Ending It

By Patrick
Matt Cooper:

It sounds sort of obvious but if he can somehow overcome the Clinton advantage in Pennsylvania, this thing will be over. Likewise if he streaks through the final states, he will be the nominee and all the anxiety will be for naught. Obama himself wisely departed from the line of his surrogates like Chris Dodd and Pat Leahy that Clinton should get out of the race. You can’t insist that your opponent quit. You have to beat them. It seems somehow forgotten in recent coverage that Obama can still do that. Three weeks is plenty of time to close the gap in Pennsylvania and while the Keystone state seems better for Clinton–more working class, no indies or Republicans can vote in the primary–it’s not an impossible climb for Obama. Should he lose there, he can crush her in the remaining states. Then this thing is done.

More On Penn

By Patrick
The irony of Penn’s actions is astounding. Here is what Clinton said during Obama’s NAFTA flap:

I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen. Obama’s name and see what you would do with this story… Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments.

Al Giordano responds to the hypocrisy:

Mark Penn is not – as in the case that Senator Clinton cited on March 3 – an unpaid issues advisor, but, rather, the commander-in-chief of the Clinton campaign: the chief strategist, pollster, message czar, and the highest paid member of her campaign staff.

I can’t remember a presidential campaign in my lifetime in which the top strategist moonlighted for corporate accounts during the heat of the primaries (if that’s really what he was doing with the Colombian ambassador, as claimed: note that the Embassy told the Journal that it didn’t know which hat Penn was wearing). The conflict of interest is staggering.

Money Woes

By Patrick
McCain is preparing to accept public financing? This would put him at a significant money disadvantage, but he might not have a choice in the matter.  After using the prospect of public matching funds to secure a private $4 million loan during the primary, it was unclear whether McCain had legally committed himself to public financing and the limits that go with it. Hilzoy’s posts on McCain’s situation, written a few months ago, are here and here.

Penn’s Troubles

By Patrick
Mark Penn isn’t helping Clinton with meetings like this:

Hillary Clinton’s chief campaign strategist met with Colombia’s ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.

Attendance by the adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Colombian officials.

Ambers:

I’ve asked several Clinton aides and advisers for their reaction. Some declined to comment. Others responded with pejoratives, but since I don’t print anonymous pejoratives as a policy, I will refrain from sharing them.[…]

One of the toughest tasks for a political journalist these days is to try and find someone in Clinton world who is willing to defend Mr. Penn or his sense of political optics.

Recession Food

By Patrick
The Burger King CEO thinks a recession could help business:

"If you look in the fast-food hamburger space," he says, "it is unfortunate for the greater economy as a whole, but we benefit from the pressure people feel from a disposable-income standpoint. People who cannot afford to go to Applebee’s, cannot afford to go to Chili’s, we are the beneficiaries of that squeeze."

While the foodies say it could spur healthy eating:

Along with some other critics of the American way of eating, [Michael Pollan] likes the idea that some kinds of food will cost more, and here’s one reason why: As the price of fossil fuels and commodities like grain climb, nutritionally questionable, high-profit ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup will, too. As a result, Cokes are likely to get smaller and cost more. Then, the argument goes, fewer people will drink them.

McCain’s Message

By Patrick
Ross isn’t impressed with McCain’s general election ad:

Now of course it’s still early, and there’s a case to be made that a biography-centric roll-out for the campaign is good way to lay the groundwork for the fall contest. But the latest web ad from the McCain camp pushes all my Dole-redux buttons. It’s a paean to heroes in general, to McCain’s favorite high school teacher specifically, and more specifically still to the principle that you ought to turn in your friends when they break the honor code. Now maybe this is, as Jonah suggests, a canny below-the-radar pitch to the crucial crotchety-white-guy vote. But it makes it seem like John McCain is running to be the headmaster of the school in Dead Poets Society, and while anything that sticks it to Robin Williams’ annoying and irresponsible Emerson-wannabe of an English teacher is catnip to me, I’m not sure that running as the guy who’ll clean up the local prep school is the best way for a seventysomething politician with a reputation for being, well, a little crabby to make his case for the American Presidency.

Richelieu’s thoughts:

Maybe I’m missing something, but it looks and feels and sounds much more like a primary spot to me. I think McCain’s amazing story should be a key part of his general election message. But if that is the opening move — and I can make good arguments both for and against that strategy — should they do a spot that commits to that idea instead of just implying it as this ad does.

More importantly, what exactly is the McCain general election message strategy? Hard to find in this ad, unless the plan is to hang the whole general election campaign entirely on the war. If so, that would be Axelrod’s dream come true. My fear is that McCainland doesn’t have a general election message strategy.