CALIFORNIA YANKEE

McCain: Iraq Combat Over, U.S. Troops Home By 2013

The Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket Blog reports Senator McCain, in a speech he's about to give shortly at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio will say he envisions direct American military involvement to be over in Iraq by 2013 - the end of President McCain's first term:

"By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced.

"Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders.

"The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

"The threat from a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced but not eliminated. U.S. and NATO forces remain there to help finish the job, and continue operations against the remnants of al Qaeda.

"The Government of Pakistan has cooperated with the U.S. in successfully adapting the counterinsurgency tactics that worked so well in Iraq and Afghanistan to its lawless tribal areas where al Qaeda fighters are based. The increase in actionable intelligence that the counterinsurgency produced led to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and his chief lieutenants.

"There is no longer any place in the world al Qaeda can consider a safe haven. Increased cooperation between the United States and its allies in the concerted use of military, diplomatic, and economic power and reforms in the intelligence capabilities of the United States has disrupted terrorist networks and exposed plots around the world. There still has not been a major terrorist attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001."

To achieve this victory, McCain must first win the election in November.

Bill Clinton On The Democrats' Disenfranchisement Of FL And MI Voters

Bill Clinton makes a strong argument for seating Florida and Michigan delegates, and suggests Hillary is being punished:

“I never thought it would be the Democratic Party that didn’t want to count votes in Florida,” he said at a rally at the University of Montana. “I thought that was a Republican strategy -- or strategery as the case may be. And I just ask you all this, do you really believe Florida would be getting this kind of treatment if the vote had turned out the other way?”

[. . .]

“Hillary offered a revote in Michigan; we offered a revote in Florida,” Clinton said. “In both cases, the other campaign said, ‘Nope, no re-vote, we will just see what to do when this thing is over.’ Why would we put Michigan at risk and pretend that these people didn't show up and pretend that somehow she is responsible and the voters themselves are responsible and she should be punished for what intermediaries did?”

Clinton said the removal of Florida and Michigan had a “superficial element of fairness” because Obama and John Edwards took their name off the ballot. But, he added, they did that because Hillary Clinton was ahead in the polls and there was a “very organized and funded campaign to get everyone to vote uncommitted.” However, Clinton herself said last fall that the Michigan contest was "not going to count for anything."

“So if we are gonna decide a closely held contest, it shouldn’t be decided with those kind of tactics and those kind of principles,” he said. “This should be a great empowerment election, and how ironic it would be, if after so many people have been empowered through internet giving and active participation, if the thing would be decided by the most disempowering top-down, and I think mindless decision I can recall in a month of Sundays.”

I have always thought the Democrats' disenfranchisement of Florida and Michigan voters was a huge mistake. I understand the problem of every state wanting to have the fist primary, I just think the Republican approach of cutting the delegations of offending states in half to be, well more democratic, while still sending a strong message about following party rules.

While Bill makes a strong argument here, one should remember that seating the Florida and Michigan delegates is essential for Hillary to have any chance to defeat Obama. It's not like the Clintons tried to stop the possible disenfranchisement when the rule was adopted by the DNC.

Edwards Endorsing Barack Obama

John Edwards is endorsing Obama.

Edwards amassed 56 national convention delegates. Eighteen of those have been pledged to him, allowing the former candidate's campaign to have a say in how they will vote.

According to CNN's Political Ticker, Edwards will endorse Barack Obama at a Michigan campaign event within the hour.

This is one more step to the inevitable nomination of Obama.

'The Al Sharpton Of White People'

I didn't have anything good to say about Hillary's racially divisive "white Americans" comments:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

And I don't think much of Al Sharpton.

But, I never would have considered calling Hillary "the Al Sharpton of White People." That's Chris Matthews' take on Hillary's "white America" comments. Watch the following video clip:

Hillary Wins West Virginia

As expected, Hillary is projected to be the winner in the Democrats' West Virginia primary by a wide margin.

Courtesy of USAToday and the Associated Press, here's a look at preliminary results from the West Virginia exit polls:

LOOKING AHEAD TO NOVEMBER

Barely a third of Clinton supporters say they'd vote for Obama over John McCain in a November matchup. As many claim they'd vote for Republican John McCain and a quarter said they would not vote for president. If that horse race were Clinton vs. McCain, half of Obama backers say they'd vote for Clinton, about three in 10 say they'd back McCain and the rest would stay home.

REV. WRIGHT FACTOR

Two in 10 voters said Barack Obama shares the views of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "a lot." Another three in 10 said Obama shares Wright's views "somewhat."

So those voters add up to about half of those surveyed.

Meanwhile, about one-quarter said Obama shares Wright's views "not much" and the final quarter said they don't think the candidate shares his former pastor's views at all.

That's also about half.

Two in 10 voters said Barack Obama shares the views of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "a lot." Another three in 10 said Obama shares Wright's views "somewhat."

So those voters add up to about half of those surveyed.

Meanwhile, about one-quarter said Obama shares Wright's views "not much" and the final quarter said they don't think the candidate shares his former pastor's views at all.

That's also about half.

THE BILL CLINTON FACTOR

Three quarters of Hillary Rodham Clinton voters said Bill Clinton's campaigning was important to their vote. More than half of Barack Obama voters said the former president's campaigning was of little or no importance.

