It started late last week and continued into the weekend, both Clinton’s calling for the possibility of a joint “dream ticket” with the obvious implication, they would love to have top billing. For most of Saturday and Sunday the Obama camp, undoubtedly mystified by the continued claims, did not have a great response other than to say “it is too early” and “I am running for the presidency not the VP.”

Yesterday the Obama camp finally seemed to catch on openly wondering how a candidate “who’s in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who’s in first place.” In addition to the great line Obama started using a wonderful windup. With crowds he began noting he had won more states, won the popular vote and had more delegates, and he would recount these facts beautifully as if he too was bemused as the audience was, at the stunning illogic of the Clinton’s argument. He also began noting the weird illogic in the following, if Obama is not ready on day one, then why do they want to give him the second most power position in all the land?

There is of course, logic behind the seeming illogic, a somewhat clever ruse that may have actually worked, at least a little, for the Clinton campaign. Here is my take.

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From Barack Obama’s twitter:

“In Columbus,MS & wondering how somebody who’s in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who’s in first place. Vote Tues!”

LOL

Two Clinton backers have offered up a plan to re-stage the Florida and Michigan primaries.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey and Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania said Sunday that they would be willing to raise half the $30 million it would take to run new contests in those two states. Mr. Corzine and Mr. Rendell submitted their proposal to The Washington Post.

The two governors argue that the Democratic National Committee, and not taxpayers in Florida and Michigan, should pay for a re-election in those states.

Meanwhile The NY Sun reports that Al Sharpton is now threatening to sue the Democratic National Committee if it uses the results of the Florida primary to seat delegates.

Rev. Sharpton is traveling to Florida today to compile lists of residents who skipped the January contest because they thought their votes would not count. He plans to have those residents sign affidavits saying they would be disenfranchised by the seating of the Florida delegation, in the event the Democratic Party allowed that to happen.

The party had promised to exclude Florida and Michigan from the nomination process after the states scheduled their primaries in January, earlier than party rules had allowed, but the close contest between senators Clinton and Obama has turned attention toward those primaries, prompting debate between the campaigns and party leaders over how to handle the lockout.

Update: A reader sent in this link to the Chicago Tribune:

Giving, service and compassion are recurrent themes on the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama, but the Democratic presidential contender has only recently dug deep into his own pockets to support charitable causes.

Obama has enjoyed a robust household income throughout his political career in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. But for most of that time he has reported comparatively little by national standards in charitable contributions on his tax returns, records released by Obama show.

There is a lot in the article so make sure to check it out.

Recently the Obama campaign has made a major issue out of Senator Clinton not releasing her 2006 tax returns. What hasn’t been mentioned up until this point is that while Senator Obama has released his 2006 returns he hasn’t released those covering other years that he has been a US Senator.

From ABC News:

“We’ve said she should release her tax returns from last year, like we have done,” says Obama spox Bill Burton. “Now that some 80% of the Democratic contests have transpired, she has already deprived most Democratic voters of the ability to fully judge her on the information that we have made available.”

As for any pre-2006 or 2007 returns, Burton says he “will keep you posted.”

photo credit: subpop77

- Retired Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries will lend a boost to the Obama campaign today at 1:30pm EST during a press conference to be held in D.C.

- Obama won the Wyoming Caucuses this weekend picking up an estimated 7 delegates to Clinton’s 4.

- Up next, Mississippi where Obama is also favored to win.

- John McCain will begin a nationwide fundraising blitz this week.

- The New Yorker has a not always flattering look at the mismanagement and amazing resurrection of the Clinton campaign.

- The first Democratic win of 2008 has come in the Illinois 14th district where a special election was won by Democrat Bill Foster who defeated Republican Jim Oberweis. The seat was held by Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

- The Times looked over Barack Obama’s career in the Senate finding a lot of star power but not a lot of depth.

He went to the Senate intent on learning the ways of the institution, telling reporters he would be “looking for the washroom and trying to figure out how the phones work.” But frustrated by his lack of influence and what he called the “glacial pace,” he soon opted to exploit his star power. He was running for president even as he was still getting lost in the Capitol’s corridors.

…And while he rightly takes credit for steering through an ethics overhaul that reformers called a “gold standard,” like most freshmen he did not play a significant role in passing much other legislation and disappointed some Democrats for not becoming a more prominent voice in other important debates.

- John McCain got “testy” with a reporter late last week when she pressed him on a meeting in 2004 with Senator John Kerry.

