Clinton has been claiming all along that the momentum could still swing in her direction and she could somehow catch Obama in pledged delegates.  Well, that all changes tomorrow.

From the pledged delegates awarded on Tuesday, if Obama wins 78 he will only need 25% of the vote across the board in all six remaining contests to clinch the pledged delegate lead.  If he wins half or 94 out of the 187 pledged delegates awarded on Tuesday, he only needs 15% of the remaining votes to clinch the majority of pledged delegates.  That is the minimum to quality for delegates.  In other words, he only has to show up.  The final six contests after Tuesday have 217 pledged delegates.

In order to clinch the majority of pledged delegates Obama needs:

94 of 187 delegates on Tuesday and 15% of votes in remaining six contests (85% for Clinton)
78 of 187 delegates on Tuesday and 25% of votes in remaining six contests (75% for Clinton)
62 of 187 delegates on Tuesday and 30% of votes in remaining six contests (70% for Clinton)

Obama needs 133 more pledged delegates.  Full table by district below.  Questions or corrections?

That should have been the headline from last night's debate.

Hillary Clinton, board member at Walmart for six years from 1986 to 1992, the same Walmart that sued a brain-damaged accident victim to get back the money they had paid for her healthcare, the same Walmart that hires part time workers to avoid having to pay benefits whenever possible, the same Walmart that continues to prevent workers from organizing in their stores, and even encourages their suppliers to outsource jobs overseas, actually said:

I also believe that Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the Woods Foundation, which was a paid directorship position.

This has got to be an all time low.  More below.

Maybe it's just me but the most welcome development tonight, in my view, is the fact that CNN finally called the Texas caucus for Obama despite all of the foot dragging by the Texas Democratic party.

Caucus win gives Obama more Texas delegates than Clinton

March 11, 2008

Posted: 08:00 PM ET

(CNN) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has won the Texas Democratic caucuses and will get more delegates out of the state than his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who won the state's primary, according to CNN estimates.

This was really nagging at me all week long.  The precinct numbers have not moved in days.  My only questions is "What took you so long, CNN?"

CORRECTION: They project he gets 38 vs 29 delegates in the caucus and 65 vs 61 in the primary for a total of 99 for Obama vs 94 for Clinton.  If you include superdelegates he wins 109 to 106.

EPILOGUE:  All things considered I think this diary raises a more important point.

Is it me or could it be more than a coincidence these stories broke the same day?

WSJ: NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data

According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records.

ABC: It Wasn't the Sex; Suspicious $$ Transfers Led to Spitzer

The federal investigation of a New York prostitution ring was triggered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer's suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.

I guess it depend when a suspicious transfer constitutes probable cause, and who reported it to the FBI or IRS.  Anyone know the legal issues here?

In every other state but one, New Mexico with a 210 vote gap, caucus results have been projected within 24 hours.  Despite the fact that 40% of the returns are in, Obama leads by 12 points, and the Texas Democratic party is conceding Obama won, the networks refuse to call the caucus for Obama and instead continue reminding everyone "Hillary won Texas!"

What's going on here?  If there is a valid reason not to call the TX caucus, why haven't they explained it?  Instead we get:  "It literally makes no sense"

Meanwhile, the perception builds that the result of the caucus is not very important anyway, and Clinton plans to challenge their results in court.  Contact the media and ask why they haven't called the Texas caucus.  Over a million people caucused and they can not be ignored.

Just got the following via email.  You can contact RIGOTV@gmail.com to let them know that you are going.  Or sign up here for more information.

We have buses leaving from SEIU 1199, 310 W. 43rd St between 8th and 9th Avenue at 6:00AM. They are free, and need to be filled with New Yorkers committed to helping us win.

If you are driving, please go to 14 Jefferson Park Rd, Warwick, RI 02888, and be there by 10:00AM.

It is going to be an exciting day in Rhode Island, and we need you to be a part of it!  

Yes we can!

