A record month of MONUMENTAL proportions!! The Obama campaign reported this morning that they raised more than $150 million in the month of September.  A total of 632,000 new donors, 3.1 million donors total.  The average donation for the month was $100.  The everage contribution for the entire campaign is $86. 

Our economy is in horrendous shape and Sen. John McCain thinks that the American people haven’t noticed?  Yesterday, the dow plunged almost 700 points, the NASDAQ dropped 95 points, ands the S&P dropped 75 points, but what is the McCain campaign focused on?  Baseless inflammatory accusations against Sen. Barack Obama.  Where is your plan Sen. McCain?  Where is your plan to fix the economy?  Inciting right-wing lunatics into making violent threats against your opponent is not a plan. I t is however, a desperate, pathetic attempt to win at any cost.  People are worried about their job, their home, their retirement account, their savings account, and the fact that McCain thinks that he can distract voters with insidious nonsense rather than offering real solutions, is insulting to the average voter’s intelligence. 

I guess that we should not be surprised by McCain or the Republican party when it comes to the level of distraction in which they will engage in order to steal this election.  The swift boatee has now become the swift boater.   The fact that the McCain is banking on a not so silent whisper campaign of racism as it’s primary campaign strategy is dishonorable and pathetic.  It also speaks to the erratic, ridiculous, and spasmodic  nature of the Arizona senator’s managing style.  For example, lets discuss the transition plans of both candidates shall we?  McCain’s transition team is nonexistent…McCain has decided not to worry about such things now because he doesn’t want to jinx it.  Yes, that is actually his true reason and spoken like a true gambler I might add.  This is unprecedented.  No primary candidate in history has ever not had an elaborate and intricate plan of transition into the White House for when the current occupant exit.  Why…because the new occupant has to hit the ground running and will not have time to engage in the very detailed vetting process of making appointments, staffing key positions, developing policy positions, etc.  Obama on the other hand has developed an elaborate network that is staffed with dozens of key people with very impressive resumes to help prepare for his possible move to the White House in January 2009.   It has never been more critical that the transition from one administration to the next is as seamless as possible given the current state of our nation’s affairs.  I guess McCain’s plan is to just wing it.

Finally, this is a time that we as a people need to come together and unify the country to try and navigate our way out of our current economic adversity.  However, McCain and his campaign has decided that divisiveness and winning at all cost is much more important.  Apparently, the current state of our nation in crisis is a distant last when it comes to the unbridled desires of John McCain.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is offensive. 

John McCain’s new strategy….attack Sen. Barack Obama’s character with mud whether it is true or not.  The new strategy is, according to the McCain campaign,…the continued the politics of personal destruction.  I guess Sen. McCain forgot that his campaign has been doing that for the last two months.  The McCain campaign will continue to try and distract voters from the issues, in this instance, the economy.  So instead of coming up with plausible solutions to this economic crisis, the McCain campaign strategy is to distract, distract, distract, away from the real concerns of the American people.  Voters are dealing with the realities of the present.  You know, the subprime meltdown, gas prices, education.  But the McCain campaign wants to distract away from such things and instead smear Obama with lies that were debunked during the primary.  I must say, on Sunday, the McCain surrogates did not disappoint.  From Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in California, to Nancy Pfotenhauer on CNN’s Late Edition, all attempting to slander Obama based on detestible acts engaged in by some guy almost 40 years ago.  At which time, I might add, Obama was eight years old and playing in a sand box. 

One other tactic that members of the the McCain campaign and its surrogates utilize is to overtalk their opponent in a way that prevents the opponent from exposing the fatal flaws in the majority of their claims, arguments, and positions.  All of the McCain surrogates do it.  They talk and talk trying to run out the clock on the segment in a blatant attempt to prevent the opponent from getting a word in edgewise.  Nancy Pfotenhauer does this ALOT.  Carly Fiorina also used to do it ALOT until she was silenced for saying that McCain is not qualified to run a company. 

