The Morning Read: Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Last night Hillary Clinton won Ohio pretty easily, Texas by a small margin, and Rhode Island, meaning the fight for the Democratic nomination “seems unlikely to end any time soon,” writes Adam Nagourney.

It doesn't look like his delegate lead moved much.

John McCain earned enough delegates to take the Republican nomination.

And Mike Huckabee dropped out.

Obama called McCain last night to congratulate him.

“Clinton's show of vulnerability and a sense of humor in the final days before the Texas and Ohio contests seemed to resonate with voters.” writes the Wall Street Journal.

Going negative also helped.

Chris Bowers has some handy numbers.

“Obama blew his third chance to deliver a mortal blow” to Clinton’s candidacy, writes Thomas DeFrank.

“For Mrs. Clinton, the battle ahead is not so much against Mr. Obama as it is against a Democratic Party establishment that had once been ready to coalesce behind her but has been drifting toward Mr. Obama,” writes Patrick Healy.

Michael Goodwin says Clinton’s red telephone ad was “a smashing political success.”

Matthew Yglesias doesn’t see how Clinton can win this.

The Daily News editorial board writes, “Democrats who fear that an extended Clinton-Obama contest will set back the November cause are wrong.”

The campaigns were trading accusations of polling irregularities in Texas yesterday.

The state Democratic Party acknowledged there were problems.

In one small reported incident, some postal workers in Fort Worth were given time to vote, but not time to caucus.

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich held their congressional seats.

Next up: Wyoming and Mississippi!

Some Assembly Democrats, and the Working Families Party, want to raise the personal income tax, putting them at odds with Eliot Spitzer’s pledge not to raise taxes.

This latest fight between Michael Bloomberg and Eliot Spitzer is about the budget.

Bloomberg ordered an additional three percent cut in the budgets of city agencies.

David Seifman examines Bloomberg’s explanation for his $500,000 donation to Albany Republicans.

Steve Clemons says there are some people who are talking about a possible McCain-Bloomberg ticket.

Taylor Fife of the Daily Californian writes, “Bloomberg is perfect for the country and for Obama.”

“Spitzer administration officials are privately accusing the mayor of meddling in Albany politics at a time when the governor is close to overthrowing the Republican majority,” writes Grace Rauh.

Jennifer Medina looks at the pilot program that offers financial rewards to students and teachers.

Tony “The Tulip” Nunziato is running for state Assembly.

Dave Kerpen, the “unpolitician,” makes his debut as a featured speaker.

Edward Malloy wants the City Council to approve plans for redeveloping the old Con Edison plant in Manhattan.

The New York Times editorial board is in favor of congestion pricing.

And Mark Penn tastefully hides his port-a-potty behind plywood, much to the delight of his neighbors.