archives

AP:

Clinton won three out of four primaries this week, giving her campaign a much-needed boost after a month of defeats.

But she picked up only 12 more delegates than Obama, leaving him with a 140-delegate lead among those won in primaries and caucuses. There are only 614 delegates available in the remaining contests, meaning Clinton would have to win about 62 percent of them to overtake Obama, according to the AP analysis.

That's nearly impossible, given the way Democrats award delegates proportionally.

However, AP reports that Obama won't have enough pledged delegates to win the thing outright. It's going to come down to the superdelegates for either candidate, and it's very unlikely that Hillary will have more pledged delegates at the convention.

Salt Lake Tribune:

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committed released a scathing report on Thursday laying blame for the tragedy also on the Mine Safety and Health Administration for missing "significant flaws" in engineering analysis of the mine and ignoring several red flags, including an earlier cave-in that the report says should have been more thoroughly probed.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., says the report shows a need for a full, criminal investigation by the Department of Justice.

"The committee's investigation has revealed that the owner of Crandall Canyon mine, Murray Energy, disregarded dangerous conditions at the mine, failed to tell federal regulators about these dangers, conducted unauthorized mining and — as a result — exposed its miners to serious risks," Kennedy said in a statement. "MSHA also unconscionably failed to protect miners by hastily rubber-stamping the plan. This is a clear case of callous disregard for the law and for safety standards, and hardworking miners lost their lives."

Steve Olsen, who ran against Congressman Rob Bishop in 2006, will challenge Republican Scott Jenkins in District 20 (Utah Amicus). We can expect to hear more language like this:

Olsen gives several reasons for his decision. "For many years, Democrats have talked about the need for balance in the Legislature. The events of the last few years highlight this need more than ever. Private school vouchers are only the most recent and visible example of how the Republicans on Capitol Hill have lost touch with the people of Utah. They knew that an overwhelming majority of Utah's citizens opposed this scheme, but they rammed the voucher bill through anyway.

"This is only one of many examples of the arrogance that is helping to change the political wind in Utah this year. Thoughtful Utahns are beginning to realize what Utah's moderate, patriotic Democrats have known for years — the Republicans that control the Legislature have become so extreme that Utah Democrats more closely represent the values of our citizens."

The Tribune has picked up on this framing; today's paper reviews the 2008 legislative session and asks, "Did your lawmakers listen to you?"

AP:

More people say they are Democrats than said so before voting started in this year's presidential contests while the number of Republicans has remained flat, a survey showed Thursday.

The Associated Press-Ipsos poll had additional bad news for the GOP: The number of independents and moderates satisfied with President Bush and the country's direction has dipped to record or near-record lows. [...]

The poll showed 52 percent call themselves Democrats, up from 45 percent in an AP-Ipsos survey in mid-December. Thirty-five percent say they are Republicans, about the same as December's 37 percent.

That gives Dems quite a head start in the general presidential election, doesn't it.