A House Divided

(Newser) - Tuesday's votes were still being counted when House Democrats started wrangling over leadership positions, Politico reports. Henry Waxman has launched a challenge for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee, aiming to take out John Dingell of Michigan, whose support is eroding. Says a lobbyist: "He has done nothing on energy because he is in the pockets of the auto companies, and that hurt us this year." More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has raised more than $8 million since July for Barack Obama, USA Today reports, and has hit 40 Obama campaign events in the past 2 months. She’ll headline two more Obama fundraisers this month, plus 11 events for other Democratic candidates. But while she’s raising money for others, her own campaign still owes $9 million to various vendors. More »

(Newser) - John McCain has resurrected Hillary Clinton’s “3am” attack ad, and will be running a modified version in several battleground states, USA Today reports. The Republican's ad reruns a portion of Clinton’s, along with clips of Clinton attacking Obama’s experience, and ends with the tag, “Hillary’s right.” The move continues McCain’s recent tactic of wooing Clinton voters by accentuating the Democrats’ primary differences. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama is running as an “outsider candidate” fed up with partisan politics—yet he is, ironically, perhaps the most party-focused presidential candidate in history, Dana Goldstein and Ezra Klein write in the American Prospect . Obama has moved much of the Democratic National Committee apparatus to Chicago, rebuilt its fundraising infrastructure, and is even training organizers for other Democratic campaigns. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton’s former communications director is convinced that had the media outed John Edwards last year, Clinton would be the Democratic nominee. “We would have won Iowa,” Howard Wolfson tells ABC. “Our voters and Edwards’ voters were the same people. They were older, pro-union.” Obama won Iowa with 37.6% of the vote, followed by Edwards with 29.7% and Clinton with 29.5%. More »

(Newser) - An Obama-Clinton ticket is looking less and less likely, based on the public and private comments of both senators, the New York Times reports. Obama hasn’t asked Hillary Clinton for background check documents, and his recent statement that he’s looking for a Washington outsider suggests he won’t. Clinton has privately told associates that she doesn’t expect the nod and considers any statements to the contrary a courtesy only. More »

(Newser) - The Democratic National Committee is moving its field operations to Chicago as part of Barack Obama's strategy to centralize the party and streamline efforts for the general election. The move has been welcomed publicly by the DNC, even though it clearly shifts power from Washington to Obama's unassuming headquarters in the Windy City, Politico notes. Chicago hasn't had such national political focus since the 1968 convention. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were laughing together after a private hourlong meeting at a Senate colleague's home, reports the AP. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the pair chatted away in her living room late Thursday in a "positive" head-to-head, their first since Obama clinched the nomination. Clinton is expected to pledge her strong support to her former rival in a speech this afternoon. More »

(Newser) - The Obama and Clinton campaigns have been working to merge their fundraising machines as Clinton prepares her swan song today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Clinton made a call to her top 50 fundraisers, urging them to get behind Obama and promising a private meeting with the presumed nominee. The combined operation could create a juggernaut capable of dwarfing the contents of John McCain's offers. More »

(Newser) - John McCain sees his path to the White House lined with Hillary Clinton supporters. Up to 28% of Clinton backers have told pollsters they’ll defect to the GOP now that Barack Obama has clinched the nomination, the Washington Post reports, so McCain is targeting them, calling Clinton a “friend” who inspired his daughters. It’s a long shot, but, hey, it worked for Ronald Reagan. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton met face to face tonight in a private meeting, NBC news reports. No immediate word surfaced about their discussion. Obama delayed his departure from Washington and instead went to Clinton's home in DC. Earlier in the day, both sought to temper speculation that Obama should make Clinton his vice president. She plans to suspend her campaign Saturday and endorse him. More »

(Newser) - Team Clinton tempered speculation that she was bargaining for the No. 2 spot today, deeming the VP choice “Senator Obama’s and his alone.” One day after Hillary Clinton told New York’s congressional delegation that she was open to being a running mate, the New York Times reports, a rep said “she is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her.” More »

(Newser) - Republicans not used to worrying about money are sweating pennies, given John McCain's relatively inept fundraising in the face of an unprecedented Democratic war chest. Barack Obama, by conservative estimates, will have $300 million to McCain’s federal cap of $85 million for the general-election campaign, Politico reports—and with that kind of money, Obama could force McCain to play defense in traditionally red states. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama might ask his supporters to help Hillary Clinton pay off her campaign debt, Bloomberg reports. Clinton has accrued more than $20 million, $11.4 million of which she personally contributed. Under a campaign-finance law (co-sponsored by John McCain) she has until August's Democratic convention to raise money to settle the debt, after which she can only recoup $250,000. More »

(Newser) - The champagne was barely uncorked at Barack Obama victory parties before Hillary Clinton's backers were pushing for her as veep choice, the Wall Street Journal reports, but the so-called "dream ticket" is looking unlikely. Dems on both sides point to a host of complications that could arise—especially when Bill Clinton and his undisclosed business dealings are thrown into the equation. More »