March 2008

Hillary Clinton's camp has signed on for a CNN forum April 13th in Harrisburg, PA. Waiting on word from Barack Obama's spokesman ...

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to appear Thursday evening on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" ...

Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal writes about another outgrowth of Gallup's daily tracking polls -- Barack Obama tends to do better in surveys that end Saturdays. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, does well earlier in the week, in samples that end Tuesday or Wednesday.

The numbers, first crunched by Harrison Hickman and Ben Margolis, both of the Democratic firm, Global Strategy Group, advise caution as the media marvels in Obama's early-week leads. By the end of the week, Blumenthal notes, the contest should tighten again. Read on.

Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal offers a bit of perspective on those 234K new PA Dem registrants:

Total turnout in the 2004 PA primary was 790K. It was 1.26 million in 1992. All time high was 1.6 million in 1984. (Last two numbers from Rhodes Cook's book).

Bottom line -- The latest numbers are even more impressive when compared with historical turnout.

Chelsea Clinton was asked today by a student at NC State University about Monica Lewinsky, specifically why Bill Clinton's personal troubles in the White House are not the people's business. This was her second Monica Q on the stump in as many weeks. And she gave a similarly chilly answer.

Here's the vid, per NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann:

PHILADELPHIA - While a final number may not be available for a few weeks, the Pennsylvania Department of State has released an update on the number of people registered to vote in the April 22 Democratic primary -- and it shows a massive registration effort on the final day of eligibility.

The state now has 4,119,213 registered Democrats. Since March 24, the last day of eligibility for the primary election, the state has received 33,281 new Democratic registrations and 45,977 party changes to the Democratic Party. The secretary of state's office is still accepting new registrations and party switches that were postmarked by the deadline.

State officials said the activity on the final day was intense, and these new numbers likely include large swaths of registrations that were collected by both candidates' campaigns and submitted just before the deadline.

Since the new year, the state has received 101,499 new Democratic applications and 132,688 switches to the Democratic Party.

By contrast, the Republican Party in Pennsylvania now stands at 3,197,586 people. Only 32,191 citizens have joined the GOP and 13,937 have switched to the Repubs since Jan 1.

(NBC/NJ's MATTHEW BERGER)

For those keeping track of whom the Senate's 10 female Dems (Hillary Clinton makes 11) have endorsed, here's our count:

Clinton
Feinstein
Murray
Cantwell**
Mikulski
Lincoln
Stabenow

(**Cantwell appeared to vacillate last week, telling The Columbian that the Dem Party should ultimately come together for the candidate who has the most states and pledged delegates.)

Obama
McCaskill
Klobuchar

On Call Aside --

Boxer hasn't endorsed but appears to be leaning Obama. Landrieu, who faces a tough re-elect, has also stayed neutral.

On Call Aside 2 --

It's important to note that Obama tends to draw support from women in reddish/purplish states. McCaskill, of course, is one such supporter. Meanwhile, MN has gone Dem the last two presidential elections but by narrow margins, 3 percentage points in 2004, and 2 percentage points in 2000. So Klobuchar's announcement makes sense, too. Looking beyond the Senate, the theory also holds true with Govs. Napolitano, AZ, and Sebelius, KS, as prime examples.

As Maureen Dowd noted in yesterday's NYT: "It is always when Hillary is pushed back by the boys that women help hoist her up." But with Klobuchar's move for Obama, and Cantwell's recent waffling, has HRC run out of women in high places to shepherd her flock?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

For those who missed Al Gore last night on "60 Minutes" ... Not applying, he said, for the job of Dem broker.

The WSJ reported this a.m. that NC's Dem congressional delegation, seven strong, was moments away from coming out en masse for Barack Obama. Not so, report our trusty NBC/NJ embeds, Aswini Anburajan and Carrie Dann.

Per Dann: A staff member close to one of the superdelegates in question confirms there is no truth to the story.

Per Dan Leistikow, a spokesman for the Obama campaign in NC, "Despite the Wall Street Journal’s optimism, none of them has told our campaign that they are ready to announce their endorsement of Senator Obama – so we’ll keep working on it."

One state Democrat who supports Obama did say that elected officials and candidates for office in the state have expressed concern about a prolonged nomination, saying that many of them believe that a popular election result overturned by superdelegates "would destroy the party." A mass endorsement by the delegation would send a clear message of party unity, he said.

Latest Gallup survey shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton, 52% to 42%. It's his largest lead of the year. The poll, conducted conducted March 27-29, also shows John McCain still leading his Dem rivals. He leads Obama, 47% to 44%, and edges Clinton, 48% to 44%.

As John McCain launched his week-long bio tour today in MS, his campaign released this Web spot. As his first TV spot did last week, this ad seeks to define McCain by his service to country. It recalls his family's history of service, too.

Narrator: "The family he was born into, and the family he is blessed with now, made John McCain the man he is, and instilled in him a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society."

Excerpts from McCain's a.m. speech in Meridian, MS, available after the jump.

MN Sen. Amy Klobuchar endorsed Barack Obama this a.m. on a conference call with reporters. MN already voted, as you know, but her decision to go public for Obama represents a huge knock on Hillary Clinton. Klobuchar, the state's first female Sen, modeled her campaign on HRC's NY effort.

"Between Barack and a hard place, I chose Barack," Klobuchar said. The hard place, she qualified, was indecision.

"I am pleased today to announce my support for Barack Obama for president," Klobuchar said. "I believe that the Democratic Party is truly blessed this year with two candidates who would each be a strong president. And both of our candidates offer many excellent leadership qualities. I'm endorsing Barack Obama because he is a new kind of leader. He speaks with a diffferent voice. He brings a new perspective and inspires a real excitement from the American people. He's able to dissolve the hard cynical edge that has dominated our politics under the Bush Administration."

Klobuchar said Obama's "impressive showing in MN" was a critical reason for her decision. She said she delayed her announcement out of respect for both candidates -- despite their respective courtship of her (Klobuchar recalled that one of the Dems even called her cell phone while she was shopping in Costco). And she said that her 12-year-old daughter, Abigail, encouraged her to break her silence because to stay mum at this point in the race, the younger Klobuchar advised, was "awkward, mom, awkward."

Still, the MN Sen said she won't add to the calls from some of her colleagues for Clinton to withdraw from the race. "I believe that Sen. Clinton has every right to continue her campaign," she said. "... I have faith that our candidates will figure this out and that this will come to a conclusion in early summer."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Winners ...

Chelsea Clinton -- Launched a pitch perfect smackdown of a Butler University student who asked if the Monica Lewinsky scandal tarnished her mother's image. Also made a stitch of news today in Allentown, PA, when she asserted that Hillary Clinton would make a better president than Bill Clinton. Someone else has apparently found her voice ...

Barack Obama -- He has, perhaps for now, weathered the Rev. Jeremiah Wright storm by showing resilience in the polls. Appeared with a v. chummy Mike Bloomberg in NYC. (Twas a nicely-timed shout out to Jewish voters.) Endorsed by PA Sen. Bob Casey, which amounted to a seal of approval from the public face of a political family well-liked by the state's moderates (whites, Catholics) who favor their more conservative views on social issues, abortion in particular. Casey's endorsement was critical in a state that strongly favors Clinton.

John McCain -- Emerged from another week unscathed by repeated DNC attacks tying him to an unpopular president. Takes a fundraising jaunt to UT with Mitt Romney. (GOP looks So Happy Together while Dems contined to spar.) Aired first TV ad, a solid spot highlighting his service to country. Announced bio tour to MS, AZ, VA, MD, FL. Polling showed he has that crossover magic, as a good chunk of Dems (one-in-five at least) say they'd vote for him over the Dem they're not backing.

Losers ...

Hillary Clinton -- NBC/WSJ survey showed her approval rating at the lowest it's been since March 2001, two months after she was sworn in to the U.S. Senate. Botched Bosnia story prompts admission that she "misspoke," but she says the episode shows she's human. Attempts to rekindle Wright brouhaha, which falls flat. Sen. Pat Leahy, an Obama supporter, says today she should exit the race. Casey goes with Obama. Howard Dean says this contest won't go past early June. And maybe the Ragin' Cajun' hurt his gal with all that Judas talk, too.

David Paterson -- Revelations about ... Cocaine use. Marijuana. Trips with state worker girlfriend to IA and SC ... to work on HRC's campaign. Maybe he gets it out there, airs those demons. Or maybe the whole thing leaves Joe Bruno smacking his lips ...

Bill Clinton -- Continued to praise McCain on the trail. But notes, repeatedly, that the AZ Sen would be the oldest prez.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

With due respect to our colleague Mark Blumenthal of Pollster.com, who has wisely urged caution in reading too much into Gallup's daily tracking polls, here's the latest for those of you who need a numbers fix:

Barack Obama 50%
Hillary Clinton 42%

Gallup notes that Obama's 8-point advantage matches his largest lead of the tracking program, a 50% to 42% showing in Feb. 28-March 1 polling. It appears that Obama battled back effectively after the Rev. Jeremiah Wright saga, while Clinton's numbers might still be suffering as a result of the Bosnia story.

Meanwhile, John McCain leads both Dems:

McCain 48%
Clinton 44%

McCain 46%
Obama 44%

PITTSBURGH/BRADDOCK, PA -- Barack Obama smiled through short photo ops today with two very different kinds of steelers.

Obama posed with former Pittsburgh Steelers players Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris before traveling to Braddock to greet shift workers at the U.S. Steel plant.

Harris was a Steelers star who played in several Super Bowls in the 1970s. Bettis, nicknamed "The Bus," lead the Steelers to their most recent Super Bowl win before retiring. "The Bus" was on the bus to the U.S. Steel plant, and Bettis made sure to grab Obama's autograph and give him a back thumping hug before dropping off.

Obama then headed to Braddock, where he mingled and shook hands with steel workers waiting outside to greet him. Obama spent about twenty minutes outside and addressed the crowd at one point and posed for a group picture.

Sen. Bob Casey also joined Obama here.

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

Al Gore sits down with Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" this Sunday in a rare interview -- rare because it's been almost six months since Gore had a serious sit down with a journalist. Gore's last TV interview was 11/5/07 on the "Today" show but that was for the program's "Today Goes Green" series. Politically, Gore's last interview was 9/26/07 when he talked with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Situation Room."

As for Gore's last big press run, it was in May 2007 when his book "The Assault on Reason" came out. During that month, Gore did the standard media tour -- the morning shows, "Larry King Live," "Nightline," and "Charlie Rose" -- plus stops on CBS' "Late Show" and the "Daily Show."

And for those keeping track, when Gore decided not to run for POTUS in '04, he gave the exclusive to Stahl.

(EMILY GOODIN)

ALLENTOWN, PA - Chelsea Clinton was asked whether her mother would be a better president than her father, and she said yes. Speaking at Lehigh Valley Hospital today, she laughed when a man in the front row asked her to choose between her parents.

"His question is, 'Do I think my mother will be a better president than my father,'" she said. "Well, again, I don't take anything for granted, but hopefully with Pennsylvania's help, she will be our next president, and yes, I do think she'll be a better president."

Clinton spoke for more than an hour at the hospital, taking mostly questions about healthcare issues.

(NBC/NJ's MATTHEW BERGER)

Paul Tewes, Barack Obama's Iowa state director, will head to the Keystone State tomorrow to take over the campaign's GOTV operation.

Per Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer: "Now that the voter registraton deadlne has passed, we have entered the GOTV phase of the campaign in Pennslyvania. Tewes has joined the Pennsylvania campaign on the ground here to lead this effort He will serve as state director."

Pfeiffer added that Jim DeMay, who had been the state director up until this point will "continue to play an advisory role our campaign." DeMay was Al Gore's PA state director in 2000.

Added Pfieffer: "While we remain the underodog, we are working as hard as we can to get as many votes as possible."

Tewes has a strong track record. Under his leadership, the Obama campaign conducted an extensive grassroots effort in Iowa that helped the campaign win by 8 percentage points.

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

Here are the scheduled guests for the Sunday public affairs shows and other weekend programs:

SUNDAY SHOWS:

Meet the Press hosts CIA dir. Michael Hayden and a roundtable with New York Times' David Brooks and New Republic's Peter Beinart.

Face the Nation hosts NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D), Philly Mayor Mike Nutter, Dem strategist Joe Trippi and Slate's John Dickerson.

This Week hosts PA Gov. Ed Rendell (D), and Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

Fox News Sunday hosts Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jack Reed (D-RI) and the power player is Washington Nat'ls pres. Stan Kasten.

Late Edition hosts ex-State Dept. adviser Aaron Miller, NBC's Martin Fletcher, Chilean Amb. Heraldo Munoz, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Dem strategist James Carville, and a roundtable with CNN's Dana Bash, CNN's Ed Henry, and CNN's Jeffrey Toobin.

OTHER WEEKEND SHOWS:

Washington Week hosts National Journal's James Barnes and Los Angeles Times' Doyle McManus on the Dem WH campaign and Politico's Jeanne Cummings and AP's Charles Babington on how the economy is affecting WH '08 (PBS, FRI, 8 pm).

Real Time features comedian Robert Klein, Washington Post's Robin Wright, talk show host Tavis Smiley, and actor John Cusack (HBO, FRI, 11 pm).

Political Capital talks with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about the economy (Bloomberg, FRI, 7:30 pm).

Newsmakers hosts Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) (C-SPAN, SUN, 10 am/6 pm).

Road to the White House features Karl Rove's speech on WH '08 at GW (C-SPAN, SUN, 6:30 pm/9:30 pm).

Q&A features a Brian Lamb interview with ex-CBS corr. Roger Mudd (C-SPAN, SUN, 8 pm/11 pm).

Chris Matthews Show hosts NBC's Tom Brokaw, Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker, Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, and NBC's Andrea Mitchell (NBC, check local listings).

60 Minutes features a Lesley Stahl interview with Al Gore (CBS, SUN, 7 pm).

(EMILY GOODIN)

The DNC released this statement from Howard Dean today, reacting to John McCain's first TV ad of the general:

"The American people have been waiting for a president who understands the challenges they face, not another out of touch Bush Republican who promises four more years of the same failed leadership. John McCain can try to reintroduce himself to the country, but he can't change the fact that he cast aside his principles to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Bush for the last seven years. While we honor McCain's military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn't understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years."

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: The RNC, as you might expect, took offense at the "blatant opportunist' remark. Here's RNC Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli's response ...

“It is beyond comprehension that Howard Dean would smear John McCain’s character by stating he is a ‘blatant opportunist.’ John McCain served our nation heroically and valiantly and it is absolutely unacceptable that the chairman of the Democratic National Committee would attack Senator McCain for discussing his record with the American people. Dean’s comments are the latest in what has become a troubling pattern where the chairman of the national party has questioned Senator McCain’s character and integrity. Howard Dean owes John McCain an immediate apology and both Senators Clinton and Obama should unequivocally denounce this disgraceful attack.”

From today's Hotline:

"One thing I think people overstate is that he is my spiritual adviser."

-- Barack Obama, on Jeremiah Wright, "The View," ABC, 3/28.

Barack Obama airs first TV spot in NC. Main message: Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Stop giving tax breaks to companies sending jobs overseas. "Enough is enough," he says.

UPDATE: The RNC weighed on this ad a few moments ago. Per spokesman Alex Conant: “Enough is enough. If you cut through his rhetoric, the record is clear: Obama doesn’t think Americans are being taxed enough. Voters in North Carolina have rejected tax-and-spend Democrats for decades, and they will reject Barack Obama and his misleading rhetoric.”

MS, VA, FL, AZ ... and the Dem-reliable MD (which is home, of course, to the Naval Academy)

Specific sched -- tour starts Monday -- available after the jump.

My favorite comment today from a top Dem strategist about the 'Al Gore saves the day' rumblings:

"Gore buzz is crack-smoking Fox chatter," he writes to On Call. "Everybody knows how this movie will end, but that doesn't mean that it's not good drama."

Mark McKinnon tells NJ Contributing Editor Linda Douglass today that the Dems’ prolonged and bitter nomination battle is “an enormous gift to John McCain." He also reiterates that he won’t make ads for McCain if Barack Obama is the nominee and calls Obama a man of great character.

A snippet of the interview:

Q: So you've said that you will leave the McCain campaign if Obama is the nominee. Does that still hold and why?

McKinnon: Yeah. Well, this goes back to a memo that I wrote to the campaign when I came aboard more than a year and a half ago, and I simply let them know that I had spent time with Obama and read his book and I like the guy. I think he has strong character and a fascinating life story, and I disagree with him fundamentally on issues like Iraq and trade and a number of others. But I just flashed forward to the improbable scenario, at that time seemingly improbable, that John McCain and Barack Obama might face off against one other. And I just told them at the time that I thought that I would be uncomfortable being on the front lines -- being as aggressive as you need to be in a presidential campaign -- and not only that I would be uncomfortable, but that it would be bad for the campaign, and that if that circumstance were to come to be, that I would just take a step to the sidelines and continue to support John McCain 100 percent and be No. 1 fan and cheerleader. But just kind of take myself out of the front lines.

Q: So you are still going to do that?

McKinnon: I'm a man of my word.

The AP reports that Al Gore thinks the Dem race will work itself out just fine before the Denver convention.

PA Sen. Bob Casey backs Barack Obama, gets on the campaign bus, writes the Philly Inquirer.

Dr. Dean tells CBS that Super Ds must make up their minds by July 1.

John McCain ... American hero. Let the branding begin.

The campaign announced today as well that McCain will embark on a "Service to America" tour "where he will introduce himself to the nation through a series of speeches and visits that trace the life of a man indebted to his nation, humbled by the opportunity to serve his country, honored by his family's love and deeply moved by his fellow Americans' courage and sacrifice. The tour will highlight the events and figures that shaped his views of right and wrong, forgiveness and grace and the tradition of service and sacrifice ingrained in him from generations of McCains. This "Service to America" tour will fundamentally be about the future of America and the change John McCain will bring as president, informed by the values that have guided his life."

Script after jump.

Barack Obama made the media rounds last night:

Asked if the party is hurt by the long-term battle between him and Hillary Clinton: "I don't think we are hurt long-term. I think short-term, there is gonna be work to do for the nominee to bring the party back together again."

More: "I think what's going to happen is, is that there are gonna be some bruised feelings, whoever the nominee is."

On Rev. Wright: "If all I saw of Reverend Wright were the 30-second or 1-minute clips that have been looped over the last 2 weeks again and again. You know, it's as if we took the five dumbest things that I ever said or you ever said in our lives and compressed them and put them out there, you know, I think that people's reaction would be understandably, upset" ("World News," ABC, 3/27).

More Obama, on Wright: "I've, I think, talked thoroughly about, you know, the issue with Reverend Wright. And, you know, everybody, I think, who examines the church that I attend knows that it is a very traditional, conventional church. Reverend Wright has made some, you know, troubling statements and some appalling statements that I have condemned. He's the former pastor of that church. And when I travel around the country, what people are really interested is making sure that, if I'm going to be the next president, that I can actually help them stay in their homes, get a job, send their kids to college. That's something that's shared by people across races, religions. And part of what I hope to do in this campaign and as president is to get us beyond these divisions that distract us from our common challenges and our common opportunities and move the country forward" ("Closing Bell," CNBC, 3/27).

On Iraq: "When the violence was high, John McCain and George Bush said we can't leave because the violence is high. When we reduced the violence, they said we can't leave because we've made progress. This is part of the problem that we have."

Asked when Clinton should leave the race: "I think that is something that she's got to make a decision about. And, you know, I have always said that I'm prepared to, you know, go and contest every single state."

More: "I think that what's going to happen is as soon as the nominee is determined, whether that is two weeks from now or in early June that there will be some bruised feelings. People are going to have to patch things together, and we Democrats have to get out act together and win this election" ("Evening News," CBS, 3/27).