- The Clinton’s spent the weekend pushing the idea of a joint ticket, undoubtedly a Hillary/Obama ticket but also left open the idea of the opposite as well. Obama wanted no party saying it was too early for such talk and that he would turn down a VP offer.

- Al Sharpton is considering a lawsuit against Florida if delegates from the states primary are seated at the convention.

From the Associated Press:

In talking up a joint ticket, the Clintons may be seeking the upper hand, attempting to put her in consideration for the top of the ticket when she so far has failed to win the votes necessary to assure that she would face Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the November election.

The maneuver may also be aimed at countering an image in voters’ minds of Obama as presidential material and at helping restore an aura of inevitability as the party’s nominee that Clinton had early in the campaign but lost.

“The Clintons are in a difficult position,” said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Iowa, who has tracked the presidential race.

“If she wins the Democratic presidential nomination, she would need Obama’s supporters. But she needs to be careful. If this talk of him on the ticket is seen as a cynical maneuver, it could backfire and hurt her,” Goldford said.

photo credit: dcdailyphotos

From Mark Penn in the New Yorker:

“Independent and Republican support is diminishing as they find out he’s the most liberal Democratic senator… As they get more of a sense that he’s not ready to be Commander-in-Chief, a lot of Independents who were supporting him are disappearing.”

Liberal’s have never been Clinton’s base but it is interesting to hear someone so candidly discard them from the Clinton camp and take on what is sure to be the Republican attack line in the general election. In addition from the article:

Penn’s poll-defying arguments about Obama’s electability against McCain will be pressed ever more forcefully as both campaigns move to the dénouement of the primary season. From Penn’s standpoint, Obama’s freshness is his greatest vulnerability. “The G.O.P. attack machine redefines the Democratic candidate,” Penn said recently. “It’s formidable. It commands a vast media network. And it has been able to skew the perceptions even of such distinguished public servants and well-respected Democrats as Al Gore and John Kerry, creating impressions of them very quickly that were out of step with reality.” Hillary Clinton, he went on, “has withstood the full brunt of this kind of attack and will be able to neutralize what is likely to happen, particularly with the nominee who is not as well known through public life.”

Clinton is stressing in all her appearances—another point that Penn sees as essential—that Obama will appear distinctly weaker on national-security questions in relation to McCain. (This infuriates Obama’s supporters—after all, he alone among the surviving candidates opposed the invasion of Iraq.) The Clinton campaign will also press the claim that Obama will not be able to withstand heightened scrutiny of his domestic-policy views. The implication is that Obama is unacceptably liberal, while Clinton, despite the similarity of her positions and voting record, is not. “How much do Independent voters really know about Barack Obama, his voting record, and his past positions?” Penn asked recently. “Certainly less than Democrats know. In a general election the Republicans would spring into action, and quickly, if he were the nominee, roll out his full record. And the kind of Independent support that you see in places like Idaho would consequently evaporate.”

The Times Online breaks down what Clinton needs to do:

1) Win the popular vote
2) Secure re-do’s in Florida and Michigan
3) Undermine Obama’s credibility in beating McCain

That pretty much sums up what is left. No shot of winning the pledged delegates but she is undoubtedly hoping to win the perception battle.

From CBS:

A: Well, you know, I think it’s premature. You won’t see me as a vice presidential candidate — you know, I’m running for president. We have won twice as many states as Senator Clinton, and have a higher popular vote, and I think we can maintain our delegate count — but you know, what I’m really focused on right now, because all that stuff is premature, is winning this nomination and changing the country. And I think that’s what people here are concerned about. How are you going to provide health care to every American? So I spend a lot of time talking about the plan I wanted to put in place that would not only lower costs for those who already have health insurance, but also make sure people who don’t have health insurance can get health care as good as the health care I have as a member of Congress. Those are the kinds of issues that really make a difference in people’s lives, and we’re going to keep on talking about them.

My take? If it works the other way and the slot is open, you take it. You take second base when you are facing the outfield and a VP slot if it is in the vein of Al Gore would give Obama the credentials he is currently lacking when it is his time in the future. Seriously, you take the position it is much easier to run for the White House when you are already spending most of your time there.

AP is reporting a gigantic turnout already in Wyoming.

During the first caucuses of the day, it appeared the state’s Democrats were showing up in record numbers. In 2004, a mere 675 people statewide took part in the caucuses.

As I said when I was on BlogTalkRadio the other day, for years now we’ve heard people complain that states like Wyoming have been taken out of the process. Now that we have it, we hear people complaining that the contest should be over. You never can win can you?