Obama's politics: Sort of the usual

"Obama Responds to Misleading Clinton Attack Ad with 'Truth,'" said the headline on the e-mail from Obama's spokesman Wednesday, as the candidate launched a new ad explaining his position on gasoline tax moratoriums. Obama's against it, Clinton's for it.

But wait--a few hours later, Obama told an Indianapolis crowd that he does things differently--he doesn't practice the old, attack style politics.

Except when he has to.

"We try to respond," he explained. "We haven't been perfect. You get hit over the head enough times, you look around and say, 'Who's doing that?'''

N.C. non-profit pledges to stop calling

A Washington-based nonprofit has pledged to stop calling North Carolina voters after state Attorney General Roy Cooper said it broke the law by failing to identify itself.

Women’s Voices Women Vote had made automated calls to North Carolina voters telling them to look for a “voter registration packet” in the mail earlier this week.

But voting rights advocates and the State Board of Elections called the ads inaccurate and misleading, since the state’s mail-in voter registration deadline has passed.

In addition, the voice on the call was only identified as “Lamont Williams,” and the group’s name and its contact information were not included in the recording, as required by state law.

Cooper asked the nonprofit to stop making the calls, but a spokeswoman said no decision had been made about whether to levy any sanctions against the group, which is affiliated with several top national Democrats.

In a statement today, the group said that the calls were “a sincere attempt” to register voters and apologized for any confusion.

Bob Bauer, an attorney for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign, said the calls were “extremely disturbing” and fit “the classic model of voter suppression” by sowing confusion just before the May 6 primary.

But he stopped short of saying the calls were designed to discourage voters.

“They have said it’s inadvertent and I understand it will not happen again,” he said.

--Ryan Teague Beckwith, Raleigh News & Observer

Michelle Obama: I'm the cynic

"I'm the cynic in the family," Michelle Obama tells a small gathering of supporters in Indianapolis. "This is the hope guy," she adds, pointing at her husband, Barack Obama.

The two are holding a small town hall meeting with about 70 invited supporters.

They met in an open air picnic pavilion in an Indianapolis park on a bright spring day.

The park is roped off, and about 50 uninvited supporters watched from a few hundred feet away.

Michelle Obama said she tried to talk her husband out of politics.

"These people are mean," she said to laughs.

MoveOn unloads on McCain in questionable ad

The liberal activist group MoveOn.org announced today a month-long, $1 million TV effort against Republican presidential nominee John McCain. It starts with a $160,000 TV ad buy designed to link McCain to President Bush on MoveOn.org's signature issue: opposition to the war in Iraq.

The ad, to air on broadcast and cable in New Mexico and Iowa, says "We need to know how long we'd be in Iraq if John McCain were president." It then shows McCain saying "I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years." The ad concludes: "100 years in Iraq. And you thought no one could be worse than George Bush."

The ad is breathtakingly intellectually dishonest in making its point. Here's the full quote from McCain's Jan. 6 appearance on "Face the Nation," in which he makes clear he's describing a peaceful presence:

“My point was and continues to be, how long do we have to stay in Bosnia? How long do we have to stay in South Korea?  How long are we going to stay in Japan?  How long are we going to stay in Germany?  All of those, 50, 60-year period.  No one complains.  In fact, they contribute enormously their presence to stability in the world.  The point is it's American casualties.  We've got to get Americans off the front line, have the Iraqis as part of the strategy, take over more and more of the responsibilities.  And then I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years. What they care about is a sacrifice of our most precious treasure, and that's American blood.  So what I'm saying is look, if Americans are there in a support role, but they're not taking casualties, that's fine.  We're in Kuwait now.  As you well recall, we had a war, we stayed in Kuwait. We didn't stay in Saudi Arabia. So it's going to be up to the relationship between the Iraqi government and the United States of America.”

The Democratic National Committee aired a similar ad, using a similar out-of-context quote from a twon-hall meeting a few days earlier. See the analysis by the nonpartisan factcheck.org here.

"Hoosiers don't feel that way" and Obama "doesn't feel that way either"

Just how much is Barack Obama worrying about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's effect on depressing his support from white voters in May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana? How much is he worried that his forceful comments Tuesday in which he finally, really, strongly denounced his ex-pastor came too late?

