By: Emily Vaughan Did New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg actually suggested there was voter fraud in his city? Fifteen days after Super Tuesday some contested districts were still counting Democratic votes, including 55 districts where Obama apparently tallied zero votes, says Robin Shulman at washingtonpost.com's The Trail. The Obama camp isn't worried, but Bloomberg said, "If you want to call it significant undercounting, I guess that's a euphemism for fraud," Shulman reports.
There have been rumors that Ron Paul would drop out of the presidential race and refocus on his congressional run, but Paul cleared up the mixed messages. The Texas congressman said he will stay in the GOP race as long as his supporters want him to, says Andrew Malcolm at the L.A. Times' Top of the Ticket. It seems like they do. At the end of January, Paul had the most money remaining of any Republican contender.
Michelle Obama clarified her earlier controversial statements that "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country" in Rhode Island. The potential first lady said she she meant she was proud of how Americans were getting involved in the political process, says Sarah Wheaton at The New York Times' the Caucus.
Bill Clinton may be at odds with his wife's campaign again. The former president said that Hillary's campaign hinges on the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, and that they are must-wins to continue the campaign. While Clinton top aides acknowledge them at critical states, they refused to say more, says Jill Lawrence on USA Today's On Politics.
A New York Times' story about John McCain has been causing a lot of stir, says Frank James at the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp. The story, which is now running in other major papers including The Washington Post, tied McCain to telecommunications lobbyist Vicki Iseman around his 2000 presidential run, to the point where a McCain advisor asked her to stay away from the senator. The story also included worries from aides in 2000 that they had been romantically involved, though both Iseman and McCain deny the allegations.
The Clinton camp said today that they "wrote off all those little caucuses after Super Tuesday" because of lack of funds, says Carolyn Lochhead at sfgate.com's Politics Blog. Lochhead surmises overspending in Iowa and in Super Tuesday states (where Clinton was supposed to lock up the nomination) lead to a shortage of cash for the later caucuses. But Clinton's people are still optimistic that big wins in all the upcoming primaries plus superdelegates could still get Hillary the nomination.
The January numbers are coming in showing how much each candidate spent on and raised for his or her campaign. Foon Rhee at the Boston Globe's Political Intelligence posted the results. Not surprisingly, records show that a cash-strapped Clinton spent $20 million, but only raised $14 million.
Obama smashed records raising a total of $36 million, almost matching how much of his own personal fortune Mitt Romney contributed, $42 million.
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