By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

(Posted May 8, 2008) – Today is the day Sen. Barack Obama will pitch his presidential prowess to super-delegates, telling them he’s the best pick for the Democratic Party. The candidate who has won the most states, the most popular votes and the most pledged delegates shouldn’t have a problem.  Should he?  

The two contests earlier this week in North Carolina and Indiana will make the pitch to  some of the remaining undecided delegates much easier for the 46-year-old freshman senator.  Super-delegates already on board have cited several reasons why Obama’s the candidate to deliver the win in November.

But other super-delegates need to be convinced. And here’s what he’ll most likely tell those undecided super-delegates: He is the front-runner with more pledged delegates and in the largest share of the popular vote; his message is one of unity and bringing the party together; and he has the ability to attract new voters, young voters and Independents.

But that’s not all.

Super-delegates already in the Obama camp are also beginning to acknowledge that Obama is the best pick.  They point to how impressed they were with his handling of the comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  They also know his appeal to Black voters, a block they can’t alienate and win in November; and overall, they see Obama as a more attractive candidate with fewer negatives than his rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Clinton had a similar meeting on Wednesday with super-delegates, hoping to build her case, but she’s in a tougher spot because of the numbers.   Clinton would need to win 70 percent of the vote in all the remaining contests to even come close to besting Obama.  

Carter Eskew, a Democratic consultant not affiliated with either candidate, said, “Unfortunately for her, the math reasserts itself. I don’t think this changes very much of anything.”

Clinton is still pushing for the delegates in Michigan and Florida to be seated. There is still no decision on how to allocate this votes.

The Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet in Washington at the end of the month to decide how best to deal fairly with the Michigan and Florida delegations. 

Let’s hope they can come up with something Clinton and Obama will agree on and that it will soon bring the primary season to an end.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

RALEIGH, N.C. (Posted May 7, 2008) – A nail-bitter into the morning hours ended with Sen. Barack Obama winning a decisive win in North Carolina and losing by the narrowest of margins to Sen. Hillary Clinton in Indiana.  

Obama’s victory in the Tar Heel State was announced seconds after the polls closed.  With 99 percent of the votes counted by midnight, the Illinois senator had defeated the New York senator 58 percent to 42 percent in North Carolina.

But Indiana was a different story.  Tardy vote tallies from one of the largest counties in the state, Lake County, a suburb of Chicago with one of the largest populations in the state, was slow reporting.

The delay required Clinton to give remarks to supporters without a clear check in the win column.  “Tonight we’ve come from behind. We’ve broken the tie and thanks to you, it’s full speed on to the White House,” Clinton told a rally in Indianapolis.

Mayor Rudy Clay, of Gary, Ind., told CNN that the reason for the delays was that the small election staff was dealing with 11,000 absentee and early ballots, and that they had been overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of voters who turned out during the day.

Obama addressed supporters gathered at North Carolina State in the field house after his victory and congratulated Clinton for “what appears to be her victory in the state of Indiana.”

Sticking to his message of change, Obama told a cheering crowd, “There were those who were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election, but today what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C.”

After tonight’s contest, only six primaries are left.  Next Tuesday, West Virginia voters will go the polls, leaving Kentucky and Oregon (May 20), Puerto Rico (June 1) and Montana and South Dakota (June 3) as the last battles for elected delegates.

Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, has said that super-delegates will be asked to meet following the final contest in June, in hopes of allowing the party time to mend fences before the August convention.

In Indiana, where Clinton won, the primary was open to Republicans and Independents – but not here in North Carolina.  Only Democratic and Independents can vote in the primary. 

This could have been a factor in how close the race was in Indiana; Obama usually fairs well among Independent voters.

North Carolina reported record turnout of primary voters Tuesday, and it wasn’t really surprising.  This year the state registered 106,000 new Democrats leading up today’s contest.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections showed 471,006 early votes and 24,900 absentee ballots mailed before today’s vote.

