Caucus Blockus Liveblogging

11:11PM
Markos:

Per CNN, including super delegates:(2,025 needed to win)

Clinton: 1,099
Obama: 1,039

This is amazing, since it includes the ridiculous practice of including super delegates, who can change their allegiances at any time. So despite Hillary’s huge super delegate lead — 223 to 131, Obama continues to creep ever closer to the frontrunner

10:32PM
Obama trouncing Clinton in Nebraska: 68%-32%. The same in Washington: 68%-31%.

10:28PM
Senator Obama about to speak at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in my home state of Virginia.

10:23PM
I’ve seen Huckabee on TV a couple of times today and I have to say it again… He’s such a pleasure to listen to: funny, thoughtful, engaging. It’s just a shame that he’s crazy. Again, he’s Santorum with jokes. I will call him Hucktorum.

10:05PM
MSNBC projects Obama wins Louisiana. And that’s the sweep for the day. Chuck Todd says that Obama now leads in pledged delegates: 970-900.

10:03PM
Chuck Todd is on MSNBC telling Noron about superdelegates and you can literally see her brain about to fall out of her ear.

9:44PM
Huckabee is leading McCain in Louisiana, for what it’s worth.

9:37PM
MSNBC says their exit polls indicate that Obama wins Louisiana by a “wide margin”. But no calls made yet.
Barack Obama 3,646 44%
Hillary Clinton 3,298 40%
(Washington Post with 1% reporting)

9:34PM
Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and his excellent hairplugs are talking on MSNBC. He says he’s remaining neutral on the election, but his hairplugs are rooting for Ron Paul.

9:29PM
According to the Washington Post with 1% reporting:
Hillary Clinton 2,328 42%
Barack Obama 2,153 38%

9:16PM
CNN’s John King presenting a really shocking satellite view of the lower 9th in New Orleans. No residents. Still devastated. It looks flattened.

9:13PM
This from Obama blogger Sam Graham-Felsen:

The Obama campaign submitted an urgent request for assistance to the Secretary of State’s Division of Elections today, after receiving widespread reports from Democrats across Louisiana who reported that they were not allowed to vote because their party affiliation had been switched.

9PM
CNN Louisiana exit poll — they’re not prepared to make a projection. Also, for what it’s worth, SUSA predicted for Washington: Obama 50%, Clinton 45%. If it’s a blowout in a predominantly white state… it’s a bad loss for Senator Clinton.

8:38PM
CNN’s Bestest Team Zissou Killers Of Amazing Politics Of All Time is projecting that Senator Obama has won Washington. 67%-32%

8:33PM
Senator Obama is leading in Washington. 8,000-4,000 votes so far. Also, Senator Clinton is demanding that David Shuster be fired outright. Please read Jane Hamsher’s blog today, senator. And that’s all I have to say about that.

8:28PM
Just got back from dinner and Obama wins Nebraska in a landslide so far. 69%-31% according to CNN. He wins because… of the huge college-educated-elitist and black populations there?

6:34PM
Avert your eyes from MSNBC. David Brooks is on. On CNN, Dobbs is bashing the two-party system. This makes people cheer, but of course we need the two-party system. With more than two major parties, no-one would achieve a statistical mandate to lead. We’d end up living under a government impossibly deadlocked (if two parties can’t get anything done, imagine 10 parties) and a president who might receive, at most, 20 percent of the vote. Speaking of elections, there are a few happening today. But you’d never know it from the very serious cable news people.

6PM
So wow. The coverage is really lame. On CNN we have Lou Dobbs about to begin a prearranged immigration thing. On MSNBC, we have a rerun of Tim Russert’s roundtable of white guys. Is there an election on?

5:18PM
Senator Clinton on CNN now talking about how “soaring speeches” are fine, but when the lights go down we’ll need her to do actual stuff. Alright. You know, I wasn’t going to bust on the Clintons today, but come on. We have a president right now who can barely order his breakfast without nicknaming the waffles. We also have a vice president who comfortably operates in the darkened, murky corners of the government. I can’t imagine why Senator Obama’s ability to inspire people with his words is something to be diminished or downplayed. Surely there are other things she can use against him. America obviously thirsts to be inspired, senator.

4:57PM
Nothing much happening at the moment. CNN’s “Ballot Bowl” is talking to John McCain on an airplane — McCain is ostensibly powering the vehicle’s jets with his energy and dynamism. Also, I’ve been meaning to post a separate item on this but… Bill Maher’s panel last night was terrible. Jonah Doughy Pantload, Matt Dowd and a stunned-looking Bob Costas. It should’ve just been Bill Maher and PJ O’Rourke for the hour. O’Rourke is a Republican, but he’s one of the rare “funny and talented” ones.

