According to TVNewser, “a high level source inside MSNBC” doesn’t care much for KO:

“You think Russert is going to put up with that? Election night coverage in November with Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann?”

Ratings for MSNBC’s election coverage wouldn’t be half of what they are without the two of them, particularly KO, so I think Timmeh the Beltway Hack hasn’t got a lot to say about it.

“The key is his willingness to quit,” says our source about Olbermann. “And he means it. He has convinced management of that. They are convinced that he will walk. He behaves like a man who has nothing left to lose. He is not central to MSNBC, he is the center of the MSNBC ratings strategy. We hang the entire schedule on him.”

Given Keith’s reputation, I doubt that he had to do much convincing. Some of them are probably scared shitless he’ll do just that.

What about Olbermann blogging now at The Daily Kos? “That’s insane,” says the insider. “If he was writing long pieces for The Atlantic, or The New Republic, it’s different. It’s partisan, is what it is. It’s also just low and stupid.”

I’ve always had mixed feelings about KO on Kos, because it is very partisan. But “low and stupid?” I’m sure the number of Congressfolk who also post there will enjoy that remark.

Since last week’s scathing letter from White House wonk Ed Gillespie the chattering classes have been directing their chattering towards the distinction - or lack thereof - between staid, straight-news NBC and the opinionated prime time fare on MSNBC. Everything was apparently fine and dandy until MSNBC moved to 30 Rock, became a player, and drew from the entire pool of NBC/MSNBC talent on election nights. Howie Kurtz gives us a nice roundup in today’s WaPo:

NBC News President Steve Capus says the distinctions between reporting and opinion are clear. “We happen to have programs that at times are driven by opinion on MSNBC, and we have a worldwide news organization driven by NBC News,” he says. “The only people trying to lump it all together are people who tend to view these things through a political filter or are our competitors.”

But news and opinion often seem to merge on primary nights. MSNBC’s coverage is anchored by Matthews, a onetime Democratic operative, and Olbermann, the “Countdown” host who recently finished one anti-Bush commentary by instructing the president to “shut the hell up.”

On election nights, Griffin says, Matthews and Olbermann “put on different hats. I think the audience gets it. . . . I see zero problem.” MSNBC, he adds, offers “a little irreverence, entertainment, and sometimes it’s even borderline dangerous.”

It is certainly more entertaining than the other cable channels, I don’t think anyone can argue that!

You all are news junkies, what do you think? Are Keith and Tweety rubbing their opinionated cooties all over Timmeh and BriWi? Does the general, non-wonkish public see it that way? Or is this all so inside baseball that the only people fretting about it are partisans and beltway types?

Well, everyone, it’s Tuesday - and that means…primaries. (Sigh. How many more states are there?) Here’s the relevant info thus far: Sen. Clinton is projected to win Kentucky, with 63% of the vote in, and will be giving her victory speech momentarily. The polls in Oregon do not close until 11 PM Eastern time.

That’s it!

Since I think we can all agree that very little new info will come about tonight, more than likely, so I’ll just update when anything major goes down. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves in the comments!

9:30 PM: With 97% of the precincts reporting in Kentucky, Sen. Clinton’s lead is 2 to 1 over Sen. Obama. Approximately half of the KY voters questioned in the exit poll said that Edward’s endorsement influenced their decision. Obama will be speaking in about an hour and a half. And KO has some rather sad looking pizza on a paper plate. Poor guy.

11:00 PM: With 0% of the precincts reporting, NBC is projecting that Obama is the winner in Oregon. Obama spoke live from Iowa, telling his Iowan supporters that he has “returned to Iowa” with a majority of pledged delegates. Since Oregon and Kentucky have almost the same number of delegates, it looks like tonight was…well, let’s just say that no one will really gain or lose their lead/trailing in delegates, yes? However, tonight will put Obama “within arm’s length” of having enough delegates to secure the nomination, according to Tim Russert.

That’s all from me tonight. Next week, join me for more primaries!

Hello, everyone! Tonight we are covering the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, live.

8:00 PM: We start off with a bang, with North Carolina being called for Obama. Indiana is still too early to call.

