Looking ahead: General elex preview?
Posted: Monday, March 31, 2008 9:19 AM by Mark Murray
The Washington Post goes back and examines the attempt Obama and McCain made to work together on ethics reform. "[W]hat began as a promising collaboration between two men bent on burnishing their reformist credentials collapsed after barely a week. The McCain-Obama relationship came undone amid charges and countercharges, all aired publicly two years ago in an exchange of stark and angry letters. Obama questioned whether McCain sided with GOP leaders rather than searching for a bipartisan solution; McCain accused Obama of ‘typical rhetorical gloss’ and ‘self interested partisan posturing’ by a newcomer seeking to ingratiate himself with party leaders.”
More: “More than two years later, with McCain and Obama potentially poised to go head to head in a presidential campaign with stakes far greater than regulating who picks up steakhouse tabs, the reform fight has emerged as a looking-glass moment of what a fall campaign could resemble. McCain's backers view it as emblematic of Obama's ability to talk grand ideas and aspirations, but also of his ultimate failure to produce substantive results. Obama's supporters contend that the moment was vintage Obama, with the newcomer defusing the feud with a cool demeanor that allowed him to claim the high ground while rolling up his sleeves to eventually help pass a broader ethics overhaul bill in August 2007."
PENNSYLVANIA: The Boston Globe front-pages how the Democrats have moved from talking about NAFTA to “expanding beyond their past populist appeals and using a broader language that can address different experiences of economic change. In Pennsylvania, which on April 22 will host the largest of the remaining contests, Clinton and Obama have turned their emphasis from industrial policy to household economics, such as subprime mortgages, the rising price of gas, supermarket costs, and the interest rates charged on student loans.
Allentown mayor Ed Pawlowski was supposed to have backed Clinton when Bill came to town last week, but didn’t. Rendell said he will eventually.
NORTH CAROLINA: Per NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann, of the six uncommitted NC congressmen who reportedly will endorse Obama, four are from congressional districts that skew in Obama's favor. But the biggest blow to Hillary Clinton's prospects in the state might be an Obama nod from Rep. Heath Shuler, a conservative Democrat from a traditionally Republican district in Western North Carolina. Shuler, who was reportedly one of several superdelegates wined and dined at a recent schmancy dinner chez Hillary, is the only Democrat who represents a congressional slice that currently polls in the New York senator's favor. His constituents are mostly white (over 90% of residents are white, per the 2000 census) and rural -- making them one of the most important symbolic demographics being targeted by both candidates in the race.
