Pindell Report

Next to selecting his running mate, John McCain's most important decision at the Republican National Convention is picking a keynote speaker.

Barack Obama's intensive presidential campaign in Oregon could mean that the DSCC's pick in the U.S. Senate race could be harmed dramatically.

Much of the excitement is over the Democratic presidential contest. As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battle for every state, Oregon is seen as a must win for Obama. As a result the Obama campaign has poured significant recources trying to drive turnout.

Last week in Pennsylvania Clinton was able to gain 9 delegates on Obama. For all of the breathless coverage and attention of Pennsylvania if Clinton doesn't have the money to compete in Montana those nine delegates could be wiped out.

DENVER -- Late last week Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean demanded that undecided superdelegates make up their minds soon on whether to support Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for president.

His intended message: voters in late states should have the final say in who will become the Democratic presidential nominee and not a group of party insider.

As the Democratic presidential campaign continues and Hillary Clinton's lead among super-delegates shrinks, some odd questions begin to get asked.

Odd questions, but not unreasonable. For example, could either of the U.S. Senate's two independents help decide who the Democratic presidential nominee might be at the national convention in Denver?  read more »

In New Jersey, John Ensign is settling for his third choice in the race for U.S. Senate
Add New Jersey to the list of states where John Ensign has meddled and lost. The National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman made a brief foray into Garden State politics last week when he sought to clear the field for John Crowley, a biotech millionaire with an incredibly compelling life story, to enter the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

After Crowley’s first announcement last Monday that he wasn’t running, Ensign engineered a full-court press to get him in the race. He had John McCain and five other Republican U.S. Senators call him. He promised him money and pledged to make 84-year-old incumbent Frank Lautenberg an NRSC target. And for a while, it looked like Crowley would run.

But by the weekend, Crowley decided -- for business, family and military (he’s a Navy reservist) reasons – that he could not transition his life into politics by today’s New Jersey filing deadline. On Sunday, a spokesman announced Crowley’s second withdrawal in seven days.

Will Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley screw over Hillary Clinton by not taking away a Barack Obama superdelegate?

The resignation of Alphonso Jackson as U.S.  read more »

(NECN) - Hillary Clinton is back-pedaling, saying she "misspoke" when she talked about a trip she made to Bosnia in 1996 when she was First Lady.

Clinton made her original mark during a speech last week about Iraq, saying she landed under sniper fire during the trip to Bosnia.

The Obama campaign suggests the statement was a deliberate stretch to boost her foreign policy profile.

James Pindell of www.politicker.com joins NECN to talk about this issue and the presidential race.

The Pindell Report will use the resources of Politicker's reporting in states to help tell the national political story. The first column will be posted this week.