I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Overall, I think this is a very good thing:

Obama to forgo public funds for election campaign. Reuters reports: "We've made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the general election," Obama said in a video statement e-mailed to reporters.

* * *

"It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," [Obama] said. "But the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system."

Obama said his rival McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee were fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest groups that can make unlimited donations.

Obama will outraise McCain in a heartbeat. Hell, I think that even the RNC's fundraising and those of their allied 527s and other players could be dwarfed. Thing is, as long as McCain is riding around in C-word's corporate jet and getting 527s to do the rat-fucking for him, why should Obama disarm himself? I also hope that maybe, just maybe, if Obama and the DNC, et al., vastly outraise McCain and the republicans, that finally a publicly funded campaign program could be adopted. After all, it won't be quite as fun for the republicans to continue the system as is when, in the end, they are the net losers.

Missing primary season already?

Me neither. Still, if you want to reminisce: Everything You Need To Know About The Democratic Race In 8 Minutes. A little editing makes everything better.

Thanks to Jenn for the link.

God willing:

Primary season set to end with Obama poised to win.

Edwards gives long-awaited endorsement

to Obama. Why now? The AP reports: A person close to Edwards, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he wanted to get involved now to begin unifying the party. Obama also signed on to Edwards' anti-poverty initiative, which he launched Tuesday with the goal of reducing poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

Personally, although Edwards said some nice stuff about Hill, my gut tells me that he was unhappy with the not so subtle race baiting that has been embraced by Team Hill. That and Edwards' had said he wouldn't endorse until a candidate had been picked. Well, in an appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Edwards said ""brothers and sisters, we must come together as Democrats" to defeat McCain. "We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I." So I guess the nomination process can be over before the "lady in the pantsuit" says so.

Yeah, he's an asshole, but this will probably hurt McCain, so it's all good:

Former congressman Bob Barr announces Libertarian White House bid. I will give Barr one point: he has consistently voiced his concern about civil liberties. But he's still an asshole.

Um, Hill...who's the elitist now?

Clinton lends her struggling campaign $6.4 million. Because regular folk tend not to have millions and millions of dollars sitting around to lend to their presidential campaign. Yes, even in New York City. Folks, the race is over. The next few weeks will give Hill the opportunity to win West Virginia and Kentucky and have adoring crowds chant her name. Then Obama comes in and sweeps up South Dakota, Montana and Oregon. She concedes. Her campaign debt is retired. And this fucking primary election season from hell draws to a close. Which will be followed by five months of not too subtle race-baiting. Oi.

Polls just closed in North Carolina, and the media is already calling it:

Obama wins North Carolina. The fact that it was called so quickly after the polls were closed suggest that Obama won by a healthy margin. Meanwhile, Clinton leads in Indiana...but it hasn't been called yet. North Carolina is a larger state with more delegates at stake, so Obama should end the night with a net delegate advantage from these two primaries. Naturally Team Hill will spin the results as a win for her. Just wait, it's coming.

Ain't it the truth:

The Primary Day Ritual. Al Giordano has written a must read post on what we can expect from Hill and the media today (which is, after all, no different than any other day): The day begins with the Clinton campaign “leaking” something to the Drudge Report to set expectations for the day. That then gets repeated on political blogs and cable news, where Clinton surrogate Terry McAuliffe elaborates. Today’s “expectation”: That the Clinton campaign expects a “15 point” defeat in North Carolina. Clinton’s yapping puppies in the news media repeat the manufactured expectation all day long, in which the bar is supposedly now that if Clinton comes within 15 points in that state that she has somehow “won” with a 14 point (or 6 point) defeat.

Around 4 p.m. rumors of exit polls begin circulating on the Internet. Around 5:30 p.m. AP and other news organizations leak minor data from the exit polls that explains almost nothing of value. Sometime after 6 p.m. Drudge posts raw numbers from exit polls that - if past is prologue - show Obama doing an average of seven percentage points better than he actually does.

Obama supporters then get prematurely jubilant and after polls close (tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Indiana and 7:30 p.m. ET in North Carolina) the real results start to come in and reveal Clinton then doing “better than expected” (at least better than the new expectations promoted during the day).

The media talking heads then ask aloud why Obama can’t “close the deal” (in Clinton’s own words) and what is numerically a defeat for Clinton (because the results, even in her recent wins, bring her objectively farther from the nomination in the context of the smaller number of delegates then available) gets spun as a Clinton victory.

And so it goes. Except, of course, that there are only a few more of these fuckers left. There's that. Of course, after the primaries are over, Hill will then spend all her time attacking Obama for not allowing blue-collar white folks from Florida and Michigan to vote. Because he really is that powerful. Click the link and read the entire thing. I've found Giordano's reporting to be very informative.

Link via Atrios.

Please, baby jesus, please let this finally end today:

Indiana, North Carolina voters settling largest remaining contests. Ok, Oregon has its primary election on June 3rd, but the media needs its meme and this is the last biggest day in the primary season as far as number of delegates at stake. Despite my headline, I know the race won't be over today. Hill is ready to go nuclear, so we see, and despite being behind in the pledged delegate count, number of states won and popular vote (if you count like a normal person and not Howard Wolfsohn), she will drag this out because, dammit, she's entitled. Sadly, while Obama has been hauling in the bucks, I have a feeling that we will find out soon enough that Hill is as financially bankrupt as she is morally bankrupt (and that's saying something). So I will read the stories and listen for the results later this evening knowing that Hillary will remain the thing that will not leave. But I also know that with each passing day what little remains of the Clinton legacy falls by the wayside....and an angel gets his wings.

If I can't be president, either can you:

Clinton Camp Considering Nuclear Option To Overtake Delegate Lead. You can click the link to read the article. Long and short, the alleged secret weapon is this: the Clinton campaign may try to convince or coerce the members of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee to "ram through a decision to seat the disputed 210-member Florida and 156-member Michigan delegations." The article then lists all the hurdles Hill's team would have to beat to get this to work. Yes, I don't like Hillary, so I am hardly an unbiased observer, but even her most ardent supporter would have to admit that this secret weapon has a snowball's chance in hell. That said, why is this story being leaked? Is it an attempt by Hillary's team to scare the shit out of remaining uncommitted super delegates (i.e., we will do anything to win, oh, and by the way, we are taking names)? Is is an attempt by Obama supporters to show the supers how that Hill's team is desperate and ruthless? I assume the former, but I just don't know. One thing I do know is this: if the Clinton campaign tries this and wins, then their secret weapon will live up to it's name... because the fallout will be radioactive.