CNN=Politics Daily
(CNN) - A day after Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr's speech at the National Press Club, Sen. Barack Obama decided that Wright is all wrong.
In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Suzanne Malveaux reports on Obama's effort Tuesday to cut his ties with Wright in the hopes of limiting the political fallout from Wright's return to the public spotlight.
Sen. John McCain also laid out his plan for health care reform Tuesday. Dana Bash reports on how the Arizona senator would like to treat the nation's ailing health care system.
Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider has another report about health care. Schneider takes a look at how health care is increasingly becoming an economic issue for voters.
Carol Costello does a reality check on proposals by Sens. McCain and Hillary Clinton to provide a federal gas tax holiday.
Finally, Wolf Blitzer gives you an update about whether Sens. Clinton and Obama stand with the Democratic Party's all-important supderdelegates.
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Polls: Clinton, Obama tied in Indiana
(CNN) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are dead-even in the crucial primary state of Indiana, according to a new CNN "poll of polls."
In an average of several recent polls, the two candidates each draw 47 percent of likely Democratic voters in the Hoosier State, while 6 percent remain undecided.
The new poll of polls includes a just released Howey-Gauge survey that shows Obama ahead of Clinton by two points, 47-45 percent. That difference is well within the poll’s 4 point margin of error.
A CNN average of recent Indiana polls released late last week also showed a dead heat between Clinton and Obama, though today's poll of polls is the first comprised entirely of surveys conducted after the New York senator's Pennsylvania win.
Some Clinton advisers have said Clinton must win Indiana to continue her presidential bid.
Rep. Ike Skelton picks Clinton
(CNN) - Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton said Tuesday he will cast his superdelegate vote for Hillary Clinton.
In a statement released by the Clinton campaign, Skelton said he is supporting the New York senator because of "her support in rural America, her commitment to National Security, and her dedication to our men and women in uniform."
Skelton is chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee and has served in congress for over 30 years. His state narrowly voted for Barack Obama on February 5, though Clinton won 60 percent of his congressional district.
With Skelton's endorsement, Clinton now holds a 22 superdelegate lead over Obama, 259 to 237, according to CNN's estimate. More than 300 superdelegates have yet to make up their minds.
Skelton is the fourth superdelegate to endorse a candidate Tuesday. Earlier, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley announced he was backing Clinton and Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler and Iowa DNC member Richard Machacek announced they were supporting Obama.
Clinton, Obama dead even for fifth straight day
(CNN) - For the fifth straight day, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are statistically tied in Gallup's national tracking poll, the latest indication the Democratic stalemate shows no signs of ending four months after the primary season began.
Clinton holds a one point lead over Obama in Tuesday's tracking poll - a statistical tie, given the poll's 3 point margin of error. In the last five days, the two candidates have either been exactly tied or separated by only one point.
That trend marks a clear departure from the weeks before the Pennsylvania primary, during which Obama almost consistently held a wide lead over Clinton. Meanwhile, the five-day tie is one of the few times all year in which the two candidates have been deadlocked for more than two days.
Cafferty: How much has Rev.Wright hurt Obama’s campaign?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It seems like Reverend Jeremiah Wright is going out of his way to make sure the United States does not elect its first African American president. Which is strange in light of all the complaints Rev. Wright has about the way white people have done things in this country.
Just as the controversy over Wright was dying down, he showed up at the National Press Club in Washington yesterday with a can of gasoline and got the fire going again.
Among other things he praised Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who also reportedly provided Wright's security. He accused the United States of terrorism, said the government created the AIDS virus to cause the genocide of racial minorities, and defended the view that Zionism is racism.
And this is from someone who is supposed to be Obama's friend.
To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here
Obama says he's 'outraged' with pastor's comments
Watch Barack Obama comment on his former pastor.
(CNN) - In his harshest criticism yet of his former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama said he was “outraged” by Wright’s comments at the National Press Club Monday, and “saddened by the spectacle.”
“I have been a member of Trinity Church since 1992. I have known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years,” he said at a Winston-Salem, North Carolina press conference Tuesday. “The person I saw yesterday is not the person I met 20 years ago.”
Obama said he was outraged by Wright’s remarks that seemed to suggest the U.S. government might be responsible for the spread of AIDS in the black community, and his equation of some American wartime efforts with terrorism. And he seemed to signal a complete break with his former minister.
“What particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing,” said Obama, who added that Wright had shown “little regard for me” and seemed more concerned with “taking center stage.”
New compromise proposed on Michigan delegation
(CNN) - Michigan’s Democrats have released another new proposal yesterday in their quest to ensure their state will be represented at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Sen. Carl Levin, Democratic National Committee Member Debbie Dingell and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger – the working group that has been meeting to try to end the impasse - sent a letter to state party chair Mark Brewer Tuesday in which they urged the Democratic National Committee to seat the Michigan delegation under a formula that would give a 10-delegate edge to Hillary Clinton.
Clinton was the only major candidate to appear on the ballot in the state’s January contest, which she won with 55 percent of the vote. No delegates were awarded because of national party penalties on Michigan Democrats for moving up their primary date. Forty percent of January’s primary voters chose the “uncommitted” option on the ballot; a majority of those “uncommitted” delegates are backing Barack Obama.
Blitzer: Democratic candidates careful on Carter
WASHINGTON (CNN) - When it comes to former President Jimmy Carter and his recent controversial meetings with Hamas leaders in the Middle East, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seem to be on pretty much the same page. They say they didn’t like the meetings and they, themselves, wouldn’t meet with leaders of a group the U.S. government brands as a terrorist organization. Still, they are clearly uncomfortable in criticizing the former President.
Obama and Clinton do suggest that they would have a dialogue with the leaders of North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela, but only under the right circumstances and with the appropriate advance preparation. They differentiate between meetings with these kinds of state leaders as opposed to leaders of Hamas.
John McCain says Barack Obama should have gone further in condemning Carter’s meetings with Hamas. “He should repudiate President Carter, reprimand him, and specifically tell him he should not have that meeting,” McCain said.
Obama to hold 'big press conference' on Wright
(CNN) - Barack Obama will hold a press conference Tuesday on Rev. Jeremiah Wright's most recent comments, the Illinois senator said.
Responding to supporter's comments in defense of his former pastor, Obama said would hold a "big press conference" during which he would address the issue.
Easley on Clinton: She makes Rocky look like a 'pansy'
Watch Easley's comments Tuesday.
(CNN) - North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley formally endorsed Hillary Clinton's White House bid Tuesday, saying the New York senator "gets it."
"It's time for somebody to be in the White House who understands the challenges we face in this country," Easley said at a rally in Raleigh with Clinton at his side. "They are significant. I never ever thought the United States of America could get in as much trouble as we have over the last 7 or 8 years."
Easley, a popular two term governor who is unable to run for re-election because of term limits, also praised Clinton for her persistence.
"I've been accused of being persistent, and down right aggravating…but this lady right here makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy," Easley said.
The endorsement gives the New York senator a symbolic boost in the state she is trailing Barack Obama by double digits. Easley is particularly popular with white, working class voters - a constituency that has favored Clinton in other primary states. He is the second superdelegate from North Carolina to back Clinton. Six North Carolina superdelegates have endorsed Obama.
Easley is a former backer of John Edwards' White House bid.
A recent ARG poll shows Obama leading Clinton by 10 points in the state.
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