After the jump, Clinton talks family with NBC and James Carville has more things to say about NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D). (EMILY GOODIN)

Maggie Williams, who replaced Patti Solis Doyle as Hillary Clinton's campaign manager in 2/08, considered asking the entire campaign staff to tender their resignations after the OH and TX primaries on 3/4, according to several sources close to the campaign.

“She essentially wanted the whole staff to reapply for their jobs,” said one source.

According to another Clinton insider, the plan was in the works despite their 3/4 victories. But before Williams could make it happen, Clinton herself nixed the idea as unnecessary.

For Williams, such a move reflects a need to assert control over an increasingly fractured staff. Reports of turmoil within the campaign -- like the now infamous Penn-Grunwald shouting match -- began leaking to the press under her tenure. And a campaign insider confirmed that Williams questioned the loyalty of her staff as a result.

Some speculate that the litmus test of asking her staff to reapply for their jobs was conceived with an eye towards weeding out of the more entrenched staffers, particularly those who had closely aligned themselves with Solis Doyle. “I think they realized that getting rid of Patti wasn’t a big enough fix,” said another source, on William’s motivations.

In the last few weeks, a slew of staffers close to Doyle, including Jessica O'Connell, the national director of operations, and longtime campaign staffer Adam Parkhomenko left. Deputy campaign manager Mike Henry and online staffers Kevin Thurman and Crystal Patterson also offered their resignations last month in the wake of Doyle’s departure.

Clinton campaign staff contacted said if any sort of plan was in place they never got wind of it. Responding to inquirers, Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer denied that such a plan was ever in the works [NORA MCALVANAH].

With an afternoon of meetings behind me, I have a few thoughts about Mike Bloomberg's appearance with Barack Obama today in NYC and the post photo-op speculation that they'd make a fine pair.

Won't happen.

Reason 1: Obama might have a Jewish problem (might not, still unclear), but his veep decision will have to remedy what's shaping up to be a potentially bigger issue for him -- white, male, rural voters. And Bloomberg, though he satisfies the first characteristic, doesn't have that rural, moderate cred. Jewish, single, wine-swilling, billionaire. Not exactly Joe Six Pack's political besheret.

Reason 2: Obama does indeed have a foreign policy experience deficit, and with an Iraq pullout imminent with either one of the Dems in the WH, he's going to need someone on board to help shape that effort. And, more importantly in the short-term, he has to enlist a veep who can credibly argue on the trail that Obama has the disposition and thoughtfulness and depth to weigh difficult decisions and to learn quickly on the job. Meanwhile, John McCain's perceived strength on foreign policy and his undeniable vet cred requires that someone on the Dem side offer a foil. And we know Obama won't match up on his own.

Reason 3: Geography. This election is going to be an exercise in keeping or flipping a few critical states: OH, PA, NC, NH, FL and MI. Sure, geography hasn't been at the top of any nom's list of requirements in picking a running mate in recent years (though it would've been nice indeed for John Kerry if John Edwards had carried his home state). This year, though, it could count.

Reason 4: And finally, I think the longer this Dem fight continues, the more likely it is that Obama has no choice but to run with Hillary Clinton. Yes, I know this potentially violates my Reasons 2 and 3. And, yes, I know they're scratching each other's eyes out. I also know that she's provided the GOP with their talking points -- Obama isn't ready to be commander in chief or a steward of the economy. But, how are the dissatisfied masses of her supporters, after a possible floor fight, going to be placated? Ok, Obama/Clinton is no longer looking like The Dream Ticket -- even the folks at the Kodak Theatre debate might, these days, cringe at the suggestion. Call it The Misery Ticket. And let's get on with it.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

From today's Hotline:

"I don't think the nominee of the party will be considered legitimate if we don't figure out how to count those votes."

-- Hillary Clinton, on MI and FL, "On the Record," FNC, 3/26.

The Huff Post's Sam Stein had this nice catch today: Apparently, John McCain's "major" economic speech this week included a recycled graph from an October 2001 Wall Street Journal op-ed.

This week's speech included:
"The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die," McCain told the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. "Commerce is disrupted; economies are damaged; strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. Not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss the veteran remembers most keenly. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war. However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the cause, we should still shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us... we cannot wish the war to be a better place."

October 2001 piece:
"War is a miserable business," the Arizona Senator wrote in a Wall Street Journal oped in October 2001. "The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted, economies are damaged. Strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the cause, we should still shed a tear for all that will be lost when war claims its wages from us. Shed a tear, and then get on with the business of killing our enemies as quickly as we can, and as ruthlessly as we must. There is no avoiding the war we are in today, any more than we could have avoided world war after our fleet was bombed at Pearl Harbor.... War is a miserable business. Let's get on with it."

We're all for recycling, but c'mon!

John McCain's campaign criticized Barack Obama's economic speech today, while Hillary Clinton is expected to hit McCain during her talk on the economy in NC -- and her campaign teased as much by leaking her related comments. V. interesting that McCain seems to rarely, if ever, hit Clinton. Nothing out of them yet today on the Clinton slams. He's ready, at least, for the general to commence.

From McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds: "No amount of rhetoric can hide Senator Obama's clear record of embracing the liberal tax and spend, big government policies that hit hardworking American families at a time when they're most vulnerable, and are certain to move America backward. This election provides a clear choice. John McCain offers a common sense agenda to cut taxes, eliminate wasteful government spending, and get our economy back on track, while Senator Obama embraces the failed liberal policies of the past that lock down the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that has always grown our economy, created jobs and expanded opportunity for the American people."

Clinton speech snippets after the jump.

John McCain will host a $1k/plate fundraiser in Salt Lake City today with Mitt Romney. Romney will then travel with the McCain campaign to Denver, reports NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy.

The Salt Lake Tribune reminds readers that Romney won Utah's primary with 90 percent of the vote (more than 60 percent of the state is Mormon). More: "While McCain raised about $183,000 from Utahns since January 2007, Romney raised millions."

The paper also reports that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has running mate potential, will be on hand for the fundraiser.

Hillary Clinton will announce a new proposal to support job training today during a stop at a technical college in Raleigh, NC.

The new plan would cost $12.5 billion over five years.

The stop will be the first of a six-day tour through NC, IN and PA, where she'll focus on the economy, according to her campaign staff.

The idea is to demonstrate Clinton's ability to be a steward of the economy, a point the campaign has hammered in recent weeks in an effort to show Barack Obama doesn't have related policy experience. She will highlight state and local initiatives that she believes are working. The focus on job training and re-training, is something NC Gov. Mike Easley has also pushed and Clinton argues the federal government should partner with state and local governments on these kinds of initiatives.

The plan would make job training available to displaced workers, provide new Pell grants for displaced workers who enroll in training and education programs to upgrade skills and support new on-the-job training programs.

Her campaign said to expect additional comments today about John McCain and the economy.

Aides see NC as an "uphill battle" but say it's also a place where they see opportunities.

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

Hillary Clinton went "On the Record" last night:

On her Rev. Wright comments: "I was asked ... very point-blank yesterday what I would have done had I been in a position where someone was, you know, making those kinds of comments, and I said I would have left. ...I've spoken out against all kinds of words that I thought were inappropriate. ... About a year ago, I was very outspoken about Don Imus and what he said on his radio station. And I went to Rutgers, and I made a speech about how, you know, we've got to end demeaning words and ... the kind of inflammatory words that Don Imus and others have been known to utter. And it's a very personal decision. ... You don't get to pick your family, but you do get to pick, you know, the church or the synagogue that you attend, and I ... said that I would have left, and that's how I feel about it."

On misspeaking about her Bosnia trip as first lady: "Obviously, you know, I'm a human being. I made a mistake and owned up to it. But that's not what people talk to me about. When I'm out campaigning ... people want to talk about the economy and health care."

On Iraq: "Senator Obama has said he was opposed the war. He opposed it in '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07 and '08. But the fact is, when he came to the Senate, he and I have voted the same, except for one vote. And that means to me that you want to go with someone who has said, Look, I know how to get us out of Iraq. I know the tough decisions we have to make. I've laid out a comprehensive plan for doing just that. And Senator Obama has basically run his whole campaign on a speech he made in 2002."

On the campaign: "I don't think that the nominee of the party will be considered legitimate if we don't figure out how to count those votes for Michigan and Florida."

After the jump, Clinton on calls for her to drop out, pledged delegates and a convention battle. Also, TN Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) discusses his proposal to pick the Dem nominee.

(EMILY GOODIN)

An NBC/WSJ survey out tonight shows it's Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama, who has taken a hit in the wake of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright revelations.

At 37 percent, Clinton's approval rating is the lowest it's been since NBC/WSJ polled in March 2001, two months after she was sworn into the Senate. Obama's, by comparison, is 49 percent.

The poll asked several questions about Obama's speech and Wright. It was taken Monday and Tuesday and oversampled for African Americans.

NBC's Chuck Todd writes: "Of those voters who said they saw the speech, 47 percent said Obama sufficiently addressed the Wright issue while 37 percent said he needs to address it further. Among whites, 45 percent were satisfied with Obama's explanation, 38 percent were not. Among blacks, 67 percent said the speech was sufficient, while 25 percent want him to address it further."

Another interesting tidbit from Todd: "When asked if the three presidential candidates could be successful in uniting the country if they were elected president, 60 percent of all voters believed Obama could be successful at doing this, 58 percent of all voters said McCain could unite the country while only 46 percent of voters said the same about Clinton."

The head-to-head primary match-up shows Obama and Clinton tied at 45 percent. Obama leads John McCain by 2 percentage points, while McCain edges Clinton by 2 percentage points. Both results are within the 3.7 percent margin of error.

Here's Tim Russert's analysis:

The Clinton camp says it raised $500,000 today through three events - one in New York, two in Washington.

Spokesman Mo Elleithee said there were some 2,500 people at the evening event at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington. Ticket prices started at $25.

The half million figure does not include online contributions, which aren't counted until the end of the day.

The DAR event made no news, with Clinton, who was introduced by her daughter, delivering a standard stump speech that lasted about 40 minutes.

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

GREENSBORO -- Barack Obama today defended his controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and invited people to visit his church, a direct counter to Hillary Clinton's Tuesday comment that Wright never would have been her religious leader.

Obama said that Trinity, where Wright was the pastor for 30 years, is a "wonderful, welcoming church" that had a pastor who was "trying to teach a lesson connecting scripture to our daily lives."

Obama said that his "former pastor said some objectionable things when I wasn't in church on those particular days, and I have condemned them outright."

A federal judge ruled today that MI's presidential primary law is unconstitutional and blocked the state from giving voter lists from the Jan. 15 election to the state's major political parties.

The Detroit News: "U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in Detroit ruled that the law's provision giving the list of voters' partisan preference only to the Democratic and Republican parties violated the rights of several small parties, who argued that the information should be distributed to all who wanted it or to no one."

The critical fallout ... Ruling makes it even less likely that the Jan. 15 results wil be counted OR that there will be a redo. Clinton's campaign promptly responded to the news with another call for a revote in MI.

From HRC campaign manager Maggie Williams:

In the wake of today's court ruling regarding Michigan’s January 15th primary, we urge Senator Obama to join our call for a party-run primary and demonstrate his commitment to counting Michigan's votes.

The people of Michigan must be counted and their voices finally heard. What the people of Michigan need now is just action, not just words.

UPDATE: David Plouffe, Barack Obama's campaign chairman, weighed in on the MI ruling in a statement released by the campaign ... “As we’ve said consistently, we think there should be a fair seating of the Michigan delegates. The Clinton campaign has stubbornly said they see no need to negotiate, but we believe that their Washington, my-way-or-the-highway approach is something voters are tired of."

John McCain's camp answered Barack Obama's charge this afternoon that the AZ senator would continue President Bush's failed economic policies.

"Senator Obama's blatant mischaracterizations aren't the new politics he's promised America, they're the old attack and smear tactics that Americans are tired of," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. "Barack Obama's diagnosis for our housing market is clearly that Barack Obama knows best -- raise taxes on hardworking Americans and give government a prescription to spend.

"John McCain has called for an immediate and balanced approach to provide transparency and accountability in an effort to help homeowners who are hurting, while Barack Obama has made a $10 billion election-year promise that is sure to raise taxes and handcuff an already struggling economy."

We're guessing that this dialogue makes Obama's camp strangely gleeful. Why? Because the more the IL senator engages and is engaged by McCain, the more fodder for those parlor games about the timing, nature and inevitability of Hillary Clinton's exit from the race.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

GREENSBORO, NC -- Barack Obama said today that John McCain, like President Bush, is offering a do-nothing prescription for dealing with a rapidly-sinking economy.

"According to John McCain, he said the best for us to address the fact that millions of Americans are losing their homes is to just sit back and watch it happen," Obama said. "In his entire speech yesterday, he offered not one policy, not one idea, not one bit of relief for the nearly 35,000 North Carolinians who were forced to foreclose on their dream in the last few months. Not one, not one single idea or a single policy prescription."

Obama said that Bush lead the country down this road in a similar manner for the past eight years.

"It's the idea that the government has no rule at all in solving the challenges facing working families," Obama said. "That all we can do is hand out tax breaks to the wealthiest people and let the chips fall where they may. George Bush called this the 'ownership society' -- but what he really meant is 'You're on your own, society.''"

"If you lose your job, you're on your own," Obama chanted. "If you're a child in poverty, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you're on your own. If you were lured in by deceptive mortgage practices, you're on your own."

"John McCain apparently wants to continue this, while the rest of America is struggling with rising tuitition, skyrocketing healthcare costs, plant closings, failing schools," he said. "You are on your own."

Obama launched the attacks on McCain and Bush during a town hall attended by about 1,000 people at the War Memorial Auditorium.

"The economy," Obama cautioned, "is grinding to a halt."

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

PARKERSBURG, WV -- Bill Clinton kicked off a day of campaigning here by making a personal appeal to voters, saying Hillary Clinton's success depends on "real" people like those who came to see him. And as the rhetoric heats up between the Democratic campaigns, the former president offered this message: "Saddle up."

"If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office," he said. "If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on."

Clinton then alluded to the resignations and calls for resignations that have been traded back and forth between the campaigns.

"I don't think any of these people oughta be asked to resign," he said. "All these guys that say bad things about any other campaign, they say, 'Should they resign?' My answer is no, they're repeating party line. They oughta stay right where they are. Let's just saddle up and have an argument. What's the matter with that? That's what America's about, right?"

From today's Hotline:

"It is wretched beyond all description."

-- John McCain, on war, mult., 3/26.

At Butler University yesterday, Chelsea Clinton was asked if her mother's rep had suffered as a result of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. She said she'd never gotten the question before, in her 70-something visits to college campuses. Listen to her full response. Tough.Cookie.

The Clinton camp just sent reporters a memo pushing anew the NY Sen's Tuesday remark that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright would never have been her pastor. And, in response, Team Obama blitzed scribes a doc asserting that Clinton is trying to distract from her botched Bosnia story.

John McCain, meanwhile, is in Los Angeles at the moment giving a major speech on foreign policy.

Which candidate is engaging the public on about matters of substance? A lame query, of course, as the answer is obvious.

Dems' memos available in full after the jump. Here's the day's Q, readers: How many swing voters (and Dem partisans for that matter) are going to be so turned off by the base feuding on the Dem side that they take a good look at McCain?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

Expect dueling economic addresses out of the Dems tomorrow.

Barack Obama will speak in the morning at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in NYC. Hillary Clinton will deliver an address in Raleigh, NC.

MOREHEAD, KY -- Wrapping up what he said was an "emotional" day in the Bluegrass State, Bill Clinton compared the Democratic primary race to an episode of "Dallas," and criticized those who have argued Hillary Clinton should withdraw from the race.

"Now there's a new tactic," he said. "It's to say, 'Oh what a bad sport you are for wanting to let the people of Kentucky and West Virginia and Oregon and North Carolina and Pennsylvania vote. You could get ahead in the popular vote, but you're gonna be outspent. And why don't you just pack it in, and while we're at it, we're gonna disenfranchise the people in Florida and Michigan, even if it costs us the general election.'"

The former president told the crowd at the Morehead Convention Center that they could put his wife on the path to victory. Clinton asked them to look past the historic nature of the candidates -- and he referenced John McCain's age, a fact he's mentioned of late at every possible opportunity.

"We're either gonna have our first prisoner of war and our oldest elected president, our first African American president, our first female president," he said. "We're gonna break some precedent whatever we do here. But what we got to do is pick the best president, that's what America needs now."

Clinton joked that he understood some came to see him only because of his title, "kinda like going to the zoo." And earlier, speaking to about a thousand Kentuckians in Maysville, Clinton acknowledged that he was "a long way from the roaring crowds" he saw when he was in office.

"Yeah, I spoke to a million people in Ghana once – it was quite a hit," he said, rounding up to the nearest million. "Hundreds of thousands on the eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. … I could give you lots of other examples. But when it's all over, that doesn't matter."

Clinton was full of nostalgia as he wrapped up his day in KY. He told voters in Morehead that they were fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. He talked of visiting Paris, KY, where Seabiscuit is buried. "I though he was the greatest horse I ever saw," he said. Clinton even gushed about an impromptu visit to a local Dairy Queen between stops. "Never took me so long to get an ice cream cone in my life," he said of the crowd he found there. "But I think I made Hillary a few votes."

Heather French Henry, a former Miss America and wife of former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry, joined Clinton at two of his stops. Speaking before the Maysville event, she recalled how Clinton singled her out for her work on behalf of veterans when he was president. And, she took a swipe at Barack Obama as she praised Hillary for her advocacy for veterans.

"Now see, I know that some out there may have the audacity to hope, but Sen. Hillary Clinton has the audacity to actually do the work that it takes to be the next president of the United States," she said.

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

Most of the political talk last night focused on Hillary Clinton's comments about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and whether they were an attempt to distract from the discussions about her Bosnia trip as first lady:

FNC's Angle: "With the truthfulness of her own statements about a Bosnia trip under intense scrutiny, Senator Clinton, for the first time, leapt into the controversy involving Senator Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright which until today was starting to lose steam" ("Special Report," 3/25).

NBC's Russert: "This is an attempt in politics to change the subject" ("Nightly News," 3/25).

CNN's Borger: "It's very clear that she was asked direct questions about the Reverend Wright last week and she refused to answer them. And this week, for some reason, today, she decided, gee, maybe she would" ("Situation Room," 3/25).

Time's Klein: "What we saw, I think, is pretty transparent and a very clear sign of desperation" ("AC 360," CNN, 3/25).

NBC's Todd: "I look at it as a chance for Hillary Clinton to change the subject. She had become somewhat in a many feeding frenzy over this Bosnia story. ... She chose to answer the question. She could have chosen not to -- as the campaign had chosen not to address Reverend Wright over the last week" ("Race For The WH," MSNBC, 3/25).

New York Times' Dowd: "In a way, this whole thing boomeranged back on her, because she was using the 'Saturday Night Live' skit and hectoring reporters to be harder on Obama, thinking he was getting a free ride. And then once they began being harder on Obama, then Obama said well, why don't you be harder on her? And they began investigating all of this foreign affairs claims, which really Obama and Edwards had kind of let her get away with during all those debates" ("LKL," CNN, 3/25).

(EMILY GOODIN)

Scott Spradling, the Granite State's top political reporter and an all-around nice guy, has decided not to renew his contract with WMUR-TV. He's leaving to start a consulting firm, reports Politicker NH.

John McCain gives a speech today to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, his second policy-oriented, but likely non-specific talk of the week. There is no denying that, with very little effort, the GOP nom-to-be looks loftier by the day, while his Dem counterparts snipe about snipers, spar about the substanceless, cry foul in daily conference calls, and play out a contest that, as Bill Clinton said last night, is looking ever more like an episode of Dallas. (See next post for the Dallas remark.)