The McCain campaign has also decided to issue attack ads against the Illinois senator.  Whether such ads are false or misleading does not matter to McCain.  As long as they attack and mislead the public about Obama’s character.  For example, the McCain campaign has an ad out that claims that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times.  This is completely untrue and misleading to the American people.  McCain and his campaign know that these are budget resolutions or amendments that in and of themsleves could not result in higher taxes.  In fact, if we use the exact same methodology used by the McCain campaign to come up with this claim, McCain has voted to raise taxes 400 times.  They fail to mention this little tidbit in their ad.

Sen. John McCain has reiterated and put in writing the policy of his campaign regarding 527 groups. 

No person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate.

Yet two top McCain Surrogates Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsay Graham are on the Board of Advisors of the anti-Obama 527 group Veterans For Freedom.  Not only that, but Sen. Graham is using and allegedly helping to frame the messages of the group.  Is McCain and his campaign coordinating with this group in developing its anti-Obama messages in violation of not only McCain’s stated policy but also campaign finance laws?  See time line below.

This is the Vets for Freedom anti-Obama attack ad released on 5/22

Sen. Lindsay Graham Suggestion on 5/25 and Sen. Durban’s response.

Vetsforfreedom Board of Advisors

ABC News has learned that David Bonior, the campaign manager for the 2008 presidential race of Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, will endorse Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, today.Bonior, a former Michigan congressman, was once the second highest ranking Democrat in the House, and is influential with labor unions.

Tuesday night’s results were said to be key to Bonior’s decision — specifically the fact that Obama’s lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, appears insurmountable.

Bonior is also said to like Obama’s general positive tone, as well as Obama’s message of change and stance against taking money from federal lobbyists.

According to George Stephanopolous this morning, superdelegates should start coming out today three, four, or five at a time.  Stephanopolous believes, and said as much, that this nomination is locked up.  Clinton also is reported to have loaned herself an additional $6.4 million last month which bring the total amount she has lent her campaign to 11.4 million.  The Obama campaign sent the following letter to superdelegates today.

TO:   Superdelegates
FROM:   David Plouffe, Campaign Manager
RE:   An Update on the Race for Delegates
DA:   May 7, 2008

There are only six contests remaining in the Democratic primary calendar and only 217 pledged delegates left to be awarded. Only 7 percent of the pledged delegates remain on the table. There are 260 remaining undeclared superdelegates, for a total of 477 delegates left to be awarded.

With North Carolina and Indiana complete, Barack Obama only needs 172 total delegates to capture the Democratic nomination.  This is only 36% of the total remaining delegates.

Conversely, Senator Clinton needs 326 delegates to reach the Democratic nomination, which represents a startling 68% of the remaining delegates.

With the Clinton path to the nomination getting even narrower, we expect new and wildly creative scenarios to emerge in the coming days. While those scenarios may be entertaining, they are not legitimate and will not be considered legitimate by this campaign or its millions of supporters, volunteers, and donors.

We believe it is exceedingly unlikely Senator Clinton will overtake our lead in the popular vote and in fact lost ground on that measure last night. However, the popular vote is a deeply flawed and illegitimate metric for deciding the nominee – since each campaign based their strategy on the acquisition of delegates. More importantly, the rules of the nomination are predicated on delegates, not popular vote.

Just as the Presidential election in November will be decided by the electoral college, not popular vote, the Democratic nomination is decided by delegates.

If we believed the popular vote was  somehow the key measurement, we would have campaigned much more intensively in our Read the rest of this entry »

Obama Adviser Resigns

By NEDRA PICKLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Barack Obama adviser has resigned after calling rival Hillary Rodham Clinton “a monster.”

A campaign official told The Associated Press Friday that Samantha Power’s resignation is effective immediately.

Power told The Scotsman that Clinton is a “monster” who will stoop to anything to win. She tried to make the remark off the record, but the Scottish newspaper printed it anyway. She apologized in a statement and the campaign decried the remark.

Power is a foreign policy adviser to Obama and a Pulitzer Prize winner.