Latest Poll Results: Clinton: 42 - Obama: 37 - Undecided: 22

Is it just me or does this sound like Schlesinger must have heard rumors about the affair the New York Times reported on this week?  This excerpt is from a November 1998 journal entry:

Journals 1952-2000, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
The Penquin Press
Published 2007

(Page 833)

McCain is a loose cannon. He has commendably defied his party on campaign finance, but he is also capable of bizarre behavior. Recently, speaking at a Republican dinner, he told the following so-called joke: why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because she is the illegitimate child of Hillary Clinton and Janet Reno. This plus his reputedly wayward sex life will surely destroy his evident presidential aspirations.

Is this timeline just a coincidence?

While I'm sure the Clinton campaign - which rejected all public financing - would call Obama weak and naive for accepting it now, public financing for the general election will help us win:

1-He can keep raising and spending $36 million a month or more until August 29th.
2-He will then receive $84 million to spend in the last two months.
3-The treasury will pay for the convention, too, $14 million in 2004.
4-That $98 million we'd have to make up can be spent on GOTV by the DNC.
5-The DNC can coordinate another $16 to $18 million directly with Obama.

I'm extremely confident Obama could raise the full $98 million, but I'd rather add another $98 million, and rebuild the party in the process.  Thoughts?

Despite all the diaries attacking him here on Daily Kos, it's worth noting that where it counts, among likely caucus goers in Iowa, Obama has a significant lead in the final Des Moines Register poll:

Obama stretches Iowa lead in new poll

DES MOINES, Iowa (AFP) — Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in Iowa by seven points among Democrats, according to a new poll, with just two days of campaigning before the state opens the 2008 White House nominating race.

The Des Moines Register poll of people likely to attend caucuses on Thursday, put Obama on 32 percent, with the former first lady on 25 percent, a point ahead of former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards.

The poll, by the only statewide paper in Iowa, is highly respected in the state, which is notoriously difficult to survey and where voters traditionally make up their minds late.

You might remember Russ Baker as the investigative journalist who uncovered quotes from George W. Bush saying he would invade Iraq in 1999, before he was even the Republican nominee.   Now he has another big story, about Hillary Clinton and her connection to Alan Quasha at Harken Energy.

Go read the full Nation article:

Political junkies will recall Quasha as the controversial figure who bailed out George W. Bush's failing oil company in 1986, folding Bush into his company, Harken Energy, thus setting him on the path to a lucrative and high-profile position as an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and the presidency....

During the interregnum between McAuliffe's chairmanship of the Democratic Party and the time he officially joined Clinton's campaign, Quasha's firm set McAuliffe up with a salary and opened a Washington office for him....

Another strong link between Quasha and Clinton is Quasha's business partner, Hassan Nemazee, a top Hillary fundraiser who was trotted out to defend her during the Hsu episode...

This is an important story on payday loans that broke last month but was largely overlooked:

Three former employees of Mason-based Check 'n Go, a payday lender with nearly 1,500 stores nationwide, spoke out against the company's business practices Tuesday, saying it takes advantage of its customers.

"I am very ashamed of that job," said Mike Donovan, the company's former director of operations for the District of Columbia....

The company's spokesman, John Rabenold, did not return a phone call seeking comment on the statements and on comments regarding his campaign for the Ohio House of Representatives [as a Republican].

According to Donovan, company executives all were asked to donate at least $200 to Rabenold's campaign.

Much more from Donovan's statement below.  Of course, the company is attacking the messenger and suing Donovan claiming he hid a past criminal record, instead of addressing his very serious claims.

Don't forget about today's other hearing.  The one about how Gonzales lied under oath and the government was spying on journalist and things of that nature.  Just starting now.

Live video Realplayer feed from the committee hearing room.
(http://judiciary.senate.gov/webcast/live.ram)

"Preserving the Rule of Law in the Fight Against Terrorism"

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
10:00 a.m.

Jack Landman Goldsmith

As drational suggested last month:

Gonzales knew that Goldsmith is scheduled to testify soon before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Goldsmith's book excerpt makes it clear that he is about to swear under oath that Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress.

Liveblogging continued below.  More background here.

In the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"Preserving the Rule of Law in the Fight Against Terrorism"

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
10:00 a.m.

