David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning (a Reuters reporter watched it so we did not have to) and announced that the Obama campaign will continue to announce committed superdelegates in the days ahead.

"You're going to see people (superdelegates) making decisions at a rapid pace from this point on," he said. "We've been announcing several each day for the last few days. We're going to continue to unfurl these endorsements on a regular basis."

OK, so we know Kentucky is an uphill battle for Barack Obama.  That doesn't mean the Obama campaign is writing off the state.  Every delegate won puts Obama one step closer to the nomination, including whatever delegates the campaign can get in Kentucky.  Below the fold, see the campaign's email to canvass and call Kentucky before May 20.

As the endgame approaches in the Democratic nomination race, much attention falls on the undeclared superdelegates to see if they will announce for one candidate or the other.

The clearest sign that the race is coming to an end is, however, what is happening with superdelegates officially pledged to Clinton this week.

Yesterday brought news that one Clinton superdelegate had officially switched to Obama.  Today brings signs more will follow.

The media have apparently come to the conclusion that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president with one month left in the primary campaign.  Editors at the national publications and executives at the cable news networks are no doubt disappointed at the imminent end of the primary battle (whether it is this week, May 20, or June 4) and the expanded audience that comes with it.

The Obama campaign can provide these outlets with a new way to capture the public's attention.  A way that pre-empts the traditional lull between the wrapping up of the primaries and the convention.

The Obama campaign should make the summer an exercise in political reality television with a broad casting call for the Vice Presidency.

The Los Angeles Times reports from the past weekend's California Democratic Council meeting [EDITED for correct name of the CDC] that a couple of superdelegates pledged to Hillary Clinton made comments that they would reconsider their support.  While neither committed like Joe Andrew last week, their statements reveal an end game at hand in the Democratic nomination process.

Much of what has been reported in the news over the past week has been rough for Barack Obama.  The (expected) loss in Pennsylvania and the war of words with Jeremiah Wright have thrown the candidate off-message.  Meanwhile Hillary Clinton focuses on economic issues, including the high price of gasoline, as we are days away from votes in North Carolina and Indiana (the largest of the states yet left to vote).

Yet Barack Obama still has momentum in the race to secure superdelegates, gaining several -- including Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler -- over the past week.  The push to secure delegates marches on.

Pressure on superdelegates continues to build; not only from us online, but in the media.  The pressure is not limited to undeclared superdelegates, but also ones who have actively campaigned for Hillary Clinton.

On this date a quarter century ago, Harold Washington made history, getting sworn in as the first African American to lead the city of Chicago.  I have written before about Harold Washington's remarkable journey; today I want to post that link again, as well as links to a few other people's memories of Mayor Washington.

This message may have gone out to everyone on the Obama for America list, or perhaps just to those of us in states neighboring Indiana.  In any event, the senior senator from Illinois, Richard Durbin, is asking us to help out the Obama campaign in a tight race.

Details below the fold.

Too early to say.  That the answer is not "no" at this point is very encouraging.

The election to replace Roger Wicker in MS-01 was held tonight.  The two main contenders are Democrat Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis.  Look below the fold to see the results.

The Clinton campaign's F.E.C. report for March 2008 is not, as of 10:40pm ET Sunday, on file.  That said we do have the numbers for Obama and McCain, and they confirm the sense that Democrats have the advantage this cycle.

Barack Obama began April with $51 million on hand. John McCain, who solidified his hold on the Republican nomination two months ago?  The certain Republican nominee has less than one quarter of Obama's cash on hand.  [UPDATE: If the Clinton spokesman Jay Carson is telling the truth, Barack Obama has more than twice as much cash on hand than both McCain and Clinton combined. The diary now has the reports for both Clinton and Obama below the fold.]

More after the jump.

William D. Ruckelshaus, the first head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

"Senator Obama's ability to attract not only Democrats, but also Republicans and Independents, makes him uniquely qualified to build the broad coalitions needed to address our nation’s challenges," said Ruckelshaus in a statement.

Ruckelshaus's choice of words speaks to his own place in American political history.

Today marks an important anniversary, a date that reminds us that out of struggle comes progress.  On April 16, 1968, the city of Memphis relented and recognized the Memphis sanitation workers' right to organize a union.  We know all too well the costs of that struggle; today let us remember it achieved an important victory.

Over the past several years I've come to appreciate Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo as the gold standard in political coverage on the web.  Not only does TPM's muckracking outshine most large media companies in exposing the doings of Jack Abramoff and the politicization of the U.S. Attorneys, but Josh himself has long been a sound observer of Democratic policy and politics without shilling for a particular candidate.

Which is not to say he's uncritical.  Since the summer of 2006, he has lambasted Joe Lieberman's increasingly ridiculous comments and behavior.  His assessment of the political landscape today in a couple news items tells the story of where the race to succeed George W. Bush is, and where it's heading.  More below the jump.

No, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) didn't just raise a million dollars for his re-election battle.  (A battle which will include a fierce Republican primary as well as a challenge from whichever Dem-who-beats-Young-in-polls emerges from the Democratic primary.)  The Corrupt Bastard's legal fees have now hit the million dollar mark!  

Why does Don Young have so many legal fees?  Read below.

Today is a sad anniversary.

Today's date is burned into our collective memories.  The scars of the pain and frustration of what happened forty years ago are still evident: physical scars on cities torn by riots, and emotional scars often detectable in the conversations we have.

Today, though, I would like to remember just what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was doing in Memphis on April 4, 1968, and why it was worth the risk to him to be there.

Forty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his ultimate address.  The "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech, both a call to action in the turbulent time of 1968 and a look ahead at what might yet be possible, provides an opportunity for us to take stock in where we are as a nation and a people.

Six weeks ago, I wrote of the striking workers in Memphis in an effort to recognize the importance of collective action in history and to remember the names of some brave, important strikers that are largely unfamiliar to most Americans.  Today as we mark another important anniversary in the struggle, I want to return the focus to the words and deeds of one famous, courageous man, what his words meant in 1968, and how they are relevant in 2008.

According to Time, both Democratic candidates for president had lighter fundraising totals in March than in February, with Obama continuing to outraise Clinton.

This diary is about current events, but also about a long, troubling history of media distortions of Democrats as individuals and as a party.  Indulge me as I review a diary I wrote in January of 2007 that it relates to events  -- troubling events -- happening in Pennsylvania this week.  If you care about the damage right-wing media outlets can do to the Democratic Party, I encourage you to join me below the fold.