Clever Dennis Roddy, Very Clever

An astute reader posted a comment today that I had to (just had to) expand into a full fledged blog posting of it's own.

I'm ususally a big fan of Dennis Roddy. He's usually spot on - factwise.

Not today - not really. Take a look at this article. Specifically, this passage:

A pro-life Casey Democrat talks rapturously of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose husband Bill kept the city's standard-bearer, Gov. Robert Casey Sr., off the platform at two conventions.

And this one:

Scranton has for 35 years been the epicenter of Pennsylvania's anti-abortion movement. Its most famous hometown boy was Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr., an ardent liberal who found himself on the outside of his own party because of his ardent pro-life stand. It was the Clinton forces in 1992, and again in 1996, who denied Mr. Casey the right to speak at his own party's national convention where he wanted to deliver a pro-life speech.

And this:

"I'm a Catholic and I'm still a Roman Catholic," Mrs. Vancosky said. "I'm older and I have older views. And I was for Clinton, even though he didn't let Casey have the podium. I am definitely a Hillary girl."

Take a look at he says (and more importantly, what he doesn't say). Our astute reader pointed out that Roddy was repeating the "tired old lie" that Casey, Sr was denied a spot at the Democratic Convention because of his pro-life views.

Our astute reader, though, is wrong. Take a look again, very closely, at what Roddy wrote. He never gives a reason for Casey being denied a spot at either convention does he?

The story about the '92 convention has been around for a long long time. I am hoping that Roddy isn't looking to his readers will "fill in the blanks" of what he didn't write with enough bits and pieces of the false story to continue it's lifespan. That way he can say still he never said what everyone thinks he said.

We even wrote about this "story" almost a year ago. We quoted:

According to those who actually doled out the 1992 convention speaking slots, Casey was denied a turn for one simple reason: his refusal to endorse the Clinton-Gore ticket. "It's just not factual!" stammers James Carville, apoplectic over Casey's claims. "You'd have to be idiotic to give a speaking role to a person who hadn't even endorsed you."

There's more. Digby dug up the original New Republic article (it's behind a subscription wall) and typed out this:

The man best able to explain the decision was the late Ron Brown. He addressed the topic during a roundtable discussion of Clinton campaign veterans (published as Campaign for President: The Managers Look at '92). He explained:

We decided the convention would be totally geared towards the general election campaign, towards promoting our nominee and that everybody who had the microphone would have endorsed our nominee. That was a rule, everybody understood it, from Jesse Jackson to Jerry Brown.... The press reported incorrectly that Casey was denied access to the microphone because he was not pro-choice. He was denied access to the microphone because he had not endorsed Bill Clinton. I believe that Governor Casey knew that. I had made it clear to everybody. And yet it still got played as if it had to do with some ideological split. It had nothing to do with that.

And then there's this:

Besides, Casey repeatedly bashed Clinton during the primaries, calling Clinton's success "very tragic." Less than three months before the '92 convention, he urged, "Convention rules provide for the selection of an alternative candidate. Let's pick a winner." Why would Clinton invite him to speak?

Sorry Dennis, your tellytubby impression was sublime, but you got this one wrong.

On the Chanting Obama Protesters...

Just wanted to add a few lines to the discussion.

Specifically, I mean the discussion in this comment thread. It looks as though at a recent campaign event for Senator Clinton some Obama supporters were chanting "Hillary go home" or some such.

First off, let me say that the Obama supporters were completely within their Constitutional rights as the right to express one's ideas publicly (especially one's political ideas) is one of the founding pillars of this democracy. I realize that each side wants to make sure the best candidate wins the nomination (and of course each side thinks that its candidate is the best candidate) and is fighting to make sure that happens.

But here's something to think about (and I remember something similar from my time with the local Dean supporters 4 years ago): No matter who wins the nomination, after the nomination is decided, when we'll have to work together, try to imagine campaigning with someone you were screaming at (or someone who was screaming at you) in February or March or April. Now think again about screaming at a fellow Democrat.

