WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008

THE PRESIDENT OF CHICAGO. Despite Obama and his supporters’ efforts to push her out, Alvin S. Felzenberg suspects that Hillary Clinton isn’t going anywhere. And with good reason, as Byron York notes:

Sure, Clinton wants to change the agreement that existed going in to Florida and Michigan, but circumstances have changed, too. Since when have Democrats been such sticklers for unbending rules? Why do so many in the party insist that millions of votes in two key states be counted only if they don’t matter — that is, if the result is a fait accompli — and not be counted if they do?

If they were counted now — even if some of them were counted now — things might be quite different. According to the Real Clear Politics total, when one includes estimated vote totals in caucus states (a factor which favors Obama) plus results from Florida (which favor Clinton), but nothing from Michigan, where Obama’s name was not on the ballot, Obama’s lead in the national popular vote is 411,915. That figure is less than Obama’s margin of victory in his home of Cook County, Illinois, where, according to the Illinois Board of Elections, Obama won by 429,052 votes. By other counts, Obama’s lead is far less than his winning margin in Cook County. In other words, take away Cook County and Obama is the loser in the national popular vote race. He’s the president of Chicago.

SNOOTY PATOOTIE. Kathleen Parker on how Obama (and most Dems) just don’t “get” America. York is skeptical of Obama’s newfound flag pin. Jim Geraghty comments on West Virginians’ rejection of Obama.

AN OFFER HE SHOULDN’T REFUSE. Kathryn Jean Lopez has a message for Vito Fossella: resign.

NO LAUGHING MATTER. What do Yucca Mountain and Guantanamo Bay have in common? Jonah Goldberg has the punchline.

LITTLE LOLITAS. Michelle Malkin is scandalized by Beyonce’s new line of trampy clothes for little girls.

HUMAN INDIGNITY: Yuval Levin examines Steven Pinker’s slanderous assault on Leon Kass in The New Republic.

HEROES & VILLAINS. Thomas Sowell demystifies housing-market drama with supply and demand.

SAVE THE LANDOWNERS! Dana Joel Gattuso warns us to beware the farm bill’s conservation tax breaks. Brian Riedl thinks we should just flush all the agribusiness subsidies.

HOLIDAY FROM REALITY. Jerry Taylor and Jagadeesh Gohkale explain the bipartisan insanity of the gas-tax holiday.

DON’T PANIC. Henry Payne criticizes McCain’s global-warming plan with a history lesson from Detroit. Lopez interviews Bjørn Lomborg, who suggests what McCain should do instead:

The best legacy McCain could leave future generations is a world in which carbon emissions are low but incomes are high. It’s a possibility that is within reach — but not if politicians panic today.

McCain could propose that the United States spends 0.05 percent of its GDP on real research and development into low-carbon energy. That would give him the moral authority to ask the rest of the world to do the same when the Kyoto successor is negotiated in Copenhagen in late 2009. The total cost would be small so the likelihood of political success would be large. . . .

McCain would tap into the creative spirit that the U.S. is known for, and there would be some extraordinary results.

AN UNBEARABLE PANDER. Iain Murray and Chris Horner discuss the Bush administration’s motives for listing the polar bear as “threatened,” despite the evidence.

LET ISRAEL REJOICE! The Editors congratulate Israel on a successful 60 years.

EXTRA EXTRA! Michael Rubin has the headlines on Iran. Larry Kudlow highlights today’s top stories in finance.

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