Here's one indicator: Obama's latest superdelegate endorsement today, from Indiana Rep. Baron Hill. Hill, whose district includes the liberal university town of Bloomington but also the conservative southeast of the state, addresses the Wright controversy directly. He worries about "some never-ending 'groundhog day' endlessly playing out the cultural wars of forty years ago" and says, "I am pleased that Senator Obama clearly and unequivocally denounced Reverend Wright’s remarks. Hoosiers don’t feel that way about our country, I don’t feel that way about our country and Senator Obama made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t feel that way either."

Hill also says of Obama's finally cutting loose Wright that "one of the tests of a true leader is his ability and willingness to come to a new conclusion based on new events. Senator Obama did just that yesterday."

Press Club says no politics in Wright appearance

Politics played no role in the decision to invite Rev. Jeremiah Wright to appear Monday at the National Press Club, the club said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Club president Sylvia Smith said Wright was invited because he's in the news, not because his remarks might hurt the campaign of Barack Obama.

“Let me re-emphasize that the people who are invited to address a Press Club luncheon receive their invitations because of their news value," Smith said. "We do not in any way try to advance or impair a candidate’s campaign. The Rev. Wright became newsworthy in the context of the Clinton-Obama campaign. The National Press Club wishes to hear from and question newsworthy people. Therefore, Wright was invited to be a speaker.”

Smith was responding to a report that Wright's appearance was organized by a club member who supports Hillary Clinton.

She said Wright was actually first proposed as a speaker two years ago - long before his inflammatory sermons became an embarassment to Obama. She also said that the Clinton supporter who organized the luncheon was playing a routine role, acting as the club's contact person with the guest, rather than the mastermind of the appearance.

Hillary hits on gas prices in new ad

Hillary Clnton has a new ad going up in Indiana and North Carolina pitching her proposal to ease gas prices and slamming rival Barack Obama for opposing it.

"Hillary's plan: use the windfall profits of the oil companies to pay to suspend the gas tax this summer," the ad says.

"Barack Obama says no, again."

The ad backs up Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax during the peak summer driving season. Obama calls it a political gimmick.

Maybe race does matter in N.C.

Here's a different way to assess the impact of race in the North Carolina presidential primary race.

The Elon University poll taken earlier this month asked people if they would rather vote for a black or white candidate. The overwhelming number--90.8 percent -said race made no difference. Just 1.8 percent said they'd rather vote for a black while 6.9 percent said they'd rather vote for a white.

Elon also asked the question a different way. Do you know people that will not vote for a presidential candidate who is black? Some 53.8 percent said yes.

The survey also asked the same question about women and young candidates. The results:

http://www.elon.edu/level2/images/e-web/elonpoll/041808.pdf

NC Governor endorses Hillary Clinton

While rival Barack Obama still has more announced support from North Carolina politicians heading into the state's May 6 Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Clinton gets the endorsement of Gov. Mike Easley.    

Paper: Clinton supporter set up Wright speech

The National Press Club speech by Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Monday was arranged by a supporter of Hillary Clinton, the New York Daily News reports today.

The paper notes that Wright's appearance was organized by Barbara Reynolds, a former editorial board member at USA Today and now operator of her own Reynolds News Service. A member of the club always takes charge of organizing luncheons featuring guest speakers.

Reynolds also is a supporter of Clinton, who is benefitting as a new round of attention to Wright forces Barack Obama onto the defensive again.

On the court, slightly short of breath

Barack Obama joined the University of North Carolina Tar Heels today for some early-morning pickup. Here are some highlights, based on a pool report from Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times.

Coach Roy Williams and his wife Wanda gave Obama a tour of the locker room and facilities, including instructions not to step on an area of blue carpet with the school logo on it. They also looked at old photos and Obama remarked, "What a tradition." On the court, Obama commented of the NCAA Final Four team, "These guys are a lot better than me." As they split into teams, Obama's included Tyler Hansbrough, the national player of the year for 2007-2008.

Zeleny wrote: "The senator played for several minutes, occasionally lagging behind the bunch. His best chance for a basket came shortly after he made a behind-the-back pass. As the ball was passed back to him, he fired up a jump shot, but it bounced from the backboard and around the rim. 'Thought I had that one,' he said." The coach subbed Obama out for a bit, then put him back in.

