TRAIL MIX: Political Campaign Coverage from Newspaper Blogs

By: Emily Vaughan Hillary Clinton's big win in California and other Super Tuesday states may save her campaign, which has been a little strapped for cash of late. The New York senator reportedly loaned her own campaign $5 million. Now it looks like Barack Obama is on pace for a fundraising month like January. Andrew Malcolm at the L.A. Times' Top of the Ticket had this to say about Clinton's financial troubles:

"In fact, the Clinton campaign raised less than $14 million last month compared to the $32 million reported by Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. Although Clinton is wealthy and her $5 million pales in comparison to the $35.5 million Republican Mitt Romney gave to his own campaign, this could be a sign of serious financial trouble coming out of the indecisive Super Tuesday voting.

"Late this afternoon Politico.com 's Jeanne Cummings, quoting unnamed sources in the Obama campaign, reported his campaign was on a pace to raise $30 million more this month, including $2.2 million in new money in the past 24 hours.

"Tuesday Clinton's campaign co-chairman Terry McAuliffe played down reports of financial difficulty. 'We have done up to this point $130-something million dollars,' he said. 'Hillary Clinton has plenty of resources going forward. No one should ever worry about Hillary Clinton having the necessary resources -- ever. She's never worried about them before and she's not going to start worrying about them now.'"

The L.A. Times

But that doesn't mean Hillary still doesn't have lots of support. In fact, New York Representative Nita Lowey actually cast a vote from her hospital bed. Mary Ann Akers at washingtonpost.com's The Sleuth had this to say:

"Super Tuesday turned out to be the most heart-racing presidential primary of Rep. Nita Lowey's (D-N.Y.) career. But even a 'minor coronary incident,' as her office describes it, didn't prevent the congresswoman from casting a vote for her gal Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"Lowey, 70, was released this morning from a Manhattan hospital where she was treated after collapsing at a rally for Clinton in White Plains, N.Y., on Saturday. Lowey collapsed after introducing Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy. She was taken to White Plains Hospital Center by ambulance, then transferred to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she stayed until Wednesday morning.

"An early and vocal booster of Clinton's, Lowey couldn't quite fathom the notion of not getting to vote in the crucial New York primary after pouring her heart and soul into her friend and colleague's presidential campaign."

TheWashington Post

There's no denying this primary is about delegates, especially for the democrats who are still locked in a close race. With both camps crunching the Super Tuesday numbers, Obama's people say he came out ahead. Mark Memmott at USA Today's On Politics had this to say:

"NBC News says it estimates Sen. Barack Obama 'picked up 840 to 849 delegates' from yesterday's Super Tuesday contests, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton added '829-838' to her delegate pool.

"The formulas for allocating delegates are complicated in many states. So there's room for argument.

"The Obama campaign, as The Politico's Mike Allen writes, says it thinks it outdistanced Clinton yesterday 847-834. 'The Clinton campaign,' according to Allen, 'said it was crunching its delegate numbers but was not sure it was correct that Obama got more.'"

USA Today

Michigan and Florida may be regretting their primary play. As 2008's presidential nominations become less about momentum, these states, whose delegates were stripped as punishment for moving their primary too early, are starting to feel sting. Patrick Healy at the New York Times' The Caucus discusses their options:

"Democrats in Florida and Michigan are increasingly concerned that their primaries, held in January, will not factor into the nomination fight between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. The Democratic National Committee stripped delegates from both states after they violated party rules by moving up their primary dates.

"The states have two options. They can petition a party committee to reinstate the delegates, a decision that would go also before all of the delegates at the Democratic convention in August. Or the two states can, in essence, vote anew, by holding caucuses this spring and assigning the delegates to the winner.

"Mrs. Clinton won the Florida and Michigan primaries, though she and her rivals did not actively campaign in either. Her camp is eager to hold onto the victories and fight for the delegates to be seated. What is more, Mrs. Clinton's track record with caucuses is poor. Of the nine held so far, she has won one (Nevada) and Mr. Obama has won eight."

The New York Times

McCain may be the Republican frontrunner, but that doesn't mean the conservatives like the famed maverick yet. His conservative appeal may become apparent today when he makes an appearance at a Conservative Political Action Conference with the likes of Mitt Romney and Vice President Dick Cheney. Mark Silva at the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp had this to say:

"Now that stakes are so high for Sen. John McCain in the campaign for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, the willingness of conservatives in his party to rally around someone who hasn't sounded all the right conservative chords is critical.

"So tomorrow, as McCain and rival Mitt Romney appear before another Conservative Political Action Conference at a hotel in Washington ? along with Vice President Dick Cheney ? it will more than illuminating to see how the candidates are received.

"Craig Shirley, author of Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign that Started it All, managed an oindependent campaign in support of The Gipper after he lost the Iowa caucuses to George H.W. Bush in 1980. Now, he is among several people identified with Reagan who are promoting McCain's candidacy: self-styled 'Reaganauts'' -- with Jack Kemp among them -- encouraging fellow Republicans, Download file" with a letter, to join the McCain bandwagon.

"'Winning is a good antidote,' Shirley told the Tribune today, in response to a question about how McCain can overcome the reticence of the party's conservatives."

The Chicago Tribune