Hillary Clinton just sent a formal public letter to Barack Obama calling on him to work to find a resolution to the Florida and Michigan question that reflects the votes in those states and seats their delegations at the convention. She also attempts to shame him for what she calls his failure to "support those efforts" in Michigan, and for the Obama campaign's opposition to revotes in Florida. "In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported," she writes.

As pointed out in a conference call yesterday, it is not clear that the Clinton campaign picks up enough support to change their dire position even if both states are counted. But as long as the Obama campaign doesn't budge, it's a talking point for the Clinton campaign.

Here's the letter:  read more »

In a poll just released by Quinnipiac University, Hillary Clinton is running ahead of John McCain in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio—three swing states that, according to electoral lore, are necessary to win the presidency.

The poll also shows McCain would beat Barack Obama in both Florida and Ohio:  read more »

Slowly but steadily, Barack Obama's campaign is coming around to the reality of the Florida and Michigan situation.

Until now, his approach has essentially been to bury his head in the sand in the hope that the whole matter would just go away—which is would have, had Obama finished off Hillary Clinton is Tuesday's voting.  read more »

If Hillary Clinton does well enough in tomorrow’s quartet of primaries to continue, her campaign’s next step will to resume banging the drum about seating the delegates of Michigan and Florida at the convention.

Barack Obama should support this aim.

Realistically, any Clinton nomination scenario at this point requires the inclusion of lopsidedly pro-Hillary delegations from Michigan and Florida at the national convention, since she's all but certain -- even with wins tomorrow -- to finish the primary season with fewer pledged delegates than Obama. Both states held "outlaw" primaries in January: None of the candidates really campaigned in either state, turnout was markedly lower than in other states, and Obama's name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot. Clinton won them both handily.

The Clinton campaign has been playing the voter-disenfranchisement card, arguing that the delegations must be seated to honor the will of voters in both states. This argument has not gained much traction, given the obvious flaws of both contests. But Clinton's hope seems to be that attitudes might shift if she reels off a late series of primary victories, starting with Texas and Ohio tomorrow. Perhaps then, the thinking goes, Democrats might be more receptive to finding a way to dump Obama, even if he has a slight lead in pledged delegates and cumulative votes.  read more »

“It’s not over till it’s over,” screamed a woman as Rudy Giuliani stepped to the podium to give his concession speech.

But all indications were that it, Giuliani’s candidacy for president, was indeed over.

As he spoke in a half-filled ballroom at the Portafino hotel in Orlando, the back of the room where the press sat, and the blogosphere, were abuzz with reports that Giuliani planned to endorse John McCain, the Florida primary’s winner, the next day in California.  read more »

One odd detail from Hillary Clinton’s “victory” celebration earlier tonight:

On her right as she waved from the stage was Bill Nelson, the state's Democratic senator. No problem there. On her right: Alcee Hastings, who has the distinction of being only the sixth federal judge in history to be impeached and removed from office. His dismissal in 1989 came eight years after hes was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe and perjury. He was acquitted in the original court proceedings when his co-conspirator refused to testify.  read more »

In an interview this evening with Rudy Giuliani for a story for tomorrow’s paper, I asked him whether he would participate in Wednesday’s debate in California.

“We are going to California,” he said.

That has been what the campaign has said all day. When I asked Giuliani’s senior political analyst, Tony Carbonetti, this morning whether Giuliani would participate in the debate, he said, affirmatively, “We are going to Florida.” I took that as a yes.  read more »

Here’s what’s at stake for the candidates in today’s Florida primary:

Republicans

John McCain: A win, even if it’s by a nose, will give the media license to declare him the clear national front-runner and should send much of the Republican rank-and-file, however reluctantly, into his camp, positioning him for a decisive string of victories on Super Tuesday. Because of Florida’s closed primary, a McCain victory—unlike his New Hampshire and South Carolina wins—will not be chalked up to his support from non-Republicans and will be treated by the press as a signal from the party base that, after spurning him for nearly a decade, they are ready to close rank behind McCain.  read more »

Florida’s closed Republican primary was supposed to be John McCain’s undoing.

Tomorrow’s vote marks the first time balloting in a G.O.P. contest is restricted only to registered Republicans, leaving out the independents who boosted Mr. McCain’s performance in New Hampshire, Michigan, and South Carolina. At the mercy of a party base that despises him for his positions on immigration, campaign finance reform and a dozen other apostasies, the thinking goes, McCain faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of Mitt Romney.  read more »

BOCA RATON, Fla.—Rudy Giuliani, wearing a dark suit and dark yarmulke, emphasized his ties to Florida’s Jewish voters in a speech at a modern orthodox synagogue here today.

“I have a long-standing and strong community with the Jewish community here and in Israel,” said Giuliani. He told the congregants at the Hahn Judaic Campus of the Boca Raton Synagogue about a trip to Israel during which he witnessed what he called the reunification of the Ethiopian Jews.  read more »