Steven Frank goes where few critics have gone before:
A tree generally consists of a straight, vertical middle section (the "trunk") with several smaller sections ("branches") coming off of it. Sometimes the branches will have leaves or fruit, although it is extremely difficult to tell, without specific training in advance, which trees will offer these features and which won’t. This is an area where user experience could be improved.
Hat tip: Chris Glass
"See, because I had the nerve to tell the unvarnished truth about Bill Clinton the sexual predator, I’ve been called a liar by more so-called "journalists" than I can count. My every utterance has been parsed and examined, just like yours will be," – Kathleen Willey, in an open letter to Barack Obama.
A reader’s thesis:
Edwards dropped out the day after Florida, not yesterday or the day before. It steps on Hillary’s Florida spin. But endorsing Obama today would be too transparent…plus it’d give up the opportunity to have some influence on another news cycle later in the week. Edwards dropping out now is a huge boost for Obama. In the big states like California and New York, Edwards cuts into Obama’s base. Obama is going to win the rural states anyway, as evidenced by Iowa, rural Nevada, and rural New Hampshire (the western part, away from the Mass border) which all voted for Obama. This is bad news for American because Edwards had important things to say, but it’s good news for the Obama campaign…
Look at the steady evaporation of Clinton’s lead since January 20:
Money quote:
Clinton’s lead in the three-day average is now 42% to Obama’s 36%. John Edwards, who dropped out of the race Wednesday after Gallup conducted these interviews, ended his quest for the presidency with 12% support. Wednesday night’s interviewing will reflect the distribution of the vote choice of former Edwards’ supporters as well as the impact, if any, of Hillary Clinton’s popular vote win in Florida on Tuesday.
These national numbers are a critically important indicator of the political environment when voters in more than 20 states go to the polls next Tuesday. At the moment, Obama has the momentum among Democrats nationally.
Personally, he’s never had a problem:
Rep. Barney Frank was on his cell when President Bush passed by and joked, "Tell him I said hello." Later, the openly gay congressman told him it was his boyfriend on the line, reports Matthew Huisman of the Boston University-Washington News Service. "Oh, okay, I hope he appreciates how open-minded I am," Bush said.
No, we don’t actually. It makes everything you’ve said and done publicly worse.
A linguistic analysis of their speeches:
John McCain and Mitt Romney are the most like Ronald Reagan whereas (within the set of primary candidates) the words of Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are the closest to those of Martin Luther King. Hillary Clinton is by far the candidate closest in oratory to Bill Clinton.
A pretty banal speech, but what seemed like a heartfelt one. No endorsement. No inkling from his speech about whom he might prefer. Maybe he’s trying to get them to compete for his poverty themes. I don’t think either will resist.
That’s how many Chinese are stranded by cold weather, waiting for a train.
C’mon, you can do it. Ben Domenech leads the way:
He is the same man, whichever side he is on. He brings that same infuriating passion to our cause when his inner compass has led him to alliance. His support of the surge confounded the glitterati of the MSM, who gave him every opportunity to break with the president in a fashion that would’ve led to countless more cover appearances for the late-night self-pleasuring of pimply interns of the New Republic. And yet he could not be agreeable to them, as tempting as the doyennes and the cameras were: he rambled through, grousing yet triumphant, middle fingers raised to Rumsfeld on the right and the New York Times on the left. Even if you dislike McCain, you have to admit: It was a glorious moment for him.
Seattle, Washington, 4.54 pm.
The Dish 