- Tue. Jul 8, 2008
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WHAT'S NEWS
• Barack Obama won a "decisive" 56-42% victory in NC yesterday, while Hillary Clinton "eked out a narrow" 51-49% win in IN "to keep her campaign alive" (Boston Globe).
• Exit polls in IN "showed about half the voters saying" the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy was an important factor in their vote. Exit polls also showed "two-thirds of working-class whites" were backing HRC, "while blacks were overwhelmingly supporting Obama" (Indianapolis Star).
• Meanwhile, in NC, "most voters dismissed the Wright controversy." Obama won 91% of black voters "while capturing just over a third of white votes," according to exit polls (Charlotte Observer).
• Last night, HRC "needed a game changer. Instead, it's almost game over" (AP). However, "the split decision underscored some" of Obama's weaknesses "and the party's fissures -- and left the likelihood that the nomination marathon will continue inconclusively for a final month" (Wall Street Journal).
• In her speech last night, HRC made a "glancing reference to the difficult path ahead," while Bill Clinton "wiped away a tear" (New York Times). But aides "insisted that she had no intention of dropping out" (Washington Post).
• "Soldiering on," HRC "added a previously unscheduled campaign" stop in WV this a.m., at Shepherd Univ. in Shepherdstown (CNN).
• In his speech to supporters last night, Obama "resounded with newfound optimism" (Detroit Free Press) and "aimed his victory message directly at superdelegates as he exulted in his solid win" in "a big state, a swing state" (San Francisco Chronicle).
• Meanwhile, Obama mgr. David Plouffe has "sent a memo to superdelegates reminding them of the math," claiming that HRC "would need to win 68 percent of the remaining delegates" to win the nod (AP).
• Obama strategist David Axelrod said last night that the camp would soon focus on the general election, adding: "I don't think we're going to spend time solely in primary states" ("Washington Wire").
• Seeking to remain relevant, John McCain will take on "the scourge of human trafficking" during a MI town hall today -- "201 years after the abolition of the British and American slave trade" ("The Swamp").
• Ex-Rep.Jill Long Thompson "captured a slim victory" in IN GOV "early today" -- winning by just 5,400 votes -- "in a fierce battle" against businessman Jim Schellinger for the Dem nod (Indianapolis Star).
• LG Bev Perdue won the NC GOV Dem nod over Treas. Richard Moore by a 56-40% vote. On the GOP side, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory defeated state Sen. Fred Smith, 46-37% (Fayetteville Observer).
• In an attempt to break a Senate confirmation "deadlock," Pres. Bush nominated two GOPers and one Dem to the FEC yesterday, but he still "resisted efforts to withdraw" the stalled nomination of ex-DoJ official Hans von Spakovsky (AP).
• For more headlines, see today's Earlybird: Top News; Campaigns; Pundits & Editorials; Network News; TV Guests; Today In Washington.
PLAY OF THE DAY
Find out what Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Kimmel have in common on Play of the Day!
HAIR OF THE DOG
"A dozen nuns" in their 80s and 90s -- all residents of a retirement home at St. Mary's Convent -- "were denied ballots" yesterday because they did not have valid IN photo ID cards (Los Angeles Times).
GOSSIP BUFFET
• With nothing else to do, Rudy Giuliani is now trying to get his newest client, heavyweight boxing champion/"Dr. Iron Fist" Vitali Klitschko, elected mayor of Kiev, Ukraine (Wall Street Journal).
• Judith Giuliani was spotted recently "at TJ Maxx in Bridgehampton, helping Rudy shop for pants at the sale rack" (New York Post).
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez's (D-IL) "shopping trick" is "to take his Brooks Brothers outlet purchases to the regular Brooks Brothers store on Chicago's Michigan Avenue to get them tailored" (The Hill).
• Even though she was wearing "an immaculate white pantsuit" on Monday night, Arianna Huffington ate "oily" pizza with her hands at DC's Comet Ping Pong, as "fellow diners stared in awe and horror" ("The Reliable Source").
• At the downtown bar, The Raleigh Times, last night, Obama "eyed an array of mighty fine micro brews" -- the "loverly amber" Maharaja IPA and the "naturally cloudy" Blanche Bruxelles -- but opted for Pabst Blue Ribbon ("The Caucus").
• When he was pulled over last week, married drunk-driving Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) reportedly "implied" to cops that the 3-year-old daughter of Air Force Col. Laura Fay -- the woman who later "plucked him from jail" -- "was his" (New York Daily News).
• Jay, the "amazing bus driver" of the Straight Talk Express, "has returned to the trail" (McCainBlogette.com).
• McCain's voice now "greets passengers" on the P.A. at CO's Pitkin Co. Airport, "warning them about new security regulations and asking them to enjoy their stay" in Aspen (Rocky Mountain News).
• "I can understand how he felt as the underdog ... so I just added him to my Facebook page" -- cong. staffer Javier Martinez, feeling like the "Latino Obama" in his bid to become pres. of the Cong. Hispanic Staffers Assn (Roll Call).
• As GA Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) signed a bill to increase penalties for dog fighting, a 92-pound dog named Bubba "put his front paws on the governor's desk." A somewhat smaller dog, Chip, did, too, and eventually "leaped up on the governor's desk and sat there for the signing" (Florida Times-Union).
• CBS had a "nail-biter of a night" after calling the IN race for HRC at 8:09 pm -- standing alone until the AP and other nets joined it after 1 am (New York Times).
• Conan O'Brien, on B. Clinton giving a speech in NC from the back of a pickup truck: "And like all the speeches Bill Clinton gives in the back of a pickup truck, it began, 'You have beautiful eyes'" ("Late Night").
ROOSTER'S CROW
• Patti Page and Kellie Pickler attend the Nat'l Cmte of Grandparents for Children's Rights "GrandRally" (in front of the Capitol, 1 pm).
• The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds a screening of "Double Indemnity" (8th and F Sts. NW, 6 pm).
• Cokie Roberts discusses her new book (Nat'l Archives, 7 pm).
• McCain on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central, 11 pm).
• Jimmy Carter on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (NBC, 11:35 pm).
BREAKFAST FLAKE
"There's no greater threat to families and to marriage than the high divorce rate" -- a possibly regretful twice-divorced PA state Sen. Vincent Fumo (D), proposing legislation making divorce illegal in PA (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
Nora McAlvanah, Editor
Maura O'Brien, Associate Editor
About Wake-Up Call
- A morning news briefing on politicians and the press.