Blue Crab Boulevard

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and youre okay.
Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team.
(R. Waters, Money)

At the rate Obama is raking it in, he's likely going to be able to afford to buy a football team or two. Right after news that Hillary Clinton is having to give cash transfusions to her campaign, word comes that Obama is on track to follow up his $32 million January fundraising with at least $30 million this month.

Barack Obama’s campaign is on track to raise another $30 million in February, sources close to the Illinois senator say, while Hillary Rodham Clinton’s spokesman revealed Wednesday that she had loaned her campaign $5 million.

Insiders in both campaigns say the growing financial disparity virtually ensures that Obama will be able to significantly outspend Clinton in the critical primaries to come.

Even before all the Super Tuesday votes were counted, Obama began airing advertisements in Nebraska, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Maine — the next round of primary and caucus states — before Clinton did.

His campaign has raised $2.2 million in less than 24 hours, sources say.

“Obama’s financial superiority is straining the Clinton campaign at this point. That’s reflected in how he spread the field on her in Super Tuesday.

His ability to advertise in more states than she did, to put more resources on the ground than she did,” gave Obama an edge, said Anthony Corrado, an expert on campaign finance at Colby College.

That "brokered" thing from the previous post might be resolving itself even as you read this. Clinton's money pumps appear to be failing just at the same time that Obama's are coming on line at full power. 

Well, it's out in the open now. Howard Dean admitted that the Democratic party would have to step in and broker a deal between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton if the primaries do not yeild a clear winner before the convention.

(CNN) — As predictions of a convention floor fight from the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to mount, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the party would likely intervene to prevent that scenario.

Dean said Democrats would look to “get the candidates together to make some kind of an arrangement” before the party meets in Denver this August to officially select its nominee.

In an interview on NY1 on Tuesday, before the outcome of the day’s votes was known, Dean said he thought the Democratic Party would have a nominee by mid-March or April.

"The idea that we can afford to have a big fight at the convention and then win the race in the next eight weeks, I think, is not a good scenario,” he said.

If there is no nominee selected by his predicted mid-spring date, or by Puerto Rico's June vote – the last presidential primary on the Democratic calendar – Dean said the party would likely bring both sides together to work out a deal.

“Because I don't think we can afford to have a brokered convention,” he said. “That would not be good news for either party."

The conventional wisdom not long ago said that there would be a Clinton-Obama ticket. But if Obama is leading in delegates, how would an Obama-Clinton ticket play out?

Answer: not well for the Clintons.

Part of me, as I have mentioned before, worries that all the thunder and lightning from the two contenders might be political kabuki and that the CW would prevail. Dean's naked insider move here makes that a bit more likely. But there are a couple of big flies in the ointment here. First off, in general, Vice Presidents do not get promoted to the top office in the US. Historically, it is a fairly rare thing. So whoever gets "brokered" into playing second fiddle will probably be giving up any chance at the top spot. 

Obama has been running extremely well, much better than I initially expected, frankly. For him to give up all his aspirations to be President is pretty well unthinkable. For Clinton, she believes that job is hers, almost as a birthright. I can't see her giving that up, either. So if have a virtually unsolvable problem there. 

Compound all that by trying to imagine what an Obama Presidency would be like with Hillary and her co-Vice President standing over his shoulder the whole time. Or what a completely insignificant role Obama would play when the Bubbapalooza is upstaging him at every turn.

The Democrats are caught in a trap of their own making here. They have played identity politics for years and have the unfortunate historical timing to have two "identity" candidates appear to be viable at the same time. And the "brokering" will likely cause real damage. 

Time's The Page blog with a blockbuster:

***Page Exclusive: Some Clinton Senior Staff Working Without Pay*** 

That includes campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.

They have serious problems. Expect serious leakage in the next few days. 

Close on the heels of the news that Barack Obama raised some $32 million in January comes news that Hillary Clinton was forced to loan her campaign $5 million out of her own pocket to try to keep up with Obama. This is not the indication of a healthy campaign at this late date. Even worse, she's considering another loan.

And in a quick update, her campaign has just confirmed that she’d already lent her coffers $5 million of her own money in late January. A just-issued statement from her camp:

The loan illustrates Senator Clinton’s commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the Web today and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.

More Updates: At her news conference this afternoon, Senator Clinton acknowledged the loan, saying: “I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. That’s where I got the money. I did it because I believe very strongly in this campaign, and we had a great month fund-raising in January, broke all our records, but my opponent was able to raise more money and we intended to be competitive – and we were – and I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment.”