The goal is to make sure the next President of the United States isn't John McCain, right?

Well, isn't it?

I will try, in my own postings here, to keep this in mind. And to the extent that I am guilty of it, I apologise to all the Clinton-supporters who read this blog.

Doug Shields Responds

From today's P-G:

Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields may introduce a resolution condemning an Oklahoma state representative's comments that included Pittsburgh in a list of cities gays are "infiltrating."

Yesterday, Mr. Shields said the resolution would likely be less strident than an e-mail he sent to Rep. Sally Kern, whose comparisons of homosexuals to terrorists have made national news. Mr. Shields called her "the new national poster-child for hate, intolerance and terroristic homophobia."

Someone recorded remarks Ms. Kern made to a group of 50 fellow Republicans a few weeks ago, and they emerged online this week.

Like on this blog.

For those who have yet to see Council President Shields' whole e-mail, Sue has it posted here. In it he wrote:

As the President of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, I require an apology from you for your senseless, mean spirited attack on one my colleagues and the Council as a whole. I would think, should you take the time to reflect upon your hateful, bigoted words. An apology is also in order to the GLBT community, their families and their friends. Short of a a miracle, I do not expect that you will. I find persons of your ilk completely blind to your ignorance. [italics in original]

Melissa Meinzer, over at City Paper had this to say:

Bruce Kraus, Pittsburgh's first openly gay councilor, has been on council less than three months. But he has a lot more sway than he may have realized.

Or so says Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern. By now, almost everyone has heard, or heard about, her anti-gay rant. In remarks Kern made in January that were posted on YouTube, Kern says that "the homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, okay, it's just a fact. Not all lifestyles are equal, just like not all religions are equal."

During the diatribe, which Kern has said were taken from a series of public appearances, she calls out our fair city of Pittsburgh as an example of a place where gays -- who Kern calls "the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat -- are taking over.

"Gays are infiltrating city councils," Kern says. "Have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is controlled by gays? There are others: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

At the bottom of the page promises more in the next issue of City Paper. Perhaps my friend Sue is right, and I broke this story here in town, (I think so, but I can't be sure). If she's right, then remember you read it here first.

:-)

Hillary Clinton to March in St. Patrick's Day Parade Today

If you missed the rally, you can see Hillary Clinton at the parade.

Parade details:

The parade, which begins at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to conclude about 2:30 p.m., will cause some street closures, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The parade will begin at Crawford Street at Centre Avenue and continue via Centre Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies before concluding at the intersection of the Boulevard of the Allies and Commonwealth Place.

DO expect to hear chanting/booing by Obama supporters. They were chanting "Hillary go home" when she had a press conference today at a gas station in Bloomfield.

(I guess that's all part of the new kind of politics of change and hope and whatever -- stay classy, guys!)
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Hillary Pics from Pittsburgh Rally

The stage was set.


The crowd was ready.


They cheered as she came in.


Rendell spoke, then Ravenstahl, then Onorato introduced her.(I swear every photo of Dan came out with the same possessed eyes.)

Then Hillary -- after she finally got the audience to sitdown -- spoke clearly, intelligently and passionatelyabout what she wanted to accomplish as President.

I didn't see any monsters.

The crowd rose to their feet cheering many times.

Afterwards she posed for pictures.

She signed books and posters.

And even a baseball (?).

No one wanted to leave.

A great time was had by all.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on the rally can be found here.

You can watch uncut KDKA video of the rally here.
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He Vehemently Condemns Wright's Statememts

From the Huffington Post. This is Senator Barack Obama's complete statement:

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

Perhaps now Senator Clinton will "vehemently condemn" the statements of Geraldine Ferraro.

Perhaps now Senator McCain will "vehemently condemn" the statements of John Hagee or Rod Parsley.

Update on The Surge

From the Washington Post:

Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday.

Petraeus, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services.

