Jonathan Martin, who covers the Republican presidential campaign, reports that:

GOP strategist Steve Lombardo has a new poll and finds some troubling signs for McCain therein.

   LCG conducted a national survey of 1,000 registered voters May 26-28th. The following are the highlights:

   The poor economy is THE driving force in this election. The economy is by far the most important issue for Americans, eclipsing Iraq by more than a 2 to 1 margin. Healthcare and social/moral issues are tied for third.

   President Bush is dead weight for nearly every Republican running in November. Bush's favorability is at 32%. More importantly, nearly half of voters (49%) have a "very unfavorable" opinion of the President.

   McCain and Obama start the election with similar favorability ratings. Both have similar unfavorable ratings (approximately 40%); there are, however, some differences among specific sub-groups:

   McCain does better among those who are married, non-Catholic Christians and evangelicals.
    Obama does better among those who are younger, not married, have college degrees and are non-Christians.

   In a head-to-head, Obama is beating McCain by a very narrow margin (44% to 40%). As we have said before, we believe that Obama will get a 10-point bounce once he is officially the nominee and Clinton voters "return home." Having said that, this data is instructional as to where the strengths and weaknesses lie for each candidate:

   McCain is not doing well enough among men to bridge the historical gender gap with women. The presidential voting pattern for the last 20 years suggests that the Republican candidate needs to win among men by at least 8-12 points to make up for the party's usual gender gap with women. The so-called gender gap is not one-sided. McCain wins men by four points but loses women by 10 points. This is a problem.

   In fact, the problem is so severe that McCain is losing women by 12-14 points among every age cohort except for women 65+, where he is running even with Obama.

   McCain will not win Independents on his reputation alone. Obama is winning among Independents by about 8 points. Yes, McCain is favorably viewed by Independents but that is not translating into actual votes at this point in time.

   Obama is cutting into historical GOP success with white voters. At this point, McCain is only winning the white vote by two points. Compare that to 2004 when Bush beat Kerry among white voters by 17 points (58% to 41%).

   McCain has not yet secured the GOP base. McCain is winning among evangelicals by 25 points, getting 56% of that vote. However, this is 22 points below what Bush got against Kerry in 2004 (78%). In fact, Bush captured 80% of the evangelical vote in 2000 against Gore. Certainly, a lot will change between now and November, but If this level of evangelical support continues in the summer and fall it will make a McCain victory virtually unattainable.

Ben Smith at Politico.com reports that:

June 02, 2008
Categories: Hillary Clinton

Clinton camp converging on New York Tuesday, and shedding staff

Members of Hillary Clinton's advance staff received calls and emails this evening from headquarters summoning them to New York City Tuesday night, and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending, two Clinton staffers tell my colleague Aime Parnes.

The advance staffers -- most of them now in Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana -- are being given the options of going to New York for a final day Tuesday, or going home, the aides said. The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed -- at least -- some of its staff. The advance staff is responsible for arranging the candidate's events around the country.

With the future of her campaign in doubt, Clinton hasn't announced her plans for the final election night of the primary cycle or beyond, but the aides said she would stage her election night event in New York City. Her entourage is currently expected to wake up Tuesday in New York and to arrive in Washington, D.C. Tuesday night.

An ardent supporter of Obama is also on the board of Women's Voices Women Vote according to Politico .

"There are some arguing that this was a pro-Clinton conspiracy, rather than a disruptive mistake, as the group claims; those suggestions are based in part on the fact that Maggie Williams used to be on the group's board, and that it's staffed with other former Clinton types.

This seems, so far, unconvincing to me. Also on the board, for instance, is William McNary, the president of the progressive coalition USAction and a leader of Illinois Citizen Action who has been, reportedly, a vigorous Obama supporters since his 2004 Senate race. "

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0 408/Obama_camp_responds_to_robocalls.htm l

Do we now blame the Obama campaign for voter suppression and other dirty campaign tactics?

Truth shall set you free!

I have developed a sick addiction to reading hillaryis44 over the last few days. They don't bother me . . . I feel sorry for them. I know that is going to come off as condescending, but you should really read some of the comments out there.

Ben Smith must have been reading my mind, because he posted an entry into his blog that I had read earlier on hillaryis44. It confirmed that Donna Brazile had this exchange with members of hillaryis44:

    Do you know how many undeclared supers are now just turned off by people like you? Do you understand you're hurting her and not promoting Hillary? Perhaps that explains why a candidate like Obama has raised $40 million in one month. You don't have to e-mail me again.

   I just sent Hillary a private e-mail telling her that supporters like you are destroying her candidacy.

Another whopper from the pander-lie-spin-parse machine of Senator Inspiration.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/030 8/9269.html

Folks,

I like this bit from the Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/030 8/8920.html

It points out that there are now D's in both Delay's and Hastert's seats. It points out the current cash advantage ($30m) of the DCCC over the NRCC.

To me, this is the money quote:

"By itself, this would not be that big of a deal, but coupled with everything else it will just deflate the [House Republican] Conference," said an aide to one top GOP lawmaker. "And symbolically, losing Hastert's seat is like the toppling of the Saddam statue in Baghdad for Republicans."

MyDD's Todd Beeton -- who is tirelessly traversing the country reporting on the campaigns and events -- wrote a must-read report, "Obama's "Universal" Healthcare Deception," noting that John Edwards also sensibly included mandates. Beeton quotes Obama's stump speech:

My opponents think the government should force you to buy healthcare. I believe that the reason people don't have healthcare isn't that they don't want it, it's that they can't afford it.

"The line would often get a big cheer but I haven't heard it lately," Beeton observes.  

Below the fold is how Politico screwed Katrina/Rita/flood survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi, and their supporters, out of having a question relevant to their plight asked during last Wednesday's and Thursday's debates.

On Saturday, Jan. 26, I diaried a way, per colorofchange.org, to vote on Politico for the following debate question:

Two years after Katrina and Rita and Gulf Coast schools, hospitals, police stations, roads and flood protection still lie in ruins, keeping displaced residents from returning and communities from recovering. Will you support H.R. 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, as President to rebuild community infrastructure and create job and training opportunities for residents?