The Caucus notes that they can see appeals from Bubba and Chelsea Clinton in the near future. "Please help my wife/mom." Yeah, you can pretty well bet that's coming, along with another water main break from the candidate herself begging for money so she can - sniff - finish the job.  Because all of this is so hard.

Bonus question: How many of the people she purports to champion have the odd $10 million or so sitting around gathering dust?  

Hugh Hewitt, who was an early friend to this blog, is a strong Romney supporter. Today he called for people to get behind the nominee - regardless of who wins the nomination in the Republican party. He can give you seven good reasons why:

As of this morning, McCain has earned 615 delegates and 4,220,296 votes; Romney 268 delegates and 3,497,341 votes, and Huckabee 169 delegates and 2,232,530 votes.

(If we were using West Virginia rules, we'd get the Huck folks to revote right now and get one of the GOP candidates to 50%.)

Senator McCain has a clear path to the nomination, Romney a very uphill battle, and Huck is fighting for 2012 at this point and for a win in a major vote outside of the south.  Certainly they should all stay in through the primaries ahead because it isn't over and because our side needs the excitement of a campaign in such key falls states as Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania to keep the MSM from turning 100% of its attention on to growing the Obama phenomenon.  They ought to be scheduling three man debates in every state, making their points and taking every opportunity to look ahead to the fall.

At the same time, Romney and Huckabee ought to begin to note Senator McCain's lead and urge their followers to recognize that if they cannot come back they and their followers will have to come in and join the party's eventual nominee.  Senator McCain would do well to make a similar statement though his lead is significant and his collapse unlikely.  Putting Humpty Dumpty together again cannot wait for St. Paul.  Each of the three need to strike some common chords again and again, beginning with why the GOP needs to retain the White House, regardless of who its nominee is.

There are seven reasons for anyone to support the eventual nominee no matter who it is:  The war and six Supreme Court justices over the age of 68.

Please jump over there and read the rest of what Hugh wrote. I've pointed this out myself, of course, but Hugh has a teeny bit bigger readership. Bryan at Hot Air also notes that John McCain is trying to reach out to conservatives. McCain is doing a good job of it, too, he notes:

I’ve come to post this not to bash McCain, but to praise him. If this call was my first introduction to John McCain, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat. It’s not my first intro to McCain so I’m still voting for Romney, but it’s a well-done call that hits all the right notes. I’m choosing not to dwell on the “any other immigration reform” line, of course. The rest is very good. I’m sure that for millions of Republican voters on Tuesday, this call or something like it sealed the deal.

Bryan notes that Mona Charen at The Corner also got the call and says that McCain is willing to meet conservatives more than halfway. The left is cheerfully trying to provoke conservatives right now, hoping for tempers to flare. Do you really want to play their game? Because they want you to take your ball and go home. That's winning for them.

I just installed a newer version of WordPress. Everything appears to be functional, but if any readers find any odd things happening, I'd appreciate knowing about them. Email is in the "About" section.

No, no, no. Despite the title, the post isn't about this guy. Ireland has entered a singing, dancing sockpuppet turkey into the annual Eurovision song contest. No, really, they have. This is not, however, sitting well with some people.

Dustin the Turkey, a children's entertainer with a good line in bad songs, has undermined Ireland's reputation as a mystical land of song and story by entering the Eurovision Song Contest.

The annual contest is no stranger to turkeys particularly as far as recent British entries are concerned. Nor is Eurovision a stranger to bad taste.
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But should Dustin be chosen as the Republic of Ireland's entrant, it will be the first time that a turkey in the form of a glove puppet has represented a nation.

Although it should be remembered that Turkey in the form of the country triumphed in 2003 when Sertab Erener sang 'Every Way That I Can'. Dustin is one off six acts that has been short-listed in Ireland.

Already, the children's entertainer's song Irlande Douze Points has emerged as a clear favourite.

The winning entry will be chosen in a public telephone vote on February 23. Dustin's song sung in a North Dublin accent urges the contest judges to “give douze points to Ireland, for its lowlands and its highlands, for Wogan's wig and Bono's leather pants. We brought you Guinness and Westlife, 800-years of war and strife, but we all apologise for Riverdance.”

Although his albums have sold well in Ireland, Dustin's flippant attitude has not gone down well in certain quarters of a country with a proud Eurovision record.

Frank McNamara, who wrote two of the Irish Republic's seven winners, said that the selection of Dustin by RTE, the state broadcaster, as one of the six acts was “giving two fingers to Irish songwriters”. 