As background:

Petraeus came back to Iraq a year ago to implement a counterinsurgency strategy, backed up by a temporary increase of about 30,000 U.S. troops, intended to reduce violence so Iraqi leaders could pass laws and take other measures to ease the sectarian and political differences that threaten to break the country apart.

So while the Surge HAS reduced the violence, the reason the Surge was instituted has, so far, been a faulure.

Petraeus credited both the mainly Sunni neighborhood patrols known as the Awakening and a cease-fire called by Shiite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr with helping to bring down violence. The Awakening fighters include former insurgents who say they have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq, a largely homegrown Sunni group that Petraeus said is in communication with al-Qaeda leaders abroad. The United States is now paying 88,000 members of the Awakening $300 a month to take part in the neighborhood patrols.

Ah, the "Awakening." I remember that. The quotation is from Rolling Stone Magazine:

Now, in the midst of the surge, the Bush administration has done an about-face. Having lost the civil war, many Sunnis were suddenly desperate to switch sides — and Gen. David Petraeus was eager to oblige. The U.S. has not only added 30,000 more troops in Iraq — it has essentially bribed the opposition, arming the very Sunni militants who only months ago were waging deadly assaults on American forces. To engineer a fragile peace, the U.S. military has created and backed dozens of new Sunni militias, which now operate beyond the control of Iraq's central government. The Americans call the units by a variety of euphemisms: Iraqi Security Volunteers (ISVs), neighborhood watch groups, Concerned Local Citizens, Critical Infrastructure Security. The militias prefer a simpler and more dramatic name: They call themselves Sahwa, or "the Awakening."

But, of course, pointing out the failure of The Surge to achieve its political end is unfair because life in Saddam Hussein's Iraq was very very bad.

While Downplaying PA Voters, Obama Lobbying PA Superdelegates for Months

In a telephone presser today Clinton supporters Governor Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter bemoaned the Barack Obama campaign's downplaying of the importance of Pennsylvania in the Democratic presidential primary race.

David Plouffe, Obama Campaign Manager, released a memo yesterday which stated:

Now that Mississippi is behind us, we move on to the next ten contests. The Clinton Campaign would like to focus your attention only on Pennsylvania – a state in which they have already declared that they are “unbeatable.” But Pennsylvania is only one of 10 remaining contests, each important in terms of allocating delegates and ultimately deciding who are nominee will be. Senator Obama campaigned in Pennsylvania yesterday and will do so again later this week, but he will also campaign aggressively in the other upcoming states – he will travel to other upcoming states in the very near future.

It added:

The key is not who wins the states that the Clinton campaign thinks are important.

Doesn't the Obama campaign think that Pennsylvania is important too?

While we don't fault Obama for canceling his Penn State Beaver rally today -- he did that because he had to be Washington for key Senate votes -- we are feeling a bit neglected as an actual voter.

You see, KDKA Radio Reporter Maria Leaf mentioned during the press conference that the Obama Camp has been in talks with PA superdelegates "for months."

Wait a minute! That can't be right!

It's that awful Hillary woman who wants to play the superdelegates game, no?

Don't we keep hearing how Hillary cannot win without the superdelegates (of course it's rarely mentioned that neither can Barack).

And, it's the Obama supporters who keep saying that superdelegates must follow the wishes of their state's voters (unless, of course they're a Kennedy or a Kerry or a Napolitano . . . ).

I mean surely Obama wouldn't be lobbying the superdelegates in a state that his campaign thought he couldn't win, would he? It sounds so old school . . . so unchange-like . . . so very much like what he and his supporters criticize Hillary over.

I guess this is just another case of IOKIYB (It's OK If You're Barack)
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Mayor & City Council Clash Again

Following on the heels of five Pittsburgh City Council members appeal against a permit for a Downtown electronic billboard, today the Ravenstahl Administration and Council clashed over take-home cars. From the Post-Gazette:

City of Pittsburgh officials and managers showed up at City Council Chamber today to defend their take-home cars, and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration argued that the city's nine legislators have no right to enact policy limiting the assignment of such vehicles.