“We know what’s coming. We’ve seen it already,” Obama said. “The attempts to play on our fears and exploit our differences to turn us against each other for pure political gain — to slice and dice this country into red states and blue states; blue-collar and white-collar; White and Black, and Brown.”

The theme of party unity was in Obama’s speech to supporters, and he avoided targeting his rival, saving those for the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Clinton’s 51-percent victory, to Obama’s 49 percent, will not give her any significant delegate lead.  These contests offered the largest remaining numbers of delegates. 

Indiana had 72 delegates at stake, North Carolina 115.

 Obama  leads Clinton in total delegates, 1,745 to 1,608, according to The Associated Press. 

It’s not possible for either candidate to reach the 2,025 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination, so they are relying on super-delegates to take them over the threshold.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

7:06 p.m. 

RALEIGH, N.C. (Posted May 6, 2008) – Sen. Hillary Clinton is leading Illinois Senator Barack Obama in early returns.  With five percent of the prescincts reporting, Clinton is leading with 51 percent to Obama’s 41 percent.
Polls will close here in North Carolina at 7:30 p.m.  The media has set up in a massive filing center in the field house on the campus of  North Carolina State. 
 
7:13 p.m.

Indiana result:  With 10 percent of the prescincts reporting; 58 percent Clinton, 42 percent Obama.
 
7:30 p.m.

 MSNBC is projecting Sen. Barack Obama winning the North Carolina primary. 

8:08 p.m.

Organizers decided to open the doors early for Obama supporters here at North Carolina State.  Having learned their candidate was the projected winner, they entered cheering “Yes we can.” 

Alex, Ronke, 23, is a computer science major at the university and he was happy to hear of Obama’s victory but he wanted to see the final results.  “What I’m interested in is the percentage he wins by because it really comes down to delegates,” he told me.

9:00 p.m.

 The crowd is hyped and festive here at Sen. Barack Obama’s headquarters here at North Carolina State University.  The doors opened early and the space set aside for the public filled so quickly they’ve now opened up more seating in the balconies.

Lines started forming earlier this evening on the campus and organizers have decided to allow more folks into the venue. 

The latest results show Obama with 47 percent of the vote to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 53 percent with 67 percent of the precincts reporting.

 1:30 a.m.

After hours of waiting for the results from Lake County, Ill., Sen. Hillary Clinton winswith a two percent margin in Indiana defeating Obama 55 percent to 49 percent.

Unconfirmed reports indicate Clinton may have more money problems following her hard fought race in North Carolina and Indiana.   

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

DURHAM, N.C. (Posted May 6, 2008) – Just hours before the polls opened in North Carolina this morning, Sen. Barack Obama made his last case before voters at a town hall meeting here in Durham.  

“I want your vote, and I want it bad,” he told the 200 folks gathered during an extended lunch break to hear what he had to say.

The crowd appeared receptive; they were invited by a fellow employee David Jones, who introduced Obama saying, “He understands us.”  

Obama was speaking to employees at CREE LED lighting.  The company is a new business  hoping to make incandescent light bulbs obsolete.  They have designed light bulbs using energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting.   The event allowed Obama to also talk about creating more “green jobs” and his energy policy.

Obama challenged the undecided voters in the audience, “If you’re undecided, I hope you’ll ask me questions.” 

Richella Bell, 35, of Durham was undecided when she arrived but an Obama supporter by the time she left.  “I thought this was great, and I liked his thoughts on the economy,” she said. “The gas situation has really touched me – and I will cast my vote for him.” While Sen. Hillary Clinton is pushing for a “gas-tax holiday,” which ultimately would save Americans about $28, Bell and others are concerned that the reward is little more than an election-day gimmick with little long-term relief. They contend that it is far more courageous to stand against such a plan while pressing for more sustained efforts to reduce gas prices as well as our reliance on foreign fuel. Obama has proposed such ideas, say Bell and others.

