The South Carolina Democratic primary could have been a footnote in this year's race to the nomination. The Clintons fought hard in South Carolina, hoping that Bill's popularity in the black community could divide the vote, giving an unexpected win to Hillary. By the time the exit polls indicated that Obama had carried the state by wide margins, the Clintons were dismissing Obama's win as a by-product of the racial demographics in this southern state, the "black candidate" that carried a mostly African-American electorate. But the large turnout yesterday (over half a million by some estimates) combined with Obama's strong showing among non-black voters give the freshman Senator from Illinois new momentum heading into the February 5 vote. more ›

Is Barack Obama a hypocrite? Bloggers want to know. Obama's looking for votes in South Carolina--that primary is only 97 days away--by hosting three gospel concerts. (We've seen Obama use gospel music to inspire people before.) Included in the line-up is minister and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Donnie McClurkin, who says "homosexuality is abominable" and can be "cured" with prayer. (FWIW, he also says prayer cured his leukemia.) Obama released a statement on the LGBT section of... more ›

It’s been a big weekend for Barack Obama. In a press release, his campaign reported more than 500,000 donations from over 350,000 people, and the actual financial totals should be available in the next few days. The Obama campaign continues to report more and more contributors — contrasting his grass-roots support with Hillary Clinton’s big-ticket donors. But his press release didn’t mention that they have been counting tickets to speeches and sales of tchotchkies as... more ›

Yesterday's Trib had a big article about Barack Obama's ability to appeal to "beer-track voters," and today Media Matters posts a smack down, saying the Trib could just have easily focused on different anecdotes that support the opposite point. Is this a typical conservative paper vs. liberal blog fracas? Well ... maybe. But it's fun anyway! Beer, wine, poker, Obama — sounds like a party. The story sets up the difference between "beer-track" and "wine-track"... more ›

This week, more than before, we have a veritable cornucopia of presidential news. After how many years of Southerners and Westerners in the White House, it seems only fitting that we dedicate this week's Hump Day Political News Roundup to all the cowboys that have ridden off into the sunset that is the Beltway. Let's take a look back: George W. Bush Is a Bad-Ass Cowboy. As his term dwindles away, his approval ratings circle... more ›

Chicagoist hasn't been shy about our skepticism of an Obama run in 2008 for the White House. Besides the incredibly arduous task that overcoming his very real lack of experience, the amount of mud that will be slung is considerable; we believe that Tony Rezko is only the beginning. Add that to his public commitment to serve his full term in the Senate, and the table is set to attack the junior Senator from Illinois.... more ›