RezkoWatch FactChecker: Klein: Obama adviser urges: divide Jerusalem

"Jerusalem must be included in any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Daniel Kurtzer, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)'s Middle East adviser, said at a May 13, 2008, conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI). Kurtzer said "It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table," Aaron Klein, Jerusalem bureau chief for World Net Daily, reported.

Kurtzer, who joined Sen. Obama's foreign policy team in April 2008, served as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (1997-2001) and Israel (2001-2005), and is "long recognized by Israeli leaders, including prime ministers, as biased against Israel and is notorious for urging extreme concessions from the Jewish state," Klein wrote.

"Ambassador Kurtzer has signed onto the campaign, appears before Jewish audiences to vouch for his candidate, and provides 'foreign policy advice' regarding the Middle East to the campaign. Presumably, he will be rewarded with a top foreign policy post if Barack Obama becomes President. That is how Washington works," Ed Lasky commented at American Thinker.

A month earlier, on March 3, 2008, The Daily Jewish Forward reported that Kurtzer had endorsed Sen. Obama.

During a JPPI discussion panel, Kurtzer "reportedly went on to fault the Bush administration for not doing enough to pressure Israel into dividing Jerusalem to which JPPPI head Yechezkel Dror reacted that Jerusalem must become the cultural center of the Jewish people," Klein wrote.

Kurtzer said in response that 'before we do that, we must first accept a number of facts and the political reality of Arabs who live in East Jerusalem who do not feel part of the city.

Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Tens of thousands of Arab complexes in eastern Jerusalem were constructed illegally on land purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a Jewish nonprofit that purportedly raises donor funds for the purpose of Jewish settlement, WND previously exposed.

"Obama's appointment of Kurtzer raised eyebrows among the pro-Israel Jewish community," Klein commented.

"We oppose the appointment of Kurtzer because of his long, documented record of hostility to and severe pressure upon Israel," said Zionist Organization of America National Chairman Morton Klein.

He has previously been blasted by multiple mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Kurtzer has many times angered Israeli leaders for pushing Israeli into what they described as extreme concessions to the Palestinians.

"With Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship between Israel and the United States," Benjamin Nentanyahu was quoted saying in 2001 by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

"Morris Amitay, former executive director of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001: 'Kurtzer … will use his Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views'," Klein wrote.

Read the rest of Klein's article here.

Also see related articles

Walter Alarkon, Former Israel ambassador defends Obama on Wright controversy , The Hill, March 17, 2008.

Philip Weiss, Kurtzer, Obama's Surrogate, Issues Coded Assault on Israel Lobby, Mondoweiss, April 5, 2008.

Press Release: Sen. Obama Should Rescind Appointment of Daniel Kurtzer As Middle East Adviser, Zionist Organization of America, April 16, 2008.

Don’t Trust Obama On Israel, JewsAgainstObama, May 13, 2008.

Beth Reinhard, Not the publicity Obama needs in South Florida, Naked Politics/Miami Herald, May 13, 2008.

Follow the Money: Pringle: Curtain Time for Obama (Parts 1 and 2)

Part 1 of Evelyn Pringle's long-awaited expose on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and a sequel to "Barack Obama: Operation Board Games for Slumlords", was released May 12, 2008, at OpEdNews and May 13, 2008, in Scoop (NZ).

In Part 2 of "Curtain Time for Obama", Pringle shows that Obama was "the inside guy in the Illinois senate as far as setting up the Health Facilities Planning Board to extort contributions from companies in exchange for the approval of applications to build medical facilities."

In her introduction to Part 1, Pringle wrote:

Republicans have enough damaging information against Barack Obama to knock him off the ballot before the November election. Those at the top of the Democratic Party know this by now and voters need to recognize that if they nominate him they are throwing the election. Nothing else can explain why they would allow this disaster to happen.

Pringle then sets the stage for what will follow:

More than two solid months of investigation leads to the conclusion that following the names linked to Riverside Park is the key to understanding Operation Board Games.

