MORE AFTERNOON POSTINGS,  WEDNESDAY,  MARCH 26, 2008

The time is 4:56 p.m., ET.

THE POLLS

As regular readers know, I become deeply upset at news that the Democratic Party is in trouble.

Oh, stop laughing.

But get this, from Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.

The actual numbers:  Some 28 percent of Hillary's troops would vote for McCain if Obama got the Democratic nomination.  Some 19 percent of Obama supporters would vote for McCain if Clinton got the nod.

Such angry people. 

If I were Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean right now, I'd haul out those old Japanese military manuals and mark a spot on my stomach where the sword goes in.  Look, it's a choice.

Now, Gallup cautions that the poll was taken in the heat of political combat.  By November, tempers might cool, and Democrats might drift back to their party.  Then again, they might not.  I was watching John McCain give a foreign-policy speech today, and found him reasonable, statesmanlike, and presidential.  It was clear that he was building his crossover appeal.  His positions, and his story, make him very attractive to traditional Democrats, who did not walk the halls of the Harvard Law School, but do walk the factory floors of General Electric and Ford.

Keep fighting, Democrats.  What a show. 

March 26, 2008.  Permalink   

AFTERNOON POSTINGS,  WEDNESDAY,  MARCH 26, 2008

The time is 1:47 p.m., ET.

McPEAK

We reported last night the latest flap in the Obama campaign.  Once again it involved an adviser. American Spectator revealed that Retired Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak had made some comments that most reasonable people would say bordered on anti-Semitism.  (See our post here.)  The Obama campaign has now responded with this:

"Neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama agrees with every position their advisors take, and in this case Senator Obama disagrees with General McPeak's comments."

How strong!  How decisive!  How, well, leader-like!  Not.

This is McPeak's second flap in a week.  Last week he accused former President Clinton of McCarthyism.  It was way over the top.

McPeak should be Powered, as in Samantha Power, who was dropped from the Obama campaign after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." 

March 26, 2008.  Permalink

McPEAK FROM THE INSIDE

Here is an inside peek at McPeak. It comes from an Urgent Agenda reader.  We'll describe him as a former Pentagon official with personal knowledge.  He writes:

"Your link to the McPeak 'Jews' story was not one that would shock anyone who was subordinate to him, or to any of his peers who would go on record about him.  He is as stubborn, dogmatic and narrow as can be, so it is a natural that he would have some canard such as the one noted."

McPeak may be in line to be secretary of defense in an Obama administration.  The same insider wrote again, as follows:

"McPeak was well known to his peers as being as ruthless to them as he was to subordinates, but to superiors he was eager to please, even sycophantic at times.  What does that say as to how he would advise a president, or how he would run the Pentagon?  After all, didn't many senior officers complain bitterly about Rumsfeld's ignoring them and their concerns?"  

Mr. Obama wants to run on his "judgment."  How about his judgment of people?  I suspect this won't be the last revelation about the Obama group.

March 26, 2008.  Permalink

More afternoon tidbits coming later.  Please check back.