Do the math...

I've taken a look at the three scenarios for how the Florida and Michigan delegates could have been split up. In NONE of the scenarios is Hillary even close to getting a majority, let alone within 150 delegates of Obama's totals. In fact, in both Scenario 1 and 3, Obama would have the requisite delegates as of last night. In Scenario 2, which is the most favorable to Clinton, Obama receives NO delegates from Michigan, yet he is within 45 delegates, where Clinton is still just below 200 delegates away. So anyone claiming that the Rules Committee stole this election from Clinton is living in a fantasy world.

Click on the list below to take a closer look at my data:

OBAMA WINS!

Dozens of superdelegates hopped on the bandwagon and endorsed Barack Obama today, speeding the freight train down the tracks. Just before the South Dakota polls closed, Barack needed just four delegates, which he easily received. Look for Montana to add another 9 delegates to his count, and by morning look for most of the remaining superdelegates to endorse Obama.

It's now midnight on the East Coast. Obama has run up his delegate total to more than 2150. Clinton stands more than 230 delegates behind Obama and nearly 100 short of the 2118 threshold, and yet she still refuses to concede.

Tenacity is one thing. Insanity is another. Now, I don't think she is insane, so she must be angling for something... whether it be the Vice Presidency, or something else. She has to get this issue settled this week and let the Democratic party move on to the General Election and beating John McCain.

Here's how the networks score it:

MSNBC:
Obama: 2156
Clinton: 1933

CNN:
Obama: 2156
Clinton: 1923

Fox:
Obama: 2154
Clinton: 1919

ABC:
Obama: 2154
Clinton: 1916

CBS:
Obama: 2154
Clinton: 1926

McCain's Lobbyists

John McCain, the 'maverick' Republican Presidential candidate, claimed that lobbyists should not have any part of a political campaign. "Registered lobbyists who work for campaigns as fundraisers clearly represent a conflict of interest," McCain said in 1996. "When a campaign employs an individual who also lobbies that member, the perception of undue and unfair influence is raised."

Flash forward to 2008. Here's a list of the McCain lobbyists who currently work, or have up until recently been working on his campaign staff. I'll be taking a closer look at these people over the coming weeks.

McCain's Inner Circle. Click on the links, these guys actually advertise that they are lobbyists on the McCain payroll!

• Rick Davis: McCain Campaign Director
• Lobbying connections:
  
• David Manafort, Inc. (Lobbying firm, founder)
  
• COMSAT
• SBC Communications
  

• Wayne Berman: National Finance Committee Co-Chair & Senior Adviser
• Lobbying connections:
• Ogilvy Government Relations (Lobbyist and Managing Director)
  
• Carlyle Group
• Citigroup
• Airbus
  

• Charlie Black: Chief Political Adviser
• Lobbying connections:
• BKSH & Associates (Chairman)
  
• General Motors
• United Technologies
• JP Morgan
• AT&T
  

• David Crane: Senior Political Adviser
• Lobbying connections:
• Quadripoint Strategies (Lobbyist and President)
• Bank of America
• Financial Services Roundtable
• US Chamber of Commerce
  

• Mike Dennehy: National Political Director
• Lobbying Connections:
• The Dennehy Group (Founder)
  

Other lobbyist/campaign members:
Carlos Bonilla
Tom Loeffler
Wiliam Ball
Susan Nelson
James Courter
Anthony Villamil
Christian Ferry
James Rill
John Green
John Timmons
Brian Ballard

Grant Aldonas
Nancy Pfotenhauer
Jerry Kilgore
Slade Gorton
Joseph Wright
Richard Zimmer
Don Sunquist
William Hilleary
Aquiles Suarez
Matt Salmon
Robert Aiker
Kirk Blalock
Timothy McCone

Other notables:
Vicki Iseman
Lowell 'Bud' Paxson