~snip~

Most important for connecting the dots in the Board Games investigation, is the clarification that it is not the Rezko case. The only reason it's always referred to as the "Rezko" case is because he happens to be the first defendant to be brought to trial.

Also, the first trial is focused on the corruption of two Illinois boards, the panel that approves investments from the $40 billion pension fund of the Teachers Retirement System, and the Health Facilities Planning Board, which approves all medical facility construction projects in Illinois.

But the Operation Board Games cases involve corruption with officials and employees in many other state agencies and real estate deals are at the heart of most with Riverside Park front and center.

Read the rest of Pringle's articles—Part 1 (and here) and Part 2—for proof that Sen. Obama is just another member of the corrupt Illinois Combine.

The third part of "Curtain Time For Barack Obama" will be published May 14, 2008.

RezkoWatch Electability 2008: Obama's Superdelegate Bamboozle

There's something quite ironic about those who call themselves "Big Tent Democrats" and the most famous big tent of them all, P.T. Barnum's 19th century mammoth tent that housed his menagerie and exhibits.

The political "big tent" philosophy, coined by Republican operative Lee Atwater to make conservatism all inclusive, has been evident in the political campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), which has worked overtime to encourage Republicans and Independents to crossover and vote for him in caucuses and primaries. Likened to Barnum's temporary "big tent", anchored only by poles and tied down with ropes, Obama's campaign will be only as enduring as the electorate allows.

Barnum could only pack the big tent as long as he put on a good show complete with animal acts, performing clowns, highwire artists, and a big parade, all certain to bamboozle the audience just long enough to relieve it of its hard-earned dollars before the circus packed up and moved on to the next town. It appears that, for Sen. Obama and his handlers, the promise of the "big tent" may not be quite enough to ensure victory but they think they have found the perfect way to not only pack the tent with superdelegates but to also bamboozle them long enough to help him keep his circus on the road.

As Jonathan Alter wrote in the May 19, 2008, issue of Newsweek, it's the "Benjamins".

For all the talk of numbers, there's one that will be most important for superdelegates: 1.5 million. That reflects the 1.5 million names of donors that the Obama campaign has on file. Because no contribution below $200 is publicly reported, the vast majority of those names are in Obama's exclusive possession, to be shared as he wishes. As Graham Richard, the longtime mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., explained it to me last week, it's all about the Benjamins. Local officials (that's who most superdelegates are) need the tens of thousands of Democratic donors on that list who come from their states. Their re-election depends on successful fund-raising. No Obama at the top of the ticket, no list. No list, and you may be back selling insurance after November."

Michael Begala, guest blogging May 12, 2008, at the Liberal Rapture blog, responded

You read it right. This, in effect, is threatening to cripple the fundraising ability of the Democratic party if Obama is not given the nomination. He is telling superdelegates, "give me the nomination or risk losing your office for lack of campaign funds."

The unmitigated gall of this man. Threatening to weaken the party and cost the Democrats offices, all if he doesn't get the nomination he feels so entitled to. Clinton supporters are lectured about unquestioning support of the party, yet Obama threatens to cripple Democratic fundraising efforts if he doesn't get his way. It's this type of arrogance, greed, and entitlement that are turning so many people off. Some party man.

But is this really true? Does Sen. Obama hold within his grasp the power to truly blackmail his fellow Democrats into supporting him?

Although he may have a huge database at his disposal of low-dollar contributors, what every candidate has available—should they want to access them—are huge databases of contributors who have donated more than $200 to any candidate which are available straight out of public records held by the IRS. Every campaign has to file those records quarterly and finalize them within 30 days of the end of the calendar year.

A second available source to every candidate are voter registration records that can be purchased from each state's Democratic Party, which presidential candidates do.

Besides, what keeps any candidate from doing the same thing Sen. Obama and others have done, use the internet and events to create his or her own local database? At every event, meet and greet, every local candidate has the ability to compile a hugh database of his or her constituents. Conducting a GOTV campaign is something every candidate should be doing regardless.

