Either Relevant or True » Mississippi Primary Coverage - Live

Holy moly, we’re live! Chris Matthews, you lied to me!

Um, anyway, here’s the live blog, guys. The MS polls have just closed. It is too close to call, but Obama appears to be leading at this time.

8:10 PM: So far, the exit polls have Obama doing phenomenally among black voters - greater than 90%. KO and Tim Russert discuss the Geraldine Ferraro situation. I mean, wow, really? She thinks she’s being discriminated against? Oh, I don’t have a pole long enough to touch that one. The Obama campaign is causing me some deja vu by criticizing the Clinton campaign’s semantics in their distancing themselves from Ferraro, calling their language not strong enough. I am hereby personally disagreeing, denouncing, and rejecting semantic arguments. Vote Arrow in….oh, wait.

8:20 PM: Only 14% of MS voters were undecided three days ago. If this represents a national trend, this is a low number of undecided voters - meaning the millions of campaign dollars left to be spent will be spent trying to sway very few people.

8:25 PM: NBC has projected that Obama is the winner in Mississippi. And, yes, it was Chuck Todd’s presence that caused the results to come in! Obama should take 7 delegates, or possibly 9, if he gets greater than 63% of the vote. There is a possibility he could take 11 delegates, if he nears 70%. Okay, as if this whole primary business were not confusing enough, apparently there are some straggling districts in California that, once their counts were finally finalized, gave more delegates to Obama than was originally projected. Ohio has some precincts in the same boat, as well. Chuck Todd projects that now, Clinton will have to win every state at 64% or more to beat Obama. Obama, meanwhile, needs only 46% of the remaining delegates to reach the magic 2,025 delegate finish-line.

8:30 PM: Okay, now we’ve gone back to Countdown style. I am beating my head into my desk, you just can’t see it. I guess tonight’s blog is the Live Coverage/Countdown mutant hybrid.

Bushed: KBR is poisoning our troops with dirty water and overcharges the government for monogrammed towels, Admiral Fallon “retires” after saying war with Iran is ill-advised, and the Pentagon has reviewed 600,000 Iraqi documents and found no link between al Qaeda and Saddam. NONE. Any intelligence claims by our government were lies - raise your hand if you’re shocked! …What? No one is?

3. Ferraro again. The Clinton campaign accused Obama of engaging in personal attacks on the eve of a primary with his response on Ferraro’s remarks. Howard Fineman claims that this is how the Clinton campaign wants to run their campaign, based on his communication with them; this is their strategy. Howard Fineman says they are confusing feistiness with disaster.

Worst Person. (I vote for the person who decided half-primary coverage, half-regular show was a good idea.) Steve Doocy of Fox News, who doesn’t know the difference between 2006 and 2007. Also, props to KO for pointing out that, yes, we do indeed have states down here in the Great Uncharted South!

1. Pres. Bush still just doesn’t know what the difference between a good and bad idea is. Bush sang a song about his miserable failures as president for the Gridiron Club of journalists - including singing about mistakes that cost many American lives. Well, that’s just great. I’m glad you can laugh about it, Dubya. I wonder if people are laughing in Iraq, New Orleans, or Mississippi? Rachel Maddow joins. She says, summing up his attempt at humor: “Mission not accomplished.”

Tomorrow, we are promised a Special Comment, and I end this by noting that KO’s tie was a fabulous orange. Good night!

Special Comment tomorrow night about the HRC campaign! Be there, aloha.

I know ERT doesn’t want to get political, but I really, really hope that KO tells HRC in no uncertain terms how her campaign tactics are totally uncalled for,

Hillary wanted David Shuster fired for his off-the-cuff “pimped out” Chelsea remark… and she dumped on Obama for the Louis Farrhakan’s “endorsement” of Obama that OB both denounced and rejected per HRC’s prodding.

