I was not going to diary Obama's appearance on Late Edition with Wolfie, however, it seems Kos has picked up on something from AP.  I did not see anything except for CNN and thought something similar.  Namely, that Obama emphasized the frame that Congress can not defund the war because it would hurt the troops.

While count me in as someone who thinks the accelerated primary schedule to see who can buy the most TV ad space is bad for democracy, the race for cash is even worse.

Reading this article made me wonder if the former President is tarnishing his legacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

Even as Mr. Clinton pursues his tasks with gusto, Clinton donors and Democratic allies say that the campaign has also been sensitive about using him too much, for fear that he might overshadow his wife or come to be seen as an overused or exploited asset.

http://thehill.com/...

in no small part the "in it to win it" slogan was designed to go after the inevitable "hillary can not win the general" meme.

Half of voting-age Americans say they would not vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she became the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday.
More than one in five Democrats that participated in the survey said they would not vote for Clinton. Overall, 36 percent say they would vote for the former first lady and 11 percent are unsure of their top choice.

Forty-eight percent of Independent voters also said that they would choose another candidate over Clinton, the poll, which surveyed 2,223 potential voters, states.

Fifty-six percent of men said that they would not vote for Clinton, while 45 percent of women said that she would not be their pick. In addition, 69 percent of those 62 and older said that they would not vote for Clinton.

I can't help but think that some of the scrutiny aimed at the Edwardses has some underlying sexism involved.  Mrs. Edwards is a strong woman who kept her maiden name until 1996 when her son died and than "took his name" according to her.

http://www.msmagazine.com/...

Mrs. Edwards is also a political genius and a co-equal participant in John's campaign.  Continuing on with her life and joy is not unique most canceer survivors do it.  Watch this link to see the unanimous agreement by actual cancer surviving women, who agree with Mrs. Edwards as opposed to opinions of people off the street.

http://abcnews.go.com/...

I'm wondering whether or not candidates that take money from PACs and lobbyists that represent particular special interest groups give them or owe them any favors.

As much as I'd like to believe that should we be privledged enough to elect Hillary to two terms, we could get some as yet undefined version of universal health care access.  The astounding amount of money she's taken from these groups makes me wonder how sincere any dramatic reform that cuts out HMOs and Insurance companies and bargains with pharmaceuticals could be.

Am I being stupid?  Is there a firewall between taking gobs of money from these interests and not expecting them to benefit from their "donations"?  Am I sounding like Ralph Nader?

I've followed the Edwardses since 2003 and what most people don't seem to be aware of is that Elizabeth Edwards would probably make the best candidate of John, Hillary or Barack.  I actually attended the somber event at the Carolina Inn, and once again Mrs. Edwards was amazing given the circumstances.

What most people don't realize is that Mrs. Edwards is a brilliant political mind in her own right.

http://www.firedoglake.com/...

I was discussing the prospects for the Edwards campaign this morning with some friends after hearing the rumor that following the press conference, Edwards still had a full schedule booked.  Someone mentioned that if in fact Elizabeth's cancer had returned, it didn't mean that Edwards would necessarily drop out — he might elect to stay in the race anyway.  She might want him to.

"That's what I'd do," I said.

Looking at the front page of Kos - there's the GOP cattle call.  Why not go to the "experts"?  On freerepublic I was shocked to see that in their poll of McCain versus Giuliani, this is what I found:

Member Opinion
Rudy Giuliani 47.2% 1,136
Write-in 21.2% 509
Third party 13.3% 321
Stay home 7.4% 178
John McCain 5.3% 127
Undecided 3.5% 84
Leave blank 2.1% 51
100.0% 2,406

Today's latest derailment of the McCain Straight Talk Express was over questions on HIV Aids.  McCain's Bus has a cracked rear axel, a tire blow-out, and swerves all over the road.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...

McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention
SOMEWHERE in NORTHERN IOWA — The unthinkable has happened. Senator John McCain met a question, while sitting with reporters on his bus as it rumbled through Iowa today, that he couldn’t – or perhaps wouldn’t – answer.

Did he support the distribution of taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of H.I.V.?

What followed was a long series of awkward pauses, glances up to the ceiling and the image of one of Mr. McCain’s aides, standing off to the back, urgently motioning his press secretary to come to Mr. McCain’s side....
All this took place on the second day of the reprise of the “Straight Talk Express” bus trips that Mr. McCain made a central part of his campaign in 2000.

John Edwards's Left-Hand Man
David Bonior isn't your typical campaign manager—a member of Congress for a quarter century, whose voting record lines up to the left of his candidate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

Interesting as I thought Edwards' campaign already seemed fairly leftward..