Here's a snippet from McCain's speech, per his campaign:

"When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house in New London, Connecticut, and a Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. My father immediately left for the submarine base where he was stationed. I rarely saw him again for four years. My grandfather, who commanded the fast carrier task force under Admiral Halsey, came home from the war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home to the country they loved so well. I detest war. It might not be the worst thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all description. When nations seek to resolve their differences by force of arms, a million tragedies ensue. The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted; economies are damaged; strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. Not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss the veteran remembers most keenly. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war. However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the cause, we should still shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

GOPers appear to have lost another top-tier recruit in an open seat.

Late last night, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported that ex-NY State fair dir. Peter Cappuccilli (R) is dropping out of the NY-25 race to replace Rep. Jim Walsh (R) because of his health. The paper said doctors warned Cappuccilli about his health, as he "recently experienced medical symptoms similar" to those of a mini-stroke. Cappuccilli: "As difficult as it is for me to accept that health concerns have caused me to formally withdraw my name from this race, I hope that people will understand that I need to take care of my health at this time."

BEL AIR, CA – At 8:20 ET this evening John McCain escorted former-First Lady Nancy Reagan out the front door of her home here and into her driveway to formally accept her endorsement of his run for the presidency.

The pair greeted the line of reporters awaiting their arrival, and McCain thanked Reagan, 86, for her support, saying, "President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan remain an inspiration to all of us as an example of honorable and courageous service to the nation."

PARIS, KY. -- Bill Clinton raised the issue of seating FL and MI's delegates again today, telling a Kentucky audience that Barack Obama's camp is "desperate to disenfranchise" those states. He said Obama's team wants to prevent votes from being counted in upcoming states because they "know she can" win.

Clinton started the event at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds by giving a status update to the crowd on "where we are" in the race. He dramatically told his account of Hillary Clinton's victories on Super Tuesday and later in OH and TX, which were, in his view, against the odds given the support of "glitterati" for Obama. Clinton, he said, also had a financial disadvantage.

"And so now they're saying it all over again -- 'Well, she can't really win,'" he said. "They know she can. That's why -- if they thought she couldn't win, the other side wouldn't be so desperate to disenfranchise Florida and Michigan, throw their election away. Or to say, why do we even need to vote in Pennsylvania and North Carolina and Indiana and Kentucky and West Virginia and Oregon and Puerto Rico. I'll tell you why, cause you're Americans, too, and you deserve to have your voice heard. Don't you be fooled."

As he first did yesterday, Clinton also noted the historic nature of John McCain's bid, saying he could be the " oldest person who ever got elected president." When the crowd packed into the small venue laughed, Clinton said he didn't mean that as a slight.

"You know I've learned something," he said. "When you get a certain age, young is somebody that's a day younger than you are."

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued this statement a moment ago about Hillary Clinton's earlier remarks on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

“After originally refusing to play politics with this issue, it’s disappointing to see Hillary Clinton’s campaign sink to this low in a transparent effort to distract attention away from the story she made up about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. The truth is, Barack Obama has already spoken out against his pastor’s offensive comments and addressed the issue of race in America with a deeply personal and uncommonly honest speech. The American people deserve better than tired political games that do nothing to solve the larger challenges facing this country."

Here's Hillary Clinton just now in a televised presser talking about her recollection of landing in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire:

"I made a mistake in describing it. I’ve said many times I’ve talked about this many times. We were very much told by the Secret Service and the military that we were going into a war zone. ... I did make a mistake in talking about it the last time and recently. But this is really about what policy experience we have and who is ready to be commander in chief."

More: "I had a different memory, and my staff and others have all come together trying to sort out. I made a mistake. It proves I'm human, which for some people is a revelation."

Nancy Reagan will endorse John McCain today at her Bel Air home, reports NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy.

*Mrs. Reagan will not be taking questions and a statement from her office will be released following the photo-op," said a McCain spokesman.

Possibly rekindling a fiery national dialogue about race that seemed to knock her rival off his stride, Hillary Clinton said today that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's longtime spiritual leader, "would not have been my pastor."

"He would not have been my pastor," Clinton told editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."

More: "You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (who was fired from his radio and television shows after making racially insensitive remarks), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that," Clinton said. "I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving."

Obama addressed his relationship with Wright, the now retired pastor of the Trinity Baptist Church, a week ago today in a much-praised speech about race in America. But there were some -- conservative critics, in particular -- who said Obama did not go far enough in distancing himself from the pastor. Obama did not condemn Wright nor did he explain his reasons for staying in a church led by a man who uttered, "God damn America" from the pulpit.

The episode helped Clinton gain some traction in national and PA polls, but coverage of Wright had subsided over the Easter weekend. Count on today's Clinton mention to prompt another cycle of Wright outrage on cable and talk radio ...

Reader thoughts?

In an effort to improve John McCain's big speech delivery, his campaign put in place for today's speech a large flat screen monitor and two side panel teleprompters. Campaign officials have expressed concern that McCain has looked in prior speeches like he was watching a tennis match. Today, by installing a large monitor in the back of the room, McCain is able to fix his gaze straight ahead.

The goal, of course, is to help McCain look like he's speaking more naturally to the nearly 20 cameras on hand for the AZ Sen's most extensive remarks on the housing crisis to date.

(NBC/NJ's ADAM AIGNER-TREWORGY)

From today's Hotline:

"I'm not of the Washington world. "

-- James Carville, "AC 360," CNN, 3/24.

Barack Obama released seven years of tax returns today "to demonstrate his commitment to transparency," said spokesman Robert Gibbs. Gibbs called on Hillary Clinton to do the same. "We believe that the Clinton campaign should meet that routine standard and meet that routine standard now," he said.

Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson has said HRC's tax returns would be released on or around April 15th. He promised at least three days of lead time before the April 22 PA primary.

FRANKFORT, KY -- Former KY governor Julian Carroll announced today that he is backing Hillary Clinton in the Dem primary. Carroll offered his support for HRC in the state capital before an event featuring Bill Clinton, who makes his first visit to the Bluegrass State today.

Carroll said he has known the Clintons since "Nineteen and Seventy-Four," when he became governor. "Look at me, I'm still goin! Look at that!" said Carroll, 76, kicking his heels at the podium.

"We need for our delegates to be cast in the lot of Hillary Clinton at the convention," he added. "That's what this is all about. ... I came today to put my personal endorsement, not only on my friend Bill Clinton ... but on Hillary Clinton, to be the next Democratic president of the United States."

Carroll was elected to a full term as governor in 1975; he now serves as a state senator representing a district that includes Frankfort.

WJC's visit to KY is the first by either Clinton and comes two months before the state's primary. Hillary Clinton is expected to visit the state later this week.

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

"Level" is Hillary Clinton's first TV ad in PA.

On Call Aside: Not a single person of color in this spot. The ad clearly targets those of late super-popular white, working class voters. HRC stresses, as she has on the stump in PA, that she will support a middle class tax cut, create new jobs and end corporate give-aways.

"It's time to level the playing field against the special interests," Clinton says in the spot.

Reader UPDATE: There is one person of color in the ad. 13 seconds in. Don't blink, you'll miss her ...

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal notes in his column today that reporters would be wise not to give too much weight to Gallup tracking polls. Yesterday's survey showed Barack Obama up one point over Hillary Clinton.

"That one point lead is somewhat apropos, since it is virtually identical to the average of all of Gallup's Daily releases since February 8," Blumenthal writes.

Give it a read ...

Another day, another Team Clinton call pushing a revote in FL and MI. But Phil Singer managed a snappy new line during today's chat with reporters. About a new vote in FL and MI, he said: "Sen. Obama has turned the 'Audacity of Hope' into the 'Audacity of Nope'."

Give Singer a point for pithy. But the camp's disenfranchisement argument against Obama loses any remaining sway today with reports that Hillary Clinton is urging pledged delegates to reconsider their allegiances. In the Philly Daily News, she said: "I just don’t think this is over yet, and I don’t think that it is smart for us to take a position that might disadvantage us in November. And also remember that pledged delegates in most states are not pledged. You know, there is no requirement that anybody vote for anybody. They’re just like superdelegates."

Talk about disenfranchisement. So Clinton believes the pledged dels, who actually represent the will of the voters, are up for grabs? How does that square with the campaign's FL/MI argument?

Meanwhile, Singer and Harold Ickes seemed to offer different takes on what Clinton intended in her remark.

"Circumstances can change, and people’s minds can change about the viability of a particular candidate," Ickes said.

But Singer said the campaign is "not engaged in any effort" to flip pledged delegates. He added, "I don’t think she floated the idea. I think she was simply repeating what the DNC said in a memo that it put out several weeks ago. Look it was one of the rules of the DNC and the process. ... I wouldn’t read anything into it. Simply stating a fact is not, I think, a cause for hysteria."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

The full text of John McCain's economic speech, to be given this a.m. in Santa Ana, Ca., available after the jump.

McCain said he wants to convene two meetings -- one of the nation's accounting professionals, and another of the country's top mortgage lenders.

"I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers," McCain is expected to say. "Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy."

PHILADELPHIA, PA - 'Veterans for Hillary' will kick-off a 37-city, month-long tour across PA with three stops in Philly today. Fmr Dep. Asst. Secretary of the Navy William Cassidy will begin the tour with stops at the Delaware Valley Veterans Home and the Penrose and Melrose Diners.

During the tour, 'Veterans for Hillary' members, including retired military personnel who served at the highest levels of the military as well as veterans returning from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, will visit veterans' health facilities and hold public conversations about veterans' issues in communities across the state. Tour participants aim to inform Pennsylvanians about Clinton's record of support for veterans and to assess conditions at Pennsylvania's veterans' facilities.

"When it comes to serving our veterans, Hillary Clinton does not only talk about how much she appreciates their sacrifice - she follows through with real support," Cassidy said. "Thanks to her efforts, the nearly 20,000 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard now have access to federal health benefits and hundreds of thousands of military personnel are now screened for traumatic brain injury. She has had a real impact on the lives of the men and women in our armed forces, and she will continue to fight for them as President."

The tours of veterans' facilities will be closed to the press to protect the patients' privacy. Public events will be advised to the press in the communities the tour is visiting.

(NBC/NJ's MATTHEW BERGER)

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

Most of the TV talk last night focused on Hillary Clinton's claims about her Bosnia trip as first lady with reporters who travelled with her giving their own versions of the trip:

CBS' Sharyl Attkisson was with Clinton on the Bosnia trip and did a report about it on the "Evening News":

Attkisson: "CBS news accompanied the first lady and daughter Chelsea on that Bosnia trip. .... and these are the pictures we recorded of the greeting ceremony when the plane landed."

More Attkisson: "There was no sniper fire .... when Senator Clinton visited two army outpost where she posed for photos and
no sniper fire back at the base show starring Sinbad and Sheryl Crow. Referring to the CBS news video, Clinton aides today acknowledged her arrival in Bosnia was not quite as dramatic as Clinton put it."

Clinton aide Lisa Muscatine: "She meant that there was fire in the hillside around the area when we landed, which was the case."

Politico's Allen: "Who knows if she misremembered, misspoke, exaggerated. Whatever. It makes the case for Senator Barack Obama that all this experience she's been talking about is at least partly her imagination."

Attkisson: "Hundreds of thousands have viewed the video online in just the past few days, a reminder that in politics memories should always match the videotape" ("Evening News," 3/24).

The video of Attkisson's report is on YouTube, and available after the jump. Also after the jump, reporters and pundits comment on the Clinton trip claims and James Carville discusses his Judas comments.

(EMILY GOODIN)

UNIONTOWN, PA, March 24 – U.S. Rep. John Murtha, an Iraq war critic, stumped for Hillary Clinton in Western PA Monday evening, in his first campaign appearance since endorsing the senator last week.

Murtha was one of two of the coveted superdelegates – the other was DNC committeeman Pat Maroney from West Virginia -- to endorse the New York senator after a long, post-March 4th drought.

"Let me tell you something, I served with seven presidents, and they all got gray hair except for Reagan, but anybody that's been in the White House for 8 years knows how tough it is, understands, has had the experience that you need in order to be president of the United States," Murtha said. "When the Clinton administration left, there was a $250 billion surplus, now there's almost a $3 trillion deficit. Our credibility worldwide when the Clinton administration left was at the highest level probably in the history of the United States."

The congressman said the military was depleted by the war and that money was being spent in Iraq that could be better used in America. When Clinton took the stage to cheers and applause she the country needs a president who can manage crises abroad and at home.

"We need to send into that Oval Office next January someone who can be commander in chief and the president all at the same time," Clinton said to cheers and applause when she took the stage.

The senator gave her standard stump speech, with a somewhat stronger focus on the economy, a topic she's been highlighting in the state. She sounded the populist tone and rhetoric she adopted in the lead up to the OH primary, promising to strip oil companies of their tax breaks, give tax relief to the middle class and end the country's dependence on foreign oil. She asked voters to think of the election as a job interview, albeit a very long one.

"We've got to get back to understanding that the president of the United States works for the American people, not for Wall Street, not for the special interests," Clinton said.

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

PALM SPRINGS, CA – Usually the political response to a new message from Osama bin Laden is one of universal condemnation, but at a VFW hall in Chula Vista here this afternoon John McCain announced his support of bin Laden's most recent message.

"General Petraeus is correct when he says that the central battleground in the struggle against Al Qaeda is Iraq, and Osama bin Laden just confirmed that again with his comments last week," McCain said before quoting a line from a recent audio recording of bin Laden calling for support of the Mujahadeen in Iraq.

McCain told reporters after his town hall, "General Petraeus and I and Osama bin Laden are in agreement. It is hard to understand why Senator Clinton and Senator Obama do not understand that [Iraq is the central battleground]. I don't know if it is naiveté or what the problem is, but it's obvious that they're dead wrong, and they're wrong when they say that we should leave Iraq immediately. … And it's time that they acknowledge that the surge is succeeding and the benefits of success in Iraq will spread throughout the entire Middle East."

Although his sentiment not new, McCain selected for himself some new, strange bedfellows. And much like his statement that American troops could be in Iraq for more than 100 years, this sound bite seems ripe for Democratic criticism.

While calling on Clinton and Obama to acknowledge the importance of the battle in Iraq, McCain also suggested Clinton apologize for saying last year that to believe the surge was succeeding would require a "willing suspension of disbelief."

"I don't think I would change the strategy [in Iraq] now unless General Petraeus recommended it," McCain added. "But I would also argue that when Senator Clinton said that you'd have to suspend – a willing suspension of disbelief in order to believe that the surge was succeeding, I'm wondering when she's going to apologize for that statement. I'm wondering when they're going to stop advocating a date for withdrawal when we are succeeding in Iraq."

(NBC/NJ's ADAM AIGNER-TREWORGY)

The latest Gallup tracking poll, out today, has the race tight again:

Barack Obama, 47%
Hillary Clinton, 46%

The bigger problem for the Dems is that John McCain edges both potential rivals. A trend of late.

McCain, 47%, Obama, 44%
McCain, 47%, Clinton, 45%

South Bend, IN - Amid a festive crowd celebrating Dyngus Day in the Hoosier State, Bill Clinton today upped the ante on seating delegates from Florida and Michigan, criticizing his party's "strategy of denying and disempowering and disenfranchising the voters" there. His argument to seat Florida's delegates, in particular, came as he continued to claim that his wife would be the most electable general election candidate.

"She can win this race, and we have got to win," he told a crowd packed into the West Side Democratic Club. "And I must say that this new strategy of denying and disempowering and disenfranchising the voters in Florida and Michigan is I believe a terrible mistake. Hillary believes their votes should be counted. And I don't know how we're gonna go to those people in the general election and say you gotta vote for us even though we dumped all over you in the primary."

Clinton curiously said that Democrats "let New Hampshire go out of turn," adding that they have a Democratic secretary of state. "The Florida voters are totally innocent," he said. "They asked to vote on time."

The DNC's preliminary calendar called for New Hampshire to vote on Jan. 22. But Democratic Secretary of State Bill Gardner moved the first-in-the-nation primary to Jan. 8 when Michigan settled on Jan. 15. The DNC chose not to sanction New Hampshire, since the calendar rules were originally set in large part to protect the Granite State's tradition.

Speaking at another event in South Bend, Clinton said the stakes are particularly high given what he said was John McCain's strength in Michgian. "I think that we are running the risk of throwing both Florida and Michigan away if she doesn't get nominated because of the events of the last few days where there has been a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise those voters," he said. "And don't you think it has not been a message there. Don't you think that they didn't get it. Sen. McCain is not going to be easy to beat. He has always run well in Michigan. He will run pretty well in Florida. She can win."

Barack Obama will launch a six-day PA bus tour Friday, reports NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger. The “Road to Change” tour will kick-off in western Pennsylvania and conclude in southeastern Pennsylvania with numerous stops in between. Details to come ...

Obama is on vacation today and tomorrow in the Caribbean.

The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Cmte is hosting a call in a few minutes to announce that Puerto Rico's primary will be moved to June 1. Was June 7. PR has a law on the books requiring that the primary be held the first Sunday of June. Someone apparently forgot about Leap Year ...

The contest was also scheduled to be a caucus. But sources say party officials are likely to sanction a primary instead. A sign, perhaps, that PR doesn't have the infrastructure in place to run a caucus.

There are 55 delegates in play ...

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

PHILADELPHIA - SEIU leaders said they are planning to focus on "member-to-member" contact throughout PA instead of airing ads for Barack Obama.

"We think in Pennsylvania, the more workers can talk to workers, the more influential we can be," said Anna Burger, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer, in a conference call with reporters Monday.

There are more than 75,000 SEIU members in the Keystone State, and the union is setting up eight sites across Pennsylvania. Until today, the deadline voters to register, the group's focus has been on signing up people to vote. The next step will be educating members.

While the SEIU aired ads in OH for Obama, the group doesn't have plans to go on TV or radio in PA at this time. "But that could change," Burger said.

"We think the candidates are spending so much on the air, its more important for us to be on the door and on the ground," she added.

After a compressed primary schedule earlier this year, and with a month until PA votes, union officials said the extra time has allowed them to update their membership rolls and to get their field operations up to speed. The prep time has lessened the urgency for TV and radio spots. Burger said members have been spontaneously reaching out to union officials, interested in the race and getting involved.

When asked if Obama could win the union vote in Pennsylvania, with polls showing Hillary Clinton with a 15-point advantage, Burger said she thinks "we can narrow the gap."

(NBC/NJ's MATTHEW BERGER)

Maybe the campaigns should abstain from hitting each other today, on this most horrible of occasions. Here are the Dems' statements about the U.S. death toll in Iraq hitting 4,000. One note -- John McCain's office has issued a statement today about elections in Taiwan but nothing about the 4,000.

Clinton: Five years after the start of the war in Iraq, there have now been 4,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq. On this solemn day, we remember the sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform. We honor the tens of thousands more who have suffered wounds both visible and invisible, wounds that scar bodies and minds, and hearts as well. We honor the sacrifices of their families, a price paid in empty places at the dinner table, in the struggle to raise children alone, in the wrenching reversal of parents burying children.

In the last five years, our soldiers have done everything we asked of them and more. They were asked to remove Saddam Hussein from power and bring him to justice and they did. They were asked to give the Iraqi people the opportunity for free and fair elections and they did. They were asked to give the Iraqi government the space and time for political reconciliation, and they did. So for every American soldier who has made the ultimate sacrifice for this mission, we should imagine carved in stone: "They gave their life for the greatest gift one can give to a fellow human being, the gift of freedom."

I recall the great honor of meeting many of our brave men and women who have served our country. In meeting them, I am always struck by how, no matter how great their suffering, no matter how grave their own injuries, they always say the same thing to me: "Promise that you’ll take care of my buddies. They’re still over there. Promise you’ll keep them safe."

