I have been following the news over the last few days. There have been numerous proposals out there, agreed to by various groups and government officials.

Today Hillary Clinton is on board with plans for a Michigan revote plan. The Florida planis still up in the air.

The one constant among all of these possible plans is Obama's campaigns resistance to any of them. I sense that Obama is actually intent upon  disenfranchising the voters of both states. If someone can point evidence to the  contrary I will look at it.

In the meantime, I am waiting for an agreement by both campaigns to get us off square one on this problem.

Hillary Clinton will support the filibuster of FISA, backing Chris Dodd. To me this is smart politics and smart legislating and the right thing to do.

ABC News' Eloise Harper: Speaking to reporters in Denver, CO Senator Clinton (D-NY) said that she would back a filibuster for the controversial FISA bill.  "As matters stand now I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forth that would convince me differently."

Political Radar

This is more than just an idle question. I will say up front that I am a Hillary supporter. But that doesn't mean that I have blinders on.

Hillary is clearly leading the pack in the race for the Democratic nomination. And this is happening on both the national and state level. As for as I can tell, looking at the state polls there really isn't a single state where she is behind.

That being said, polls are not voting citizens. They are snapshots of people's opinions on the date the poll is conducted. I do think that as more polls over more time show Hillary leading, these multiple snapshots begin to paint a picture that runs over time. And this longer time line of polls is a more accurate representation of how people will vote. Why?

There are three new polls out dealing with the Democratic nomination:

They are from Armerican Research Group, Newsweek, and Strategic Vision.

Here's a link to all the poll numbers: Real Clear Politics

Clinton leads in two of the three; Obama leads in the other. Looking at the last 35 polls a couple of things are apparent.

Here's the link to the latest polling on early states and some national head to head polling:

LA Times/Bloomber Poll

It's more than a little interesting around DailyKos these days. The sheer number of diaries for and against the top three candidates is mind numbing.

Let me list todays take:

Barack Obama has a comprehensive plan to fight poverty.
Edwards Evening News Roundup: Bio-Fuels Edition
President Gore, You Have a Date With Destiny*
Edwards Flanks Obama's "Fantasy" Strategy
Edwards to Pull Out of Fund for Lenders w/poll
Hillary by Landslide in California?
Edwards Evening News Roundup: Bio-Fuels Edition
Barack Obama has a comprehensive plan to fight poverty.
Nurse Ad re: Clinton's Healthcare Debuts in Iowa
WSJ: Edwards Walks The Walk Against Predatory Lending
Hillary’s Record - A Champion For Those w/ Special Needs
Hillary up by TWENTY points in red state
HILLARY IS GREAT! Pie Poll!

 
Edwards wins the daily straw poll here, but is even with Hillary in the number of diaries. Obama brings up the rear. I threw in Gore as he is lots of Kossacks dream (though unfulfilled) candidate.

There is a Gallup Poll out today titled "Obama's Appeal to Well-Educated Not Conducive to Winning Nomination"

It is an analysis of where the three top candidates support comes from. It also uses historical data to conclude that candidates who had the most support among the highest educated (college educated compared to no college) went on to lose the nomination.

That includes Howard Dean in 2004, Bill Bradley in 2000, and Bob Kerry in 1992.

Up front, I am a BIG Hillary supporter. I have a Hillary hat, stickers, I've hosted a house party and given probably $250 so far to help elect her.

And I've got a rant too. Hillary works day and night toward gaining the Democratic nomination for president. She has a great team working for her.
Just looking over the way she is interacting with DailyKos and YearlyKos tells you she will NEVER write off a single vote or give up on winning over a single supporter.

She has been a vocal defender of DailyKos when it was attacked by O'Reilly and I don't see any other candidate doing that. Why not? And why aren't people on DailyKos calling out their own candidates on this?

We all know about Obama's immense small donor base. How this large group of donors is evidence of his great strength.

I just read an article in the NY Times that seems to expose this large donor base number as a charade, at least in part.

Obama has been counting those who buy his T-shirts and hats, etc. as donors. It's clear that they are being asked to sign on as donors when they buy these items or they wouldn't appear on his list, but this sounds like an attempt to pump the numbers.

UPDATE

This topic is front paged on MyDD by Jerome Armstrong. He's done more research on the topic.
MyDD

I have been looking at the pollster.com site, which by the way, is packed with good information and I've noticed some trends in the Obama numbers.