Lastly, should anyone buy into the idea that Sen. Obama's campaign singlehandedly has compiled the biggest Rolodex of supporters available to downticket candidates, it should be pointed out that Sen. Obama did not compile his list of contributors totally on his own.

Has everyone already forgotten that Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, among many other members of the Democratic elite hustling Sen. Obama towards the White House, have put their vast resources—including lists of supporters and contributors—at his disposal?

Has everyone already forgotten that more than a dozen of Sen. Obama's bundlers, those who have raised in excess of $50,000, $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama's campaign, are registered lobbyists? Who would be naive enough to believe that they are collecting contributions in amounts less than $200?

Has everyone forgotten that it was former Vermont Governor Howard Dean who built the first major online database of contributors and supporters back in 2003 and early 2004 before he dropped out of the presidential race?

Has everyone forgotten that it was Howard Dean who threw his newly-minted post-campaign organization Democracy for America behind senatorial candidate Barack Obama whom he handpicked as one of the "Dean Dozen"? So where is that database now? In mothballs?

Shame on every single superdelegate who falls for this P.T. Barnum-sized bamboozle.

RezkoWatch HotList 05/13/08

See 270 to Win Electoral College Map.


Watch for updates to the RezkoWatch HotList:

Courtroom Coverage

Eye on Rezko Blog, Chicago Sun-Times.

Tony Rezko News Archive, Chicago Sun-Times.

The Tony Rezko Case, Chicago Tribune.

David Jackson's Chicago Tribune timeline The Obama-Rezko Connection.

Who's who in Rezko corruption trial, Associated Press, May 12, 2008.

Also see Department of Justice files: US v Rezko Trial Exhibits and Hot Topics.

Headlines

Jeff Coen and Bob Secter, Corrupt mastermind or victim of frame-up?, Chicago Tribune, May 13, 2008.

Ray Gibson, Lawmaker wants state to cancel lease with firm linked to Rezko. Firm failed to disclose owners of South Side office, lawmaker says, Chicago Tribune, May 13, 2008.

Catrin Einhorn, Illinois: Closing Arguments in Fund-raiser’s Trial, New York Times, May 13, 2008.

Natasha Korecki and Chris Fusco, Rezko defense rips Levine as 'Pinocchio'. Feds admit star witness is corrupt, unlikable, Chicago Sun-Times, May 13, 2008.

Rezko Star Trial Witness Called 'Quintessential Con Man', NBC5.com, May 13, 2008.

David Beery and Rob Olmstead, Rezko defense again pounds on Levine credibility, Daily Herald, May 13, 2008.

Blogosphere

Gregory Tejeda, When it comes to Chicago 'celeb' trials, Kelly tops Rezko in public's eye any time , Chicago Argus, May 13, 2008.

Rich Miller, Rezko Trial Watch UPDATED x1, The Capitol Fax Blog, May 13, 2008.

Get ready for a showdown in Denver, Sen. Obama

TexasDarlin, Clinton's Rural Advantage, No Quarter, May 12, 2008.

David Mark, Obama's Long Country Road, The Politico, May 12, 2008.

Patrick J. Buchanan, In Defense of Hillary, World Net Daily, May 12, 2008.

SusanUnPC, Terry McAuliffe blames Howard Dean for the Florida mess, No Quarter, May 12, 2008.

Gloria, Obama's May 20 Bash: A Cynical Replay of Election Night 2000 (with update), MyDD, May 12, 2008.

Responses, Anglachel's Journal, May 12, 2008.

Rich Lowry, The Obama Rules, RealClearPolitics.com, May 13, 2008.

Media playing by Obama's rules, Betsy's Page, May 13, 2008.

egalia, WVA Primary: Obama Loses & Biased Pundits Cry Boo-hoo, Tennessee Guerilla Women, May 13, 2008.

Vaughn Ververs, West Virginia Exit Poll Peek, Horserace Blog/CBS News, May 13, 2008.