I have looked those men and women in the eye. I have made that promise. And I intend to honor it by bringing a responsible end to this war, and bringing our troops home safely.

Obama: It is with great sadness that we have reached another grim milestone in Iraq, with at least 4,000 of our finest Americans having been killed. Each death is a tragedy, and we honor every fallen American and send our thoughts and prayers to their families. It is past time to end this war that should never have been waged by bringing our troops home, and finally pushing Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future. As we do, we must serve the memory of all who have died as well as they served our country, by providing support for their families, caring for our troops and veterans, and upholding the American values which our fallen heroes exemplified through their service.

From today's Hotline:

"Always! I mean, I can't keep up with him. And they like him, too."

-- Charles Crist Sr., on his FL gov son's fondness for women, St. Petersburg Times, 3/22.

Sniping about sniper fire. These Dems need to be reminded that the bull's-eye should be on John McCain. ...

Barack Obama's campaign forwarded this 1996 CBS piece to reporters today to counter Hillary Clinton's recent campaign trail claim that as First Lady she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire.

But during today's call with reporters, Howard Wolfson defended Clinton's rendering of events, reading a series of news reports of the visit that he said proved the conditions on the ground were "hazardous" and a "potential combat zone."

"She was taking an opportunity to visit troops in a potentially dangerous area," Wolfson added. "There’s no dispute about that. People at the time wrote that."

The Washington Post fact checked Clinton's claim this weekend, concluding that it "is simply not credible." The paper also ran a picture of Clinton embracing an 8-year-old girl on the tarmac at the Tuzla Air Base. Right after she landed.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Howard Wolfson, during today's call with reporters, noted that Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama ran counter to the will of NM voters, who handed Hillary Clinton a victory during the state's Feb. 5 primary. Proof positive that Super Ds aren't necessarily representing, nor should they have to, the voters of their states or districts, he noted.

"Superdelegates have the obligation and opportunity to exercise their own judgment," Wolfson said.

Wolfson and Phil Singer used today's call to chastise Obama's campaign for its "negative message" and efforts to "tear down Hillary Clinton." Citing Retired Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak's likening of Bill Clinton to Joe McCarthy, Singer said there's been an "insidious pattern of personal attacks" coming out of the Obama campaign that runs counter to the candidate's high-minded rhetoric.

But when asked how they would qualify James Carville's weekend remark that Richardson's endorsement of Obama is "an act of betrayal" and appropriate for “the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver,” Wolfson softened.

"It was not something that I agreed with," Wolfson said. "I think that Bill Richardson has very ably served this country and our party. I think he is entitled as a superdelegate to choose whichever candidate he thinks would be the better candidate to support."

Carville's comment, uh, negative? Of course. How low are the Dems going to go? Why are the party's leaders letting this feuding continue unabated?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Today marks the last day that PA voters can change their registration to cast ballots in the closed Democratic primary April 22. It's a critical date for Barack Obama's campaign, which has been running a not-quite-under-the-radar voter registration drive, aggressively recruting indies and Repubs to participate in the Dem primary.

For the week of March 10th alone, 22,152 people changed their registration to Democratic, according to the PA Secretary of State's website. Since February 5, the number of newly registered Dems has spiked, with several thousand registering every week.

A word of caution before assuming that Repubs and indies could tip the Dem primary. New voter applications have also increased. The week of the Potomac primaries, more than 10,000 people registered to vote, when Obama was riding high on a winning streak. That number doubled the week of March 10th, when over 20,000 people registered to vote following Hillary Clinton's wins in TX and OH. Several thousand voters have been registering to vote in PA every week since the first of the year.

So are these new voters leaning toward Clinton or Obama? The Obama campaign has been credited with bringing new voters into the process, but enthusiasm for primaries has been high across the country and in OH, a state similar to Pennsyvlania, turnout favored Clinton. It may not be known who these voters support until election day, but if the Obama campaign is registering voters along with getting them to change parties, it would seem likely that they are targeting areas that could benefit them - such as the suburbs of Philadelphia and, of course, college campuses.

Does the focus on indies and Repubs mean that the campaign can't win over the working class, largely white Dem voters that predominate here? It remains to be seen, but there is one argument in favor of Obama pushing voter registration changes with Independents and Republicans now - it could help the campaign in a general election race in Pennsylvania.

Voting is like muscle memory. If indies switched their registration and voted for Obama in the primary, they may be more likely to cast a ballot for him in the general.

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

After a rocky last week, Barack Obama has regained the lead in the most recent Gallup daily tracking poll, 48% to 45% for Hillary Clinton.

Clinton surged to a seven-point advantage last week as reports about Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, cycled on cable and the Web. But in the wake of Obama's well-received Philly speech about race, the IL Sen. appears to have rebounded.

Still, both candidates trail John McCain in head-to-head match-ups. He leads Obama, 46% to 44%, and Clinton, 47% to 45%.

The general election results are based on combined data from March 17-21, 2008. Margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. The Dem nom results are based on combined data from March 19-21, 2008, and have a margin of error plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Hillary Clinton gave a speech about the economy today at the University of Pennsylvania, announcing a four-point plan to address the home foreclosure crisis. She suggested that the Holy Trinity of economists -- Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker and Bob Rubin -- lead an emergency workgroup tasked with determining how to achieve broad restructuring of at-risk mortgages.

Clinton's full proposal is after the jump.

IN Sen. Evan Bayh, a Hillary Clinton supporter and surrogate, suggested yesterday on CNN that Super Ds should use the Electoral College to determine which candidate they'll back.

“So who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose the president of the United States,” Bayh said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

Per the NYT, Clinton has won states with a total of 219 EC votes, not counting FL and MI, while Obama has won states with a total of 202 EC votes. Obama has won more states, more delegates and leads in the popular vote, however. Meanwhile, as we know, the EC is not a factor in primary contests, only in the general.

Does this smack of desperation? Creativity? Barack Obama's campaign has argued that the suggestion is absurd, because the Dem nom, whoever it ultimately is, is bound to win CA and NY.

Readers ... Your thoughts and insights?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

There was a lot of economic and Iraq talk on the Sunday shows this Easter weekend but here are the political highlights:

Obama supporter/NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D) was on "Fox News Sunday":

Richardson: "I believe the sooner we end this race -- and I'm not suggesting anybody get out, but maybe after the remaining primaries, the 10 primaries that are going to be very important in the days ahead, the Democrats come together and look at who's ahead when it comes to delegates, when it comes to the popular vote, the number of states. And I just feel the time has come to come together behind a candidate. And this is why I endorse Senator Obama."

Second Obama TV ad up in PA, called "Carry" ...

NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann reported earlier today that Bill Clinton, campaigning in Charlotte, NC, said: "I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country, and people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics. So that is my argument for her."

His remarks prompted spokesman Matt McKenna to attempt to clarify the president's intent: "Actually, as is indicated by the quote itself, President Clinton was talking about the need to talk about issues, rather than falsely questioning any candidate's patriotism. He was lamenting that these kind of distractions 'always seems to intrude' on political campaigns. This is consistent with his criticism of the 'politics of personal destruction,' which dates back 16 years."

So he wasn't talking about his wife and John McCain, eh?

Nearly seven of 10 people surveyed by CBS News this week said Barack Obama did a good job of addressing race relations in his Philly speech. Meanwhile, 71% said the IL Sen did a good job explaning his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Still, the Wright hullabaloo drove up Obama's negatives in the recent CBS survey, and he hasn't rebounded yet: In a March 15-18 survey, 44% gave him a favorable review, 28% unfavorable. When the same respondents were contacted March 20, 43% give him a favorable review, while 30% gave him an unfavorable review.

The survey also shows an overall erosion in the percentage of voters who believe Obama can unite the country. In the latest poll, 52% said he could, 35% said he couldn't. In a February survey, 67% said he could, 25% said he couldn't.

Also of note, nearly a quarter of those polled said they were more likely to vote for Obama, given his speech and the week's events. About seven in 10 said the speech and related events made no difference in how they would vote.

Interviews were conducted among 542 registered voters by telephone on March 20, 2008. The respondents were originally interviewed in a CBS News Poll conducted March 15–18, 2008. The margin of error due is plus or minus four percentage points.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

PORTLAND - Bill Richardson said Mark Penn's comments downplaying the NM governor's endorsement of Barack Obama were loaded and implied that his support only would have been useful before heavily-Hispanic TX voted.

"A Clinton official... said today that my endorsement comes too late, implying there's a stereotype that my endorsement was only useful before Texas," Richardson said. "That's unfortunate."

Richardson claimed he wanted to "get away from that" and said Obama tries to transcend those old political views and tactics.

Obama stressed that Richardson's candidacy would lend legitimacy on foreign policy. He said that the NM guv has more accomplishments in that arena than the other Democratic candidates combined. Richardson pushed the message of party unity. He scoffed at the role of super delegates, but wouldn't go so far as to say Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race. He cautioned that McCain will be "formidable opponent" in the general.

Richardson also described as "tough" his conversation last night with Hillary Clinton, notifying her of his decision to back Obama.

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

Just to be clear, in case anyone wondered, March Madness does indeed trump presidential politics in NC.

Per NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann:

Yeah, yeah, local press in the Tar Heel State has gone ga-ga over the notion that it will be courted by presidential hopefuls, but don't bother them when the game is on. News of Bill Clinton's visit today is buried under headlines about the win that Duke eeked out last night. The gubernatorial candidates have all submitted their top tourney picks to political blogs. But, as a local blogger points out, people may be peeved if the former president's hooplah affects their game-watching needs. "The Tar Heels are scheduled to play in Raleigh a little after 7. If your motorcade stops traffic on I-40 and keeps people from getting to the game on time, you could blow this state for your wife just like you did when you ran your mouth in South Carolina."

Hillary Clinton's camp is today still pushing the notion that Barack Obama is, if his team doesn't sign off on revotes in FL and MI, responsible for disenfranchising millions of voters and potentially harming the party's prospects in the general. It's a case they've been making for days. And while we know that Obama hasn't been willing to sign off on a redo in either state, it feels like an empty argument. The DNC docked the state's delegates, before a single voter cast a ballot in either state's contest. Anyone paying a lick of attention to how this mess has fallen out knows that Obama isn't responsible for the initial calendar fight -- or the related punishment.

In a particularly combative campaign memo, HRC's team says Obama calls for "high minded debates while practicing lowdown politics."

"It's all part of a pattern of just words," it says.

For sake of synchronicity, the Clinton camp's memo is after the jump. But here's a question ... How long are the party's muckety mucks going to let this go on?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

PORTLAND, OR -- NM Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama this morning, hailing him as a "once in a lifetime leader." Richardson pointed to the speech about race relations Obama gave earlier this week as the tipping point for his decision.

"This week a great man gave a great speech," Richardson told the crowd of several thousand.

"Senator Barack Obama addressed the issue of race with the eloquence and sincerity and decency and optimism we have come to expect of him," he added. "He did not seek to evade tough issue or to soothe us with half truths."

He said he spoke to America "like adults."

"Senator Obama could have given a safer speech," Richardson said. "He is, after all, well ahead in the delegate count for our party's nomination. He could have just waited for the controversy over the deplorable remarks of Reverend Wright to subside, as it surely would have. Instead, Senator Obama showed us once again what kind of leader he is."

As an Hispanic, he said he was "touched deeply" by the words, citing the demonization of Latinos over the issue of illegal immigration.

Richardson's endorsement will likely set some tongues wagging, since he has been frequently cited as a potential Democratic vice presidential candidate. He is the second Democratic presidential contender to endorse Obama. CT Sen. Chris Dodd endorsed him in February, four days before the primaries in Texas and Ohio.

Richardson, who held two Cabinet posts in the Clinton Administration, saved his praise for the Clintons for last saying that the Democrats "had two great leaders." Like Dodd before him, though, Richardson also called for Democrats to quickly unite behind Obama's candidacy and stop "fighting amongst themselves" so they could focus on the race between the Democratic nominee and John McCain.

Obama, perhaps buoyed by the endorsement on a day that his comments to a Philadelphia radio station have caused a ruckus among cable news outlets, was in rare form, giving one of the fieriest speeches he has delivered in weeks.

"It's not just a change in parties," said the IL Sen. " It's not just putting forward a bunch of 10-point plans. It's restoring a sense that this government is working for you and fighting for you and is of and by the United States of America."

He and Richardson took the stage together, and they hugged twice, when Richardson turned to Obama to say he endorsed him for president and at the end of his speech. The largely white audience in Portland shouted, screamed and chanted "Yes We Can!" To which Richardson, who had sprinkled some Spanish into his speech, shouted back, "Si se puede! Si se puede!"

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

Mark Penn, why goeth there?

Penn, on a call with reporters today, sought to dismiss Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama, saying: “The time that he could have been effective has long since passed,” he continued, “I don’t think it is a significant endorsement in this environment.”

Per the WSJ, HRC spokesman Phil Singer "chimed in" -- “We respect Gov. Richardson,” he clarified, “But at the end of the day this campaign is about Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama.”

So whatever did Penn mean? That Richardson hasn't any national clout? Or, that the upcoming primary states -- PA, NC, IN -- don't have substantial Hispanic populations, so the endorsement of a popular Latino guv won't necessarily help Obama? I'm guessing the latter ... but I'm not a mind reader.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

By the by, Bill Richardson is the 62nd Super D to endorse Barack Obama since Feb. 5.

Clinton landed two Super Ds this week, but they were the first to jump on board in some time.

Apparently, Hillary Clinton and John McCain have also been victims of State Dept snoopers. CNN is reporting, as are many others, that their passport files have been perused, too. News broke last night that Barack Obama's passport files were accessed on three occasions by three different workers.

John McCain released a statement via his campaign: “The U.S. government has a responsibility to respect the privacy of all Americans. It appears that privacy was breached and I expect a thorough review and a change in procedures as necessary to ensure the privacy of all passport files.”

Clearly the folks at State have too much time on their hands. I'd like to introduce them to Scrabulous or Texas Hold 'Em. Give them something else to do rather than violate the privacy rights of high-profile people (and what about the rest of us?) ...

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

The following guests have been announced for the Sunday public affairs shows and other weekend programs:

SUNDAY:

Meet the Press hosts CNBC's Maria Bartiromo and CNBC's Erin Burnett and a roundtable with Newsweek's Jon Meacham, Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, and NBC's Chuck Todd.

Face the Nation hosts Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-NC) and Jack Reed (D-RI).

This Week hosts Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). The roundtable consists of Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker, Time's Jay Carney, ABC's Claire Shipman, and George Will.

Fox News Sunday hosts Gov. Edward Rendell (D-PA), ex-Treas. Sec. Lawrence Summers and ex-Council of Economic Advisors Chair Glenn Hubbard. The power player is NY Giants' Eli Manning.

Late Edition hosts Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Iraqi NSA Mowaffak Al Rubaie.

OTHER WEEKEND SHOWS:

Real Time hosts journalist Michael Ware, actor Jon Hamm, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) (HBO, FRI, 11:00 pm).

Political Capital hosts ex-Treas. Sec. Robert Rubin (Bloomberg, FRI, 8:30 pm).

Newsmakers features asst. Treas. Sec. Anthony Ryan (C-SPAN, SUN, 10 am/6 pm).

Road to the White House features a look back at the DNC meetings that led to the '08 primary calendar changes and a re-air of Obama's Philly speech on race (C-SPAN, SUN, 6:30 pm/9:30 pm).

Chris Matthews Show hosts Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page, New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller, MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell, and New York mag's John Heilemann (NBC, check local listings).

60 Minutes profiles David Beckham (CBS, SUN, 7 pm).

(EMILY GOODIN)

One of two new Barack Obama TV ads up in PA today.

"Toughest"

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

The Barack Obama campaign is pushing hard on today's call the notion that Hillary Clinton has "a history of misleading voters."

A feisty David Plouffe, accompanied by Greg Craig, offer this support for the claim:

1. First Lady scheds indicate that Clinton's role, abroad in particular, was largely ceremonial. Records "disprove," Craig said, that she was instrumental in negotiating peace in Northern Ireland. She did not, he also noted, get briefed by the intelligence community as First Lady. There's no proof, he added, that she "participated or asserted herself in any of the crises that took place" during the eight years of the Clinton admin.

2. Schedules also do not indicate that she was involved in passage of Family and Medical Leave Act.

3. In non schedule related items, on the matters of MI and FL, in particular: "She herself said those votes didn’t count for anything until her political interests changed," Plouffe said.

4. Plouffe also said that Clinton's team is pushing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright issue in courting Super Ds. "She's asked and claimed no knowledge," Plouffe said.

5. Also said HRC needs to submit her personal financial info for vetting. Plouffe: "What are the Clintons scared of? Why won't they release this information? ... The reason they're not releasing it. There must be some concern."

Summary ... Obama team pushing trust issue and urging that Clinton has a "character gap." "She would be a deeply flawed nominee," Plouffe said. "There are character issues that would hurt us in the fall."

Full Obama campaign memo after the jump.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Lou Thieblemont, mayor of Camp Hill, PA, and a lifelong Republican, changed his registration to vote for Barack Obama because, "He's the only candidate who's said he'd talk to our enemies and try to get some common ground," Thieblemont said, reports NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger.

Bill Richardson, NM guv and former Dem prez candidate, will endorse Barack Obama today in Portland.

“I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America’s moral leadership in the world,” Richardson said in the statement, provided by the Obama campaign. “As a presidential candidate, I know full well Senator Obama’s unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation.”

Richardson was wooed by the Clintons intensely; And it is they who were indeed largely responsible for his rise in national politics. Richardson served as Bill Clinton's Energy Secretary and as his ambassador to the United Nations.

He is the second former Dem candidate to endorse Obama. John Edwards and Joe Biden wait in the wings.

Full statements from Richardson and Obama after the jump.

Barack Obama's passport records were accessed by two State Department workers on three occasions this year. The AP is reporting that the individuals involved were "contract" employees since terminated. A third person, who reportedly also pulled the information, has been reprimanded.

Here are the dates the material was pulled:

Jan. 9 (day after NH primary)
Feb. 21 (two days after WI primary)
March 14

The Obama campaign is calling for a full investigation conducted by the Inspector General's office.

“This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an Administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, said in a statement. "Our government’s duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes. This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama’s passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach."

Obtaining this information marks an invasion of the Privacy Act. But that's the least of the questions this episode raises.

Who were these "contract" workers?

Why would contract workers have access to confidential personal files that would contain Social Security nos., birth dates and the like?

Why would the State Department not go public with this information after the first occurrence?

And, of paramount importance, was Obama's file disseminated?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Though Bill Clinton is off the campaign trail today, he did stop by the "Martha Stewart Show" as the surprise guest for Stewart's 500th episode.

The appearance was completely free of campaign politics, though Stewart did note that the former president has "been extremely busy." Instead, Clinton plugged his Global Initiative, and its effort to encourage people to make commitments for the public good. He had announced the mycommitment.org Web effort on Stewart's show in September of last year.

To celebrate the milestone show, Clinton came bearing a gift - a Rwandan friendship basket.

"This was woven by women who were survivors of the genocide," he told Stewart.

"Is that beautiful!" Stewart gushed. "Congratulations. To be able to affect change in the world, all over the world, with your Global Initiative is really an amazing feat."

Clinton later joined Stewart and her crew for Dom Perignon and a toast to her show's run. Clinton returns to the campaign trail tomorrow in North Carolina, before some more down time over the Easter weekend.

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

Starting tomorrow. Will air statewide.

So, guess he's not ceding the Keystone State to HRC, despite the day's polling.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

John Kerry, speaking with the New Bedford Standard Times, suggests that electing a black president would change the perception of the United States around the globe.

NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli reports that Kerry says Obama "has an ability to help us bridge the divide in religious extremism, to maybe even give power to moderate Islam." The reporter asks him why he'd say that, "What gives him credibility on that score." Kerry answers immmediately: "Because he's African American. Because he's a black man."

