Obama drama
Is the only solution in the Obama/Hillary ticket chase two for the price of one?
• • Translation: A top Barack Obama supporter tells Sneed Obama must win the Indiana primary May 6 to maintain his momentum -- or "it becomes hard to see a winning scenario unless Obama and Hillary Clinton are on the same ticket."
• • The kicker: "And it doesn't make much difference who is on top of the ticket -- as long as they both are on the ticket," the source added.
• • The upshot: "It's just hard to see either winning without one another."
• • Update:Word is Dem presidential hopeful Barack Obama is not only "physically beat" since his Pennsylvania primary loss, but is frustrated.
• • The source added: "Indiana is a must win state for Obama -- not so much for the number of delegates, but for the momentum slide," the source said.
• • Top 'em: "He has got to get back on top and show a different combo of support other than African Americans and the wine and cheese crowd."
• • Lose 'em: "Pennsylvania was a tough loss, and it hurt him. It's hard to envision him not being the nominee, but it's hard to envision him winning the presidency without her supporters."
• • Gauge 'em: "Indiana will be looked at as a barometer. Hillary Clinton may have won Pennsylvania, but she had the powerhouse support of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. She doesn't have that in Indiana, but Indiana is populated by her kind of voters."
• • A Hillary concession? "But if she loses Indiana and North Carolina, then maybe she might consider winding down."
• • A sure bet: Dems on both sides want this nightmare ended before the Dems' last primary (Puerto Rico) on June 3. But bet the ranch Puerto Rico will go to Obama. "There is no more popular politician in Puerto Rico than (U.S. Rep.) Luis Gutierrez . . . and he's an Obama supporter," the source added.
Actor Tom Cruise hits town May 5 to celebrate his break-out career igniter 25 years ago, "Risky Business," where he played a suburban Chicago teen who cuts loose while his parents are on vacation. Let's hope he doesn't repeat his last cut-loose appearance on Oprah's show.
A CBS television pilot titled "The Tower," which is about newspaper journalists who break stories and solve mysteries, starring actress CCH (Carol Christine Hilaria) "The Shield" Pounder, was spotted shooting Thursday near the Wabash Avenue Bridge. The pilot is shooting this week along the river and Michigan Avenue near Wacker Drive.
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker dining at Table Fifty-Two and her "Sex and the City" co-star Chris Noth at Gibsons Wednesday. (The entire cast is in town for an "Oprah Winfrey Show" taping.) ... Gulp! Actor Dan "The Blues Brothers" Aykroyd, a man of widening girth, spotted dressed all in black and taking dessert-to-go, which is generally bigger than a box after taking a late lunch at Gibsons Wednesday.
Sneed hereby restores the proper spelling of Souhier Boutros' lovely first name . . . Congrats to Margaret Houlihan and hubby Jim Smith on bringing home baby, Jack, after seven weeks at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. . . . Get well wishes to the person who could have been our governor, former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, recovering from knee surgery.
Today's birthdays: Al Pacino, 68; Talia Shire, 62, and the Casino Club's Albert Silvestri, 82, and Bill Nolan, ageless . . . Saturday's birthdays: Carol Burnett, 75 . . . and belated wishes to Stanley A. Pokrzywa, 90 . . . and congrats to Sun-Times VP of Labor Relations Ted Rilea and wife, Toni, on their 49th anniversary.