ECONOMIC WORRIES

More than six in 10 voters picked the economy from three choices as the most important issue facing the country. About one in five picked the Iraq war.

Clinton voters were more likely than Obama backers to say the economy was hurting their families a lot. Half of Clinton voters said the current recession or economic slowdown has affected them and their families a great deal. About three in 10 Obama voters said the slowdown has affected them a great deal and more than half said it affected them somewhat.

RACE, GENDER AS VOTING FACTORS

One in four Clinton voters and about one in 10 Obama voters said race was an important factor in their vote.

About one in five Clinton voters said gender was an important factor in their vote. Nearly as many Obama voters said that.

DEMOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS

As expected, roughly 95 percent of West Virginia Democratic primary voters were white. Half of voters were from rural areas.

It was one of the oldest electorates among 31 Democratic primaries with exit polls to date, with four in 10 over age 60. The only other states with somewhat similar numbers were Arkansas, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma — and Hillary Clinton won all four states.

It also was the electorate with the highest proportion — just about seven in 10 — of people who lack a college degree thus far this primary season. The same held true for whites without a college degree — again, historically a strong Clinton group.

No Surprises here. Even Hillary's projected two to one victory doesn't change the likelihood that Obama will be the Democrats" nominee, as Tim Russert explains in the following video:

Russert Explains The Democrats' Fuzzy Nomination Math

Are you confused by all the pledged delegates, superdelegates, disenfranchisement of Florida and Michigan Democrats and the fuzzy math of the never ending fight between Hillary and Obama? In the following video Tim Russert explains the numbers:

More Lies And Distortion From The Obama Campaign

In yet another New York Times advocacy "article" for Obama, this one trying to explain away the fact that the terrorist group Hamas prefers Obama for president, Susan E. Rice, an Obama foreign policy adviser tells a whopper.

Incredibly, Rice had the audacity to claim that Obama isn't "willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad:

Mr. McCain and his surrogates have repeatedly stated that Mr. Obama would be willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad. But Dr. Rice said that this was not the case for or any other so-called “rogue” state.

This is simply a bald face lie.

At the CNN/YouTube Democrat debate last July, Obama was asked if he would be willing to meet, without precondition, during the first year of his administration with the leaders of , Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. Obama's answer was simple and direct, "I would." That's much different from the fabrication put forth by Rice.

So no one claims I am taking what Obama actually said out of context the transcript of the debate is available here and following video is the entire question and answer:

How long will the admittedly Obamamania infected mainstream media Obama and his campaign get away with these continuing attempts to rewrite history by lying about what Obama has said as well as distorting the truth about what Senator McCain says?

There cannot be a serious and meaningful debate about the important issues facing the nation as long as Obama refuses to be honest about what he and Senator McCain actually say on the issues.

McCain has called for a civil and respectful campaign. It's too bad Obama chooses to continue to campaign with his deceive-and-distort politics.

Economists Back McCain

The Wall Street Journal's economics blog, Real Time Economics, reports Senator McCain was the clear favorite of those economists who responded to the question:

"Which of the three remaining presidential candidates offers the most responsible fiscal policy proposals in your view?"

Twenty-one economists, or 75% of the respondents, chose Senator McCain, the republican nominee to be. Obama came in second with the backing of six economists, or 21% of the respondents. Just one economist picked Hillary.

The question was asked as part of the Journal's latest forecasting survey.

Another interesting finding from the survey was that 51% of the respondents said demand from China and India was the prime factor in soaring energy prices, and 41% said the demand was the chief contributor to rising food costs. Constraint in supply was cited second most often; Twenty percent blamed supply problems for higher food prices, and 15% for increasing energy prices. If these economist are right, there is little the U.S. can do to ease the pain of higher energy and food prices.

According to he survey, the price of crude is expected to fall to about $105 by the end of next month and to about $93 by the end of the year, overall inflation will continue, and gasoline prices are expected to stay high. Get use to it.

Hillary Finally Comes Right Out And Says It

She denies it, but in the end, Hillary makes her presidential campaign all about race.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

You can hear Hillary's blatant race baiting in the following YouTube clip:

Who should be Senator McCain's running mate?

CQ Politics just launched VP Madness:

Modeled after the NCAA college basketball tournament bracket, VP Madness lets you select John McCain’s running mate from a competitive field of potential GOP vice presidential candidates.

CQ's reporters and editors narrowed the field to 32 potential running mates, handicapped the races, pitted the candidates in head-to-head matchups and provided the scoop on who might have the inside track.

Go to CQ Politics VP Madness and make your first-round picks by May 6.

VP Madness - GOP Edition

Who should be Senator McCain's running mate?

CQ Politics just launched VP Madness:

Modeled after the NCAA college basketball tournament bracket, VP Madness lets you select John McCain’s running mate from a competitive field of potential GOP vice presidential candidates.

CQ's reporters and editors narrowed the field to 32 potential running mates, handicapped the races, pitted the candidates in head-to-head matchups and provided the scoop on who might have the inside track.

Go to CQ Politics VP Madness and make your first-round picks by May 6.