That special meeting on Councilman Ricky Burgess's legislation to restrict the number of take-home cars sparked another in a series of debates between some council members and the administration.

"It is our very strong opinion that this bill violates the separation of powers doctrine between council and the mayor," said city Solicitor George Specter. He called it "an unlawful imposition on the mayor's executive powers."

Council President Doug Shields and others responded that the legislation largely mirrors the city's Act 47 recovery plan, passed into law in 2004.

"This administration is trying to pick and choose what parts of the law to comply with," he said. "The mayor is going beyond the powers vested in him."

At one point Mr. Burgess asked Mr. Specter to define "serial noncompliance," suggesting the city may be repeatedly ignoring city code.

[snip]

Mr. Specter said council's right to legislate policy doesn't mean it can manage departments. "It's kind of like obscenity -- where you call it like you see it -- when you cross the line into micromanagement of operations," he said.

I suspect that Specter means "pornography," not "obscenity" as in Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's well known remark that "hard-core pornography" was hard to define, but that "I know it when I see it."

See, the deal is that you can define what is "obscene" by law.

Kind of funny that the City's lawyer would get it mixed up.

HILLARY RALLY TOMORROW, FRIDAY, MARCH 14

You heard it here first:

HILLARY RALLY TOMORROW, FRIDAY, MARCH 14!

3:30 call time
5:45 program begins

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall
4141 Fifth Avenue
Oakland section of Pittsburgh, PA

UPDATE: If you want to volunteer for this event, please contact:
Stephanie Rex at 937.520.4178 or srex@hillaryclinton.com
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Offical News Harder To Find

Remember this? It's from three days ago. It about a report from the Pentagon itself showing that there was NO connection (i.e. "no operational links") between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al-Qaeda. None. Zip. Nada.

Looks like someone in Washington doesn't want you (or me) to see it.

Via Talking Points Memo to ABC News:

The Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's release and will no longer make the report available online.

The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more. The report will be made available only to those who ask for it, and it will be sent via U.S. mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.

It won't be emailed to reporters and it won't be posted online.

Of course not. Now it looks like that public knowledge of dubya's war is fading:

Twenty-eight percent of the public is aware that nearly 4,000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq over the past five years, while nearly half thinks the death tally is 3,000 or fewer and 23 percent think it is higher, according to an opinion survey released yesterday.

The survey, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that public awareness of developments in the Iraq war has dropped precipitously since last summer, as the news media have paid less attention to the conflict. In earlier surveys, about half of those asked about the death tally responded correctly.

So why would we want to have a good counter to this administration's many lies that got us into that mess? Lies like this one:

On June 18, 2004 the Washington Post quoted President George W. Bush as saying: "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda: because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda," Bush said.

Or this one:

"We know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know that he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al-Qaeda organization," Vice President Dick Cheney said on NBC's Meet The Press March 16, 2003.

Yea, instead let's talk about how nasty Saddam was (and he was) and the places over there where the violence has abated (and it has - if only somewhat and if only temporarily) and not spend any time worrying about how George Bush and Dick Cheney lied this country into war and about how nearly 4,000 American servicemen and women have died because of it.

Keith Olbermann Last Night

The transcript.

The Only Answer!

With comments about "tea parties" and "claws out" about Hillary and Barack being "very lucky" to be a black man . . .

With 92% of Mississippi black voters supporting Obama and 70% of Mississippi white voters supporting Clinton . . .

With younger people overwhelmingly for Obama and older people overwhelmingly for Clinton . . .

With older white women for Hillary and angry white males bouncing back and forth between both campaigns . . .

One thing has become perfectly clear.

Barack Obama must drop out.

Hillary Clinton must drop out.

America can't handle identity politics. Race Vs. gender is too much for the Democrats.

There is only one answer:

The Democrats have got to nominate this guy!


Well, not necessarily that guy, but, yes, a white guy!

So, Edwards, Biden, Dodd, etc.,* dust off those running shoes -- we apparently can only coalesce around a white guy!