More Kerry: "It would be such an affirmation of who we say we are as a people if we can elect an African American president, young leader who is obviously a visionary and got an ability to inspire people. It will give us an ability to talk to those countries, to in some cases go around their dictator leaders to the people and inspire the people in ways that we can’t otherwise."

Here's the clip:

Politico's Jonathan Martin is reporting that the John McCain campaign staffer responsible for circulating the vid below has been suspended.

Martin writes that "Soren Dayton, who works in McCain's political department, sent out the YouTube link of 'Is Obama Wright?' on twitter at 12:31 today with the tag, 'Good video on Obama and Wright.' It has since been taken down. ... The video Dayton sent, which includes images of Malcolm X, the black Olympians raising their hands in the black power salute and the rap song "Fight the Power," has been rapidly spreading in political circles this week."

It's already aired on cable. Suspended? Why not fired?

A new Franklin & Marshall College poll of PA Dem RVs out this a.m. shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama 50-28%, an increase from her Feb. lead of 44-32%. (Among LVs, Clinton now leads 51-35%.) Clinton leads among men by 7%, women by 33%, union households by 38% and whites by 31%; Obama leads among non-whites by 27%.

Voters appear to be more certain of their candidate as the election draws near. Four-fifths now say they have definitely made their choice, up from 63% in Feb. and 54% in Jan.

Looking ahead to Nov., the survey shows Obama primary voters are more likely to support a Clinton nod than Clinton primary supporters are to get behind an Obama nod. Three in five Obama voters said they would support Clinton if she gets the nom, while one-fifth would vote for John McCain, 3% would not vote and 14% are undecided. Among Clinton supporters, more than half (53%) would vote for Obama if he gets the nom, while 19% would opt for McCain, 13% would not vote and one-tenth are undecided.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

ABC News sent out its official announcement for the 4/16 Dem debate in Philly. However, 4/16 has another meaning for a lot of Washingtonians -- it's the night of the annual Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner. The dinner is considered the secondest biggest event of the Washington "prom season" -- right after the White House Correspondents Dinner -- and typically features all the big-name DC media types.

An ABC spokesperson said that date was chosen because it was the night that worked in the candidates' schedules. No word yet on how much of ABC presence there will be at the dinner. George Stephanopoulos is listed as co-moderator of the debate, along with Charles Gibson.

UPDATED: An ABC spokesperson noted that the 4/16 date was chosen because of both the candidates' schedules and the network's schedule. And the spokesperson said that ABC will have a presence at the dinner -- same as it does every year.

And, in case you doubt the dinner's importance, last year's Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner brought about the infamous performance of "MC Rove."

UPDATED 2: Per Steve Chaggaris, director of political coverage for CBS News ... "I'm the chair of this year's dinner, and I just want to say we're still expecting a huge turnout regardless of the debate - or the Pope's visit for that matter (he'll be in town from 4/15-4/17)...we've been sold out for weeks, and we have great entertainment on tap: Mo Rocca, from "The Tonight Show" and CBS News "Sunday Morning" and formerly of "The Daily Show" will be the entertainment this year..."

(EMILY GOODIN)

From today's Hotline:

"Because he's African American. Because he's a black man."

-- John Kerry, on why Barack Obama would help "bridge the divide of religious extremism," New Bedford Standard Times, 3/19.

Hillary Clinton adviser Mark Penn asserts in a new memo that the recent hit Barack Obama has taken in the polls -- his advantage has appeared to have eroded in the wake of the revelations about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's loaded sermons -- is actually indicative of a more global shift in the contest.

"The more that voters learn about Barack Obama, the more his ability to beat John McCain is declining compared to Hillary," Penn writes.

But is the shift temporary, a result of the non-stop weekend coverage about Wright, which has continued through Obama's Tuesday speech about race? Or is this a more permanent change in the contest's dynamics? And might the balance tip in the other direction, when voters fully digest the enormity of Obama's Philly message?

Full Penn memo available after the jump?

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

In a beautifully-written New York Times column today, Roger Cohen remembers growing up affluent and white in apartheid South Africa as he explores his take-away from Barack Obama's race speech.

A snippet of "Beyond America's Original Sin" ...

The unimaginable South African transition that Nelson Mandela made possible is a reminder that leadership matters. Words matter. The clamoring now in the United States for a presidency that uplifts rather than demeans is a reflection of the intellectual desert of the Bush years.

But the inevitable bloodbath never came. Mandela walked out of prison and sought reconciliation, not revenge. Later Mandela would say: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Gallup's daily tracking poll offers some lousy news for Barack Obama as Hillary Clinton seizes a 7-point lead, 49% to 42%.

The poll was taken after videos of the Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, hit the airwaves, but before Obama's well-received Tuesday speech about race in America. The poll also offers bad news for the Dem Party, as GOPer John McCain overtakes both Obama and Clinton in head-to-head match-ups. He opened up a four-point lead over Obama and a three-point lead over Clinton.

The survey was conducted between March 16 and 18.

As other polls have indicated, Obama has indeed suffered from the news of Wright's incendiary remarks. He aimed to stanch the bleeding Tuesday in Philly, but by not divorcing himself from Wright, will we continue to see Obama's steady erosion in state (PA?) and national polls. And the obvious follow -- Does it matter? Without MI and FL, does Clinton have a path to the nom?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Barack Obama continues his media rounds. CNN's Anderson Cooper spent a day in the life of Obama, following him during a NC visit. Obama will also appear on CNN's "LKL" tonight and on ABC's "The View" on 3/28.

But first, John McCain spoke with NBC's K. O'Donnell during his Middle East trip and was asked about his his mistaken Sunni/Shiite comment. McCain: "I corrected my comment immediately. To think that I would have some lack of knowledge about Sunni and Shiite after my 8th visit and my deep involvement in this issue is a bit ludicrous" ("Nightly News," 3/19).

Most of Obama's interview with CNN focused on the Rev. Wright controversy and his speech on the matter:

Obama: "One of the things I said early on in this campaign was, if I was just running the textbook campaign, doing the conventional thing, I probably wasn't going to win, because Senator Clinton was going to be much more capable of doing that than I would be. We had tremendous success, and I think we were starting to get a little comfortable and conventional right before Texas and Ohio. And, you know, in some ways, this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that, you know, the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional candidates."

Asked how his Philly speech will effect his campaign: "I think it obviously had an impact. People are talking. And that was one of my main objectives, was to try to lay bare some of the tensions that, you know, aren't just in this campaign, but have been in this country for generations now."

Asked about Hillary Clinton blaming him for holding up a revote in MI: "It's hard for me to get a sense of how we could be to blame for that situation. We have consistently said we'll play by whatever rules the DNC has laid out. I mean, Senator Clinton, I have to say on this, has been completely disingenuous. She said when she was still trying to compete for votes in Iowa and New Hampshire that Michigan and Florida wouldn't count. Then, as soon as she got into trouble politically and it looked like she would have no prospects of winning the nomination without having them count, suddenly she's extraordinarily concerned with the voters there. I understand the politics of it. But let's be clear that it's politics. I want the Michigan delegation and the Florida delegation to be seated. And however the Democratic National Committee determines we can get that done, I'm happy to abide by those rules" ("AC 360," CNN, 3/19).

(EMILY GOODIN)

ALLENTOWN, PA -- Bill Clinton, who earlier today criticized John McCain for supporting the Iraq war, praised the likely Republican nominee, saying he's a "very fine man" who will be tough to beat.

"He paid as high a price as you can pay to serve this country without getting killed, and we have to honor that," Clinton said during a stop at a local college. "[And] he has some redeeming qualities for a Republican: he doesn't believe in torture, he supported campaign finance reform, and he doesn't think global warming is a myth. ... So it is not gonna be all that easy to beat him."

He made the case that Hillary Clinton would best match up against the Arizona senator and suggested she has strong support in the military community.

Clinton also noted the endorsement yesterday of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who he said was "one of the most prominent opponents of the Iraq war."

"He said she would be the best commander in chief, the best person to bring our troops home from Iraq," Clinton said.

The former president, who has frequented high school gyms of late, drew one of the largest crowds in recent weeks to the Muhlenberg College basketball arena. And before the largely student crowd, he highlighted his wife's plan to forgive some student loan debt in return for public service.

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

Reuters is reporting that Osama bin Laden is expected to release a new message, entitled, "The Response Will Be What You See, Not What You Hear." Report comes from the U.S.-based terrorism monitoring service SITE Institute.

This as we mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war with a promise from President Bush to keep troops in the region.

Sure, Hillary Clinton delayed the release of her White House scheds, only agreeing to make them public yesterday, to distract, it seemed, from Barack Obama's brave speech about race in America.

But as reporters begin to weed through the more than 11K documents made available today by the National Archives, several have taken the low road, examining the fmr first lady's schedules around the time the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke or when Vince Foster died. It's cheap. A lousy shameful shortcut.

Why not take a closer look at Clinton's work in the Northern Ireland peace process (which she's claimed on the trail of late without much support)? Or examine her work around the president's failed health care plan? She's said she was instrumental in crafting SCHIP? Yeah, well, prove it.

Here are two examples: TIME, and an ABC News report, headlined: Clinton Was in White House on 'Stained Blue Dress' Day.

Pitiful.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

A new CBS News poll of U.S. RVs out this a.m. shows 64% of whites believe the U.S. is ready for a black POTUS, while just half of blacks believe the same. At the same time, men and women are equally accepting of a woman POTUS.

Beyond this revelation, there is evidence in the poll to suggest the country is generally more ready for a black than a woman POTUS. All other factors being equal, 5% of voters prefer a white candidate, while 2% prefer a black candidate; 93% of voters say race makes no difference. With respect to gender, 17% of voters prefer a male candidate, while just 3% prefer a woman; 80% of voters say gender makes no difference.

Additionally, more than half of voters, 56%, say most people they know would vote for a black candidate, while only 46% say most people they know would vote for a woman candidate.

The poll, conducted 3/15-18, surveyed 952 RVs and has margin of error +/- 3%.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

Samantha Power gave her first TV interview post Monstergate last night to Stephen Colbert. She's on a book tour, and, yes, she seemed utterly uncomfortable when Colbert teasingly asked if she'd like to clarify the type of monster HRC might be. Not all monsters are bad, Colbert advised. Take, he said, Cookie Monster.

A possible campaign slogan, Colbert nudged: 'C is for Clinton, that's good enough for me!'

Power wouldn't play. She didn't even bite when Colbert suggested that John McCain is a monster, too. A minotaur.

From today's Hotline:

"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much."

-- Pres. Bush, mult., 3/19

As reporters browse Hillary Clinton's first lady scheds for insight about her influence over her husband's administration, HRC spokesman Jay Carson asks scribes to note (Spin alert!):

1. President Clinton's representative, Bruce Lindsey, has not asked that any documents be withheld that the Archives has designated for release.

2. President Clinton (via his representative) asked that extensive material be released that the Archives otherwise would have redacted.

3. The release of the more than 11,000 pages of Hillary’s First Lady schedules will underscore what we already know: She worked tirelessly on a wide range of substantive issues for eight years on behalf of the American people.

4. The release of these records further exemplifies President Clinton’s efforts to ensure a full record of his presidency is made public. President Clinton’s representative encouraged the Archives to release significantly more information than required by the Presidential Records Act, as well as more than the Archives originally designated for release. He also completed his review well before the end of the time the Archives allotted.

5. More than a million pages of records from the Clinton Administration have already been made public, and President Clinton has taken steps that independent experts say go beyond all other previous presidents covered by the Presidential Records Act in facilitating public access to the records of his administration.

6. The more than 11,000 pages released today represent a far greater commitment to transparency than we have seen from Senator Obama, who has to this point offered his own constantly shifting explanations for why he will not release his records from the Illinois State Senate.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Hillary Clinton this week scored her first two Super Ds since OH and TX: PA Rep. John Murtha and Pat Maroney, a DNC committeeman from WV. That's the good news. The bad news is that Barack Obama has gained (or flipped) 61 Super Ds. The list, per his campaign, is available after the jump.

Issued today:

TO: DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Members
FROM: Alexis Herman & James Roosevelt, Jr., Co-Chairs
DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee
RE: Update on Proposed Michigan Legislation

We have recently been asked whether the legislation as proposed by Michigan would fit within the framework of the National Party’s Delegate Selection Rules. Our review of this legislation indicates that it would, in fact, fit within the framework of the Rules if, it were, passed by the state legislature and used by the Michigan State Democratic Party as the basis of drafting a formal Delegate Selection Plan. If a formal Delegate Selection Plan is received we will convene a meeting of the RBC to consider such a Plan. We look forward to talking with you soon.

Or something like that. President Clinton heads to NYC for the day tomorrow with his only public appearance on the Martha Stewart Show, reports NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli. He also headlines a fundraiser.

DETROIT - Hillary Clinton today stepped up the pressure on Barack Obama to back a re-vote in Michigan, calling it a crucial test of whether he means what he says.

"Sen. Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people," Clinton told members of the AFSCME union. "Today I'm asking him to match those words with actions to make sure the people of Michigan and Florida have a voice and a vote in this election. I have accepted the plan for a new vote in Michigan, proposed in draft legislation and approved by the Democratic National Committee, in fact the DNC put out a statement earlier this morning making clear that the proposal fits within the DNC rules. It is fully within the party's rules. I call on Sen. Obama to do the same."

Clinton said 600,000 voters in Michigan and 1.7 million Florida voters were at risk of being shut out of the Democratic process.

"I think that's wrong, and frankly, it is un-American, and we cannot let that continue," she said. "This goes way beyond this election, and it goes way beyond who's running, because no matter where you were born or how much money you were born into, no matter where you worship or the color of your skin, it is a bedrock American principle that we are all equal in the voting booth."

Michigan has 128 pledged delegates, but the state has been stripped of all of the because it broke party rules by moving up its vote. Clinton won the uncontested January primary, but Obama's name was not on the ballot.

Clinton's campaign has been pushing the revote issue for weeks. Over the last two days, her advisers accused her rival of standing in the way of the Democratic process; the state's proposal for a re-vote can not go forward until he signs off.

"This isn't about political gamemanship," Deputy Communications Dir. Phil Singer said on one call with reporters. "This is about counting votes."

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

Naturally the focus of TV news last night was on Barack Obama's speech. Obama sat down with ABC's Moran after his address:

Asked if he always planned to give a speech like this, Obama: "I expected that at some stage we'd have to give it. Now, I'm not sure that we expected that it would come up in the way that it did."

Moran: "If I went to a church where white supremacy was preached, what would you think of me?"

Obama: "See, I disagree with you. ... That's not what's preached at Trinity. That's an easy equivalence that's not at all is taking place there. If you look at the sermons, even the most offensive ones at issue, he is condemning white racism as he defines it. But he's not condemning the white race. He is not suggesting that blacks are superior."

More Obama: "You remember during the O.J. trial there was a similar moment when the black and the white culture had the completely opposite reactions and nobody understood it. And by the way, I'm somebody who was pretty clear that O.J. was guilty. And I was ashamed for my own community to respond in that way. But I also understood what was taking place, which was that reaction had more to do with a sense that somehow the criminal justice system historically had been biassed so profoundly that a defeat of that justice system was somehow a victory."

Moran: "Obama understands the political risk, yet still today he would not for tactical political purposes distance himself from Wright. Though he condemned his comments."

Obama: "This is why during the course of this campaign there have been moments when people say I like Barack Obama, but not Al Sharpton. I like Colin Powell, but not Jesse, you know? I like Oprah, but -- you know, those of us who are African American don't have that luxury. So what I can do then is to say, here's what I believe."

Asked what he means by not having the luxury, Obama: "I don't have the luxury of separating myself out and being selective in terms of what it means to be African American in this society. It's a big complex thing. It's not monolithic."

More: "Michelle and most of my black friends I think were much more confident and calm about me giving this speech. My white friends and advisers were much more nervous."

Asked why the difference: "The African American community deals with this, grapples with this in ways that the white community just doesn't. This is a common experience. I think most African Americans will share it. If there's some horrendous crime out there, black people are always a little nervous until they see the picture, hoping that it's not a black person who committed it. A white person never thinks that way."

Moran: "Do you consider yourself a black man or an American first?"

Obama: "An American. Absolutely" ("Nightline," ABC, 3/18).

After the jump, pundits rate Obama's speech:

(EMILY GOODIN)

Barack Obama's campaign finally released a statement this evening reacting to the news that plans to revote in MI have fizzled:

“We understand that when it comes to counting votes, the Clinton campaign favors whatever they think will benefit them," spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement. "But on a day when Michigan legislators themselves have indicated that there isn’t enough legislative support for a re-vote—and when Senator Clinton’s own Michigan co-chair said that a re-vote ‘wouldn’t make much difference’—it doesn’t make any sense for them to point fingers at our campaign. As others in Michigan have pointed out, there are valid concerns about the proposal currently being discussed, including severe restrictions on voter eligibility and the reliance on private funding. Local election officials have indicated that they may be unable to discharge their responsibilities under the timetable this law sets. We have raised these concerns, as legislators in Michigan did today, and we’re waiting to see if these issues can be resolved by the legislature."

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton heads to MI tomorrow to "press the case for a revote," according to her campaign. She holds an event in Detroit, at AFSCME Council 25, 10 a.m.

PA Rep. John Murtha said in a statement Tuesday that he was endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, citing her ability to tackle issues from healthcare to the economy to the war in Iraq.

"This week, she highlighted the policy failures in Iraq and addressed the real challenges we face in regards to rebuilding our military, restoring our readiness and fully preparing our armed forces to meet and deter future threats," Murtha said in a statement. " I know that Senator Clinton has a similar position that I have in regards to the war in Iraq."

He added: "Her experience and careful consideration of these issues convinced me that she is best qualified to lead our nation and to bring credibility back to the White House."

Murtha, who represents Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, has been a passionate voice against the Iraq war. He was Nancy Pelosi's selection for House Majority Leader, a position he lost, of course, to Steny Hoyer.

Clinton has focused on Iraq the past two days as the country marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.
Her chief rival, Barack Obama, has argued she showed poor judgment voting to authorize the use of force there, but the New York senator has argued she is the candidate best able to end the war.

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

Specifically, a $150M effort from a coalition of progressive groups dedicated to electing the next Dem president.

"The conditions are present for not just simply a change election, but a sea change election, but that’s only possible if progressives organize and continue to struggle," said Toby Chaudhuri, communications director of the Campaign for America’s Future. The players involved are noting today that this is the largest collective voter mobilization effort ever. Usually, of course, these groups work in a related but not interactive way. This year, they're banding together. Critical for the Dems, especially if the nom fight goes to Denver.

The commitments from participating organizations, who have banded together to "Take Back America" --

AFL-CIO – $50M program, targeting labor households, of course

Women’s Voices Women’s Vote Action Fund – $30M, targeting single women

National Council of La Raza – Democracia USA -- $4M – $6M

ACORN – $35M, targeting households in communities of color

Rock the Vote – $10M

Move On – $30M

The groups' effort will be supplemented by related PAC activity -- to the tune of $200M

And Change To Win – $100M

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Hillary Clinton's White House scheds will be available for public perusal tomorrow 10 a.m. ET.

Docs -- all 11,046 of them -- will be issued by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and the National Archives and available "as soon as possible" at www.clintonlibrary.gov.

The scheds are from the staff files of Patti Solis Doyle, then Special Assistant to the President and Director of Scheduling for the First Lady.

"Doyle was responsible for the First Lady's schedule from 1993 to 1998, and then assumed additional responsibilities as Director of Advance for the First Lady throughout the rest of the Clinton Administration. Arranged chronologically, these records document in detail the activities of the First Lady, including meetings, trips, speaking engagements and social activities for the eight years of the Clinton Administration," according to a release issued today by the National Archives.