When asked about similar statements made by surrogates of the Clinton campaign, Howard Wolfson responded “there is a difference.”  I guess the difference is that this time it is the Obama campaign being accused as oppose to the Clinton campaign.  There are different rules for the Clinton campaign.  What were we thinking??  See story

“If one candidate [is] trying to scare you and the other one [is] trying to get you to think, if one candidate [is] appealing to your fears and the other one [is] appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and HOPE.”  Bill Clinton, Oct 25, 2004.  Perhaps we should listen to the former president at a time when he was less personally involved in the presidential campaign that he was stumping for.  I wonder if Sen. Clinton realized this obvious contradiction before releasing her latest, what is being described as fear-intended “3AM in the morning,” campaign ad.  Apparently, Bill Kristol of Fox News suggested last Sunday that Clinton use fear to try and scare up votes.  Looks like Clinton took his advice.  Pundits dictating campaign strategy….hmmmm.  When the Clinton campaign was asked by reporters to site a single example where it’s candidate, Sen. Clinton, has been tested or picked up the phone and dealt with a crisis that involved a ”3AM,” or even a 2pm, phone call, the campaign could not give one.  The pundits site one case, the Iraq war.  Just in case you need to see Bill Clinton’s comments for yourself…check it out below.

Howard Dean, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, is very upset with John McCain.  Apparently, when the McCain campaign was not doing very well back in December, McCain was strapped for cash and applied for federal matching funds using the promise of Public Financing as collateral for the loan.  Public financing is funded by taxpayers checking the box on their tax returns indicating that they would like to donate to the Federal Election Commission.  Candidates opting into the public finance system are also subject to public finance regulations.  Public finance regulations set spending limits for candidates in primaries and the general election.  In primaries, the cap is set at $54 million.  McCain has already spent $49 million on his campaign.  Therefore, if he were to abide by the election laws, that McCain is responsible for reforming, the Arizona Senator will only have $5 million left to spend in this primary season ending in September.  Because McCain does not want to be limited by the spending cap, he has formally requested a withdrawal from the program.  McCain’s lawyer argues that McCain is allowed to opt out of the program because it is voluntary.  FEC lawyers announced on Thursday that it may not be possible for McCain to withdraw at this point because he used the promise of federal matching funds to secure the bank loan.  Okay, didn’t McCain attempt to slam Obama for not responding, and according to McCain breaking his word, regarding a pledge Obama signed last year regarding public campaign financing.  Even though the actual wording of the pledge is to “aggressively pursue an agreement” with the GOP to preserve a publicly financed election.  Last I checked, an agreement to “agressively pursue” agreement, does not mean actual agreement.  Participating in the public finance system caps each candidates spend in the general election to $85 million and neither candidate cannot accept additional funds.  But I digress.  Looks like Mr. McCain should be in fact, Mr. Pot calling Mr. Kettle.  Currently four of the six member seats of the Federal Election Commission are vacant so no decision can be made on this issue until the FEC has quorum.  Gridlock between the Bush administration and the Senate is stalling the nominations for these posts.  The reason this is such an issue is because McCain has built his reputation, after the Keating Five scandal (five Senators, including McCain, accused of Savings and Loan corruption in 1989), on being a reformer and the champion of campaign finance reform. 

