgraceful display. . . As soon as we found out about it, the pastor was instructed to take it down immediately.  Unfortunately, the hurt had already been done.

It's really becoming the campaign of desperation....in the last hour, Clinton's campaign has pulled out all the stops.  First there was a memo outlining the red-baiting campaign Republicans might run against Obama (while failing to highlight Hillary's unusual vulnerabilities in this area).

Now her campaign has released an ad that claims Obama prefers to attack Clinton than answering the "more and more questions" raised about himself.  This is, of course, straight-up Karl Rove bullshit.  She attacks him personally with guilt-by-association smears that don't pass any reasonable smell test and then accuses him of attacking her when he responds with an issue-oriented ad.  

See for yourself.

Obama's Response after the jump...

So I thought it would be fun to list a few potential questions that Stephanopoulos and Gibson could pose to the illustrious Senator from Arizona.

Questions for John McCain at ABC Debate:

1.  Senator McCain, do you think the American people will have trouble trusting someone who left his wife for a much younger woman after she was disabled in a horrific car wreck?

2.  Senator McCain, do you think the American people are ready to have a First Lady who pilfered addictive prescription drugs from a charitable organization?

3.  Senator McCain, do you think the American people are willing to have a president who uses racial slurs like "gooks"?

4.  Senator McCain, isn't it true you called your wife a "trollop" and a "cunt"?

More!