Jack Landman Goldsmith

As drational suggested last month:

Gonzales knew that Goldsmith is scheduled to testify soon before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Goldsmith's book excerpt makes it clear that he is about to swear under oath that Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress.

Who is Jack Goldsmith anyway?

BILL MOYERS: I wanna talk to you about the most amazing scene you ever witnessed. That's your term for what happened. You actually wound up at the hospital that night when Gonzalez, the White House counsel and the White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, came to the hospital to try to persuade Attorney General John Ashcroft to give his permission to some secret-- policy that was about to expire. Why was it the most amazing scene you ever witnessed?

From the AP:

Alongside a former state GOP chairman, a congressman and an executive councilor who do support Giuliani, a handful of people made the list of 125 supporters despite their objections.

Some are openly criticizing their mistaken inclusion. Others, who did not want to be quoted or to embarrass the Giuliani campaign, have since decided to join it.

Wendy Stanley Jones, named a state co-chair for Women for Giuliani, said she was considering Giuliani, but also was weighing staying out of the race because of a busy personal schedule.

In New Hampshire, "we take our endorsements very seriously," she said. "I wasn't ready to endorse. I'm not sure I will be endorsing. I'd like to think this is because of a little sloppiness."

As part of his standard stump speech, he explains his liberal past this way:

"Rudy is always the first to paraphrase Churchill when he echoes if you aren't a liberal in your 20s you have no heart, and if you aren't a conservative by your 40s you have no brain," said Giuliani's top adviser, Anthony Carbonetti.

However, according to the Churchill Centre, this is a complete fabrication:

There is no record of anyone hearing Churchill say this. Paul Addison of Edinburgh University makes this comment: "Surely Churchill can't have used the words attributed to him. He'd been a Conservative at 15 and a Liberal at 35!  And would he have talked so disrespectfully of Clemmie, who is generally thought to have been a lifelong Liberal?"

Of course, the truth has never stopped Rudy before so why start now?

Please take some time to read through this breaking story from Sy Hersh:

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East.... A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

This is hard to summarize here but the most shocking development is that in order to undermine Iran and Syria, Bush has begun secretly financing the Muslim Brotherhood using back channels to avoid Congressional oversight.  "This goes back to Iran-Contra" as one former official puts it.  Hersh states that this is why Negroponte resigned so suddenly.  Who is the Muslim Brotherhood?  Well, you might recognize a few of their radical leaders:  Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and Ayman Al-Zawahri

Wow, talk about a gift.  If we were looking for a quote to expose Bill Donohue for the sad joke he is, here it is from FOXNEWS.COM:

By not firing Andrea Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, Donohue said, Edwards is promoting anti-Catholicism. He said the 2008 Democratic contender's actions should be viewed in the same way it would be seen if Edwards had not fired a staffer who had used the 'n'-word.

"He's nothing more than David Duke with a blow-dried haircut," Donohue said of Edwards.

Despite saying the postings "personally offended me," Edwards decided not to fire Marcotte, who writes for the Pandagon blog, and McEwan, who runs the Shakespeare's Sister blog, for comments they made on those sites.

Be sure to check out these posts by Chris Bowers and Mike Stark for how you can help.

Russ Baker and Jonathan Larsen have uncovered quite a scoop here:

Newly released internal CIA documents assert that former president George Herbert Walker Bush's oil company emerged from a 1950's collaboration with a covert CIA officer.

Bush has long denied allegations that he had connections to the intelligence community prior to 1976, when he became Central Intelligence Agency director under President Gerald Ford. At the time, he described his appointment as a 'real shocker.'

But the freshly uncovered memos contend that Bush maintained a close personal and business relationship for decades with a CIA staff employee who, according to those CIA documents, was instrumental in the establishment of Bush's oil venture, Zapata, in the early 1950s, and who would later accompany Bush to Vietnam as a "cleared and witting commercial asset" of the agency.

Puts a whole new perspective on the Bush family fortune to know that it was funded through the CIA and paid for with your tax dollars, doesn't it?  More details below, and over at the Real News site.