* Richardson, not so fast. After all this crap with a chick and a black dude, we don't even want to think about getting into the whole Latino thing, OK?
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Chelsea Clinton in town today.

Wednesday, March 12

Wilkes-Barre,PA
10:00 a.m. EDT
Chelsea Clinton Hosts “Our Voice, Our Future” Event
Old Bookstore in the Student Union
Wilkes University
84 West South Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Annville, PA
12:00 p.m. EDT
Chelsea Clinton Hosts “Our Voice, Our Future” Event
The Atrium, Lynch Memorial Hall
Lebanon Valley College
101 N. College Avenue
Annville, PA

Pittsburgh, PA
5:15 p.m. EDT
Chelsea Clinton Hosts “Our Voice, Our Future” Event
Atrium of University Center
Point Park University
414 Wood Street
Pittsburgh, PA
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WAPO answers the important Spitzer question!

The Washington Post's The Reliable Source answers the most important question about the Eliot Spitzer, uh, affair:

The governor of New York allegedly paid $4,300 for an N.Y.C. call girl who traveled to D.C. Could he have saved by hiring locally?

Hard numbers are tricky: The D.C. Madam charged $250-$300 for fantasy dates; a scan of Washington's Craigslist for "erotic services" finds a "sexy kitty" available for $250, a "busty brunette" for $180 an hour. That's much more than streetwalkers (who averaged $27 per hour in a Chicago economic survey) but way less than high-end escorts; former N.Y.C. prostitute-turned-novelist Tracy Quan claims she made $400 per hour. Escort fees fall under the economic theory of "Veblen goods" -- the higher the price, the more desirable a commodity.

Personally, I do think that it should be noted that as the governor of NY, it is laudatory that he employed a fellow New Yorker.
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Ferraro Must Go

Last week we saw an adivsor to Senator Obama resign after calling Senator Clinton a "monster."

I blogged on it here.

Recently former Vice-Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro was quoted as saying:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Then defended herself later with this, in a follow up interview:

But far from backing off from her initial remark, Ferraro defended it and elaborated on it.

"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," Ferraro said. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"

Does the phrase, "you're not helping" have any meaning here? For the record, Senator Clinton said she "regrets" the comment. But as of this writing, Geraldine Ferraro is still working for the Clinton. campaign.

But it looks like the Clinton Campaign (if Howard Fineman is right) has larger issues to deal with. Take a look at about 4:50:

Here's the transcript:

Keith: Time now to bring in our own Howard Fineman, Senior Washington correspondent for Newsweek Magazine. Howard, good evening.

Howard: Good evening Keith.

Keith: Why did Geraldine Ferraro say what she said? How did she not get fired instantly? Why did she follow-up the way she did? Why did she not get fired instantly after that?

Howard: Well because the Clinton campaign doesn't want to change the tone. They just made the kitchen sink bigger and put more things in it. And that's the way this campaign is headed. I've been e-mailing and talking to the Clinton campaign people, listening to the dueling conference calls and looking at the e-mails. It's clear to me the Clinton people aren't going to back down. As you saw, they sent Maggie Williams out with a statement defending Geraldine Ferraro who was defending herself. This is the fight the Clintons want the way they want to fight it.

Keith: So the Senator wants a clearly racist, clearly "equal opportunity is not a good thing. That's the only reason he's here" kind of statement interjected into the campaign? It's not just somebody not judging a negative reaction do some thing? This right now, this reaction right now is intentional?

Howard: Well I don't know. I doubt they sent Gerry Ferraro out to say what she said.

Keith: Indeed.

Howard: And Gerry Ferraro I've covered for a long time and the ironies are piled on ironies. This is a woman who broke the ceiling over her own in '84 and here she is saying this. But based on the way the Clinton campaign has reacted in the last few hours, as you pointed out. And based on my own conversations with them, they're defending her, they're defending this. This, therefore, is their strategy.

