The Friday Political Thread: Completely Funded by Lobbyists

Quote of the Week
"I'd love to carry Texas, but it's usually not in the electoral calculation for the Democratic nominee. Florida and Michigan are."—Sen. Hillary Clinton, weaseling out of her previous pinky-swearing about the importance of the Texas primary with bonus waffling about the two primaries that don't get to send delegates to Denver.

The Week in Brief
– Barack Obama easily won the Wisconsin and Democrats Abroad primaries, as well as the Hawaii caucus.
– John McCain won, just as easily, the Wisconsin and Washington primaries.
– The New York Times unloaded a muckraking story on McCain's lobbyist ties.
– Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama locked horns in a middling Texas debate.
– Former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham—best remembered for revoking the state's MLK holiday, for saying he hired black people if they were "the best for the cotton-picking job," and for ending his career by being impeached—died at age 83.
– Ralph Nader sent out word that he'll be running for president again.

Larger Issues
Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Obamas. I ran down Ben Smith's Bill Ayers/Obama story earlier, but ABC News reports that the Clinton campaign is pushing this on reporters. Yes, the campaign of Hillary Clinton. The one whose husband pardoned Susan L. Rosenberg and Patty Hearst. "Wonder what the Republicans will do with this issue," Clinton flack Phil Singer wrote to reporters. The ridiculous Taylor Marsh (I direct you to the photo, on her website, which super-imposes her head on Supergirl's body), probably Clinton's biggest defender on the web, calls Ayers "Obama's Willie Horton." But Horton didn't give Michael Dukakis money. He was furloughed in a program Gov. Dukakis approved: That was the point of the scandal. If Clinton's campaign and its defenders are stupid enough to make hay out of this, all of Clinton's 11th hour pardons are going to crawl back up from their graves.

Below the Fold
– Jim Antle (who's written more about this than anyone) bids adieu to the anti-war Republicans.
– Gerard Baker asks if America's ready for a Euro-Socialist president. (Probably, as long as it isn't Hillary Clinton.)
– Image-savvy David Ehrenstein explains the mechanics of Obama's masquerade.
– J.P. Freire sees the McCain defense for what it is.

Oh, and for Politics n' Prog? How about a Japanese ballet troupe dancing to Pink Floyd?