More: This file series includes schedules for 2,888 days. Clinton Library archivists processing these records subsequently determined that schedules for 32 days were not included in this series; however, schedules for 27 of those days have now been located, and will be processed as soon as possible. Of the 11,046 pages of schedules that are being opened, 4,746 have redactions. The majority of the redactions pertain to the privacy interests of third parties, including their social security numbers, telephone numbers, and home addresses. In addition, schedules for the first 19 days in January 1993, prior to the inauguration of President Clinton and prior to Mrs. Clinton's tenure as First Lady, have been closed in full in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. -- Kicking off another small town tour in another primary state, Bill Clinton devoted nearly half of his time this morning to the state of the economy, calling recent moves by the Federal Reserve “commendable” but saying that his wife has the best solutions for the country.

“She is way the best prepared to take the reins of this economy and turn it around,” he told about 200 people gathered at the Dearborn Adult Center. “She understands all these financial problems, and she understands what we have to do over the long run to create more jobs and raise incomes.”

Lamenting the growing inequality of incomes today, the former president said Hillary Clinton would pursue a “middle class economic strategy,” one of “strategy of shared benefits, shared opportunities, and shared responsibilities.”

“We gave billions of dollars to the big oil companies and the nuclear industry when they were making money hand over fist,” he said. “Hillary says we oughta invest it in America, in creating energy independence for America.”

Judy O’Bannon, widow of the state’s former governor, noted in her introduction that when Clinton took office, “times were pretty crummy, too.” “We got in this fix because we made dumb decisions,” Clinton said later. “I think if you elect her, and her plans for the economy are adopted, you will have more growth more broadly shared when she’s president than you did when I was.”

The former president also spent time talking politics, making his case that Hillary would be the best choice for Democrats because she “wears well.” “For three days in a row the national polls have shown her running better against Sen. McCain than Sen. Obama,” he said. “By November they’ll all be there; they’ll all be that way because … she wears well. Cause they beat up on her for 16 years and she just gets stronger and stronger and stronger. And so, and we don’t want to go through all this trouble and lose the election. All of us who know the country needs to change, by November, she is the person most likely to win.”

Later he said that while there are two “exciting candidates” running in the primary, “We have to pick the best president. On the economics, and on the security issues, she’d be the best president, and I don’t think there’s any serious dispute if you look at the evidence.”

This was the first of three stops today in the Hoosier State, the first visit for the campaign here. HRC will visit the state Thursday, but her husband hinted he’ll probably spend his fair share of time here.

“This is duty I ask for. I like to go to small town America,” he said. “Places like Lawrenceburg have carried her this far against the most unbelievable odds anybody’s ever faced, and they will carry her to the nomination and to the presidency if you will stick with her.”

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

As plans for a revote in MI appear to be going the way of FL's proposal, Hillary Clinton's team renewed its push for Barack Obama to sign off on a settlement allowing both states' voters to cast ballots.

Harold Ickes was asked by Jeffrey Toobin on today's call with reporters if Clinton would be able to win pledged delegates without MI and FL. Here was his answer:

"I think it will probably be difficult, but that’s not the issue," Ickes said. "The issue is that people keep making this what I consider a phony distinction between pledged delegates and non pledged delegates. A delegate is a delegate is a delegate … I reject the premise of the question."

Ickes, on the call with Phil Singer, said that Obama's campaign is throwing up roadblocks. HRC's lawyers have signed off on the proposals. Ickes said the party is in for a tough road in the general if the voters of FL and MI are not counted.

"It is a politically stupid thing to do," he said.

Ickes also expressed support for a vote-by-mail primary, something that the campaign has resisted to date in favor of a full statewide primary.

"We’re saying that Sen. Obama’s campaign does not want a primary," he said. "Initially, they indicated that they did want one in both states. Now, they’ve changed course. If they wanted a primary his campaign would come out and say so four square."

He also questionned Obama's ability to survive a battering in the general election against the GOP. He said that the "past two weeks" have raised questions about "whether Sen. Obama is going to be able to stand up to the Republican attack machine."

Obama's campaign has remained mum today about the news out of MI, despite repeated requests for comment.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

A new CBS News poll out this p.m. of nat'l RVs shows 58% have heard/read a lot/some about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial comments, while 42% have heard not much/nothing about them.

Among those voters who have heard/read about the comments, 30% now feel less favorable towards Barack Obama, while 65% feel no different. Among Dems, 15% feel less favorable and 76% feel no different; among GOPers, 47% feel less favorable and 53% feel no different; and among Inds, 36% feel less favorable and 61% feel no different.

The poll also shows Obama now has a Fav/Unfav among all voters of 44%/30%, slightly down from his Feb. rating of 45%/23%. Among Dem primary voters, his rating has fallen from 69%/8% in Feb. to 63%/17% now.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

So much hanky panky in America's State Houses. Who knew? New NY Gov. David Paterson and his wife tell the New York Daily News that they've both (BOTH!) engaged in extramarital affairs.

NYDN: In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.

As part of that relationship, Paterson said, he and the other woman sometimes stayed at an upper West Side hotel — the Days Inn at Broadway and W. 94th St.

Paterson also confirmed that he never used state funds for his dalliances. Quite the Day Two in office ... Do we live in a great country, or what?

It's not happening. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that MI state Senate leaders are saying today that they won't push legislation to set a June 3 primary until Barack Obama's campaign signs off.

As we know, Hillary Clinton and her MI supporters are on board. No comment yet from Obama's campaign.

A new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of PA Dem LVs out this a.m. shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama 53%-41% -- double the 6% lead Clinton had in the last poll, completed 2/25.

Since the last survey, Clinton's lead among women jumped 10%, to 24%, while Obama's lead among men narrowed to 3%. Clinton also gained by 9% among white voters, while Obama gained by 12% among black voters; Clinton now leads among whites by 28%, while Obama leads among blacks by 58%.

More significantly, Clinton doubled her lead among voters over age 45, to 26%. She also increased her lead by 7% among white men, to 10%, and by 7% among voters without a college degree, to 20%.

And what about that dream ticket? Well, more than two in five Dems, 43%, are not interested in seeing Clinton and Obama run on the same ticket; among Clinton primary voters this figure falls to 38%, while more than half of Obama voters, 52%, don't want a joint ticket. Nearly a third of all voters, 32%, said they would like to see a Clinton-Obama ticket, and just 18% preferred an Obama-Clinton ticket.

Favorability ratings point to the continuing racial rift within the party. Clinton has a Fav/Unfav of 71%/23% among all voters, 74%/21% among whites and 56%/30% among blacks. Conversely, Obama has a rating of 61%/19% among all voters, 57%/22% among whites and 80%/5% among blacks.

What's more, 17% of Clinton supporters said they supported Obama at one point, while 28% of Obama supporters said they supported Clinton at one point. This number is highest among blacks supporting Obama -- 36% of these voters supported Clinton at some point during the campaign.

The poll, conducted 3/10-16, has a sample size of 1,304 and margin of error +/- 3%.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

A coalition of progressive groups is announcing today what is expected to be the largest voter mobilization effort in history. Participating in the project's debut: Robert Borosage, Campaign for America’s Future; Karen Ackerman, AFL-CIO; Page Gardner, Women Voices. Women Vote; Ilyse House, MoveOn.org; Heather Smith, Rock The Vote; Bertha Lewis, ACORN; and Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza.

More details to come ...

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Did Barack Obama intentionally reference his Dem rival's husband during his speech today? And, if so, what might that mean?

Obama, this a.m.: "...they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America..."

Bill Clinton, 1/20/93: "Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

From today's Hotline:

"I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy."

-- Barack Obama, mult., 3/18

Barack Obama gave an eloquent speech today that will do much to quiet the increasingly polarizing debate about race in the Democratic contest. But more importantly, and more tellingly, he gave a deeply personal talk about his race, about his experience as a biracial American. And voters needed to hear it. Not because his biography is, in and of itself, the answer for these confusing times, but because, perhaps, only a person of his experience can dare all of us to be our better selves.

Anger, as he said, "all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems."

Obama's call today was not just for the candidates to tone down the use of race in the presidential contest. What he said was bigger than that. It was more authentic than that. He challenged people, of all colors and backgrounds, to transcend their deepest distrust of each other in the interest of progress. To redefine the conversation about race in America.

To blacks, he said, embrace your past, do not fall victim to it. To whites, he said, it is time to acknowledge that "what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people."

Such an undeniably tall order, no? And yet, on gut alone, it felt reasonable, righteous.

"For we have a choice in this country," he said. "We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

"We can do that," Obama added, "But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change."

The usually unfailingly cool character seemed to wince as he recalled the bigotry of his own white grandmother, “a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.”

But he explained that he couldn’t reject her for her feelings, much as he won’t divorce himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his longtime pastor. They are both part of him, as they are part of the fabric of this country. To denounce them would be dishonest, he seemed to say. The country’s history -- of slavery, of OJ, of Katrina and more – is what it is. How we move beyond those moments, how we heal those divisions is now up to us. Together.

Conservative pundits – maybe even white Democrats struggling to make ends meet in this faltering economy, who might also be stewing over the quick rise of this young, black politician – could dwell on Obama’s decision not to slam Wright. But if they do, they miss Obama’s point altogether.

“Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now,” he said. “We would be making the same mistake that Rev. Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”

His is a battle cry for a new generation.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Here is is ...

A new poll out this a.m. offers some interesting insight for a certain former NY Gov.

USA Today/Gallup reports 59% of Americans believe making a major purchase and hiding it from a spouse would be "a major violation of trust between spouses," and nearly one in ten married Americans say it would be grounds for divorce.

The poll surveyed 1,025 adults between 3/14-16 and has margin of error +/- 3%.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

Now 25 minutes late. Speech clocks in at nearly 5K words. We'll post the embargoed version when Obama begins. This is as critical a moment for the IL Sen as any he has faced yet in the campaign.

Stay tuned.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

New DNC Web ad hitting John McCain... This is it, kids. This will be THE message out of the Dems and the Dem nom over the next six months. Will it work? Hasn't yet. Gallup today indicates that McCain's positives are higher than both the Dem candidates.

Barack Obama sat down with PBS' Ifill for an extended interview that took place in PA. The interview was originally scheduled for last week but had to be rescheduled. In it he previewed this a.m.'s speech:

Obama: "I think it would have been naive for me to think that I could run and end up with quasi-frontrunner status in a presidential election, as potentially the first African-American president, and that issues of race wouldn't come up any more than Senator Clinton could expect that gender issues might not come up. But, ultimately, I don't think it's useful. I think we've got to talk about it, and I think we've got to process it, but we've got to remind ourselves that what we have in common is far more important than what's different and that, if we're going to solve any of these problems, we've got to come together and bridge our differences in ways that we just have not bridged them before."

Ifill: "Is that the speech you'll be giving tomorrow in Philadelphia?"

Obama: "That will be a major focus of it."

Asked if it's been damaging to the campaign, Obama: "I would say that it has been a distraction from the core message of our campaign. I think that part of what has always been the essence of my politics -- not just this campaign, but my life -- is the idea that we've got to bring people together. Now, part of that is biographical, as somebody who comes from a diverse background, with a white mother and an African-American father, growing up in Hawaii and Asia. You know, it's in my DNA to believe that all of us have something fundamental in common, and that's part of what makes America so special" ("NewsHour," PBS, 3/17).

After the cut, Bill Clinton points out Obama advertised in FL before the primary and pundits are all about FL, FL, FL.

(EMILY GOODIN)

Bad news for HRC ...

FL Dem Chairwoman Karen L. Thurman, in a statement:

"Last week, the Florida Democratic Party laid out the only existing way that we can comply with DNC Rules - a statewide revote run by the Party - and asked for input. Thousands of people responded. We spent the weekend reviewing your messages, and while your reasons vary widely, the consensus is clear: Florida doesn't want to vote again. So we won't.

"A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the Party were to pay for it. Republican Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio refuses to even consider that option. Florida is finally moving to paper ballots, which is a good thing, but it means that at least 15 counties do not have the capacity to handle a major election before the June 10th DNC primary deadline. This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April."

Full statement after the jump.

Barack Obama side-stepped six questions today about his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, repeatedly telling reporters that he will address his relationship with the pastor tomorrow during his Philly speech.

Wright, the former minister of Trinity United Church of Christ and Obama's long-time spiritual advisor, stepped down Friday evening from a committee of religious advisors to the campaign after inflammatory speeches made by the minister were widely publicized.

Aides said today that Obama is scripting his upcoming speech on race, religion and Wright.

Here's a sampling of reporters' attempts today to engage Obama about Wright:

New York Times' Jeff Zeleny: " Do you believe that Rev. Wright has been unfairly characterized in this controversy? And what question do you have to answer to the people tomorrow?"

Obama: "Well, I am going to be talking about, not just Rev. Wright, but just the larger issue of race in this campaign, which has ramped up over the last couple of weeks. So I don't want to give a full preview – you might not come to the speech. But the – as I said in my statement, I think the statements that were the source of controversy from Rev. Wright were wrong, and I strongly condemn them. I think the caricature that's been painted of him is not accurate. And so part of what I'll do tomorrow is just to talk a little bit about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church community, for example, which I think views this very differently."

ABC News' Sunlen Miller: "What's your relationship with Rev Wright?"

Obama: "Sunlen, as I said, I'm gonna give a speech tomorrow so I'm not gonna –"

Miller: "You said you knew about some of his statements prior to this latest news?"

Obama: "Sunlen, I'll address this tomorrow."

NBC News' Lee Cowan: "How much of an impact do you think this story has had on your campaign?"

Obama: "Well, I think that's gonna be – you guys are in a better position to assess that than I am."

Chicago Tribune's Mike Dorning: "You know Rev. Wright more than just a 20-second sound bite, based on your experience going to church there, what do you think is the way Rev. Wright characterizes white America? Why did you chose this particular church with this particular pastor to help lay the moral foundation for raising your kids?"

Obama: "Mike, I mean I know you guys are curious about this. This is why I'm giving a speech about this tomorrow, that will be a lot more wholesome than a press conference. Does that make sense?"

Stay tuned ...

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll of Dem RVs out this p.m. shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton 52-45%, a 10% swing from Clinton's 49-46% lead on 2/3.

The poll also shows nearly half, 49%, of Dems say SuperDels should pick the Dem who would be the best candidate, while 46% say SuperDels should vote based on the results of primaries and caucuses. Among the latter group there is a distinct disconnect -- 19% say SuperDels should make their choice based on the nationwide results of all contests, while more than a quarter (27%) say their votes should be based on the results in a SuperDel's home state/district.

There is more of a consensus among Dems, however, on how to resolve FL and MI. More than six in 10 say these states should hold new primaries or caucuses, while a third believe they should not. Among this 34%, 19% believe MI and FL should send the Dels they selected in Jan., while 15% believe they should not be allowed to send Dels at all.

The poll, taken of 463 Dem RVs taken between 3/14-16, has a margin of error of +/- 5%.

(MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

Barack Obama's campaign is responding quickly to Hillary Clinton's earlier Iraq speech by circulating a new video that stresses her 2002 vote for the war resolution. It features footage of Clinton's floor speech explaining her vote, notably a snippet in which she said that her experience at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue helped guide her decision.

These words flash on the screen: "It's a question of judgment. It's a question of preparation. It's a question of accountability. Was it a vote for "inspectors" ... or a vote for war?"

MONACA, PA -- Barack Obama said today that the economy is "teetering on a potential crisis," and he criticized President Bush for poor fiscal management.

"History will not judge President Bush kindly," Obama said of the nation's economic downturn.

Obama noted that Bush appeared blasé about the potential crisis last week during a media availability.

"When I saw the president in his press conference, almost lighthearted and joking about some of these issues, I think it did not instill the kind of confidence in the American people, and certainly it didn't instill any confidence in me that the administration is taking the situation seriously," he added.

Focusing much of his attention on "ordinary Americans," Obama said that the average family's wages had flatlined over the last seven years.

"They were already having a tough time during the so-called boom times over the last seven years," he said. "The average family's wages and incomes have flatlined. In fact they have gone down when adjusted for real income by a $1,000."

Barack Obama will deliver a "major address on race, politics, and how we bring our country together at this important moment in our history" tomorrow in Philly, according to his campaign.

Does he address his pastor problem? What's the message to white voters, rust belt males, in particular, about his candidacy?

New Americans United For Change Web vid;

From today's Hotline:

"Girls screamed like when the Beatles arrived in the United States or when actor Drake Bell showed up at the Mall at Steamtown."

-- Scranton Times-Tribune's Krawczeniuk, on HRC's St. Patrick's Day visit

WASHINGTON, DC -- Hillary Clinton said today that she is watching developments in U.S. financial markets closely after efforts by the Federal Reserve over the weekend to try to head off a crisis.

The Fed has lowered the discount rate to increase liquidity in the market and helped JP Morgan buy troubled firm Bear Stearns.

Clinton said she spoke this morning with Treasury Sec. Henry M. Paulson, Jr., and the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about the steps taken yesterday to restore confidence in the market. She said that as an NY Sen, in particular, she is concerned about the impact these developments could have on workers and families, and on the city's economy as a whole.

"I'm particularly concerned about the many employees of Bear Stearns and their families and the ripple effect through the economy that this is going to cause," the senator told reporters during a brief press conference after her speech on Iraq.

She did not directly answer questions about what she would do to help shore up the falling dollar or whether the Fed had done enough.

"Clearly the consequences of inaction were deemed to be much more difficult for the economy than having the Fed step in," she said. "The extension of the $30 billion of backstopping JP Morgan Chase is a big commitment on the part of the Fed, but clearly they have the resources to make that commitment. I think that from what I have been told the worry was that there would have been a chain reaction that would have quickly required much more significant resources, so I'm not going to second-guess the Fed either on their movement to get the sale consumated and to back up the JP Morgan commitment or to cut the discount rate," she said.

Clinton repeated her call for urgent action in addressing the nation's mortgage crisis as a way of dealing with the credit crisis.

"When I first called for a lot of these step, I was ridiculed by the Bush administration and frankly my Democratic opponent," she said. "Now we are in the soup, and we better get ourselves out of it before the consequences are drastic. There are lots of people who are talking about using tools we haven't used since the Great Depression, legal tools that give the government the right to do certain things. You know, I haven't looked at the legal background, but some say that even the Fed's unprecedented intervention has roots in what was necessary then. I mean, I cannot stress to you we are in a very dangerous period in the economy. We need vigilance, and we need leadership, and we've gotta get it from, you know, this administration."

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

As the Jeremiah Wright videos hit the airwaves Thursday and Friday and the story percolated through the weekend, numerical evidence emerged showing that the Rev might've actually hurt his parishioner. Long-term damage to Barack Obama, who knows? But Wright's incendiary speeches sure sparked new questions about Obama's faith -- and if he shares his pastor's views.

Gallup tracking polls showed Obama with a six-point edge Thursday over Hillary Clinton. By Saturday, his lead had narrowed to three points, 48% to 45%.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

So Barack Obama is on the stump today in PA. Hillary Clinton is in Washington, having delivered a speech here this morning calling for an end to the Iraq war. And John McCain is in Iraq (wearing a flak jacket) to meet with with senior Iraqi officials.

Now who's looking like the 3 a.m. candidate ... ?

McCain's visit might be billed as "official" but it's a savvy campaign stunt designed to stress his foreign policy credentials as the Dems criticize each other for not being ready to make critical, middle-of-the-night decisions. McCain's journey also serves as a shoutout to anyone or any interest in the Middle East (Iran) who might have visions of an American pullout when President Bush leaves office.

Clinton's full Iraq speech is available after the jump. In it, she says Barack Obama cannot be trusted to hold firm to his promise to withdraw American troops from Iraq within 16 months. Clinton vows to start bringing soldiers home within 60 days.

