The Democratic presidential candidates have both released responses to today’s gay marriage ruling in California. And they leave a lot to be desired.
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The California Supreme Court’s historic ruling on gay marriage has already turned into the hottest news item. And, natural, the reactions are coming in. Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kept his promise and vowed to let by-gones be gay bygones: “I respect the Court’s decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling. Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling.”

PFLAG’s proud as pie, of course, but mama Molleen Matsumura had an especially touching - and press friendly! - response, “California has embraced our children and affirmed our families… My husband and I are proud to now live in a state where our daughter’s union will be equal to our own.” So cute!

But, there are some people raining on the parade, so to speak…
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The rumors were true: former candidate John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama this evening, speaking of the Senator’s “bold leadership.” The speech, staged in Michigan, effectively rained on Hillary Clinton’s West Virginia parade.

Speaking of raining, the Clinton campaign had to apologize to a West Virginia voter today after a campaign caller, who had thought the person picked up, inadvertently left a fairly offensive message. Hi. Hello? This is crazy. This person hung up. Maybe they think it’s a bill collector. I bet it is. West Virginians are poor. Ouch.

We’re in the home stretch of primary season, but that doesn’t mean all’s well in the Democratic party. Aside from Hillary Clinton’s commendable tenacity, and the din of her vocal, though dwindling supporters, there’s a new tussle a brewing: the delegate selection tussle.

Many state parties have shown resistance to the Democratic National Committee’s Shay Amendment, a measure that set so-called “gay goals.” These numeric marks were set to help each state or territory include gay people in their overall delegate camp. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out quite as planned. And, if you haven’t read part one, you’d better catch up.
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Alright, pretend to be surprised… Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia primary!

The New York Senator basically swept the contest, taking about 67% of the largely white, working class state. Rival Barack Obama, the man many believe will win the Democratic presidential nomination, only received 26% of the electoral backing.
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With only six primaries left - and Barack Obama’s resounding lead over rival Hillary Clinton - many people have basically declared the delegate selection over. That, however, would be premature.

While the majority of the states and overseas regions’ delegate numbers have been determined, most of them must still decide which individuals will head to Denver this August. have ruled which candidate gets how many delegates, most of them still must decide who will head to Denver this August. And, like so many things in this election, there’s loads of drama surrounding the process. Infighting, allegations, personal homophobia and potentially impotent DNC “gay delegate goals” may derail the whole process.

Editor Andrew Belonsky offers part one of an extensive two-part analysis, after the jump…
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From The Editor: I heard something interesting while in Philadelphia this weekend. A gay man mentioned that he and many of his friends - all of whom support Hillary Clinton - plan on voting for John McCain if Barack Obama gets the Democratic nomination. Like so many others, these voters don’t think Obama has the experience necessary to run the country. So, readers, this has me wondering: are there any other men or women out there who plan to back McCain’s campaign if Clinton loses the nomination? And, if so, why?

As the Democratic National Committee tries to solve the election crisis, some other people are making some of their own suggestions of how to boot Hillary Clinton. Here’s one: “DNC cooks up a deal with Iran that if they agree not to attack Israel with nuclear weapons, they will obliterate Hillary themselves.” Rude… [Bill Lucey]

Senator Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to rival Barack Obama today pleading with him to count Michigan and Florida. Because, you know, she needs a bit of a boost to win this thing. An unfriendly excerpt: “Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.” Really, Hillary? [HuffPo]

The writing’s on the wall for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. And Time magazine!

The editors don’t want to be presumptuous in naming Barack Obama the nominee, so they’ve included an asterisk, which you probably can’t notice in this particular image.

The small note reads “Really, we’re pretty sure this time…”

One almost feels bad for Hillary Clinton right now.

Scads of strategists, pundits and pals, like former Governor George McGovern, are asking her to step aside; newspapers, blogs and magazines have basically called Barack Obama the nominee; and, basically, everyone’s on her back.

While some of us would like such action, we’re pretty sure Clinton’s not so pleased. Nor are her die-hard supporters. But there may be some major incentives for her to leave…
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Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff no longer supports Hillary Clinton: “The time has come for Clinton to adopt a gracious and conciliatory tone, end her campaign and endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.” [Washington Blade]

Girl! The gloves came off last night as undeclared Donna Brazile, her hair from the future and magenta lipstick ripped into Clinton-backer Paul Begala.
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The Associated Press is reporting that Hillary Clinton loaned her campaign $6.4 million over the last month. [MSNBC]

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley yesterday explained his controversial “pansy” remarks: “…Easley said he likes all the Rocky movies, wasn’t casting aspersions on Obama, and was just trying to say colorfully that Clinton is one resilient politician. “They’ve taken her to the graveyard five or six times, but she’s only driven the hearse back…’” Maybe not this time… [Boston Globe]