Then, after the Iowa caucus [in 2004], I went with my wife to New Hampshire to visit and actually look for a candidate. We traveled for three days to town-hall meetings where [Wesley] Clark, [Howard] Dean and Edwards were speaking. My wife and I decided to endorse Edwards. In front of crowds, he was talking about race relations, poverty and workers' rights. I found that very appealing and honest and difficult to do in New Hampshire. They weren't issues that polled at the top of the list. I found that inspirational and that's when I signed on.

Interesting choice of candidates for Bonior; Clark, Dean or Edwards...

Hear me out on this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/...

Jumping the shark is a metaphor that was originally used to denote the tipping point at which a TV series is deemed to have passed its peak, or has introduced plot twists that are illogical in terms of everything that has preceded them...

Jump-the-shark moments are typically scenes that finally convince viewers that the show has fundamentally and permanently strayed from its original premise. In these cases, they are viewed as a desperate and futile attempt to keep a series fresh in the face of a decline in ratings. In other cases, the departure or replacement of a main cast member or character or a significant change in setting changes a critical dynamic of the show.
The phrase originated from an episode of the hit TV comedy series Happy Days, where Fonzie literally jumped a shark.

I'm probably in the minority that actually would like to hear more about what the candidates think on the issues as opposed to their "rock star" qualities.  I also find it odd that if Hillary Clinton were named Joe Q. Public she'd have zero chance of even running for president.

Anyhow, I think when Obama was talking about "cynicism" it probably really applied to the media's coverage of Edwards.

Here's one report by the NY Times here's one by the Desomoines Register and one by the Sioux City Journal.

The double headlines at Drudge Report are:

WAR: DEMS PULL OUT OF FOXNEWS DEBATE

Ailes: Pressure To Boycott Debates 'Must Be Resisted'...

“We have not received official word from the Nevada State Democratic Party disclosing a change in debate plans. Rumors are being circulated and if true, news organizations will want to think twice before getting involved in the Nevada Democratic Caucus which appears to be controlled by radical fringe out-of-state interest groups, not the Nevada Democratic Party. In the past, Moveon.org has said they ‘own’ the Democratic party—while most Democrats don’t agree with that, we’re waiting to see if that’s the case in Nevada.” -- David Rhodes, Vice President, Fox News...

there was supposed to be a conference call for the Nevada Dems about this, but apparently it never happened yesterday.

http://www.renodiscontent.com/...

Bill Richardson is part of this new project that is sponsoring the debate so he can't back out.

To some of you this may be news.  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

While Reid Stays Out of '08 Fray, Sen. Clinton Signs His Son
By Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray
Sunday, February 18, 2007; Page A02

With Reid not committing, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) found the next-best thing -- signing his eldest son, Rory, as both the chair of her campaign in the Silver State and an adviser on Western issues.

Rory Reid currently serves as the chairman of the Clark County Commission -- that's Las Vegas's county -- and is a past chairman of the Nevada state party. He is the only one of Reid's four sons in elected office.

http://johnedwards.com/...

Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Senator John Edwards released the following statement today about the recent verdict finding Vice President Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby guilty on multiple counts in the CIA leak case.
"Today's verdict in the Libby case is an important step in holding the Administration accountable for its consistent misuse and manipulation of intelligence to further its ideological agenda. But there are serious questions about whether the buck actually stopped with Scooter Libby. The American people deserve to know if Mr. Libby has been made a scapegoat in order to protect anyone else."

Is Fitzgerald done?  Is there no way to go after Shooter or Bush's Brain?

Apparently even the jurors want to know...

I think this is a powerful YouTube - one minute long - that if I saw and heard this correctly makes a comparison of Hillary's campaign with Orwellian aspects of 1984.  Am I wrong?

I think this is a very powerful visual TPM has a bit more on it.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/...

it ends with barackobama.com

check it out..

http://www.youtube.com/...

The last thing a presidential campaign should do is get into one-on-ones with Ann Coulter.  Ann Coulter has called Bill Clinton a homosexual and Al Gore a "total fag".

http://mediamatters.org/...

In fact her line about going into rehab is not even original to Edwards, she talked about it originally in regard to someone on the cast of Grey's anatomy almost a month earlier.

http://www.rawstory.com/...

"You use the word 'faggot' and you're going into rehab?" Coulter asked incredulously on Fox's Live Desk A-List.

The best selling Godless author was referring to Grey's Anatomy star, Isaiah Washington, who used the word twice in reference to co-star T.R. Knight. Knight later publicly "came out" when word broke out about the on-set scuffle the two actors had.