Aside from giving us all something to jaw about, daily tracking polls are known for being really noisy, so to make the type of claims that Penn is making is a bit of a stretch. I think we'll have to wait until PA is done to get a better sense of the strengths of Hillary and Obama.

I agree that maybe this isn't the most news worthy story around. How about that big juicy NRCC scandal instead?

I won't disagree with you there.

I think Mark Twain said "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one".

I find myself looking for more and less "analysis" of these stories in the WarRoom. A no-win situation perhaps.

The [MSNBC] show was full of chronic Democratic whiners like Buchanan and Carslson

I'm not sure if that is a typo or some form of the brain inversion that strikes my prose from time to time. Buchanan is an ex Republican presidential candidate that worked for Nixon. He's a self described social-conservative blue-collar catholic "ethnic white" type that some consider xenophobic. He's said on T.V. that everything has gone downhill since the 1960's, which didn't endear him to his fellow black and female talking heads sitting next to him.

Strangely I find myself agreeing with him from time to time on foreign policy matters (he wrote a book, A Republic, not an Empire" on said topic), which might be a sign of the end of days. Dogs and cats, living together. Carlson is another self-described conservative.

You make some excellent points.

Feel free to mock Penn; he's the biggest fish in the barrel--just don't be too proud of your markmanship.

But it would be interesting to know what is going on within the Hillary campaign beyond rumours and gossip from the chattering class. Mark Penn, along with Bill and Hillary play a major role in that. It wasn't for ordained that Obama would win in Iowa. I'd like to have more on my plate than I underestimated Obama and overestimated Hillary.

This is non story, unless you are interested in page-hits.

Of course Clinton is going to be making a pitch based on the Rev Wright. Yawn. Of course the Noise machine is already out there, beta testing their fall 527 concepts. I heard "Kill Whitey" on the radio today. Personally I think that one is a little dated, but I'm sure they will improve.

up until this point:

But it will only make the economy worse, vis a vis oil prices, if Obama prevails.

Care to provide any details? The US and our faustian buddy, the Saudis no longer control oil prices. They don't have the capacity and neither do we. When you throw in the Russians, Iranians, Venezuelans, Chinese, and even the Nigerians, all you're left with is Mexico with it's falling oil production and Canada. How does Obama fit into all of that?

You have a funny sense of the word Karma. Hillary was slimed when her campaign hit a ditch, and now it's beautiful when Obama's campaign is slimed when he hits a ditch?

Karma implies causation. Laughing while others slimed Hillary caused Obama to associate with Rev Wright for 20 years?

I would seek other words, mayhaps payback or scheudenfraude.

The as always non-authoratative wiki:

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म kárma (help·info), kárman- "act, action, performance"[1]; Pali: kamma) is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called samsara) described in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies.

The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to them and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma

When did Obama come to Clinton's defense? [from MSNBC et al]

I don't see Obama asking for aid from the Clinton campaign now. I didn't see the Clinton campaign asking for aid then. I don't know what the Karmic actions of MSNBC and Chris Matthews have to do with Obama. I do know that Chris Matthews got a whuppin'. There's some karma for you.

I'll remain in the dark on this one.

I don't see a problem with Hillary raising this as an issue with SuperDelegates. It's too early to know if there is any there there.

What is really going on here is that Obama's opponents do not care whether this is a real indicator of Obama's fitness for the presidency. What they do care about is that it gives them an opportunity to play Wright's most offensive statements on a loop and then draw an association between him and Obama. That's it. That is entirely what this is about. Anybody who tries to tell you otherwise is lying point-blank.

That doesn't mean it won't be effective. It's all perception. And I believe that will be the core of Hillary's argument. "Right or Wrong, he can't Win". My favorite talk radio station is already foaming away. They finally found something on Obama they think will have traction after weeks and weeks of floundering. They're trying to paint Obama as a "Kill Whitey" kind of guy. Sounds a little dated, but they have plenty of time to improve their theme.

I think the Rev Wright controversy will prove to be a big test of whether or not we want to break from the past or not. Just my 0.02 euro.