Yet when both her husband (whom I like) and Ferraro, a one-time hero to women of a certain age, bring up quasi-racist statements, she merely “poo-poos” it. This is not the actions of the Clintons whom I’ve respected in the past. This should not be the actions of a potential Democratic party nominee (I did vote for Obama in the Texas primary/caucus)

I hope KO appropriately takes her to task. While I’ve said I’ll vote for the Democratic nominee — I’m starting to have serious doubts I can ever vote for her again. She has broken my heart. I hope she has not broken the Democratic party and their chances come November. This is Washington politics at its worst. We don’t need 4-8 more years of this.

And, my heartfelt sympathy to my ERT pals — you’ll be targeted tomorrow after KO has his say, I’m sure.

I hope that isn’t too political. The Daily KOS is starting to buzz about the Special Comment as well.

Wonderful coverage, Arrow. What a challenge. I could not figure out whether it was Countdown or Primary coverage or what myself, and I did not have to try to review it.

But, is this the first time that Matthews has ever lied to you?

I guess we will find out if anyone still watches Tucker when the Clinton campaign responds (or doesn’t) to his comment today. If they saw/heard it and we add in Keith’s comment tomorrow (which I do not expect to be gentle) David Shuster may come off looking like the MSNBC choir boy.

Sister and Fellow Olber Fans, I awakened with a song playing in my mind at around 4 am my time, and with this delicious realization I had to get up and come online to share it with you.

Noted rather gleefully, but repressing my overwhelming need to make an editorial comment:

“The Green, Green Grass of Home”, the song George W. used for his performance in the # 1 story, is a song about a man dreaming of his past and then awakening to find that it is the morning of his execution.

In my childhood my family had both the sheet music and an album with Tom Jones singing it: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tomjones/greengreengrassofhome.html

Ah, I missed Tucker’s comment. Could someone fill me in?

As for KO’s Special Comment tonight — he is taking a major risk.

First — he has been friendly with and respectful of the Clintons. He acknowledged them, and especially Hillary’s mom, in his new book. This could sever any relationship they may have — including future interviews with the former and possibly future president(s). The Clintons have long memories.

Second — A majority of his audience, I would venture, is Demos. With such a heated campaign, one currently ripping the party apart, he is at risk in alienated those HRC supporters in his audience. That could be a major ratings hit, especially as schedule changes put him against live Anderson Cooper coverage (albeit Countdown in reruns). With such vitriol among supporters, he is likely to lose some viewers, depending what he says. Also, they may go after sponsors.

Third — The Clinton campaign attacks back. Look how the Shustered David Shuster on his relatively mild “pimped out” Chelsea comments. HRC wrote to NBC/GE executives trying to get him fired as suspension wasn’t good enough for her. Imagine what her and her financial backers might say or due against KO and even his employers.

On the other hand, KO has several things going for him:

First, he is respected. He earned his mojo doing the Special Comments against the Bush Administration. Viewers and politicos know he goes after issues — NOT INDIVIDUALS — that threaten to hurt this nation.

Second, he’ll be saying (I hope and pray) things that many, many Demos have been feeling for some time…including many current and former HRC supporters. But no one else in the media really has the guts to say it.

Third, he’s the MSNBC star. He’s not a “David Shuster.” Right now, his employers have his back. However, that always can change in an instant with the ratings.

Fourth, no one else has the balls to do what needs to be done. KO isn’t afraid of risks. And people know this. Also, he walked off MSNBC in disgust with the Lewinsky media frenzy. He has some chits for that with all sides, I would think. And hope.

This could very well be his true Murrow moment. I hope he really does speak up about the dirty politics that is tearing the Democratic party to shreds. I hope he does speak truth to HRC and all politicos.

We will be here to watch his back. And if he does what I hope he does tonight, he’ll be my journalism Messiah.

Houstonian: I will send you info re Tucker’s Comment privately. I blogged on it here somewhere yesterday.

I note that Tucker has disappeared today and has been replaced by Joe Scarborough. Apparently MSNBC was not willing to give him the chance to make good on his threat to repeat that again.

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