Hillary Clinton has developed a different posture since her closing comments at the CNN debate last Thursday.  Most believed that Clinton’s final comments on Thursday were those of a conciliatory candidate.  This writer did not necessarily agree with such sentiment due to Clinton’s final statementswipe at Obama at the end of the debate.  What began as a congenial closing comment by Clinton, ended with her in essence saying that she hopes that the American people will survive if voters do not choose her as the nominee.  But that’s a side point.  Apparently, no one told Hillary that the race is over because she has ratcheted it up a few hundred notches since Thursday.  What ticked her off?   Allegedly, it was campaign mailers that the Obama campaign has been circulating, regarding Clinton’s position on NAFTA, for almost a month.   At a press conference this past weekend, Clinton accused Obama of Karl Rove (GOP operative accused by democrats of dirty tricks campaigning) tactics as well as attempted to scold Obama by saying ”shame on you Barack Obama.”  Senator Clinton also mocked Obama’s unity message this weekend in an effort to discredit the Illinois Senator with Texas and Ohio voters.  Many opined that Clinton sounds more schoolmarmish than presidential.  Besides the obvious point that this new tone will certainly not attract the white men that have migrated away from her candidacy in droves.  This different version of negative campaigning is also not positioning her as the candidate able to bring both parties together to move Washington beyond the party gridlock of the last eight years.  Instead, it seems to reinforce the polarities of her candidacy.  Is sarcasm the best weapon available in the Clinton arsenal?  If so, perhaps it is time to make a graceful exit.  Further, what is that saying about the supporters who have embraced Obama’s message, should they be mocked as well?  In which candidate playbook does it say that you gain votes by insulting voters? Nothing like the demonization of hope and unity that sends me running towards a candidate.  One last question, is Hillary Clinton the only person in the United States that is aware of the realities of Washington?  And, if Hillary is the only person, now would be a good time to apply some of that awareness to the strategies and management of the Clinton campaign.   In addition to the new tone, the Clinton campaign is being charged with attempting to smear Obama by circulating pictures of the Illinois Senator donning traditional Somali garb while visiting Africa.  This is something that most dignitaries do, including Hillary, while visiting other countries to show respect for the culture.  When asked why the Clinton campaign released the photos, the campaign did not deny circulating the photos but flipped the script and gave the nonresponsive “we will not be distracted” answer.  Many think that this calls into question the judgment of the Clinton campaign as to why they think this would be an effective campaign strategy.  I am at a lost as to why the Clinton campaign would push to circulate such photos.  Is this show and tell day and the Clinton’s are sharing how Obama spent his summer vacation?  Or, is there a more sinister karlrovian tactic at play here?  Clinton tells Obama “shame on you,” yet resorts to what most have described as the divisive, fear mongering, campaign tactics of the past.  So as a final go-for-broke strategy, Hillary Clinton has decided to go karlrovian, aggressively negative, with a big dose of sarcasm, and whatever else that sticks.   At this point, the schizophrenic nature of the Clinton campaign strategies are giving me whiplash.  However, the latest has sold me.  The New York Senator’s final posture taken this past weekend went something like this;  enough of the speeches….enough of the big rallies…enough of the popularity of his message…..enough with the optimism……just knock it off, “get real,” and vote for me unless you want a couple of knuckle swats with my ruler.  Hmmm………the corporal punishment strategy…..works for me!  Yes maam!  Sign me up IMMEDIATELY!                                                  Debate tonight on MSNBC @ 9pm ET

Barack Obama won handily in Hawaii by 76% of the vote. Obama’s winning streak increases by 2, to equal 10 wins in a row.  It looks as if the Windy City Senator has won the momentum fight going into the March 4^th primaries in Texas and Ohio.  Wisconsin was a sort of test site for the Clinton campaign as to whether its decision to use negative campaigning would boost their numbers and slim Obama’s margin of victory.  Clinton campaign officials have said that they will continue to go negative because the strategy did work in Wisconsin, even though Obama won by 17 percentage points.  The campaign opines that the Wisconsin victory margin is less than that of the Potomac Primaries so the strategy was a success.  Wisconsin exit polls revealed that 58% of voters felt that the Clinton campaign unfairly criticized Obama.  Only 33% thought that the Obama campaign unfairly criticized Clinton.  Wisconsin is known for its distaste of negative campaigning. Further revelations from the exit polls showed that 51% of the voters thought that Obama would be the best Commander-in-Chief.  Also, when Wisconsin voters were asked who cares about them, 54% believes that Obama cares more about them as people.   For Clinton to be competitive for the nomination at this point, she will have to win over 70% of the popular vote in the remaining battleground states.  In which, she would receive 65 percent of the delegates in those states.  This would be a shock heard around the world if Clinton were able to pull off such a feat given the dynamics of the race thus far.  If Obama wins 65 percent of the remaining delegates, he can win the nomination with just elected delegates.  The Senator would not need the superdelegates, he could clinch the nomination just from the primary and caucus vote.  Obama now leads Clinton in elected delegates by about 150, has won more states, and leads in the popular vote.