4:20PM
Have you noticed this? The Very Serious Traditional Media narrative for the Democrats is now: Senator Obama is the candidate of the educated smart people, and Senator Clinton is the blue-collar fighter. They’ve clearly drained their race/gender narrative and have moved on to something almost as ridiculous.

4:14PM
Senator Obama delivering his stump speech on CNN. It’s more casual and specific on policy than his famous victory speeches. Obama joking about the distant-relative-of-Cheney-thing: “You know when they do these geneological surveys, you’re hoping to be related to somebody cool.”

4:05PM
Also, the cable networks are noticeably lazy about today’s contests which is weird. MSNBC is starting Norah tonight, rather than the usual team. Not sure if CNN is going to employ their Ultimate Fighting Political Pundits Are The Greatest Of All Time Team 2008 Hell Yeah.

4:01PM
I’ll start a post here and just it ride. Chucklebee has won the Kansas caucus by what appears to be a huge margin.

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  • lnbno13

    Well fuck, now you’re going to make me have to turn on CNN.

  • ernli

    I totally agree with you about the ridiculous ‘Whole Foods v. Wal-Mart’ characterization of Obama/Clinton. Wait, that didn’t sound right. But anyway…what amazes me to no end is that no one is pointing out that the supposed ‘divide’ between voters is INFORMATION. It’s not because Clinton is fighting for any blue collar folks. It’s that higher-income college-educated people are more likely to be wired and on the info superhighway. They’re more likely to go after info and read more than one source for that info rather than being at the mercies of TV’s sound bites. I’m sure there’s more, but that one thing seems so obvious I simply can’t believe the MSM isn’t saying anything about this.

  • Nanotyrannus

    Things are quiet at the dot-coms, too. Only headlines, no swank dashboards or live coverage.I kept hearing a similar narrative last week. Obama was grabbing the smart and employed, and Clinton was winning the poor and uneducated. I’m sure she’s delighted by that. It casts her as the underdog, fighting for America’s lower class.

  • lnbno13

    So, are there like, Lou Dobbs fans? I don’t understand why this guy has a job, let alone a show.I guess they assume everyone is watching network news. I wonder why.

  • lnbno13

    It could work, but we’d have to adopt a parliamentary style system. But sooner or later, these two parties are going to have to get their shit together, or eventually there HAS to be a third party to come in and save our democracy from itself.

  • bajasteve

    Huckleberry won Kansas, eh? Isn’t that the state that put creationism into the official curriculum of the schools? I’m just sayin’.

  • http://www.intoxination.net IntoxiNation

    You forgot the Virgin Islands! OK – Obama won there too so it is a clean sweep :D

  • Nanotyrannus

    Hucktorum is nice, but I’m throwing in “Sucklebee”Also – “Verily, Hucklebee”, “Bible Bucklebee”, and “Funny guy that’s scary as shit”

  • bajasteve

    Bob, I was just over at Jane Hamsher’s blog and read her comments on the “pimping” flap. I found the remark stupid and in very poor taste, but that’s not the worst of it. What is worse is that so many of the commenters over at Jane’s were saying some variety of “well, with all we’ve heard for so many years from (fill in the blank), this was really minor.I see the problem here as a case of our becoming so immune to this kind of obnoxious oral diarrhea that we think it’s somehow acceptable. (Oh, well, so-and-so said something much worse 5 years ago) It’s not, whether Matthews says it or a real journalist says it. It’s disgusting and degrading and doesn’t belong in an intelligent, professional conversation.

  • Nanotyrannus

    I agree that it’s become “acceptable” because of it’s overuse and slow creep into everyday conversation. However, we’re not supposed to be getting everyday, street-lingo from our newscasters in a professional setting. He’s apologized. Hell, everyone at NBC/MSNBC hasapologized as well.However…I think it’s a little overblown on her part to demand the man’s job. Far worse things have been said about her and the former President on more than one (hundred) occasions by Fox News, yet somehow she manages to have some sort of amiable relationship with Billionaire Tyrant Rupert Murdoch.Chelsea Clinton is not 12 years old anymore. She’s a big girl and she can certainly handle a comment like that. I can honestly see her saying to Shuster “Yes, it was an inappropriate way to describe my campaigning for my mother. I accept your apology and hope that you understand that perhaps that kind of analogy doesn’t really belong on your network. Now let’s move on.” He’d die of shame and it wouldn’t happen again.ANDWould any of us handle this so publicly? Or would our outrage be directed to the powers-that-be at the network privately?I don’t know. She can’t work her ass off to end the war. She can’t show back up in town for an important FISA vote. Use the word “Chelsea” and “Pimp” in the same sentence and suddenly it’s all hands to battle stations…

  • bajasteve

    Yeah, I can agree with a lot of what you say. The really appropriate response, I guess, would have been for Willy to hunt Shuster down and punch him in the nose – in private.