One of Dustin's best selling albums is entitled "Poultry in Motion."  We admire that sense of humor in a puppet. In honor of the Irish version of Rick Ellensburg, then, here's Dustin performing Riverdance:

A German man has been convicted on pornography charges after sending a photograph of his penis to a woman. The man is suspected of doing the same thing to other women - women he did not know, apparently.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 21-year-old German man has been convicted of sending a photograph of his penis to an unknown woman via mobile phone, authorities said on Wednesday.

"We all had a bit of a laugh when we saw the thing," said Christian Kropp, presiding judge at the court in the eastern town of Sondershausen.

The woman reported the sender to police after receiving the photo attachment of the man's genitals, the court said. Officers found evidence he may have sent similar images to other women.

The man did not explain his motive but expressed remorse for the photo, Kropp said. He was fined 150 euros (112 pounds) for distributing pornographic material.

I suppose this sort of thing is inevitable with all the advances in cell phone technology. So now, instead of having to watch out for a guy in a trench coat, you have to worry about answering your phone. It's a marriage of the worst in flashing with the obscene phone call.

We could do without some "progress". 

A massive cold front sweeping across the midsection of the country triggered violent weather and many tornadoes across southern states. At least 44 people are dead with searchers desperately trying to locate more victims and survivors. 

LAFAYETTE, Tenn. - Crews went door-to-door Wednesday searching debris for more victims of deadly tornadoes that ripped the roof off a shopping mall, pummeled mobile homes and blew apart warehouses as they tore across four states. At least 44 people were killed throughout the South.

The victims included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, and seven in Kentucky, emergency officials said. Among those killed were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock. Hundreds more were injured.

The family died from trauma when their home "took a direct hit" from the storm, Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout said.

"Neighbors and friends who were there said, 'There used to be a home there,'" Krout said.

Ray Story tried to get his 70-year-old brother, Bill Clark, to a hospital after the storms leveled his mobile home in Macon County, about 60 miles northeast of Nashville. He died as Story and his wife tried to navigate debris-strewn roads in their pickup truck, they said.

"He never had a chance," Nova Story said. "I looked him right in the eye and he died right there in front of me."

The twisters, which also slammed Mississippi, were part of a rare spasm of winter weather that raged across the nation's midsection at the end of the Super Tuesday primaries in several states. As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims.

Accuweather is reporting that the storm system is going to pound the east today and will spark more strong local storms as well as blanketing the Northeast with heavy snow.

In the wake of the historic and deadly outbreak of tornadoes on Tuesday, the threat for severe weather will shift to the East Coast today. The same storm will also be responsible for blanketing the Midwest and New England with snow.

Severe weather-related watches and warnings are currently in effect as the potent storm from Tuesday is marching eastward. The threat for severe weather today will lie from the mid-Atlantic and the upper Ohio River Valley to the central Gulf Coast.

According to the Severe Weather Center, a cold front cutting into record-breaking warmth over the East Coast will give rise to the intense thunderstorms. The strongest thunderstorms will be capable of producing damaging winds, hail and flooding downpours.

The potential also exists for a few tornadoes to spawn. The tornado threat will not be as widespread as on Tuesday since winds are not significantly spiraling upward through the atmosphere. Still, any tornado that forms could become deadly or destructive.

Up to six inches of snow are predicted in many areas. There is also yet another cold wave heading down from the arctic that will hit the northern High Plains on Friday. No word yet on how far to the south that front will reach. 

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has dissolved that nation's parliament, requiring new elections within 70 days. The failure to reach an agreement on an interim government means that Silvio Berlusconi is very likely to be back as Prime Minister in short order. 

ROME - Italy's president dissolved parliament on Wednesday, clearing the way for early elections just two years after the last parliamentary vote.
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President Giorgio Napolitano made the decision after Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government fell late last month and subsequent efforts to form an interim government to change voting rules failed.

Prodi will continue as caretaker premier until the election, which must be held within 70 days of the dissolution of parliament.

Italy was plunged into political crisis after Prodi's government collapsed Jan. 24 after only 20 months in power.

The legislature was the second-shortest one in Italy's postwar history, according to Italian media.

Early elections represent a victory for Silvio Berlusconi, the conservative leader who has repeatedly demanded a return to the polls since the fall of Prodi's government.

Berlusconi has firmly rejected any possibility of an interim government. The 71-year-old former premier is hoping for a new stint in power as domestic opinion polls suggest his center-right coalition would win an early election.

The center-left coalition trails in opinion polls. Its leader and expected candidate for premier, Walter Veltroni, had hoped to delay a vote by supporting the possibility of an interim government.

Another right-leaning European government in office soon, it would appear. Interesting, isn't it? The flirtation with the left was very short indeed in Italy.