North Carolina and Indiana, who are holding their primaries today,   offer a value-added bounty to the state’s delegate pool because they didn’t move their primaries up to an earlier date. 

North Carolina got an additional 24 delegates for moving its presidential primary from April to May and Indiana got six extra delegates for keeping its primary in May.   North Carolina has 115 pledged delegates at stake; Indiana has 72.

Scott McGrath, 30, of Durham was an Obama supporter when he arrived, and nothing changed during the town hall.   “I was particularly moved by his speech on race,” he told me.  McGrath was initially looking at New Mexico Gov.  Richardson and former Sen. John Edwards, (N.C.). 
“At first I wasn’t sure he would be able to take the challenges from the other side, but I’m positive now he can,” McGrath said.

Of the 4,049 Democratic delegates, Obama has netted 1,491 pledged to Clinton’s 1,339.  Clinton leads Obama with 269super-delegates  to Obama’s 255.  Today’s contests won’t deliver a knock-out punch in the numbers game, but it will stall, stoke or re-start either Clinton’s or Obama’s momentum.   

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted May 5, 2008 – Just days before Indiana and North Carolina voters head to the ballot box a new poll gives Sen. Barack Obama(D-Ill.) high marks for how he handled the low blows from his former pastor.  And a political power house likens the reverends damaging comments as “worse than eating your young.”  

In a CBS News/New York Times poll, those surveyed said Obama has done a good job when it comes to responding to the controversial comments by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. 

In the poll released on Sunday, 60 percent of voters and 68 percent of Dems who voted in the primary said they approved of the way Obama has dealt with the constant onslaught of comments by the retired minister in recent weeks.

This poll was taken on the heels of last Monday’s press conference where Wright called Minister Louis Farrakhan one of the great voices of the 20th century; implied the U.S. government  may have developed the AIDS virus to infect the Black community; and that the U.S. has brought about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The comment also got the attention of House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC).  Clyburn hasn’t publicly backed a candidate but he told National Public Radio, Obama should have a “fair opportunity” to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

He blasted Wright’s outburst telling NPR’s Farai Chideya, “I don’t know why Rev. Wright decided to inject himself into this national debate … On the verge of an African- American getting the nomination of his party for this first time in history, for anybody to engage in conduct to destroy that is worse than eating your young.”

Obama can feel some additional comfort from the poll conducted among a random sample of 671 adults, including 288 Democratic primary voters, because 56 percent said the news media has spent too much time covering whole thing.  And 75 percent of the voters surveyed said Wright’s statements hadn’t changed their opinion about the Illinois senator.

The survey from May 1-3 has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points for the whole sample group and five percentage points for the Democrats in the poll.

I’m leaving this morning for North Carolina to chat with voters inside the state and watch Tuesday’s primary results.  I’ll keep you posted.   
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted May 2, 2008 – Michelle Obama has hit the campaign trail this week to help get the campaign back on message and off the Rev. Jeremiah Wright drama.

Obama told CNN that her husband has spoken for them both on the topic, and she’s ready to move on.

 “So, yes, it was painful. Yes, it’s been difficult. But I think that, you know, the more difficult thing that this country is facing is really trying to move politics into conversations around problems and problem-solving. And that’s what we’re going to be pretty determined to do. And I think, you know, this is about all I’m going to say on the issue,” she said.

…But veteran journalist Barbara Walters sure had plenty to say this week…

… And, of course, she said it first to talk-show diva Oprah. Walters is about to embark on a book tour to promote her memoir, “Audition.”   A leaked transcript of the show revealed that Walters talked about a romantic relationship she had three decades ago with  Massachusetts Republican Sen. Edward Brooke, who in 1966 became the first Black elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.

 Who knew?

Brooke and Walters’ careers were both on the fast-track in the early 1970s, so they both decided to keep the relationship under wraps.  Brookes’ was married at the time, and Walters was a recent divorcée.