It IS about the company you keep, Sen. Obama

Obama's Elected Illinois Democratic Colleagues: Corruption,Chicago Mob Ties,and Extremism, Newsalert, February 4, 2007.

Bill Baar, Mr. Auchi, please buy Senator Emil Jones a meal, Illinoize, May 10, 2008.

In Defense of Barack Obama: His Accomplishments, Hyper-Educated-Uppity-Woman, May 12, 2008.

alegre, I wasn't a decision maker, MyDD, May 12, 2008.

Melanie Phillips, Obama's Friends, The Spectator (UK), May 13, 2008.

Obama on Israel and Hamas

Lynn Sweet, GOP Hits Obama Over Israel, Chicago Sun-Times, May 12, 2008.

Hmm... Obama Talks About the Israel Infection on US Foreign Policy, Gateway Pundit, May 12, 2008.

Michael Goldfarb, Obama Talks Israel, The Weekly Standard, May 12, 2008.

Jennifer Rubin, Aftermath of the Obama Interview on Israel, Commentary Magazine, May 12, 2008.

Jeffrey Goldbeg, Obama on Zionism and Hamas, The Atlantic, May 12, 2008.

Larry Johnson, Obama’s Chavez Communist Hezbollah Hamas Problem, No Quarter, May 12, 2008.

The Kosher Hedgehog, Obama's Naive Remarks Encourage Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, Hedgehog Blog, May 12, 2008.

Michael Saul, Barack Obama 'understands' Hamas view, New York Daily News, May 13, 2008.

Barry Rubin, Scary Signals: Obama's Ideology Hints At Dangerous Policy, American Thinker, May 13, 2008.

Peggy Shapiro, The Obama Change We Really Can Believe In, American Thinker, May 13, 2008.

Ed Lasky, Obama's Attitude on Lebanon, and the Palestinians, American Thinker, May 13, 2008.

Everything else

el nuko, Obama refuses to release his birth certificate, Nuke's News and Views, May 12, 2008.

Michael Begala, It's all about the Benjamins, Liberal Rapture, May 12, 2008.

Play Nice, Dem Boyz 'N Girlz -- Or We'll Rip Off the Head Of Dem Party Intra-Party Unity Pony & Stuff It Down Its Day-Glo Neck, No Blood for Hubris, May 12, 2008.

Bob Barr announces run - Who does he hurt?, Riverdaughter, May 12, 2008.

ShallowHal, Chaos Theory, Savage Politics, May 12, 2008.

Pat Racimore, Obama's Hot Air Balloon, No Quarter, May 12, 2008.

RezkoWatch recommended blogs
The "Best Blogs" list has been shifted to the side bar.

Buck Naked Politics. New

The Beachwood Reporter. New.

Iron My Vote. New.

The Democratic Daily. New.

ObamaUnveiled. New.

Polzoo. RezkoWatch is a member of this political blog community.

RezkoWatch FactChecker: NYT reports Obama is a Muslim by birth

Edward N. Luttwak, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in the May 12, 2008, New York Times article, "President Apostate":

But it is a mistake to conflate his African identity with his Muslim heritage. Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him.

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

The conservative controversial blog Little Green Footballs, which had "raised the issue" on February 11, 2007, commented:

After relentlessly labeling anyone who brings up the issue of Barack Obama’s Muslim origins as a bigot, a racist, or a lunatic, suddenly this morning the New York Times publishes an op-ed that actually admits Obama was born a Muslim—and that it might cause serious problems in an Obama presidency.

Luttwak foresees possible problems with Muslim countries:

At the very least, that would complicate the security planning of state visits by President Obama to Muslim countries, because the very act of protecting him would be sinful for Islamic security guards. More broadly, most citizens of the Islamic world would be horrified by the fact of Senator Obama’s conversion to Christianity once it became widely known — as it would, no doubt, should he win the White House. This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, as well as American efforts to export democracy and human rights abroad.

That an Obama presidency would cause such complications in our dealings with the Islamic world is not likely to be a major factor with American voters, and the implication is not that it should be. But of all the well-meaning desires projected on Senator Obama, the hope that he would decisively improve relations with the world’s Muslims is the least realistic.

