Screamin' Howard Dean

(Newser) - Despite big wins yesterday, Hillary Clinton still needs a secret weapon to make up her delegate deficit and, Walter Shapiro writes in Salon , her strategy might have been presaged in Ohio by Gov. Ted Strickland urging, “Let’s go to Michigan and Florida." Do-over votes in those states, whose primaries weren't recognized by the Democratic Party for violating scheduling rules, could be her next push. More »

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants to redo his state’s Democratic primary, and DNC chair Howard Dean is “very willing to listen to the people of Florida.” Crist, a Republican, isn't committing any funding, however, and officials have said the state won’t pay for a $4 million caucus or a more expensive primary, the Orlando Sentinel reports. More »

(Newser) - Top Democrats are urging Hillary Clinton to quit if she can’t score big in Tuesday’s primaries, the New York Times reports. Senators John Kerry and Dick Durbin, both Obama backers, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pressed her today to consider party unity if she loses in Texas and Ohio. “I just think that D-Day is Tuesday,” Richardson said on “Face the Nation." More »

(Newser) - The Democratic National Committee will file an FEC complaint today against John McCain, accusing the likely GOP nominee of violating policy when he obtained campaign loans by promising to repay them with federal funds, the Washington Post reports. The FEC so far hasn't granted McCain's request to now opt out of the public matching funds system. More »

(Newser) - The Howard Dean who once shocked Washington is now a model of docility, “unwilling or afraid to confront the establishment that was once so afraid of him," the New Republic ’s Eve Fairbanks argues. The Democratic National Committee chair is also the wrong man for a bitter primary season, refusing to intervene when the party needs a strong hand. More »

(Newser) - Democrats are sharpening their aim and targeting John McCain. The big issue, strategists tell Politico, will be McCain's admission that he's not strong on the economy. They also plan to portray him as a warmonger, delicately bring up his age, and point out the various domestic areas, from tax cuts to abortion to immigration, where he's shifted position somewhat to appease conservatives. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton took the big prize of California and dominated in the Northeast, while Barack Obama claimed his home turf of Illinois and fared well across the nation in Super Tuesday voting, the Washington Post reports. Neither struck a decisive blow. Clinton also won New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arizona, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Obama took Missouri, Alaska, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Alabama, Georgia, Delaware, Kansas, Utah, Idaho, and North Dakota. More »

(Newser) - Small donations have a crucial role in the presidential race, and could give the eventual Democratic nominee a serious advantage, Politico reports. So-called baby bundlers—those who convince others to give, on a small scale—are leading the surge; Barack Obama's campaign, whose 75,000 new third-quarter donors match the GOP’s entire base in the year’s first half, is on the cutting edge. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined three of their presidential rivals yesterday in pledging not to campaign in states that have defied Democratic primary rules by pushing their primaries to early 2008. In recent weeks, Michigan and Florida have announced votes before February 5, challenging the first dibs the party has reserved for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. More »

(Newser) - A pugnacious Democratic National Committee is taking direct aim at Florida today, scheduling a vote on whether the state should be punished for pushing its primary up to Jan. 29,  the Washington Post reports. Party rules prohibit any primary before Feb. 5; the penalty would be barring Florida delegates to the party's '08 convention in Denver. More »

(Newser) - Amid chatter about Democratic candidates wooing the religious vote, Howard Dean has quietly used his DNC pulpit to build grassroots and national values outreach programs. The Hill reports that Dean—once so spiritually lost as to say “my religion doesn’t inform my public policy”—was born again after partnering with a DNC higher-up who doubles as a Pentecostal minister. More »