Obama laughs at [Clinton’s] contention.

“We were told that these contests would not count,” he tells Steve Inskeep. “Sen. Clinton agreed. Our name was taken off the ballot in Michigan, and in Florida we did no campaigning. Now, if people think that that is a normal democratic way of running an election, then that’s not the America that I know.” …

“Look, we’re going to abide by whatever the Democratic National Committee determines is fair,” he says. “But the important point is … that we agreed not to participate in this process. Not just me, but Sen. Clinton did as well. If you ask my 6-year-old, should that election count, she would probably be able to figure out that that’s not fair.”

NPR: Obama: Michigan, Florida Do-Overs ‘Not Realistic’

Hillary Clinton says the results of Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary should count, even if Barack Obama’s name did not appear on the ballot.

“That was his choice,” she says in an interview with Steve Inskeep. “There was no rule or requirement that he take his name off the ballot. His supporters ran a very aggressive campaign to try to get people to vote uncommitted.” [mjh: It’s very important to remember that Obama supporters pushed for ‘uncommitted’ specifically in response to Clinton’s campaign in Michigan, against the terms all had mutually agreed to.]

The states of Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates when they defied the rules of the national Democratic Party and moved up the date of their primaries. Clinton remained on the ballot in both states, while Obama stayed on only the Florida ballot.

Neither candidate was supposed to campaign, in accordance with the Democratic National Party’s wishes.

NPR: Clinton Says Michigan and Florida Should Count

Senator John McCain loves to present himself as a fighter against waste and pork-barrel spending. … But his jabs at a study of grizzly bears in Montana are way off the mark.

To hear Mr. McCain tell it in his presidential stump speech and campaign ads, the government has squandered $3 million (actually more like $5 million) to study the DNA of bears in Montana. “I don’t know if it was a paternity issue or criminal,” he jokes, “but it was a waste of money.”

A report by Joel Achenbach in The Washington Post makes clear, however, that this was not really a study of bear DNA but a study that used bear DNA to determine whether the grizzly bear was still a threatened species or had rebounded. Mr. McCain and his staff either failed to realize that or chose to distort the facts for political effect. Either choice is not encouraging.

The intent of the study, whose results have not yet been published, is to estimate the size and makeup of the grizzly bear population in a vast region, encompassing Glacier National Park, five wilderness areas, parts of five national forests and other public and private lands in a largely roadless, mountainous terrain. Scientists collected hairs snagged by strategically placed barbed wire to extract DNA that could identify how many bears had passed by, their gender and unique identity. Statistical models could then predict the total population.

That is hardly frivolous. It is a prerequisite for sensible administration of the Endangered Species Act.

The presumed Republican presidential nominee also fails to mention that the project was sponsored by Conrad Burns, a former Republican senator from Montana who chairs the McCain campaign in that state. Mr. McCain never explains why, if it was such a waste, he didn’t try to curtail it on the Senate floor.

It is a longstanding practice on Capitol Hill for legislators to lampoon research projects that can be made to sound foolish. Some may well be. If Mr. McCain wants to make serious critiques of research spending — and keep his reputation as a credible opponent of government waste — he and his staff need to be more careful and a lot more science-literate.

McCain Misfires at Grizzlies – New York Times

I think Clinton is trying to draw undecideds with the Dream Ticket idea. No Sale. peace, mjh

“I don’t know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is first place,” Obama said, drawing cheers and a long standing ovation from about 1,700 people.
Saying he wanted to be “absolutely clear,” he added: “I don’t want anybody here thinking that somehow, ‘Well, you know, maybe I can get both.’ Don’t think that way. You have to make a choice in this election.”

“I am not running for vice president,” Obama said. “I am running for president of the United States of America.”

Obama aides said Clinton’s recent hints that she might welcome him as her vice presidential candidate appeared meant to diminish him and to attract undecided voters in the remaining primary states by suggesting they can have a “dream ticket.”

Obama had never suggested he might accept a second spot on the ticket. But until Monday he had not ridiculed the notion so directly, even if he did not completely rule it out in Shermanesque terms.
He told the audience that it made no sense for Clinton to suggest he is not ready to be president and then hint that she might hand him the job that could make him president at a moment’s notice.

“If I’m not ready, how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president?” he said, as the crowd laughed and cheered loudly.

AP: Obama denies ‘dream ticket’ – News