8:15 PM: Chuck Todd joined for an early breakdown of the numbers (and a failed attempt to use Chuck Todd’s magic to get Indiana called). If Clinton does not win Indiana with a double digit lead, Obama will probably finish with more delegates tonight. Sen. McCaskill joined to discuss the Obama campaign and his momentum.

8:30 PM: Howard Fineman joined. Apparently, the word from the superdelegates that have not yet chosen a candidate is, they will decide when the regular delegate race is essentially locked up - and this is projected to be May 20th. It’s unlikely that superdelegates would back a candidate that did not have the lead in regular delegates. Indiana is still too early to call, and the panel joins.

8:45 PM: Exit polling shows that Rush Limbaugh’s “chaos” strategy…failed! Polling of Republicans in Indiana show that they nearly split their votes between the two candidates, just like the overall results. David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, joined to discuss the Obama campaign’s outlook tonight. Several urban counties in Indiana have not reported, and so Indiana is still too early to call.

9:10 PM: We go now to Obama’s speech in Raleigh, NC. The Indiana race has changed from “too early to call” to “too close to call”.

10:00 PM: Indiana is still too close to call, and one county is saying they will not have their votes counted until midnight.

On that note - I bid you good night on another primary evening!

…but by how much?

9:00 - Good evening, everyone! I’ll be taking over blogging duties for the next couple of hours. At this hour, Senator Clinton has been projected as the winner, and though the totals are varying every time they check in on them, right now it stands at Clinton 53%, Obama 47%

9:02 - Clinton’s in a lot of debt, wow. And Obama’s sitting on 40 million dollars? Holy crap. I like the “Race for the White House” team. That’s not true. I like Rachel Maddow and Eugene Robinson.

9:05 - Tim Russert talking about the battleground that will be the Dem race in Indiana. For the record, very early in this coverage, Pat Buchanan referred to said state as “all Bibles and guns.” When asked to comment, my Hoosier friend said, “I swear to God, I’m going to shoot that man.”

…I’ve been sitting on that line for about three hours. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much.

9:11 - I’m psyched about the new “The Insiders” segment, because it means I can totally mute Joe Scarborough without worrying about missing quality time with Rachel or Gene.

Ok, except I’ve been watching them anyway, at least sporadically tonight, and what the heck is with Joe and his insistence upon role-playing with Harold Ford? You know what, I … I actually don’t want to know.

9:15 - I like that they have a ton of views on call for these nights, but my god, the way the amount of actual on-screen time is allocated is just … so lopsided.

Whenever Keith sits at that desk, he looks … hm. I want to say “burnished.”

Chuck Todd is there, with the math that says: pledged delegate-wise? It’s actually nigh on impossible for Barack Obama to lose his lead. Keith double checks for clarity on what Todd’s saying, that Hillary has to win 80% of the remaining pledged delegates in order to take the lead.

Keith likes saying “Spin-sylvania.” Maybe not as much as he likes saying “Bushed,” but … it’s certainly up there.

9:27 - Keith describes the Clinton campaign’s definition of success as a “movable feast of goalposts” that builds up the public’s perception of her as a fighter. Matthews says this resonates with older white women as a response to men having moved the goalposts to their [women’s] disadvantage in the past. Keith makes the best momentarily baffled face ever, says basically “mkay, I don’t disagree with you, but …” and moves on.

Rachel Maddow agrees with Keith re: perception of Clinton as a fighter. David Gregory makes the media’s brajillionth Rocky analogy and wow am I never ever going to watch that movie again. Pat Buchanan is stymied as to why Obama had so much support and the media’s apparent support, and yet couldn’t “close the deal” and beat Clinton in Pennsylvania.

“There is no connection between his ability to beat Hillary Clinton and his ability to beat John McCain.” - Rachel

“Marxist dialect”!!!! Oh my god, Pat Buchanan, how do you do this AS YOUR JOB?

As Gene and Rachel try to shout logic loud enough to drown out the sound of Pat’s voice, there’s a quick shot of Keith’s hand hovering over his little bell. No, that’s not a euphemism.

(more…)

6:20; Managing expectations is a central theme. Keith asks how Hillary acts if she wins by less than eight.
6:45: Chris Matthews talks to Ed Rendell, who predicts a “substantial” victory and Democratic unity in November despite super delegates’(like Donna Brazile’s) fears
7:00 Chuck Todd discusses delegate math and says we

“better know” the PA-16, because it’s a good indicator of how big the Philadelphia area’s influence is. It has the urban voters that help Obama.

