The End Games

The week ends for Barack Obama with some big audiences and strong speeches in Florida, a pick-up of six superdelegates on Friday with a report of many more to come, and a slew of new polls that show him getting stronger against McCain in key states.

It ends for Hillary Clinton with a statement that suggests there is something really wrong with her. And for John McCain with another round of dismissing supporters.

Hillary gave as her latest reason for staying in the race that Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June, so--the logic dictates--if Obama is assassinated, then she'll be there to be the Democratic candidate. Such a statement in the week that Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and shortly after Mike Huckabee joked about Obama being shot at, is either: politically insidious and pernicious in the extreme in its suggestion, or evidence of a person completely and dangerously out of touch with the darker side of her unconscious.

Rachel Maddow has now written about Clintons end game, which is to continue as a candidate to the convention on the back of the Michigan and Florida situations, which as she points out can be appealed no matter what agreement is achieved or Rules committee decision is made. She suggests that what Obama can do is get the super-delegates to declare in sufficient number to ensure him the nomination even if the two states get 100% of their delegates based on the results of their phony elections.

There's also been noise on Friday about Clinton "supporters" trying to negotiate with Obama supporters to get Obama to offer the v.p. to Clinton, even if she then rejects it, or face "civil war" in the party. This also has the air of desperation.

On the brighter and perhaps more realistic side, Obama got another two Edwards delegates Friday, and super-delegate endorsements that include a Clinton supe who defected, with a statement citing the Michigan-Florida fracus as a reason he had to declare for Obama now in order to begin the general election campaign united. According to Al Giordano of the Field, this delegate--Rep. Dennis Cardoza of CA--is just the first: "The Field has learned that Cardoza is the first of a group of at least 40 Clinton delegates, many of them from California, that through talking among themselves came to a joint decision that all of them would vote for Obama at the convention. They have informed Senator Clinton that it’s time to unite around Obama, and that they will be coming out, one or two at a time, and announcing their switch between now and the convention if Senator Clinton doesn’t do the same." [emphasis is Al's.]

This blockbuster story comes a day after Al G. asserted that Clinton has already asked Obama to name her his v-p, and he refused. So far nobody else has picked up or confirmed these stories, but it must be pointed out that Al G. is not just one of us synthetic bloggers (synthesizing information reported by others) but an active political reporter with sources gained over years of reporting. (Like me, he once worked for the Boston Phoenix.)

Meanwhile, Kos dissects this latest round of polls, and it's pretty much all good for Obama, even in Ohio and Florida. According to the Obama site, he now needs 56 delegates to reach the current magic number for the nomination.

Ted Kennedy asked Obama to give the commencement address Sunday he was scheduled to give. Obama had great crowds in Florida this week, but this video clip from a smaller one is a real gem. "We all have a piece of each other." Watch, listen and enjoy the first weekend of summer.