“We simply cannot give the Iraqi government an endless blank check. Each passing month we stay in Iraq gives the Iraqi government more time to avoid the hard decisions on how to split the oil money and how to share political power. ... Withdrawal is not risk-free, but the risks of staying in Iraq are certain. And a well-planned withdrawal is the one and only path to a political solution. The only way to spur the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future and to ensure that we don't bear that responsibility indefinitely. The only way to spur other countries to do their part to help secure stability in the region. The commitment to staying in Iraq has driven President Bush's foreign policy. It looks like it would drive Senator McCain’s foreign policy as well, but it will not drive mine."

She also seeks, somewhat disingenuously, to recast her position on the war. She said her goal is to "end this war as quickly and responsibly as possible. That has been my mission in the Senate, and it will be my mission starting on day one as president of the United States."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Hillary Clinton's campaign announced today that Sir Elton John will perform for HRC April 9 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. The event, called "Elton and Hillary: One Night Only," marks John's first public solo concert in NYC without his band since his Oct. 2000 Madison Square Garden event, according to the campaign.

"I'm not a politician but I believe in the work that Hillary Clinton does," John said in a statement released by Clinton's campaign. "I'm excited to support Hillary by performing at what will be a truly memorable night."

Tickets, which run $125 for mezzanine seats and $250 for orchestra seats, will go on sale at 9:00 am EST, Wednesday, and can be purchsed via the campaign.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" -- 1976

High-profile, powerhouse female tech execs for John McCain ...

As we've reported, Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman are backing the senator's WH bid. Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, signed on with the RNC as Victory Chairman, while Whitman, outgoing CEO of Ebay, will be McCain's campaign co-chair. Here's an interesting 'Q and A' between Fiorina and Tech Crunch. In the interview, out today, Fiorina talks tech policy and about the critical use of social networking tools to raise campaign cash. She gives a tip of the hat to Barack Obama's campaign for effectively using these sites to bring in record amounts of dough.

Fiorina also notes that McCain's not such a tech guru ... Oh my, digital divide meet presidential politics.

"He was ... very comfortable talking about technology, even though he’s not a regular computer user," Fiorina said.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

The latest PA news and information, per NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger:

-- Hillary Clinton's campaign opens an Allentown office Monday. It's one of six in the state. No Clinton family members or key surrogates are expected today in PA, making it the first in 10 days without a Clinton on the trail here.

-- Barack Obama will go to Philly Tuesday, but details have not been released. He's holding a town hall Monday in Monaca (35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh) and speaking at the Society of Irish Women dinner in Scranton.

-- There's only one more week for independents and Republicans to change their registration to Democratic for the primary. Already, more than 35,000 voters have changed their affiliation to vote in the primary since the new year, according to the Secretary of State's office, and more than 80,000 new registrations have been submitted. Obama aides circled the Philadelphia streets over the weekend, registering voters.

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

On "Fox News Sunday" this weekend, host Chris Wallace introduced a new feature, "Obama Watch," during which he asks Barack Obama to appear on his program. Wallace noted: "Back in March of 2006, I met with Obama, and he promised me, face-to-face, he would come on this program. But so far, he has not. Well, as of today, we are starting our 'Obama Watch.' It has now been 730 days, 13 hours, 53 minutes and nine -- no, 10 seconds and counting since Obama agreed to be a guest on 'Fox News Sunday.' Senator, when are you coming on?"

But the irony is Wallace made his plea after devoting much of the program to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial remarks. Sens. Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer were in the show's first segment and eight out of the 13 questions were about Wright and his relationship with Obama. Wright was also the first topic the "Fox News Sunday" roundtable.

Obama's last FNC appearance was Friday, 3/14. His interview appeared on "Hannity & Colmes," but instead of being conducted by the hosts Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, Major Garrett, who covers the Dem WH candidates for the network, had the honors.

(EMILY GOODIN)

It was a Sunday of campaign surrogates but first, what will it take for the Dems have a nominee?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the path to the Dem nod on "This Week":

Asked if she's worried about the tone in the WH race: "I think the tone could be improved. I definitely do."

Hillary Clinton will give a "major" policy address about the Iraq war, Monday 9 a.m., at George Washington University's Marvin Center ballroom.

Meanwhile, as the NY Sen. continued today to woo PA's ample Irish population by marching in two St. Paddy's Day parades, Barack Obama's team said Clinton "continues to exaggerate" her role in the Northern Ireland peace process. Obama's related oppo doc is available after the jump. (Clinton's comment today about her involvement in peace negotiations is available on On Call, two posts prior.)

And, finally, the AP is reporting that the Clinton team has asked that TX conventions be postponed until the eligibility of 1M caucus-goers is verified. And you can imagine what the Obama folks have to say about that: “We don’t think that the record-breaking number of Texans who stood up to be counted on March 4th would appreciate the Clinton campaign’s attempt to disenfranchise them and silence their voices just because the outcome wasn’t politically beneficial to Senator Clinton,” Obama Spokesman Dan Pfeiffer in a statement released by the campaign.

Iowa, there you go again, hogging the spotlight.

Iowans gathered today at county conventions, a usually inconsequential exercise in local politics where, as the AP reported, organizers often struggle to convene a quorum. But in the year of The Delegate, the conventions put the Hawkeye State back in the spotlight just two months after its critical caucuses -- and the outcome of the day's delegate selection had to leave Barack Obama's team smiling.

The AP writes that Obama increased his vote count by seven, snagging 23 compared to 14 for Hillary Clinton and seven for John Edwards, with one to be decided. Twelve automatic delegates bring the state's total to 57; Obama has been endorsed by four of those and Clinton three, with the remainder uncommitted.

With Iowa's results, an AP delegate tally showed Obama with 1,610 delegates and Clinton with 1,496.

"Rob Tully, a Des Moines lawyer and prominent Edwards backer, sent an e-mail to supporters urging them to remain neutral, but there was clear movement to Obama when the results were tallied," according to the AP.

More: '''Barack Obama stands for a lot of the same things that John Edwards stood for,'' said Ro Foege, a state legislator from Mount Vernon who switched to the Obama camp."

Fmr IA Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Clinton backer, spoke to more than 1,200 delegates jammed into a suburban high school gym. ''The reality is we are united on one thing today, we are Democrats, we are proud Democrats and we are going to elect a Democratic president,'' Vilsack said. ''Let us pledge that we will unite behind our nominee -- be it he or she.''

SCRANTON, PA -- Hillary Clinton spent Saturday celebrating the luck of the Irish at two massive St. Patrick's Day parades on opposites ends of the Keystone State.

As the senator walked, waved and held babies, including her niece Fiona, her campaign held two conference calls to highlight her commitment to Northern Ireland and hit Barack Obama on issues from Tony Rezko to tax documents.

In one call, her camp advisers slammed Obama for what they called a lack of transparency and insisted he disclose more details about his dealings with Chicago real estate developer Rezko, who is on trial for corruption. (It's worth noting that Obama has been hammering Clinton for several weeks for not releasing her tax returns, White House schedules, information about donors to her husband's presidential, and earmarks. All facts, Obama's spokesmen have said, that point to a candidate who is not forthcoming.)

In an interview published Friday in the Chicago Tribune, Obama said Rezko had raised a quarter of a million dollars for his first three political campaigns, more than had been previously thought. He promised to answer every question posed by the Trib's reporters, and the paper indicates in an editorial running tomorrow that he indeed did.

"We fully expect the Clinton campaign, given its current desperation, to do whatever it must in order to keep the Rezko tin can tied to Obama's bumper," the Trib's editors write. "When we endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination Jan. 27, we said we had formed our opinions of him during 12 years of scrutiny. We concluded that the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish him. Nothing Obama said in our editorial board room Friday diminishes that verdict."

Still, Chief Clinton Strategist Mark Penn today called the lack of full disclosure on the Rezko matter part of a "troubling pattern", while Dep Comm Dir. Phil Singer said Obama should explain why his story about Rezko keeps changing.

John McCain raised between $4M and $5M this week at eight fundraisers across the country, reports NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy.

His most lucrative event was held at NYC's Plaza Hotel, where the GOP nom collected $2M, according to a campaign source. McCain wrapped the five-day sweep with a Chicago fete that netted him $1M.

The AZ Sen lingered a little longer than usual in the Windy City, perhaps knowing that he was done looking for handouts for at least a week. He heads overseas in coming days as the leader of a congressional delegation of members of the Senate Armed Services cmte.

Jeremiah Wright was bumped from Barack Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee tonight, per a campaign source.

Not a good news day in Obamaland. The question is -- Who had the poor judgment to put Obama's rabblerousing pastor on the committee in the first place?

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

As if Eliot Spitzer hasn't endured enough self-imposed humiliation over the last few days, this evening he had to stomach (we had to stomach) Marion Barry's commentary about the NY governor's fall.

Barry, on Tucker Carlson's final show, said he thinks Spitzer was set up. "Obviously he was, no question about that," said the fmr DC mayor, who was busted in 1990 with crack and a female friend at the Vista Hotel in Washington.

Spitzer has a disease, Barry said, but the fmr mayor promised the guv a silver lining.

"There’s life after this, if you work at it," Barry said. "But you can’t condone all this."

And this bit of wisdom from Barry about all you critics out there who slam public people for their private foibles:

"Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing rocks."

That's right. Rocks.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

So earth-toned Naomi Wolf mouthed off on MSNBC this a.m. about reporters not pressing John McCain for more info about the dish he divulged while being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton. Right, that's a line of attack that's going serve the Dems well in the general.

Meanwhile, so what does the McCain camp do to respond? Sick Bob Dole on her. With all do respect to Dole, wha??? Why would Team McCain want to reinforce the obvious links (age, decades in Washington, age, prior failed presidential bids) between these two men?

First Wolf, then the Dole statement.

Dole: "This is a shameful attack on an America hero. John McCain has served his country with courage and honor. Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of John's release from the notorious 'Hanoi Hilton,' after being held for 5 ½ years as a prisoner of war. For Ms. Wolf to challenge John McCain's integrity and commitment to his country is disgraceful. Ms. Wolf's comments illustrate the growing disconnect between anti-war extremists like MoveOn.org and the very real challenges of waging a war against radical Islamic extremism. John McCain understands these challenges. He has proven himself to his fellow POWs and he has proven himself to the American people."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

PITTSBURGH, PA, March 14 - During a press conference held to focus on the economy and energy issues at a local gas station Friday, Hillary Clinton said Barack Obama and John McCain had not done enough to stand up to special interests like oil companies.

"Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain talk a lot about taking on the special interests, but Sen. Obama voted for Dick Cheney's energy bill in 2005 that had billions of dollars in giveaways to the oil companies and others, and Sen. McCain is offering more of the same with $4 billion more in tax breaks to the oil companies," she said. "So when you look past the words and actually examine their deeds, both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have sided with Dick Cheney and with big oil."

She also bashed Pres. Bush for not doing enough to help the economy.

"When a bank is in trouble or an investment house is in trouble, it seems like the Bush administration runs to the rescue, but when the average American family is in trouble, the glass is half full," she said. "I don't get that."

In the roughly 30-minute media avail, during which the senator favored questions from local reporters, she repeated her call for investigations into high energy prices. She suggested the government stop buying oil for the nearly full Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reiterated her promise to consider releasing some oil from the reserve as president.

With FL's plan fizzling and MI not quite at consensus, we're wondering why not split these state delegations, save the $30M and call it a day? It's hardly ideal, but is there an acceptable outcome to all parties involved? FL Sen. Bill Nelson is suggesting that half his state's 186 dels should be seated in a way that gives Hillary Clinton an edge but not as much of an advantage as she would have if the entire delegation participates.

And as we head into the weekend, Michigan Dem Party Chair Mark Brewer released this statement this afternoon on the state's primary proposal discussions:

"The focus of the committee on the possibility of a state-run, privately funded primary is a good first step toward resolving the issue of seating a Michigan delegation at the Democratic National Convention.

"Several critical steps remain. These steps include, among others, drafting legislation that is acceptable to the MDP and both the Clinton and Obama campaigns; enacting that legislation into law; preparing a revised delegate selection plan incorporating the legislation; having that plan approved by the MDP Executive Committee and the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee; and raising sufficient funds to pay for the primary.

"I will continue to work with all involved to resolve the issue of seating our delegates at the National Convention. Michigan is critical to electing a Democratic president, and electing a Democratic president is critical to Michigan. A McCain presidency would bring four more years of the failed trade and economic policies of the Bush administration which have devastated Michigan's economy."

Barack Obama writes today about the inflammatory remarks of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, in The Huffington Post:

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

Hillary Clinton campaign staffer Adam Parkhomenko, 22, resigned this week, the latest Patti Solis Doyle loyalist to depart. Dep cam mgr Mike Henry and longtime online staffers Kevin Thurman and Crystal Patterson left last month in Doyle's wake.

In 2003, Parkhomenko formed the first online effort to draft Clinton, creating tons of buzz and signing up thousands. He subsequently established the “Draft Hillary for President 2004” organization, drawing Doyle’s attention. Doyle phoned with a request for the young activist: "She isn't doing it but we would love your help in the office."

Since then, the young Arlington native worked on HILL PAC and Hillary’s campaign steering cmte. In 07, the "jack-of-all-trades staffer" became Doyle's assistant on the campaign. According to one staffer, Parkhomenko is "the guy who made the trains run on time" and was Doyle’s “right hand man.”

Parkhomenko and other staffers thrived under Doyle, who placed a premium on loyalty and camaraderie in the kingdom she coined, “Hillaryland.”

It was a kingdom, which, today, seems like a distant memory. Sources say the fissures in Hillaryland that have erupted in recent weeks-- the infighting, finger pointing and leaks -- would have never existed under Doyle’s tenure.

(NORA MCALVANNAH)

I haven't posted yet on the Jeremiah Wright brouhaha, because I'm totally flummoxed by the relative silence out of Barack Obama's camp.

Typically, I don't buy the notion that a politician (or a person) should be judged by all of his or her associations -- unless a particular association, a group, teacher or spiritual leader, has played a prominent role in the shaping of that candidate's values or actions. In this case, however, it's clear Wright, who retired last month as pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, has been involved in the most intimate moments of Obama's life -- his marriage and daughters’ baptisms. So the calls for Obama to firmly denounce Wright's most vigorously anti-American sentiments, in particular, are justified.

Meanwhile, you’d think Obama would at least attempt to move as far from the guy publicly as possible. The feet dragging out of Team Obama – they had to know the video would eventually surface – is hard to understand. One repeated Wright refrain -- “Goddamn America” -- is so potentially problematic for the candidate, regardless of its context in the sermon, that I can already see the GOP ad featuring the video and punctuated by a deep-voiced narrator: This is Barack Obama’s pastor. Shared values? Hope for all Americans? I don’t think so … Cue the footage of John McCain in the Hanoi Hilton.

Still, the cycle of Wright footage rolling on cable over the last two days is disturbing for another reason. It is yet another not-so-subtle reminder of race, just two days after the Geraldine Ferraro mess was put to rest. Can’t we get back to the boring basics – talk of job creation and health care and redeployment from Iraq? This protracted primary seems to be fostering the hashing and rehashing of the peripheral. It’s bringing out the worst of (and about) the Dems, and weakening the party along this long road to November.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

From today's Hotline:

"In a free market, there's going to be good times and bad times. That's how markets work."

-- Pres. Bush, mult., 3/14

It's been 35 years since John McCain was released from the Hanoi Hilton. The campaign released this vid this morning to commemorate the day.

WI Super D Melissa Schroeder is backing Barack Obama for president, according to a release issued by the senator's camp.

Schroeder: “After much consideration, I have decided to endorse Senator Barack Obama. My decision came down to electability and who I felt would do a better job of unifying this country for a common purpose. Obama's message of hope and change has touched millions of voters in a way that I haven't seen since the late 1960's. People from every walk of life, young and the not so young, Democrats, Independents and some Republicans, are all rallying around a belief that change can happen if we want it bad enough. With Obama as our nominee, I am confident that this November we will increase our majority in the House and Senate and elect a Democrat to the White House.”

As Hillary Clinton seizes some mo' in PA, with polls showing her with double-digit leads there and looming endorsements from the Pittsburgh mayor and Allegheny County exec, Barack Obama's camp circulates this video of Ed Rendell. Rendell today on MSNBC: "I think either one of them is going to carry the state in the fall."

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

We had a series of meetings yesterday that took us away from our On Call duties, so in the interest of playing catch-up, here's the latest:

-- Debate 21. Scheduled for Philly, hosted by ABC, to be held at National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Wednesday, April 16. Both candidates have signed on. (May we suggest we skip the actual face-off and go straight to the Amy Poehler/Fred Armisen re-enactment?) Barack Obama also agreed to a debate in NC, hosted by CBS News at a location to be determined, moderated by Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer.

-- FL Revote. Sunshine State released a plan for a revote. It would be a "do-over primary in June that would be conducted largely by mail, although even the idea's sponsors expressed pessimism that the plan will ever be implemented," writes the Washington Post. Estimated cost is between $10 million and $12 million, with wealthy donors likely to foot the bill. Both campaigns offered tepid react.

-- Approved. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is endorsing Hillary Clinton, reports the Boston Globe.

-- Earmark Ache. Obama released his earmarks yesterday with the intention, we posit, of stressing the lack of transparency of Clinton's campaign (see tax returns and White House scheds, too). But what followed, instead of a cry for HRC to pony up, was a review of Obama's earmarks that revealed some, uh, interesting allocations. New York Times: "The list included $1 million for a hospital where Mr. Obama’s wife works, money for several projects linked to campaign donors and support for more than 200 towns, civic institutions and universities in Illinois."

-- Happy Anniversary. Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of John McCain's release as a prisoner of war.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Last night's political talk focused on the controversial sermon given by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's minister at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago:

The Hill's Stoddard: "The Barack Obama campaign rule was, if you offend somebody, you go. He has to live and die by those rules. He cannot have the Reverend Jeremiah Wright in a leadership role in any way in any committee in his campaign. And unfortunately, that rule that he made for himself doesn't allow him much flexibility. Hillary Clinton didn't make that rule for herself. Barack Obama did" ("Live with Dan Abrams," MSNBC, 3/13).

Barack Obama's campaign today released the senator's earmark requests for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and issued a call for Hillary Clinton to do the same. The move is significant for two reasons:

1. The GOP is going to make a fuss about earmarks during the general (John McCain has, as we know, called for an end to the practice); and

2. The implication of this demand, and more so should Clinton not comply, is, of course, that she's hiding something. Sound familiar? Add earmarks to the list of items HRC appears unwilling to promptly disclose, including her tax returns (the campaign has said they'll make them public on or before April 15) and White House scheds.

"She’s been a habitual nondiscloser on this and other issues," David Axelrod said during a March 5 call in which he pushed HRC to release her tax returns.

By raising the earmark issue, the campaign is suggesting that Obama is more straightforward and honest than his Dem rival. He already has a strong advantage on that point, as today's WSJ/NBC survey indicates, so why not push it harder?

Obama's release after the jump.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

The WSJ/NBC survey released today is chock full of interesting tidbits, but perhaps most notably, it indicates that while the public is largely dissatisfied with the president and the Republican Party, John McCain still enjoys solid approval ratings, and his negatives are low.

So as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama duke it out, the Dems are going to have to find a way to effectively link McCain to an unpopular president and a party in tumult. The DNC started that process last week with a snarky but effective Web ad featuring footage of McCain and Bush from their Rose Garden presser. But who sees that ad? They'll have to do more -- especially if the Dems take their nom fight to Denver -- or potentially suffer the consequences in November.

Poll findings:

-- The public is still largely dissatisfied with President Bush's performance, 32% approve of the job he's doing, compared with 63% who disapprove.

-- The survey shows that voters are unhappy with the president and the GOP, 34% give the party a positive rating, 49% offered a negative review. The Dems get more positive reviews on balance, 45% to 35%.