“I was excited, fascinated, intrigued and infatuated,” Walters recalls.  She admits she wanted to marry him and asked him to divorce his wife, but friends warned her that the ethical and racial issues would ruin both of their careers.  The affair ended before Brooke’s re-election campaign in 1978.

And, finally …

…While Sen. Hillary Clinton keeps her eyes on the prize, one of her super-delegate supporters decided to make a super-switch Thursday and jump on board with Sen. Barack Obama.

Joe Andrew, the former head of the Democratic Party (from 1999-2001), appointed by former President Bill Clinton, announced his leap to the Obama camp during a news conference in his hometown of Indianapolis.

Andrew explained his endorsement and encouraged other super-delegates to do the same, saying that uniting around Obama was the best way to “to heal the rift in our Party.” There was some good news for Clinton, however; she is gaining in polls in Indiana and North Carolina polls, leaving Obama with slimmer leads in both contests.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted May 1, 2008— The saddest part of the recent shenanigans by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright will be that if he succeeds in derailing Sen. Barack Obama’s journey to the White House  he will have shamed himself, the Black clergy and Black America, all in one fell swoop.
   
Yesterday my blog was swamped with theories of why Wright went so wrong.  Some folks feel Wright was an instrument of the opposition to Obama’s candidacy, but everyone was curious about Wright’s motivation.

Not me, I think it was as simple as jealousy.  

Donna wrote in my blog, “The good Rev. is showing his true colors! He has shamed all of us in his betrayal and backstabbing of one of his own, Obama.  This man is speaking and doing the White man’s work for him.”

Donna isn’t the only one questioning the motives of the retired pastor. But what if – faced with retirement and the reality of a less public future – he envisioned each public appearance as his last grandstand.  That may explain why each event became more animated, more gregarious and more inflammatory. 

Everyone I spoke with today had a theory: Some blamed Sen. Hillary Clinton’s camp, because Wright was seated next to former USA Today columnist Barbara Reynolds, a Clinton supporter, who actually organized the event.  Reynolds is also on the National Press Club board.

Some suspect the Republican Party had offered Wright a future in the party in exchange for eliminating Obama from the competition.  I was reminded of the Rev. T.D. Jakes,, the pastor of a Dallas megachurch, who aligned himself with President Bush at a crucial time in the last presidential election.

But I think this was all about Wright.  He’s from a different time and a recalls a different reality.  He can’t see the future of a Black man like Obama because of what he witnessed in the past. 

And that’s the sad part.  Even though he’s preached for progress, he didn’t recognize it; protested for justice, he couldn’t distinguish it; and prayed for equal opportunity but failed to acknowledge it, even when it was right before his eyes.   

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted April 30, 2008 – Sen. Barack Obama did everything he could to distance himself from his former pastor, respectfully, but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright went too far in his latest public appearances. Wright’s antics have angered Obama, forcing him to denounce, disown and break ties with the flamboyant and arrogant pastor.

And, yes, I said “arrogant.”

After Obama witnessed what he called “rants” by the former pastor of  the Trinity United Church in Chicago that were  “not grounded in truth,” he realized it was time speak out.

“The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago,” Obama said.  Wright made it easy for Obama to rebuff him, and it may lead to the Illinois senator leaving the church altogether.

Wright, so caught up in his 15 minutes of fame, somehow thought he should take a national platform – not once, not twice but three times – to defend his name and his views on America, even if it meant jeopardizing Obama’s candidacy. 

Wright’s spectacle at the press club furthered negative stereotypes and re-enforced the fears of an “angry Black man” held by many Whites. If this latest episode derails Obama’s bid for the White House, Wright might find that Black folks are his greatest critics. 

“When I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it,” Obama told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.  “It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am. And anybody who has worked with me, who knows my life, who has read my books, who has seen what this campaign is about, I think will understand that it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country.”

The airwaves will be filled with Wright’s comments now throughout the rest of the primary season.  The constant chatter about the ordeal will make it more difficult for Obama to stay on message, and the news media will pass on discussing gas prices to follow the circus appeal of Wright.

