Radio Host Denies Broadcasting His Support for Obama

It's no secret that conservative talk-radio hosts have made clear their distaste for the candidacy of Sen. John McCain -- yes, Rush Limbaugh, we are looking at you -- insisting that the Arizona Republican is not sufficiently conservative to be the GOP's standard-bearer.

But are liberal talk-show hosts doing the same to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) heading into her Super Tuesday showdown with Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)?

Several times over the past week, Ed Schultz, the biggest name in progressive talk radio, has had to battle callers who insist that he is in the bag for Obama.

Not so, says Schultz, who describes the fights on his show as a sign of progress for liberal talk radio. "What we're going through right now is something liberals and progressives and lefties didn't have in 2004," he said.

What about his much-discussed recent appearance on MSNBC's "Hardball," in which he asserted that former president Bill Clinton was "lying about Barack Obama's record"? "If I think they're lying, I am going to call 'em on it," said Schultz, who describes his role as a "facilitator of a vetting process."

Recent guests on Schultz's program, which boasts more than 3 million listeners, shows that the Bill Clinton comments have not had a chilling effect: Last Tuesday, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, was a guest; the next day, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson came on.

While Schultz insisted that chatter about his Obama bias is groundless, he did note that "the Clinton people are a little sensitive right now, and I don't know why."

Schultz has pledged to support whoever ends up as the Democratic nominee.

Democrats Turning Out

An early and potentially pivotal pattern has emerged in the presidential campaign after the first wave of state primaries: In New Hampshire and South Carolina, the Democratic turnout was at record levels, while the Republican turnout dipped from 2000, its most recent contested primary. Caucuses in Iowa and Nevada also drew record numbers of Democratic voters. (See accompanying chart for specifics.)

It's also worth noting that none of the four states is a Democratic stronghold. If the contests on Super Tuesday show a similar trend, especially in red or purple states, it's time for Republicans to hit the panic button.

Reversal of Fortunes

The news this week that House Democrats raised more money than House Republicans in 2007 shocked political observers. Republicans are supposed to be better at collecting campaign cash, aren't they?

Yet the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee collected $67.5 million last year, according to year-end reports filed late last week with the Federal Election Commission. The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $49.5 million.

Even worse for the NRCC: It outspent the DCCC by more than $10 million last year. At the end of the year, the Democratic committee had $35 million in the bank -- seven times as much as the House Republicans had on hand.

The numbers are only slightly less daunting for Senate Republicans. At the close of 2007, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee -- led by known fundraising animal Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) -- brought in $55.4 million and ended the year with more than $29 million in the bank.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised just short of $32 million in that same time period and closed the year with $12 million in the bank.

6 days: Virginia Democrats hold their annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond, three days before the commonwealth's presidential primary. Rumors -- unconfirmed, of course -- are swirling that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will attend.

16 days: Hawaii holds its Democratic primary -- a must-cover vote for any true political reporter (hint, hint, Fix editors!).