Elizabeth Edwards is in a tizzy because she will be left out of McCain’s healthcare plan, or so she says:

I do understand exactly how devastating it will be to people who have the health conditions with which the Senator and I are confronted (melanoma for him, breast cancer for me) but do not have the financial resources we have. In very unconfusing language: they are left outside the clinic doors.

No they aren’t, but don’t let anything like a fact get in your way Elizabeth.

Even your husband, a one term senator, who after being elected in 1998, unofficially began his presidential campaign in 2000 but officially running in 2003, and made a mint in tort law, may just be able to explain to you, a lawyer as well, HIPAA.

Ed provided this link to Roll Call (subscription required):

The first test of whether the GOP Conference — and particularly its leadership — are in lock step with McCain could come as early as next week, when the chamber is expected to consider a one-year moratorium on earmarks during the budget debate. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and endorsed by McCain, has garnered little support from rank-and-file Republicans, particularly the party’s “Old Bulls,” who have mounted a defense of earmarks in recent weeks.
DeMint said on Tuesday that he hoped to set a vote for the amendment during a time when McCain can be there. “Obviously, this is his baby and I consider him the champion of this,” DeMint said. …
According to one senior GOP aide, despite the desire to unite around McCain, his positions on several big-ticket issues likely will mean the Conference will not find common ground with their nominee.
“We’re not going to back him on earmarks, or on climate change, or on immigration,” the aide said. … Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), who touted McCain’s positions on fiscal responsibility, climate change and immigration as a key to his ability to reach independent voters, acknowledged that those votes will put him in conflict with the GOP [emphasis mine — Ed]. “There will be some [conflict],” Alexander said Tuesday, noting that while “I’ve supported others in this primary contest, I’m very comfortable with Sen. McCain” as the nominee.

Mark points out that Russert may be correct. McCain may be dangling the VP slot to Huckabee:

The Meet the Press host is demonstrating how John McCain is dangling the VP slot to Mike Huckabee. And Huck seems as transfixed as a hound before a bone, judging by the way he’s staying in the race against all odds and spending his time taking shots at Mitt Romney.

If that is the case, my worries of a McCain nomination just disappeared!

Michelle has these picks posted:

Hillary Clinton/Wesley Clark: “He endorsed her last September. He’s a Rush Limbaugh-bashing, nutroots favorite. He does not threaten her. His anti-war crusading will take the Code Pinko heat off of her. And having run for president once, he’s been “tested” on the campaign trail.”

Drudge Siren Alert..Edwards won’t be the kingmaker after all!

Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters’ sympathies but never diverted his campaign, The Associated Press has learned.
The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two of his advisers. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning—Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former North Carolina senator will not immediately endorse either candidate in what is now a two-person race for the Democratic nomination, said one adviser, who spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement.

Hillary and Mitt won in Nevada. On the Democratic side, Clinton had 51 percent and Obama had 45 percent. John Edwards had 4 percent. So how can it be that OBAMA WINS MOST NEVADA DELEGATES? For the Republicans, Romney had 51 percent, Ron Paul, 13 percent, John McCain took in 13 percent, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson took in 8 percent, Rudy Giuliani took in 4 percent and Duncan Hunter took in 2 percent.

In South Carolina, the polls have just closed and this is a tight race.

McCain wins

Big surprise! Hillary Clinton is breaking her pledge not to campaign in Florida

So much for Clinton and Obama burying the hatchet: Obama: Reagan Changed Direction Of Country In Way Bill Clinton Didn’t

Clinton knocks Obama plan she’d consider
Republicans ponder deadlocked convention

A look at the 2008 presidential race

A surge they all opposed!

Are we supposed to just forget that on September 11, 2007, Hillary Clinton stopped short of calling General David Petraeus a liar, whe she told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required “a willing suspension of disbelief?” I’m guessing that to be the case based on this performance on Meet The Press.

Gateway Pundit offers two very important quotes:

Hillary Clinton on October 2, 2002:

“So it is with conviction that I support this resolution as being in the best interest of our nation. A vote for it is not a vote to rush to war. It is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our president.”

Hillary Clinton on February 7, 2007:

“Nearly four years ago our president rushed us into war in Iraq.”

Yet today, this troubled and dishonest politician is bashing antiwar Barak Obama for his stand against the war we are now winning.

I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the best of MSNBC Senior Political Analyst Lawrence O’Donnell. O’Donnell went completely nuts, screaming “Liar! Liar!” at O’Neill, who kept his temper despite O’Donnell’s raving. What’s wrong with what Michael Vick did? I have no inclination to do what he did with dogs, but I have no comprehension of what all the fuss is about. Larry O’Donnell’s Latest Rant: Mormonism ‘Demented, Ridiculous’ . Drumroll please……………..Here it comes..John Edwards Is A Loser:

If John Edwards stays in the race, he might, in the end, become nothing other than the Southern white man who stood in the way of the black man. And for that, he would deserve a lifetime of liberal condemnation.

UPDATE (10:13 PM): Via Pirate’s Cove comes this gem from kos himself…a columnist for Newsweek Magazine(kos: “I still think it’s funny the wingnutosphere thought one of their lame bloggers would get offered the gig” ):

With a history of meddling in our primaries, why don’t we try and return the favor. Next Tuesday, January 15th, Michigan will hold its primary. Michigan Democrats should vote for Mitt Romney, because if Mitt wins, Democrats win. How so?

For Michigan Democrats, the Democratic primary is meaningless since the DNC stripped the state of all its delegates (at least temporarily) for violating party rules. Hillary Clinton is alone on the ballot.