Obama, obviously agitated by Wright’s allegations, said, “But he states, and then amplifies, such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. Government somehow being involved in AIDS; when he suggest that Minister [Louise] Farrakahan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century; when he equates the United States’ wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses,”Obama said. 

Wright’s statements combined with his attacks on White America were obviously riveting for the Illinois senator.   “I have spent my entire life trying to bridge the gap between different kinds of people,” Obama said.   

“His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate,” Obama told reporters on the campaign trial in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Of course, the big question is what impact this will have on his campaign. We’ll have to wait for the next contest to get the answer. 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted April 29, 2008 – One thing’s for sure: Daily opinion polls aren’t helping Democrats make up their minds about who should be their nominee.  But the Republican Party is ready to unite against Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she becomes the Democratic choice for president. Her nomination is just what Republicans need to get conservatives to rally for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

It’s no secret that Republican voters are less likely to cross party lines to support a Democrat for  president, but it’s a certainty they won’t if that Democratic is Clinton.  

In an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday Clinton gained some ground on her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill). When matched against McCain,  Clinton leads McCain 50 percent to 41 percent, while Obama and McCain were locked in a virtual tied, Obama 44 percent to McCain’s 46 percent. (The margin of error is 3.1 percent.)

But there is a larger margin of error when looking at another reality: how much some Republicans dislike the New York senator. 

McCain has been running unchallenged for the most part, while the Democrats slug it out for the nomination. But he’s been working hard on swaying those conservative Republican’s, who haven’t jumped on board with his candidacy. 

McCain has enjoyed a holiday of sorts since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, but I’ve heard McCain knows it’s not smooth sailing when polls continue to show him trailing or tied with both Democratic challengers.

So what’s he doing about it?  McCain is tending to mending fences inside his party.  He’s been holding meetings with conservative members of Congress, working on building a coalition of right-wing activists and sharing his stance on “hot-button” issues, such as abortion, immigration and tax cuts. 

He’s even courting African-American voters by touring places other Republican candidates haven’t.  He visited a poor Black community in Alabama, a coal town in Kentucky and went to New Orleans and denounced the federal government’s 2005 response to Hurricane Katrina.

McCain is often quick to pile on the negatives about Obama because his camp believes McCain would defeat Clinton since Republicans would be motivated to go to the polls and rally behind McCain.

Obama, who leads in pledged delegates and the popular vote, has been training some of his comments on the campaign trail toward McCain, rather than Clinton.  On Tuesday he criticized his gas-tax holiday proposal.  “He had the gall yesterday to tell me that obviously because I didn’t agree with his plan I must not be sympathetic to poor people,” Obama said.

It looks like McCain will have to wait until the end of the Democratic primary before he’ll know for sure who he will be running against. 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
Posted April 25, 2008 – The White House Correspondents Association Dinner (WHCA) will take place on Saturday night with more than 2,500 reporters, producers and celebs on hand to walk the red carpet and talk politics. 

The black tie dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, in northwest Washington, D.C., is one of the hottest tickets in the nation’s capitol.  Members of the association have a friendly competition, vying to host the high profile political and celebrity guests. 

This year, the BET News team has landed a few high profile guests for the event.  Our guest this year will include, actress Tasha Smith, the newly crowned Miss USA Chrystal Stewart and Maryland’s Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.

President George Bush will give brief remarks that usually poke fun at the White House press core.  With this being Bush’s last dinner as Commander-in-Chief, his participation at the podium should be memorable.

The entertainment for the annual dinner will be Craig Ferguson, the host of CBS’ The Late, Late Show.   Tickets for the dinner are tough to get but the proceeds raised are put to good use.  The year’s event raises money for the WHCA scholarships and honors professional journalist with awards.

The off the record event always makes on the record news - so it we’ll have to wait and see who the newsmakers will be this year.