Keith: I'm sorry to sound speechless. It seems remarkable to me that a campaign being run in the 21st Century or even in the 2nd half of the 20th century would allow itself to be associated in any kind of way not step back. If it was two African-Americans running against each other and one of them had somebody say on behalf of their candidate the other guy is only in there because he's equal opportunity or that there's some sort of quota system or because he's a black man. Does it not have disaster written all over it? Or are we living in South Africa?

Howard: Well I would think so, in part because it was just a dumb remark. I mean all of us, I'm sure - and let me say in advance I'm being facetious here - have long observed all the advantages that African-American men have in American society.

You can listen to the rest yourself.

If calling Senator Clinton a "monster" is grounds for resignation, then surely what Ferraro said merits the same outcome.

Why hasn't that happened?

Obama Wins Mississippi

Bigtime.

From CNN:

Sen. Barack Obama claimed victory by a wide margin over Sen. Hillary Clinton in Mississippi's Democratic primary Tuesday.

"What we've tried to do is steadily make sure that in each state we are making the case about the need for change in this country. Obviously the people in Mississippi responded," Obama told CNN after his win.

Mississippi had 33 pledged delegates up for grabs, which will be allocated proportionally.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama had 61 percent of the vote, compared with Clinton's 37 percent.

According to CNN, as of this morning, Senator Obama netted 9 more delegates than Senator Clinton (20-11, though those numbers will probably change). Add to that the net gain of 4 delegates from Wyoming (Obama got 9, Clinton got 5) and you have 13.

Looks like Senator Obama has made up whatever gains Senator Clinton posted in Texas, Rhode Island and Ohio.

CNN has him up by 130 delegates (162 if you don't count the superdelegates).

Obama Office Opening

I made it to the opening of Senator Obama's Western PA Campaign HQ this evening.

I got there a little after 6pm for an event that was scheduled to begin at 5:30. The place was packed.

Take a look --------->

The estimate was a couple hundred people packed into the newly opened office. The crowd, diverse across cultural and generational lines, included political veterans as well as people not involved in politics before this election cycle. It was grass roots all the way.

There were pretzels and chips and salsa set out on a table for the volunteers to nibble on. It was a crowded room - babies being bottle fed, t-shirted college kids milling around, some older people sitting down, lotsa people standing- everyone packed into one room. All there to be a part of something bigger than themselves. "We're going to change the world." they were told.

Some of the local dignitaries I recognized; Sala Udin, Patrick Dowd, Doug Shields, and my part-time OffQ pal, Valerie McDonald Roberts.

In his introductory comments, Cliff Levine (I interviewed him this morning on Lynn Cullen's radio show, by the way) said that the first part of the plan was to do some large scale voter registration.
There's Cliff in the blue shirt. Nice guy, by the way. Very smart.

Standing to his right was Patrick Dowd. To his left (past Sala Udin's hat) you can just about make out the forehead of City Council President Doug Shields.

Shields, in his comments to the crowd, unleashed something interesting to ponder: 5 members of City Council:

• Doug Shields
• Ricky Burgess
• Bruce Kraus
• Patrick Dowd and
• Bill Peduto

are supporting the candidacy of Senator Obama. Five out of nine, hmm. The Mayor, or so I read, is being courted by both campaigns. Obama's already got the majority of the City Council.

Patrick Dowd pointed out the symbolic nature of having the HQ on North Highland. It's not downtown, he said. It's in a vibrant neighborhood - it'll be a place where the campaign's volunteers can be talking to members of the community about what's important. I took it to be an echo, of sorts, to the grassroots nature of the overall campaign. Valerie McDonald Roberts challenged the crowd: to carry Allegheny County and to wonder about the impact of seeing a whole row of cars each with an Obama bumper sticker on it.

The office is on 208 North Highland Avenue.

Issues

The Obama rep talking to David right now is correct. Obama has many issues under his Issues heading on his website. There are TWENTY subheadings, in fact.

Guess what one isn't there:

Women
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Call in to David on the radio now

Just a reminder that you can call in and talk to David on the radio now at:

412-333-1360, WPTT AM NewsTalk 1360