Hotline After Dark -- Ready For The Big Day

The night before Super Tuesday, the nets focused on the big day:

Hillary Clinton stopped by the "Late Show" and, when asked what ex-Pres. Clinton's role would be in her WH, debuted a new line: "In my White House we'll know who wears the pantsuits" (CBS, 2/4).

ALL THE EXPERIENCE HE NEEDS

Barack Obama was on the "Nightly News":

Asked if it's better the vote was a few days from now: "We don't know for certain. ... For example we know in California a sizable portion of vote occurred a few weeks ago after New Hampshire so that's an advantage for Senator Clinton."

Asked if he didn't take Latino vote seriously enough: "You're getting too many memos from the Clinton campaign. We've been constantly going after the Latino vote and that's why I got 75% of the Latino vote when I ran for the United States Senate. We won the Latino vote in Iowa. What is true is the Clintons are a much more familiar name in the Latino community. We are seeing this gap close rapidly. I think this myth that Latinos ... won't vote for an African American ... is the kind of old race-based politics that our campaign has rejected and that the American people are rejecting."

Asked about the argument that if he gets the nod he won't be able to go up against the GOP's well-oiled machine: "Isn't that the argument that was made against me going up against the Clinton's well-oiled machine? ... If we get through this nomination we certainly will be battle tested because I don't think my opponent in the Democratic primary has been going out of their way to take it easy on me" ("Nightly News," NBC, 2/4).

(EMILY GOODIN)

Obama was also in the "Situation Room":

Asked if he gets the Dem nod if he can compete against McCain on nat'l security: "I honor John McCain's half a century of service to this country and I think that it's something that we have to all honor. Because he's been a war hero and I think he's done good work in the Senate. But the fact of the matter is that John McCain is not the person who is going to lead this country in a new direction. He is wrong on foreign policy. He is wrong on economics. He essentially wants to perpetuate the same failed economic strategies of George Bush by providing tax cuts to the wealthy as opposed to working families who need relief. He wants to continue the failed foreign policy of leaving our troops in Iraq, potentially for another decade, another two decades, another four decades. Or five. That is not what the American people are looking for. They're looking for a fundamentally different approach, particularly on the economy right now" (CNN, 2/4).

TO THE VICTOR GOES THE SPOILS

Mike Huckabee was on "Money & Politics":

Asked if he's playing a spoiler role: "Could it not be just as true that Mitt's presence hurts me?"

On Super Tuesday delegates: "We don't have a specific number we have to have."

More: "I find it amazing people are saying they're looking for a conservative candidate. Well, for a lot of people they've found one in me."

Asked if McCain is a conservative: "I don't think it's fair to call him a liberal like Mitt Romney has" (Bloomberg, 2/4).

He was also on the "O'Reilly Factor":

Asked what started McCain's comeback: "I think it probably was South Carolina."

More: "I mean, as I look at the race, and believe me I'm looking at it everyday, I think it was more that the media had come to this conclusion that he was the inevitable. He was the guy who was just unstoppable. And that's one of the frustrations. The media shouldn't be picking the president. You know, the New York Times today did a piece on the CNN debate and the fact that they specifically locked the cameras on two candidates, showing that the media can very much influence the perception" (FNC, 2/4).

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

And CMAG's Evan Tracey was on "Money & Politics" to talk about ad buys:

Tracey: "The Obama campaign has been buying about $7 million per week now and that's slightly more than the Clinton campaign. ... In states like California and New York, Senator Clinton has really been focusing her ad buys in all the media markets in these states. When you look at Senator Obama's campaign, he's been focusing most of his dollars into the population centers. ... He's trying to turn out as many voters as he can in those states, so, in essence, he can win by losing. If he can't win New York ... or California ... he wants to maximize turnout to help him get delegates in those states."

On Obama's Super Bowl ad: "He probably, by our estimates, bought about 24 different markets for the big game. ... This probably cost him anywhere between $300,00 and $500,000 to do. But let's face it, it's the biggest audience he's going to have between now and February 5."

Asked about GOP ad buys: "Republicans have been puddle jumping from primary to primary. Just post-Florida we've seen a few buys from Governor Romney's campaign starting in California, spending just under $1 million a day out there. Senator McCain is using both national campaign but also both spot buys in just the state of Missouri. ... This is winner take all so the focus is on states you can win" (Bloomberg, 2/4).

He was also on "NewsHour":

Tracey, asked where the GOPers are putting their money: "Well, the short answer is they don't have much to spend, and they're not putting it very many places. We've seen the Republicans essentially puddle-jump from primary to primary, focusing their money on the next race at hand. ... Governor Romney has focused his efforts into California. Senator McCain has focused his efforts into Missouri. ... There's only very few days, and advertising works over time. It's not going to be a silver bullet in these really compressed time frames."

More: "Governor Romney has probably outspent McCain about three-to-one by our data at this point. McCain has been identified with the surge, not only in Iraq, but also with an advertising surge strategy. ... Huckabee has been fairly quiet since South Carolina. He's had some national cable buys up, spending a couple hundred thousand dollars at the most. ... Ron Paul has been showing up in some random markets. We've seen him in Honolulu, in Washington state, in North Dakota, in Austin, Texas, but really not spending a lot of money. He may have the most cash-on-hand right now of any Republican" (PBS, 2/4).