Here's a link to the site for more information:

Pollster.com

I'll use the polling numbers of the early voting states.

Well, it's all over the news. Barack Obama raised more money the Hillary Clinton in the second quarter. There's lots of crowing too from the Obama fan clubs. I have to wonder though, isn't he just the Democratic version of Mitt Romney? Raising all the money, and yet basically going nowhere in the polls?

Sorry about the Barack typo...

Here's the link to the article:
Is Texas truning blue?

This jist of the story is this:

Texas hasn't gone Democratic in a presidential race in more than three decades. But the survey shows Republican contender Sen. John McCain essentially tied with Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton among registered voters, with McCain at 36% and Clinton at 35% in a head-to-head contest. Republican Rudy Giuliani and Clinton also are essentially tied, at 32%-31%.

The telephone survey of 1,002 adults was taken from April 26 to May 7 by the Texas Lyceum, a nonpartisan civic group. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. An executive summary of the report is available here.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama fared less well than Clinton, though more voters were undecided. McCain beat Obama 32%-25%. Giuliani defeated Obama 32%-22%.

I have had a diary here at Daily Kos since 2003; so I'm well aware of the left leaning (to put it mildly) look at politics this site has. I also know that each election brings out one or two favorite candidates on the site.

What I am seeing these days; the rabid dislike for Hillary Clinton from pretty much all corners of this site saddens me. It's one thing to have a favorite candidate and post frequently to point out why your chosen candidate is the best. I also expect and have no problem with negative comparisons to other candidates.  

This is from a Washington Post article:
Rove Email Sought by Congress

The RNC yesterday turned over to the White House a copy of e-mail records for administration officials still on the RNC server to determine whether any of them are privileged or whether they can be provided to congressional investigators. Officials indicated that they would include post-2005 e-mails from Rove (my bold)

I read The Daily Kos regularly, and add a diary entry every now and then. I feel compelled to diary now. I have looked at many of the recent (and not so recent) diaries, and they simply trash anything NOT overtly liberal.

Why is that? Is this site so liberal that anything other than liberal group-think is not acceptable? Being a 56 year old lesbian liberal; I find myself at odds with much of what is written on Daily Kos. I started my diary here some two years ago, but feel that the site has pretty much abandoned me.

Do those on the liberal left find nothing that is acceptable from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party? Am I exiled in the sense that I have no one who finds at least some points of agreement with me as a moderate/left leaning Democrat on this site?

When does this site truly become a home for all Democrats; left leaning, out-right left wing liberals, and moderate Democrats (who might be seen as too far to the right)?

I think Daily Kos is a powerful tool...but one that will be under-utilized or downright un-useful if we don't find a way to embrace all parts of the Democratic Party.

This comes from the right leaning (let's keep Bush's approval as high as possible - in spite of facts):

"assault, cruelty, and maltreatment are offenses under the UCMJ, but which ominously adds, in a subsection heading, that there are "legal doctrines [that] could render specific conduct, otherwise criminal, not unlawful." The text refers to a "discussion of Commander-in-Chief authority, supra

Even among Republicans, approval has tumbled and is currently measured at 66%. For most of his first term, Bush earned Approval Ratings in the high 80s from Republicans."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...

More talk about polls...I know we all see the incredibly low ratings for Bush and wonder...what does it matter...

I do too. But, I follow the Rasmussen Reports, a very right leaning polling organization. I have noticed that when the numbers are particularly bad for Bush, the polling for the day comes out later and later.

Which brings us to today's polling numbers. The present to think Bush is doing a good or fair job is down to 38%. Unless I am mistaken, this is the lowest positive number EVER for Bush. Notice that they don't mention this in the body of their comments.  http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...

I follow the Rasmussen Reports presidental job approval rating. From my experience this a very much a right leaning poll. If you look at Bush's job approval on April 13th, it is 45% (not good, on this site). Now look at his approval today, three days later. It's down an astounding 6 points to 39%.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...

This is the lowest point recorded for this site, which he has hit a few times. What I find interesting is the fact that it shows a 6 point drop in 3 days. That seems pretty dramatic to me.

I think the many retired generals coming out and calling for Rumsfeld's removal is having an effect on Bush's approval ratings. He fell 3 points the day after he came out with his strong support of Rumsfeld.