There will surely be more about this to come.

Also see Aaron Klein, Is Sen. Obama a Muslim? RW, April 3, 2008.

RezkoWatch FactChecker: Klein: Ex-Obama adviser's pro-Hamas views 'well known' [Video Update]

Robert Malley, an "employee of the International Crisis Group," who said he "served as an 'informal' Middle East advisor" to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), "quit after it was reported he held talks with Hamas was a well-known supporter of negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group," Aaron Klein reported May 11, 2008, for World Net Daily. Malley "told NBC News this past weekend he decided to step down after the Times of London inquired about whether he had contacts with Hamas."

"Malley's pro-Hamas views, though, were no secret," Klein wrote.

WND reported in January Malley has penned numerous opinion articles, many of them co-written with a former adviser to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, petitioning for dialogue with Hamas and blasting Israel for numerous policies he says harm the Palestinian cause.

In February 2006, after Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament and amid a U.S. and Israeli attempt to isolate the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority, Malley wrote an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun advocating international aid to the terror group's newly formed government.

"The Islamists (Hamas) ran on a campaign of effective government and promised to improve Palestinians' lives; they cannot do that if the international community turns its back," wrote Malley in a piece entitled, "Making the Best of Hamas' Victory."

Malley contended the election of Hamas expressed Palestinian "anger at years of humiliation and loss of self-respect because of Israeli settlement expansion, Arafat's imprisonment, Israel's incursions, Western lecturing and, most recently and tellingly, the threat of an aid cut off in the event of an Islamist success."

Malley said the U.S. should not "discourage third-party unofficial contacts with [Hamas] in an attempt to moderate it."

"Hamas in recent days has become a campaign issue for Obama, who has repeatedly called Hamas a terror group that should be isolated," Klein wrote.

Last week, Obama and Sen. John McCain traded barbs about a Hamas endorsement that came during an interview with WND and with [John Batchelor of] WABC Radio.

Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, expressed "hope" Obama will win the presidential elections and he compared the Illinois senator to John F. Kennedy.

McCain mentioned Hamas' praise of Obama during several national interviews.

Obama claimed McCain's statements were a "smear."

Obama also came under fire after it was reported his Trinity United Church of Christ newsletter reprinted an opinion piece by a top Hamas official that defended terrorism as legitimate resistance, refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist and compared the terror group's official charter – which calls for the murder of Jews – to America's Declaration of Independence.

The Hamas piece was published on Rev. Jeremiah Wright's "Pastor's Page," which later printed an open letter by a pro-Palestinian activist that labeled Israel an "apartheid" regime and claimed the Jewish state worked on an "ethnic bomb" that kills "blacks and Arabs."

"Hamas Endorses Obama," Aaron Klein on Fox News, May 12, 2008


"Hamas Endorses Obama," Fox News, May 11, 2008 (JewsAgainstObama.org)


There is another video link here. Read the rest of Klein's article here.

Also see Aaron Klein's related WND article, There is no "Hamas" smear, and Philip Klein's The American Spectator article Stop Believing Obama, both published May 12, 2008.

RezkoWatch Electability 2008: Winter: What If Clinton Forces Second Convention Vote on Obama?

Please welcome Guest Blogger Ronald E. Winter, author of Masters of the Art, A Fighting Marine’s Memoir of Vietnam, who blogs at Winter Soldier's Story. His article What If Clinton Forces Second Convention Vote on Obama? was published May 11, 2008.

---

I am not by any means an expert on political convention procedures, Republican or Democrat, but I do know that somewhere in the process, if a first vote doesn't produce a clear nominee, pledged delegates are released to vote their own minds.

What happens to the ever so well-crafted numbers that the media has been throwing at us for months now if the first vote doesn't produce a nominee? What happens if Hillary Clinton gets enough delegates in the remaining primaries to deny Barack Obama the majority he needs to claim victory?