After several substantial losses in a row, the Clinton campaign is scrambling.  After Virginia, the campaign is frantically trying to hold on to its coalition. In Virginia, Obama won three stronghold groups of Clinton; women, catholics, and Latinos.  In light of this new development, the Clinton campaign has made some strategy changes.  Campaign Clinton has now directed their focus towards two groups; women and working class whites.  It also appears that the campaign has decided to go negative…again.  However, this time it looks as if they will do it carefully.  Clinton is already running a negative ad in Wisconsin criticizing Obama for his decision not to debate in Wisconsin.   Not to mention, the very public and concerted effort by campaign Clinton to try and seat Florida and Michigan, even though only Clinton’s name appeared on the ballot in Michigan.  My question is…how does that pass the fairness test?   Now, lets talk about campaign financing.  The Clintons raised 140 million dollars that they spent by Super Tuesday.  How do you spend 140 million dollars in a month and a half?  The fact that the campaign was unable to manage and properly allocate resources does not bode well for the Clinton Economic Plan.  Apparently, the campaign spent the bulk of the 140 million before Super Tuesday not expecting the Obama campaign to last past that point.  One thing that may have contributed to the lack of funds is Clintons’ hiring of two jets, one for her, and one for the press.  It is only recently that Clinton started flying on the press plane.  But according to Bill Clinton, they were operating on a “shoestring.”  The Clintons far out raised Obama in 2007, yet the Obama campaign does not appear to be having such struggles.  Next for Clinton, all eyes are on Texas and Ohio.  The campaign has adopted the Giulianni strategy and is putting all their chips in a big Texas basket.  On Tuesday, when Clinton arrived in Texas and spoke to a very large crowd, the Senator told the crowd “we are family…starting right now.”  So was she a mere acquaintance prior to that?  And what about March 5th, the day after the Texas primary, does the relationship revert back to acquantance status?  James Carvill, one of Clinton’s biggest supporters,  said very bluntly last night that if Clinton does not win Texas and Ohio, it’s over.  Latest polls show Clinton ahead in Ohio and Texas.  By the way, there are two additional primaries before Ohio and Texas.  Wisconsin and Hawaii??  These primaries take place on February 19th.

Barack Obama and John McCain has won all three contests within the Potomac primaries.  On the democratic side, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia gave Barack Obama significant victories over Hillary Clinton.  More specifically, Virginia was very significant.  Considered a sort of bellwether state, Obama won over voters that have previously voted for Clinton.  For example, Obama won the latino vote 53% to Clintons 37%.  In Virginia and Maryland, Obama won 59% of the women vote.  Obama split the Virginia overall white vote with Clinton by winning 48% of the total demographic.  Further, Obama also won heavily among white men in Virginia.  In addition, Obama won the catholic vote.  As for Obama’s across-the-isle appeal, republicans represented 8% of the vote in the Virginia democratic primary and Obama won 70% of their vote.  The Senator from Illinois has managed to broaden his coalition by reaching across the isle with a unifying message.  Both candidates were vying heavily for Virginia voters.  Clinton considered Virginia her best chance of a win within this group of contests.  However, Obama won a substantial victories over Clinton in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  The final tally for Virginia is 64% to 35%, Maryland, 59% to 37% and the District of Columbia, 75% to 24%.  These wins will give Obama eight victories in a row thereby giving Obama a delegate lead over Clinton.  Before this contest, the Associated Press reported that Clinton lead with 1136 delegates to Obama’s 1108.  After the Potomac primaries, Obama takes the lead with 1210 delegates and Clinton falls slightly behind with 1188 delegates.  These AP totals includes Superdelegates.   Additionally, Obama has won a total of 21 states to Clinton’s 10.  The Clinton campaign has said that their focus is on the March 4th primaries of Ohio and Texas.  Clinton is already campaigning in the Lone Star State in hopes of building a firewall against the Obama momentum.  Though, continued wins by Obama could put a kink in Clinton’s strategy.  It will be difficult for the Clinton campaign to spin eight successive wins by Obama as insignificant.   As damage control, Clinton made telephone calls to several of her donors and supporters asking them to hang in there with her until Ohio and Texas.  However, if Obama’s momentum continues to build, Ohio and Texas may not be the result that the Clinton campaign expects. Obama has already hit the ground in Wisconsin campaigning for its primary on February 19th.  As for the Republicans, McCain also won all of the Potomac primaries.  It seems that McCain in winning over conservatives, at least he did so in Virginia and Maryland.  The final tallys were Virginia, McCain 50% and Huckabee 41%, in Maryland McCain 59% and Huckabee 29%. and the District of Columbia, McCain 68% and 35%.  Virginia is especially significant due the large amount of conservatives in that state.  The fact that McCain won Virginia may be an indication that the tide may be turning and the far right of the GOP has begun to rally around the Arizona senator.  Huckabee was hoping to win Virginia to legitimize his continued participation in the race.  However, the former Arkansas govenor is not dropping out and vows to stay in the race uintil McCain hits the magic number of 1191 delegates.   The McCain campaign has labeled the affable Arkansan an “irritant.” After McCain’s win of Virginia, most have concluded that he is the Republican nominee.  There isn’t a math calculation that adds up to Huckabee becoming the GOP nominee for the 2008 Presidential niomination.  As a side note:  Clinton’s deputy campaign manager, Mike Henry, resigns.