But on the GOP side, this primary will be fiercely contested. John McCain is currently enjoying the afterglow of media love since his New Hamsphire victory, while Iowa winner Mike Huckabee is poised to do well in South Carolina.

Again he lost, again he repeated the same tired crap about knowing someone from the hills of somewhere that ails from something. What I found delightful was this quote:

“You never get anything if you don’t work for it,” she said.

That seems odd considering that Silky’s plan calls for:

expanding Medicaid and SCHIP

Edwards has advocated a freeze on mortgage foreclosures and a rescue fund to help families out of their mortgage dilemmas.

To support low-income families, my plan will invest in home visits to help at-risk families during pregnancy and infancy, universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds. I will also raise the minimum wage and cut the earned income tax credit marriage penalty to make pay and advance a broad range of other initiatives to eradicate poverty. These proposals, taken as a whole, will support the choices that women make.

I support public funding of abortion services for low-income women.

That sounds like a winning strategy for a loser! Good luck with that one! By the way…According to a new Rasmussen poll: The number of Americans who consider themselves to be Republicans jumped nearly two percentage points in December to 34.2%. That’s the largest market share for the Republican brand in nearly two years …(h/t to memeorandum)

Ed:

The realignment comes at a “startling” time, Rasmussen notes. The report also suggests this as a reaction to the performance of Democrats in Congress. Nancy Pelosi has only a 38% approval rating, compared to 49% at the start of the year, suggesting that independents have lost confidence in her leadership, and possibly some Democrats. They note the sharp increase in December as a corollary to the improving confidence in the war on terror, which also suggests that the electorate may exact a price on Democrats for their strident defeatism throughout most of 2007.

Obama Criticizes Edwards’ Record…
Clinton: We Don’t Vote for Advisers…
Huckabee: Stronger Military, Families…
Romney Takes on McCain Over Taxes…
Giuliani Glad to Be Back in NH…
Locking them in…

Is this fact or fiction? Oh man…and to think that it was Republicans that scared Elizabeth!

…The ENQUIRER has now confirmed not only that Rielle is pregnant, but she is also living in Chapel Hill, N.C. in a gated community, just a few streets away from Andrew Young, who has been a key official in Edwards’ campaign.
Young has been in charge of looking after Hunter, according to sources, and she has been careful to stay out of sight during Edwards’ campaign. A former Director of Operations for Edwards’ campaign, Young’s last official position with the campaign was North Carolina Finance Director.

He left that job about a month ago — nearly the same time Rielle relocated from the New Jersey area to Chapel Hill.

In a bizarre twist, Young, a 41-year-old married man with young children, now claims HE is the father of Reille’s baby.

The quote belongs to Bryan who provided this link:

Circulating among Iowa labor circles, I am told, is this leaflet, which looks to be a standard opposition-research paper against former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC.
The shocker? It’s from Mr. Positive, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.
Not that it’s a shocker that Obama is drawing differences between he and his opponents. (UPDATE: The Obama campaign says this document came because a local union requested information on the differences between him and his opponents.)
It’s a shocker because Obama chief strategist David Axelrod told ABC News that “One of the things people appreciate about (Obama) is he’s not a cheap-shot artist” and this flier is full of cheap shots.
The cheapest shot … that Edwards somehow has something to do with Whirlpool when the company was closing down Maytag plants in Iowa, Illinois, and Arkansas.

Think I’m joking? Watch this video. Would that loaf of bread get you to switch your vote? Jane and Joe..idiots for Edwards! And someone should let Edwards know that George Bush is not running in 2008.

Who could it be? Is it true?

Now, as I say it’s a rumor; I haven’t seen the supporting evidence. But the person who told me said it offhandedly as if everyone in his world knew about it. And if you look close enough you can find hints of something impending, something potentially derailing to this candidate in the reporting of the campaign. Which could mean that something unspoken, unwritten about is influencing what is written, what we read.

I think this is a Democrat, or there wouldn’t be so much agonizing over its’ release. I’m am thinking Edwards or Clinton. Edwards because of the affair rumor, and Clinton, because of the gay rumor. I also don’t think that the MSM wants to hand an election to a Republican, do you?

HotAir:

Both parties are guilty of this

Elrick Williams’s toddler niece Carlyn may be one of the youngest contributors to this year’s presidential campaign. The 2-year-old gave $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

So did her sister and brother, Imara, 13, and Ishmael, 9, and her cousins Chan and Alexis, both 13. Altogether, according to newly released campaign finance reports, the extended family of Williams, a wealthy Chicago financier, handed over nearly a dozen checks in March for the maximum allowed under federal law to Obama.

A supporter of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R), Susan Henken of Dover, Mass., wrote her own $2,300 check, and her 13-year-old son, Samuel, and 15-year-old daughter, Julia, each wrote $2,300 checks, for example. Samuel used money from his bar mitzvah and money he earned “dog sitting,” and Julia used babysitting money to make the contributions, their mother said. “My children like to donate to a lot of causes. That’s just how it is in my house,” Henken said.

H/T to Nice Deb at AOSHQ, for the link to this well written article by Bill Kristol at The Weekly Standard:

The Democratic nominee looks likely to be either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Hillary is furiously triangulating (it’s a family tradition), criticizing Obama for saying he’d meet with the Iranian mullahs and then saying she would, voting for a hawkish resolution on Iran then cosponsoring a dovish one. But even Bill’s triangulation got him only 43 percent of the vote in 1992 and 49 percent in 1996–and in terms of political skills, Hillary’s no Bill. Obama, for his part, seems no more experienced in dealing with serious affairs of state than Jimmy Carter did in 1975. Obama could conceivably follow in Carter’s footsteps and get the nomination–but America learns from her mistakes.