James Carville apparently jawboned the DSCC into some assistance with paying off Hillary's campaign debt. Here's some excerpts from the breathless email.

So let's get to the fun part -- enter today to win one of three truly once in a lifetime opportunities and you will also be doing something great to help finish off Hillary's debt.

With a contribution today, one of these exclusive prizes could be yours:

Spend a day with President Clinton. Head to New York City to attend several interesting events with President Clinton followed by your own special New York City weekend.

Attend the American Idol season finale. You and a guest will watch live as the American Idol judges make their final comments and decisions on this year's most anticipated season finale!

Want to talk politics with me? How about a spending a weekend in DC. You will have lunch with me and my great friend Paul Begala. We will talk about politics, you will get to tour all the amazing sites DC has to offer and who knows what else could happen!

Here's a hint, from Prefix:

The median [audience] age for this year was forty, which means that the show's audience is aging roughly four years faster than the show itself. Though producers might be trying to reinvigorate things by adding new judge Kara DioGuardi and focusing on younger, hotter contestants, the writing is most definitely on the wall: Listening to bad amateur versions of pop songs makes you old before your time.

So those are your options: accelerate your aging process by watching crappy television live, or hang with Carville. Personally, I'd rather eat g;lass.  read more »

Despite several public appearances and speeches, Hillary Clinton has failed to convince many of her staunchest supporters that the race is over, that Barack Obama is (and deserves to be) the nominee, and that we need to get behind him in order to prevent four more years of McBush.

How did it happen?

As long ago as April 1, it was obvious to anyone who crunched the numbers that Obama was going to be the nominee. If Clinton had ended her campaign then, or shortly afterward (perhaps after the Pennsylvania primary on April 22), we wouldn't be having this problem. Instead, she ratcheted up the divisive rhetoric, pushed for every vote, and insisted for two and a half months that she, and not Obama, deserved the nomination. It was, to say the least, incredibly selfish, and we may pay the price come November. The result was a cadre of near-fanatical delegates and voters (a sizable percentage of the electorate, according to the polls) who would have given Obama a double-digit lead, but instead may stay home on election day.  read more »

Full disclosure: I have never been a big fan of Hillary Clinton. Many of you have read my rants against some of her campaign tactics. With that history in mind...

She gave a speech today!

It had to be the most difficult speech she has ever made. It had to be the most difficult public act she has ever taken. And she rose above all expectations, even those of her most ardent supporters. Hillary Clinton is not a great public speaker. She is good, and has gotten better over the campaign. But this speech exceeded any she has ever made, but a very large margin. It was, in many ways, classic Hillary, but the speech she made, in terms of both the writing and the delivery, lifted her to a new level.

There are some questions about why Barack Obama was not there; I believe he wasn't there because this was her day, her speech, her moment in the sun. And I believe she shone.

For those of us who believe we absolutely need a Democratic victory this fall, today is a very good day.

MSNBC has just assigned the 9 remaining delegates from Texas that were still up in the air. Seven went to Obama and two to Clinton. Plus, they reassigned one Mississippi delegate from Clinton to Obama.

Their current total of pledged delegates is 1,416-1,252. With 567 pledged delegates left to choose, that means Clinton now needs:

366, or 64.6%, to pass Obama,
341, or 60.1%, to get within 50,
316, or 55.7%, to get within 100.

The odds are she won't get even 316. Here's why:

Let's say she actually gets 58% of Pennsylvania's delegates. It's unlikely, since her recent 16% seems to be fading, and also the areas where Obama is strongest are the more "Democratic" areas and will count for more delegates, but let's give it to her anyway. That's 92-66 for Clinton. New total: 1,482-1,344. And that's just the start.  read more »

The New York Times is now reporting that Clinton supporters are demanding that their donations to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) be returned. This is merely the latest cheap tactic, straight out of the “divide and destroy” playbook of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove, that Hillary Clinton and her campaign have resorted to in a desperate attempt to pull victory out of certain defeat. Or perhaps it’s her way of ensuring a Democratic loss this fall so that she can run again in four years.

Whatever her reason, she should be ashamed of herself. She isn’t, of course, because she, like her husband, never gave a damn about the Democratic Party. All either of them cares about is their own personal power. Maybe, 35 years ago, they actually cared about making things better, but somewhere along the line they lost sight of that goal.  read more »