The Omentum seems to continue as Barack Obama adds another victory to his  sweep of victories this weekend.  This will be the fifth victory in a row for the Senator from Illinois.  The Maine caucus was one where the Clinton campaign thought that they would be able to pull out a win due to the positive numbers that they received in the state recently.  Clinton also hoped to win Maine in an effort to blunt Obama’s momentum going into the Feb 12th primaries.  Apparently, Maine voters had a different plan in mind.  Both campaigns saturated the state with radio and TV advertising.  The excitement about the caucus, even after the pinnacle of Super Tuesday, was not diminished.  There was tremendous anticipation and exhileration among voters showing up at the polls.  Not even the frigid temperatures could chill the enthusiasm of many of those who stood in long lines to make sure that their vote was cast.  Each of the candidates will receive a proportional share of the 24 delegates allotted.  As a side note:  Hillary Clinton replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.  This new development took place on Sunday, right after Clinton lost four contests in a row to Obama.  The Clinton campaign has stated that Maggie Williams will be taking over as campaign manager beginning next week. 

Mitt Romney has just dropped out of the republican race for president of the United States.  Mitt Romney has effectively suspended his campaign.  Two remaining.  I suspect that we will be hearing from Mike Huckabee soon.  Mitt Romney will confirm his decision during his speech today at CPAC . CPAC is the Conservative Political Action Conference and is hosted by the American Conservative Union.  Romney said during his speech that if he were to continue, he would be aiding a Clinton or Obama win.  The former Massachussetts govenor said that he disagrees with McCain on a lot of issues but agrees with him regarding the Iraq war.  Romney then said that in this time of war, he must step aside. My question is…what will Huckabee and McCain do now that they don’t have Romney to pick on?  For now, it seems that Huckabee will continue his campaign and will speak to CPAC tomorrow morning in an attempt to convince it that he is the viable conservative candidate.  

It being reported by NBC that Hillary Clinton has just given her campaign a $5 million dollar loan.   Wow….that cannot be a good sign considering that the Obama campaign raised an astronomical $32 million just during the month of January.  See below.

From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Breaking news, just in time for Clinton’s press conference at 4:00 pm ET: Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million late last month to remain competitive financially with Obama. 

Said communications director Howard Wolfson in an email to NBC News: “Late last month Senator Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million.  The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton’s commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the Web today and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.”

Though this does not look good at first glance, I am sure that it is merely a minor glitch in the campaign.  Though it does raise eyebrows as to whether her base support is as strong as is being claimed.

John McCain takes Florida and is awarded a whopping 57 delegates!  This has been a pivotal race for all of the republican candidates due to the significant amount of delegates at stake.  Before the Florida primary, the total delegates for each candidate were: Romney 59, Huckabee 40, McCain 36, Paul 4, and Giuliani 1.  With the Florida win, McCain now has a total of 97 delegates. This is also a big win for McCain for other reasons.  Because McCain’s campaign is reported to be running on fumes, this win will provide enormous fundraising potential for the candidate.  Now that McCain has demonstrated that he can win a closed republican primary, as opposed to an open primary where republicans and independents are permitted to vote, republicans are a bit more convinced about his candidacy.  This will provide a much needed boost for McCain into Super Tuesday.  However, the republican race is far from over.  Because it was such a close race, Romney will most likely continue through Super Tuesday.  Both candidates are preparing for the California debate, which is the final debate before Super Tuesday.