Hillary Still the One

In the latest Rasmussen poll, Senator Clinton leads ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani 44-43, a double-digit swing in points over the last couple of months. Clinton is actually increasing her lead over Barack Obama, and has extremely high favorable marks among Dems (%84), which bodes well for the general election. Giuliani has a 75% favorable rating among Republicans. Contrast that with Senator McCain, who has been slipping and sliding his way to defeat. His unfavorable rating among Republicans is 40%. The real wild card in the Republican party field right now appears to be former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

Clinton, Obama, and Dodd Reject Iraq War Bill - Biden Votes "Yes"

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Christopher Dodd today all voted against the new Iraq War funding, citing the lack of any sort of timeline for troop withdrawal or even benchmarks. Joe Biden voted in favor of the bill - along with 79 other senators - as the bill passed by a whopping 80-14. A few months ago, both Clinton and Obama opposed timelines. This vote was probably a no-brainer for them, however. Liberals would have probably attacked a "Yes" vote, and since the bill will surely be signed by Bush, no one will be able to accuse them of "not supporting the troops" by denying war funds. That's politics these days.

Music Tastes of the 2008 Presidential Candidates

What do John McCain and I have in common? Well, of course, we're both listening to The Beach Boys - Sounds of Summer - Greatest Hits. The AP wanted to find out what the candidates are listening to lately. Most cerebral? Rudy Giuliani is listening to Verdi's Macbeth. Most predictable? Sam Brownback is listening to Christian artist Michael W. Smith. Most "huh-wuh"? Mike Huckabee is listening to Evanescence.

Hillary Setting Up Showdown with Bush - And Other Dems on Iraq

Hillary Clinton, along with Sen. Robert Byrd (WV), announced they will introduce legislation to require President Bush to seek reauthorization for the War in Iraq. The only problem? They're not sure how to do it yet.

Obama Poll Numbers Flying High - Tied with Clinton

In the latest Rasmussen Reports presidential poll, Barack Obama is tied with Hillary Clinton, each at 32%. John Edwards is comfortably in third with 17% far ahead of Bill Richardson in fourth with 3%. Interestingly, according to the poll, it is Edwards who performs best in in a general election matchup against GOP candidates. He is the only Democratic candidate who tops Rudy Giuliani.

Candidates React to Virginia Tech Massacre

(Edit: Rudy Giuliani has now joined Obama and Edwards in displaying the "splash" screen before you enter the website.)

The various candidates are coming out to speak after the tragic events of this morning at Virginia Tech. I thought it would be interesting and, perhaps, informative to look into how each of the candidate websites are handling the situation. I have to say I find both Barack Obama's and John Edwards' sites to be very impressive. These are simply black (or white) text on a white (or black) background, and they are the first thing you see after typing the url. Very somber, but poignant. Hillary Clinton has a message on her site, but you must first get through a sign-up page! Not surprisingly, the McCain message is very terse and uninspired. In a similar style to Obama, Rudy Giuliani has a giant text white-on-black text message on the front page of his site, and some other live feeds about the tragedy. Nicely done.

Now, who have I left out? Mitt Romney, you say? So, what's on his website tonight. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Shameful.

New York Moves Primary to Feb 5 - Could Help Clinton, Giuliani

New York has decided to hold its presidential primary on February 5, just three weeks after the once all-important Iowa caucus. This date, which is a full month ahead of the previous March 4 date, will potentially be of great benefit to the two prominent New Yorkers in the race, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, who pushed for the measure to pass.

Obama Raised Whopping $25 Million in Q1

Reports yesterday claimed Barack Obama raised $20 million, but apparently those reports underestimated his totals. Team Obama raised an astounding $25 million, only $1 million less than Team Hillary. Now I see why Obama has that constant "What me worry?" grin. He's a player.

Obama Pulls in Big Bucks - Second to Hillary in Fundraising among Dems

For his first presidential run, Barack Obama seems to be getting the hang of things. Beginner's luck, maybe? It is being reported that Barack Obama raised $20 million in Q1 2007. That's not quite as much as Hillary Clinton ($26 million), but it handily beats every other Democrat in the field, including John Edwards ($14M), Bill Richardson ($6M), Joe Biden ($3M), and Christopher Dodd ($4M). These numbers don't reflect the additional funds candidates may have carried over from previous campaigns.

Romney Raises $23 Million in First Quarter - First Among Republican Candidates

Mit Romney raised $23 million in the first quarter of 2007, while Rudy Giuliani and John McCain raised $15 and $12.5 million, respectively. For comparison, Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat fundraiser so far, raised $26 million (plus the $10 million from her 2006 Senatorial campaign). With that kind of money, Romney appears to be a significant player in the Republican race, and perhaps, he has been underestimated to this point. Although "some" may say his early fundraising success is directly attributable to the fact that he announced his candidacy so early.