-- Obama's approval rating surpasses both his Dem and GOP rivals: 51% said they a positive impression of him, 28% have a negative impression. Clinton gets positive reviews from 45% of those surveyed, but her negatives, at 43%, are relatively comparable. John McCain's favorables are 47% to 27%, almost parallel with Obama's.

-- In a head-to-head match-up, Obama edges McCain, 47% to 44%. Clinton also has an advantage over the GOPer, 47%-45%.

-- Voters indicate that they prefer Obama when asked which candidate is "easygoing and likable," compassionate enough to understand average people, has high personal standards that set the country's moral tone, is inspirational, honest and straightforward, and able to provide change.

-- Clinton, meanwhile, bests Obama on questions about having the leadership qualities to be president, being a good commander-in-chief and being knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency.

-- Bill Clinton's negatives have ticked steadily up over the last year, with 45% of those polled indicating they feel negatively about him, compared with 44% who feel positively. In March 2007, 35% indicated they felt negatively about the former prez, compared with 48% who felt positively.

The poll surveyed 1,012 registered voters March 7-10. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12 – Hillary Clinton has seen her once-strong support among African-American voters fall precipitously since early this year after a series of comments made by her and her surrogates offended many in the black community. During a meeting last night with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, also known as the Black Press of America, she apologized for some of the inflammatory remarks made by some of her surrogates, including former President Bill Clinton.

The group represents some 200 Black community newspapers from across the United States and while many of their questions were about general topics from health to criminal justice, the first two questions were distinctly political.

Hazel Trice Edney, the editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service, asked how Clinton would respond if she were leading in the delegate count, and Barack Obama suggested she be his vice president.

"I would say we have a ways to go before we have a nominee because that's how I feel about it," she said. "You know, I think that everyday someone says to me I can't make up my mind between the two of you -- I am so torn, and I hear that all the time across the country. It's a very close race, it's close in the popular vote, it's close in the delegates. And now we are going to continue, and we will be going on to Pennsylvania and we'll finish some time in June, and we'll see where we stand. Only then will someone have the nomination, and only then will that nominee have the opportunity to pick a running mate."

Clinton added, as she often does, that she was honored to be in this race with Obama. In a follow up question, Trice Edney said many blacks were offended by the former president's comments comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson after he won the South Carolina primary. She asked the senator how she would regain the confidence and trust of the black community should she become the Democratic nominee.

"Well, I want to put that in context," Clinton said. "I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive. I think that we can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama. People who go into the arena deserve our appreciation because it is not easy being in public life and especially running for president. I think that from the historical context, the fact that we're all out there running is very significant and that doesn't take away from anybody from came before or what we are doing today. On issue after issue, I think the Democratic party will see that whatever differences Sen. Obama and I may (have) had during the primary campaign, they pale in comparison to our differences with Sen. McCain and the Republican Party, and I think that's a very strong case, which we will be making with a very unified voice."

The majority of the political talk last night focused on Geraldine Ferraro and her comments about Barack Obama:

CNN's Malveaux broke the news of Ferraro's resignation: "I just got off the phone with Geraldine Ferraro, who simply said she is stepping down, leaving the Finance Committee. She has sent a letter to Hillary Clinton about 20 minutes ago" ("Situation Room," 3/12).

Ferraro spoke with NBC's Curry last night after her resignation:

Asked why she resigned: "I wanted to get this off the news."

Asked if the Hillary Clinton campaign asked her to resign: "No. No."

On the Obama campaign: "They're the ones who did it. They started --- they went to the national press."

Ferraro: "I personally think that this is the last time that the Obama campaign is going to be able to play this type of a race card because I think that's what it is. I really do."

More: "If anybody is going to apologize, they should apologize to me for calling me a racist" ("Nightly News," 3/12).

After the cut, pundits give their take on Ferraro and discussion of whether or not Eliot Spitzer made a deal with prosecutors before he resigned. [EMILY GOODIN]

CNN is reporting ... "The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you," Geraldine Ferraro writes to Hillary Clinton. "I won't let that happen."

MS Dem exit polls posted by MSNBC show Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton by 84% among blacks, while Clinton won whites by 44%.

Exit polls also show...

-- 43% of Obama voters said they would be satisfied with Clinton as the Dem Nom, while just 15% of Clinton voters said they would be satisfied with Obama as the Dem Nom.

-- White Dems favored Clinton by 47%, while white Inds only favored her by 15%.

-- John McCain has a 38% favorability among all Dem primary voters, a 37% rating among Obama voters and a 57% rating among Clinton voters.

-- Voters favored Obama by 31% when asked which Dem would be more likely to beat McCain in Nov.

-- Seven-in-ten voters thought Obama was honest and trustworthy, while nearly half said the same about Clinton.

-- 31% of voters said race was important to their WH choice, a block which Obama carried by 26%.

-- Obama won Dems by 37% (71% of voters) and Inds by 10% (17% of voters); Clinton meanwhile led the 12% of voters who identified with the GOP by a three-to-one ratio.

-- More than half of voters said change was the most important quality to their WH choice, a group Obama won by 60%; nearly one-in-five voters said experience, a group Clinton won by 70%.

-- 68% of voters are inspired by Obama about the future of the U.S., while only 45% of voters are inspired by Clinton.

-- Obama carried the 57% of voters making less than $50,000/year by 35% and the 65% of voters without a college degree by 20%.

-- Obama won voters aged 17-29 by 48% (14% of voters), those aged 30-44 by 31% (25% of voters) and those aged 45-59 by 25% (32% of voters). Clinton meanwhile won voters 60 and over by 5% (29% of voters).

-- 55% of voters thought the economy was the most important issue facing the U.S.

(Hotline's MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)

"I'm deeply saddened by this turn of events, and my thoughts are with Governor Spitzer's family during this painful time. I would also like to express my support for Lt. Governor David Paterson. I look forward to continuing to work with him on behalf of the people of New York. David has overcome every obstacle and broken every barrier in his path – and I know that he'll continue to display that leadership and determination as governor."

-- Hillary Clinton, in a statement released this afternoon by her Senate office

ERIE, Pa. – Bill Clinton has gotten used to this by now.

Early in an event in Northwest Pennsylvania, Clinton was comparing the state of the nation now to when he was president in the '90s when a young man started shouting at the former president, repeating "1991 Bilderberg." After a moment or two, Clinton stopped trying to speak over him and acknowledged the heckler.

"Look, this is the deal, folks," he said. "All these people that are paranoid about the world come and scream at me everywhere."

The man said that if Clinton heard him out, he'd leave, so Clinton did so. But as he shouted about Bilderberg (an elitist, secretive, pro-globalization group), NAFTA and the Trans-Texas Corridor, the crowd drowned him out with boos.

Eventually, Clinton rather calmly addressed the remarks of the heckler: "You said you would go if I answered the question. Alright, here's the answer."

Clinton said he did attend the 1991 conference of global players at the invitation of Vernon Jordan. "To the best of my knowledge NAFTA was not discussed by anybody in my presence," he said. "I was talking to people who happen to be from Europe who did not give a rip about NAFTA."

Clinton then gave a general defense of his role in NAFTA, saying he tried to get labor and environmental and labor standards into that agreement, "but I couldn't because it was already negotiated when I got there." He also said that as president, he enforced trade laws more than the current Bush administration has.

"I had a very good time talking to those Europeans about European affairs and what was gonna happen to Russia, but I was not somehow polluted by it into sacrificing Americas economic interest," he said. "America did a lot better when I was president than they have in this decade and that is the truth. Now, goodbye."

And with that, he waved him off.

After several changes to what is no longer a secret overseas schedule, John McCain's Senate office has confirmed that the GOP nom will be leading a congressional delegation to the Middle East and Europe beginning this weekend. Joining him on the trip will be frequent trail buddies, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

The four-country tour starts next week and includes journeys to Jordan, Israel, London and Paris. And although nothing has been officially reported yet, McCain has said that he would like to visit Iraq while in the area.

McCain told reporters this morning that he was traveling strictly in a senatorial capacity.

"I am the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services committee, and I'll be taking other members," he said. "... I think that it's very important as the ranking member that I understand and keep up to date, particularly where young Americans may be in harms way, and I'm proud to serve, and I regret that more of my colleagues don't spend more time in foreign travel."

McCain said he intends to meet with America's allies abroad "about better and more ways that we can cooperate in this struggle against radical Islamic extremism," including NATO allies about the war in Afghanistan. McCain also hinted at plans to meet heads of state in both France and England by saying he would "like to affirm many of the relationships that I've built over the years with various European leaders."

In the run up to his departure, McCain is traveling the country holding eight fundraisers in five days. As of yesterday, McCain has held nine fundraisers since March 1, but by the end of the week that number will jump to 14 - a pace of nearly one per day.

The presumptive GOP nominee began the week with a fundraiser in St. Louis before traveling to New York to hold a high-dollar dinner at the Plaza Hotel. Advisers predict that the senator would raise more than seven figures at tonight's event.

McCain holds a fundraiser today in Manchester, NH, and then another in Boston tonight. Tomorrow, McCain has a second Boston event before the money train heads towards PA, for a lunchtime finance event in Harrisburg and yet another fundraiser over dinner in Philadelphia.

The last day of the March-money-tour is relatively light with only one fundraiser in Chicago before the senator returns to Washington DC and prepares to head overseas.

(NBC/NJ's ADAM AIGNER-TREWORGY)

NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer, announcing today his resignation, effective March 17:

"For the past few days, I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife, Silda, my children and my entire family. The remorse I feel will always be with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the love and compassion they have shown me.

"From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much -- the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New Yorker and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize.

"I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been. But I also know that as a public servant I, and the remarkable people with whom I work, have accomplished a great deal. There is much more to be done, and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lt. Gov. Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17, a date that he believes will permit an orderly transition.

"I go forward with the belief, as others have said, that as human beings our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. As I leave public life I will first do what I need to do to help and heal myself and my family. Then I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good and to move toward the ideals and solutions which I believe can build a future of hope and opportunity for us and for our children. I hope all of New York will join my prayers for my friend David Paterson as he embarks on his new mission, and I thank the public once again for the privilege of service. Thank you very much."

Barack Obama outspent Hillary Clinton almost two-to-one on TV spots in Ohio, according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project. Together, the campaigns aired more than 16K spots for a total of $6.8M. Including third-party spending, ads for the Dem primary numbered 19K, costing $8M.

Obama spent $4.4M to air about 10K ads, while Clinton ponied up $2.3M for about 6K spots.

More than one-fifth of Clinton's advertisements were negative compared with 5% of Obama's. And both Dems focused the bulk of their ads on jobs, health care and trade. The Clinton campaign mentioned NAFTA 1,190 times in their ads compared with 1,108 NAFTA shoutouts from Obama.

Obama targeted the Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus markets, while Clinton focused on Youngstown, Columbus and Cleveland.

Interest group spending was also a factor in the OH ad war. The American Leadership Project, a 527 supporting Clinton, spent more than $80K on more than 175 ads. More third-party cash, however, was spent bolstering Obama's effort; the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union together spent more than $1M to air nearly 2,500 spots for Obama. Third party groups accounted for 15% of political ads aired in OH before the primary.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Updates from our Hotline Political Network Affiliates

FNC is reporting that disgraced NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer will resign effective Monday. Additional details to come. CNN notes that he'll speak at 11:30 a.m. to announce his plans ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a brief speech to a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce meeting here Wednesday, Hillary Clinton again called for the results of the uncontested primary elections in Florida and Michigan, which she won, to be honored.

Earlier today, her campaign manager sent a message to Barack Obama's team, making the same point.

Clinton applauded the record participation in the primary elections this year, including high turnout among Latinos.

"If you're a voter from Florida or Michigan, you know that we should count your votes," she said. "The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored. Over the last few weeks, there's been a lot of discussion about what we should do to ensure that the voters in Florida and Michigan are counted. Well, in my view, there are two options, honor the results or hold new primary elections. I don't see any other solutions that are fair and honor the commitment that two and a half million voters made in the Democratic primaries in those two states. You know, whether voters, you know, are clamoring for solutions to the challenges we face or not or whether people are coming out in droves to be heard, we have a basic obligation to make sure that every vote in America counts, and I hope that Sen. Obama's campaign will join me in working to make that happen. I think that that is a non-partisan solution, to make sure that we do count these votes."

Clinton spoke for about 13 minutes, focusing on the importance of small businesses in America, how her plan for universal healthcare plan would help them and about the need to make awarding of government contracts fairer.

(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)

David Plouffe, during today's phoner with reporters, called for a "fair seating of the delegations" from FL and MI but said that the delegates should not be allocated based on the results of prior votes. He also criticized the current movement toward a revote, plans for which, Plouffe said, are being crafted by loyalists to Hillary Clinton. Plouffe noted as well that HRC supporters (Ed Rendell, Jon Corzine) are offering to raise the necessary cash.

He said "benevolence" is not driving the Clinton campaign's push to seat the FL and MI delegations. "It's based on increasingly desperate, self-serving stretching for whatever they think might help them secure the nomination," Plouffe said.

Thus far, he said, the revote effort is shaping up to be a "Clinton production." And Plouffe insisted that any final decision should not "advantage Sen. Clinton unfairly."

Barack Obama won Mississippi last night by a healthy 23-point margin, and as morning dawned, Team Clinton began a more intense push to make FL and MI count. Plouffe said today that he would support caucuses but was markedly less enthusiastic about the prospect of a vote by mail.

He also said that any talk by the Clinton campaign of their ability to overtake Obama in the popular vote should be discounted, noting that the campaign predicts Obama should have a 1M vote edge when all is said and done.

"We think that they are trying to create another diversion out there," he said.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

Sent today by the Clinton camp:

David Plouffe
P.O. Box 8102
Obama for America
Chicago, Illinois 60680

Dear David:

The 2008 primary campaign has been a spirited contest that has resulted in record voter turnout. Both of our candidates can proudly boast of bringing new people into the process and energizing our Democratic Party.

With the campaign now entering the final phase of the nominating contest, it is vital that both of our campaigns come together to ensure that the delegations from Florida and Michigan be seated to reflect the will of the voters.

In Florida and Michigan, nearly 2.5 million Americans made their voices heard and participated in primary elections. We think the results of those primaries were fair and should be honored.

Over the last few weeks, there has been much discussion about how to ensure that the Florida and Michigan delegations are seated. We think there are two options: Either honor the results or hold new primary elections.

To that end, we are in active consultation with all of our supporters in Florida, including Members of Congress. In Michigan, we are in active consultation with the committee appointed by Governor Granholm.

We hope that your campaign will join us in our efforts to ensure that these votes are counted.

Sincerely,

Maggie Williams
Campaign Manager

Dems in Mississippi were voting yesterday but the majority of TV coverage focused on Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) and Geraldine Ferraro's comments on Barack Obama:

Ferraro appeared on "GMA" this a.m. where she said: "Let me say to you how sorry I am that people think this was a racist comment."

But when asked if she's sorry she said this, she responded: "Absolutely not."

She added: "David Axelrod knows me. He should have called me up and asked me what I meant by this. ... I'm hurt, absolutely hurt, by how they have taken this thing and spun it to imply that I am anyway racist" ("GMA," ABC, 3/12).

And ex-Sec/State Madeleine Albright pre-recorded an interview with NPR that will air today. She noted: "I traveled with Geraldine Ferraro when she was the vice presidential candidate. And what I find interesting is, sometimes, the people that are hardest on women are other women. And so at that stage, that campaign was totally covered by women reporters who were trying to prove how tough they were by being tough on her. And I think there's a little bit of that going on now, too" ("Tell Me More," NPR, 3/12).

Under the cut, Obama makes the media rounds and gets asked about Ferraro, Mitt Romney does his first post-campaign interview, and highlights from the Spitzer talk: [EMILY GOODIN]

With 99% of MS precincts reporting, Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton, 60%-37%.

It'll be six weeks until PA voters head to the polls, and, like it or not, this Dem contest will likely keep on keeping on after.

Once again, there will be a Carson representing IN-07. In today’s special election to replace the late-Rep. Julia Carson (D), her grandson/Indy City Councilor Andre Carson (D) defeated state Rep. Jon Elrod (R) 53-44%, with 73% of the precincts reporting.

Elrod faced a big disadvantage from the beginning of the short special election contest. First, the terrain was very unfavorable for a GOPer -- the Indy-based CD, which is 29% African-American, gave Pres. Bush just 42% in ’04. Second, Carson had the advantage of sharing the last name of the late Rep. from the CD.

(TIM SAHD)

Statement from Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager: "We congratulate Senator Obama for his win in Mississippi and thank our supporters and volunteers there for their support, hard work, and long hours. Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country as this campaign continues."

With 16% of the vote reporting in MS, Barack Obama leads 53% to 45% for Hillary Clinton, CNN reports.

Barack Obama snagged a victory in Mississippi tonight, though the results fell largely along racial lines with blacks supporting him and whites voting not quite proportionately for Hillary Clinton, according to the AP.

CNN is reporting that the contest was tight; as of this hour, Obama is up 50% to 48%. There are 33 delegates in play in MS.

The AP noted that only two other primary states were as racially polarized -- Alabama and Arkansas.

CANONSBURG, PA -- After a rare two-day hiatus, Bill Clinton returned to the campaign trail here today, promising that his family expects to cover the state "like a wet blanket between now and April 22." The former president again set the bar for his Hillary Clinton's campaign, saying "she's got to win a big victory" in the Keystone State.

"If she wins a big, big victory in Pennsylvania, I think it'll give her a real big boost going into the next primaries," he said in a crowded senior center in this Western Pennsylvania town. "We're gonna have primaries in Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico. So we're heading around the bend there, and I think I feel good about it. But I think just as I felt she had to win in Texas and Ohio -- and she did, and won handily -- I think she's got to win a big victory in Pennsylvania. I think if she does, she can be nominated, but it's up to you."

Clinton earlier spoke at Washington and Jefferson College, saying as he kicked off a tour of Western Pennsylvania that it "reminded me of home." He said he's going to stick to the rural areas of the state, because, "I want to go out see how America really lives." "I think you represent the tipping point, the balance of America's political influence," he told a crowd of nearly 2,000.

Clinton delivered a somewhat shorter version of his usual stump there, telling the crowd that his wife has been a change agent her whole life and is best-qualified person to be president. And while his wife's campaign has been drawing sharper contrasts with Barack Obama, the former president offered only a few glancing blows. He noted, in particular, that the Illinois senator's health care plan is insufficient.

"I'm telling you, folks, this is the first time in 60 years since we've been debating this -- in 60 years -- where we have the business community joining organized labor for universal coverage," he said. "Don't back off the universal coverage, embrace it. Go with it, vote for Hillary for president -- it's the only way you can get it."

(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)

David Axelrod called on Hillary Clinton's campaign to firmly rebuke Geraldine Ferraro for saying in a recent interview that: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."

"They should be denounced, and she should be censured by the campaign for them," Axelrod said of Ferraro's remarks.

If Clinton's campaign does nothing, Axelrod said during a call with reporters, they are reinforcing a politics-as-usual approach.

"They ought to set a tone and do what we've done when people have said things not in keeping with what is the spirit of our campaign," he said, adding, "the bottom line is this when you wink and nod at offensive statemens you really send a signal to your supporters that anything goes."

Meanwhile, Axelrod suggested that the episode reinforces opinions of Clinton as a "divisive and polarizing force."

"She represents a continuation of a politics that’s become all too familiar in Washington," he said.

The Clinton campaign has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

HARRISBURG, PA – After kicking off her PA campaign with a positive speech to an energetic crowd yesterday, Hillary Clinton brought the fight against Barack Obama to the capital today, hitting her rival on energy policy, NAFTA and Iraq and reprising her campaign's core attack theme that paints him as a man of talk and not action.