Polls will close in twenty minutes. Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan argue about how significant the slipping Clinton margins are. Eugene Robinson points out that Clinton’s strategies have led her to higher negatives.

Joe Scarborough wonders, with Harold Ford, if superdelegates will think he can’t “close the deal” Chris Matthews says that he is competing against the Clinton legacy(especially in PA, a long-term Clinton stronghold, as Rachel Maddow points out.)

7:55 Tim Russert says that women are a big problem for Obama. Keith asks if a VP candidate like Kathleen Sebelius will help. Tom Brokaw says if Obama can close the nomination, he’ll have time to think about that.

8:00 Keith brings the MTM references and reminds me why I love him(I think there was a broken machine and a snowstorm in that episode, though) Brokaw and Keith talk about what could cause Clinton to quit.Mostly if fundraising dries up.

8: 17: Exit polls suggest a huge Clinton advantage among white women and seniors.
Keith talks to Rep.Patrick Murphy about Iraq and the economy.

8:25: Howard Fineman compares the Clinton situation re: cash to the end stages of a Monopoly game, with Obama having hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place. Fundraisers hoped for a big victory, but it’s still too close to call. (more…)

9:30 - What the heck, Hardball’s still on. I turned off the Mets game for this?

9:49 - Why won’t the debate end?!

9:52 - KEITH! Finally. “The most startlingly tabloid debate” since the beginning of this whole thing. Chuck Todd said it was a tough night for Obama. William Ayers came up, and the Weather Underground. Both candidates are linked, though, and Chuck Todd raises the question as to whether or not debating 60’s radical groups is healthy to the party at all.

“We didn’t hear about FISA, we didn’t hear about waterboarding, or telecom immunity … we heard about flag pins.” - Keith

10:00 - The debate will boil down to “…what somebody one of the candidates knew did thirty eight years ago,” says Keith.

Ugh. At least the Mets won.

The first Democratic debate (of this cycle) was April 27th, 2007. Daaaaaaamn.

I did not know that fifty days was the lifespan of a drone worker bee! Thanks, KO!

When asked if Obama could defeat McCain, Clinton said, “Yes, yes, yes.”

Obama replied, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

…I made that last part up.

(more…)

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!

In today’s New York Times, David Carr talks about how the current primary season is being covered - and not covered - by the various networks:

Mr. Olbermann’s presence gives the set some urbanity and offers a point of entry for young viewers that is clearly working if you look at the ratings. But though he credibly plays a political eunuch/anchor in spurts, he is still more Jon Stewart than Tom Brokaw.

Let’s not dwell on the word “eunuch,” okay? [via TVNewser]

The good folk at TVN (and Houstonian) put me on to the news that one of the spots produced to promote Countdown has won a CINE Special Jury Award. You can watch the promo, titled “Anchorman Countdown,” over at Lost Remote.

Tuesday evening at about 6:03, I mentioned to an online friend that Keith’s opening monologue for the election coverage was brilliant, quintessential Olbermann. Slate’s Troy Patterson agrees:

And then, as is the habit of commentators on that most pop-savvy and merrily allusive of news networks, he plunged deeper into reference, speaking of “M.C. Escher-like perceptions,” Groundhog Day, and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, further attempting “a Cape Canaveral kind of analogy” and some Jiffy Lube sort of imagery, and nodding to the Oregon Treaty of 1846 in a way that risked a neck sprain.

Which nicely segues into “The Art of Media-Savvy Satire,” the title of an upcoming live appearance by Our Mr. Olbermann at New York’s Paley Center:

The Paley Center is saluting the work of legendary satirists Bob & Ray, with Bob Elliott himself and his son Chris, acclaimed writer/performer of Late Night with David Letterman and the creator/star of Get a Life, discussing and screening clips from their careers. Along for the tribute is Keith Olbermann, who cites Bob & Ray as a major influence on Countdown, his nightly blending of news and satire. It will be quite a meeting of the media-savvy wits.

For those of you in the New York area, it takes place on Monday, March 31, 2008 from 6 to 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 and go on sale to the general public at noon on March 14. [via variety.com]