Hillary Sets Fundraising Record - $36 Million

Well, Mrs. Clinton is going about her business pretty much the way everyone thought she would. She's putting donor's money where her mouth is. Thus far, Clinton has raised a whopping $36 million, while John Edwards has raised a "mere" $14 million, still a relatively huge amount this early in the process. Barack Obama has not released his totals yet, but it's expected that his totals will fall in between Clinton and Edwards. Financial reports for both parties are due on April 15.

Clinton Campaign To Help Reduce Vilsack Campaign Debt

Hillary Clinton is going to help Tom Vilsack raise the money needed to pay off his campaign debt of more than $400,000. Of course, you're shouting at your monitor right now, "Hey, she paid him for his endorsement!" According to the Clinton campaign, "there was no quid pro quo." She's obviously not directly giving him any money, so there's probably not much to make of this story other than for a second it seemed blogworthy.

Edwards Family Receives Calls from All Candidates - Except Clintons

Update: Finke has now been told by the Edwards campaign that Hillary did try to call on Friday, but they didn't connect. The Edwards spoke to her today and appreciated her call.

According to Nikki Finke, Hollywood reporter extraordinaire, John Edwards told donors at a fundraiser that he and wife Elizabeth heard from every candidate and their wives, except for the Clintons. Two thoughts: 1) Sure, it looks bad. 2) But didn't Edwards imply at his press conference last week and on "60 Minutes" with Katie Couric last night that he doesn't want the "sympathy vote"? Isn't rubbing it in that you didn't receive a sympathy call from one of your rivals doing exactly that?

Edwards Polling Higher after Cancer Announcement

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports numbers, John Edwards has surged significantly in the polls to 17%, up six percentage points from the prior week. He appears to be taking some votes from Barack Obama and Bill Richardson, rather than Hillary Clinton. Of course, it can only be speculated whether Edwards' rise in this poll is due to the announcement the couple made last week relating to the recurrence of Elizabeth's cancer. And, of course, if you watched "60 Minutes" last night like I did, you would know Edwards said he doesn't want the "sympathy" vote.

Hillary's Vaporcare Plan?

If you are familiar at all with software engineering, you may have heard the term "vaporware". Here's a definition from Wikipedia:

"Vaporware is software or hardware product which is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge, either with or without a protracted development cycle. The term implies unwarranted optimism, or sometimes even deception; that is, it may imply that the announcer knows that product development is in too early a stage to support responsible statements about its completion date, feature set, or even feasibility."

Interesting, eh? Now, take a look at this article discussing Hillary Clinton's health care plan. Will Hillary's vision of universal health care coverage truly materialize, or will it prove to be, well, merely vaporcare*?

*Please note that, to my knowledge, I am the inventor of this word (take note, Stephen Colbert).

Bill Bradley on "Meet The Press"

Bill Bradley, the main challenger to Al Gore for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, appeared on "Meet The Press" with Tim Russert on Sunday. While mostly sticking to his vision for a general Democratic political strategy, as discussed in his new book "The New American Story", the conversation briefly turned to the current Democratic field for 2008. Bradley specifically and positively noted John Edwards and his health care plan. Russert, of course, also asked for Bradley's opinion of Barack Obama, who Bradley then described as "skyrocketing" and "rock star". Interestingly, there was no mention of either Hillary Clinton or Al Gore (except briefly as the latter related to Bradley's 2000 bid).

Former Prez Candidate Vilsack Will Endorse Team Clinton

It is being reported that Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor who dropped out of the presidential race several weeks ago, will choose to endorse Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, after being courted by several of her Democratic opponents, including Barack Obama. His endorsement could prove to be influential, of course, in the Iowa primary.

Employee at Obama Ad Firm Produced Hillary YouTube Video

It turns out that the now infamous "1984" Hillary mashup making the rounds on YouTube can be attributed to an employee at Blue Stage Digital, a firm which has produced political advertisements for Barack Obama. The employee, who claimed he was acting alone (they always do, right?), has been fired. One gets the feeling we will be hearing stories like this for the next, oh, 20 months or so.

Clinton, Obama Advisers' Heated Exchange over Iraq at Harvard Forum

The Clinton team is starting to challenge Obama's seemingly pristine anti-war stance up until now, by asserting that since he has been in the Senate, his record on the war has not been different from Mrs. Clinton. This point was made clear during a Harvard forum, where advisers for the two sides apparently debated the issue vigorously.

Bill Shaheen to Run Clinton NH Campaign

Hillary Clinton has recruited Bill Shaheen, husband of former NH governor Jeane Shaheen, and former co-chair of both Al Gore's and John Kerry's NH primary campaigns, to be the co-chair for her NH campaign.