Ten Things To Read Today (Wednesday, March 12)

Today’s “should-reads”…

1. The Obama campaign picked a fight with the Clinton campaign over the statement that North Carolina would not be contested in the general election. This led to a conference call, the audio of which we have posted here. Marc Ambinder notes the state could conceivably be a swing state this cycle; Obama is currently up 8 points for the primary that is scheduled on May 6. More out there is the suggestion that Obama could contest Kansas this fall, based only on it is where his grandmother was from and that some McCain aides lobbied against Boeing and for Airbus in the recent tanker deal. The McCain campaign finds the idea of any fire to this smoke preposterous. Matthew Yglesias says people should look at all states that could conceivably be in play depending on the nominee, not just ones that Kerry barely lost.
2. Rudy Giuliani is holding a press conference tomorrow in Pennsylvania; Hotline speculates that he may be the chair of McCain’s VP Selection Committee. Of course, the chair of George W. Bush’s committee was one Richard Cheney. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney tells Hannity that he’d love the job and that McCain is the “Big Dog.”
3. Josh Patashnik finds that Obama is running away from reformist credentials on education instead of running on them. A great read that briefly also touches on Clinton’s traditional Democratic approach to education (and hence the NEA endorsement) and that McCain would probably not waste political capital on the issue if elected. Considering the renewal of No Child Left Behind that awaits the next President, it’s an issue that should be getting far more attention than it is. (Required nod to Ed in 08).
4. I want the Geraldine Ferraro fiasco to be over with, so let me just link to Ezra Klein saying that candidates are who they are and hypotheticals in that regard are absurd, since it’s what I would have written had I thought of it. Her tour of talk shows this morning was embarassing to me as a person who thinks ideas in politics should matter, and it’s about time she was removed from the Clinton campaign, who at least twice reiterated that Ferraro was not speaking for them. They apparently forced her to resign, and while I still have unanswered questions (why resign if you are “absolutely not” sorry for your comments?), it’s for the best to leave them unanswered and just move on.
5. There is now an official projection of Obama winning the Texas caucus (technically conventions) by CNN, though the final tally will not be in for a while. And it appears that between those caucuses, and the results in Wyoming and Mississippi, that Obama has completely made up any delegate gains of Clinton on March 4. In fact, Obama will get more delegates from Texas than Clinton will. The math keeps hurting Clinton at this point; Andrew Sullivan points to a Daily Kos analysis that posits even a big win in Pennsylvania will only get Clinton a relatively small number of delegates; Obama could make up that amount in North Carolina and Indiana. Andrew Romano meanwhile interviews Pennsylvania politics expert G. Terry Madonna on all things Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Ambinder has the Obama campaign delegate spreadsheet on where the race is.
6. Hillary Clinton won a good amount of Republicans in Mississippi yesterday, and Mark Blumenthal investigates why. His short version: “The survey yields evidence that many of these voters like John McCain as much or more than Hillary Clinton. At the same time the Clinton Mississippi Republicans are nearly unanimous in their disdain for Barack Obama.” It’s a bit simplistic to call it all the Limbaugh effect; if anything, Limbaugh seems to be a symptom of the feeling rather than the disease itself. While Obama clearly appeals to some Republicans, there are many Republicans that simply despise him even more than Clinton.
7. Christopher Beam points out that with each state having different rules for who can participate in a primary (and some having caucuses) that it is virtually impossible for a national vote total to mean much of anything.
8. Hillary Clinton is picking up delegates in the Colorado regional caucuses, as apparently some Obama supporters who are not the party regulars have failed in paying the necessary level of attention. This will be something to watch, and you can bet this is going to get attention in the Clinton and Obama offices.
9. Oregon Rep. Peter Defazio finds that both campaigns have crossed the line since shortly before the March 4 primaries. I’d tend to agree, but find it difficult to believe many people are going to pay attention to him. Now, if Al Gore had said something, all bets are off. It’s too bad he’s never written a book on the topic. Oh, wait …
10. There is some disagreement in Michigan, as Obama supporter State Sen. Tupac Hunter said that there should be no mail in revote and there is insufficient time for any other vote to be authorized. The Obama campaign backed off a bit. Meanwhile, I am shocked that a pointman for a campaign is named Tupac (no offense to Mr. Hunter, who looks like a very qualified individual). Maybe someone named Biggie will address the issue for Clinton tomorrow.