Yes, I am aware that the Democrats use "Super" delegates who ostensibly are free to vote their consciences, and that as of today Obama was claiming that he had more than Clinton.

But a lot can happen between now and convention time and Super Delegates are in play right up to the instant they vote. So that number can change overnight, and if Obama doesn't have enough committed delegates to get the nomination on the first vote, what happens next?

At what point do the committed delegates get released from their commitments, regardless of whether they are committed to Clinton or Obama?

Based on most of the opinions I have heard from the political scene in recent weeks, Clinton will win West Virginia handily, Kentucky by a decent margin, as well as Puerto Rico, with Oregon, Montana and South Dakota up for grabs.

So essentially, we'll finish up the Democratic primary season in something near a dead heat, with Obama a tiny bit ahead in the committed delegate count, but not over the top.

That however, doesn't include the primaries in Florida and Michigan that Clinton won but the Democrats aren't counting.

And please, don't bore me with this "Obama didn't run in Michigan" nonsense. Who's fault is that? Yeah, His!

How typically Democratic in concept. The man didn't do what he needed to do to win all the states regardless of the technicalities involved, so now he is a victim of his own system?

Obama doesn't get any Michigan numbers because he wrote that state off and that is too bad. But the Democratic party is cutting its own throat by excluding the opinions of millions of voters who could care less what the bigwigs in their party did with their primary schedules.

That is not helpful to Obama, nor is his "victim" attitude.

If you include Clinton's victories in Florida and Michigan in this count, the whole picture changes.

Obama's playing the race card repeatedly isn't helping him either. He won big in North Carolina because nearly half the Democratic voters in North Carolina are black, and 90+ percent of them voted for Obama.

But nationwide, blacks account for one-eighth of the population and while it certainly is desirable to have a large voting bloc in your camp, and the voice of African-Americans certainly should be heard and heeded, that percentage can't win on its own.

Here is the dirty little secret that most political newscasters and commentators don't want to address in their unending quest for political correctness.

White people by and large are pissed at Obama. Many whites would have voted for him early on. But first his wife bad mouths a country that gave her opportunities to excel in one of the most prestigious of Ivy League schools, and an annual income that is 10 times higher than most wage earners; then Rev. Jeremiah Wright goes out rapping smack about whitey and the USAKKK.

Then we find that his other associations are less than savory, what with federal trials involving close Obama friends and supporters, and unrepentant terrorists in his circle of backers.

White people, not white liberal Democrats, or even unaffiliated left-leaning voters, but run of the mill white people, many of whom often don't vote, are angry with Obama.

I don't see this as racist either! I believe there are huge numbers of white Americans who are more than willing to vote for a qualified black person, man or woman, as well as a woman of any race.

But they want qualified people representing them. They want people who really are post-racial, not just posturing and then displaying age-old racial stereotyping in private.

A wide range of viewpoints comes into [my] site or my emails every day, and even when I disagree with the authors, I heed where they come from and what kind of demographic they represent.

Virtually all of them are angry with Obama. He does not have the support of the veterans, he does not have the support of the active military, he doesn't have the support of non-Democrat blue collar workers especially independents, and what with his latest shot at John McCain's age, you can bet the senior citizens aren't going to be on his side either. They're seeing him as just another upstart who wants to discount and discard their years of sacrifices, contributions and knowledge and shove them off to the side whenever their votes aren't needed.

Frankly, not only do I not see Obama getting elected, if he is nominated I wouldn't be surprised to see a backlash vote against him from many fronts, including those who don't usually vote, and thus usually aren't included in the myriad polls the pundits use to try to tell us how to think.

I don't believe I am the only person out here who sees this. I believe Hillary Clinton's camp is well aware of it, even though her advisers say otherwise, as is Obama's. Neither has the best interests of the Democratic party in mind, so neither will give up unless they are down, out and still getting stomped.

So it is conceivable that we can see this fight go right to the convention floor, and regardless of the delegate count at the moment, it all can change in the super delegate numbers. That change could occur if the Democratic convention goes beyond the first ballot.