Obama took another shot, which fell short, and the coach ribbed his players, "You guys are leaving the next president of the United States wide open." Obama, still one of two Democrats trying to get the nomination, made no baskets that Zeleny witnessed but after the pool was escorted out Obama campaign aides said the senator sank a 3-point shot.

Also practicing: Danny Green, Deon Thompson, Marc Campbell, Marcus Ginyard, Mike Copeland, Wes Miller, Ty Lawson, Will Graves, Alex Stepheson, Surry Wood, Patrick Moody, J.B. Tanner, Jack Wooten.

McCain airs ad on health care costs

While Democrats compete over who has the better plan to expand health care insurance to the uninsured, Republican John McCain is launching a new TV ad aimed at the rest of the country - those with insurance and paying ever higher health care costs.

McCain's new ad, being aired in Iowa, backs up his campaign tour this week pitching his proposal to control health care costs.

"The problem with health care in America is not the quality of health care, it's the availability and the affordibility," McCain says in the ad. "And that has to do with the dramatic increase in the cost of health care.

"Let's give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit so that they can go out across state lines and get the insurance policy that suits them best."

Hillary gains on Obama in North Carolina

Hillary Clinton has cut Barack Obama's North Carolina lead in half, thanks to gains among white voters, according to a new poll out Monday.

Barack Obama is certainly still the runaway favorite in North Carolina," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, which conducted the poll.

"But she's made some inroads since Pennsylvania and the race could end up closer than might have been expected."

Obama led in the weekend poll by 51-39, a 12 point margin. That's a solid lead, but Obama had led by as much as 25 points in earlier polls by the Raleigh-based firm.

A big reason Obama lost ground is that he lost support from white voters in recent days, Debnam said.

Obama had pulled to within 5 points among North Carolina whites, but dropped back to a 21-point deficit, trailing Clinton by 56-35. Whites made up 63 percent of the sample.

Obama led among blacks by a margin of 83-9. Blacks made up 33 percent of the poll sample.

The poll of 1,121 likely voters in the May 6 North Carolina Democratic primary was conducted Saturday and Sunday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Black women at the White House

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is proving every day that he doesn't need to be Barack Obama's pastor to be controversial.

For example, during one of two sermons he delivered Sunday morning at Dallas' Friendship-West Baptist Church, Wright used decidedly un-presidential imagery to describe what Obama would have accomplished were he to win the presidency.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Wright was listing the accomplishments that a black man can achieve if he stands up for himself, such as being the first African-American to edit the Harvard Law Review and the first to win the Iowa Democratic caucus. Then came the presidency.

"You can be ... the first black man to have a black woman sleeping at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue legally," Wright said.

No reaction from Obama.

Obama, however, did discount race as a factor in his recent Pennsylvania defeat. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Obama said he believes he'll be able to win over white working-class voters in the general election campaign.

"Is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that," Obama said. "Is that going to be the determining factor in a general election? No, because I'm absolutely confident that the American people -- what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems."

Obama leads in Indiana, but not by much

New polls taken in Indiana show Illinois Sen. Barack Obama slightly ahead.

But two new surveys, taken before and after New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's 9.2 percentage point win in Pennsylvania Tuesday show Indiana--considered a big battleground in the next round of primaries May 6--is very much up for grabs.

A poll taken Sunday through Wednesday by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines found Obama up by 3 percentage points. The poll showed familiar patterns: Obama ran well among blacks and younger voters, while Clinton did well among people 55 and older.

A Research 2000 survey, taken Wednesday and Thursday, found Obama up by 1.

The biggest message from the surveys: Indiana has a huge number of undecided voters, and at the moment, the race is too close to call.

To read the polls: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS0502/804250437

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS07/284272668/1129/News

McCain denounces Hagee remarks, NC Republican ad

Sen. John McCain denounced Thursday controversial remarks made by Christian conservative leader the Rev. John Hagee, whose endorsement of McCain has been attacked by Democrats

Hagee, whose earlier anti-Catholic remarks had caused McCain headaches, said this week that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment of sinners in New Orleans.

McCain, asked by reporters about Hagee's remarks on his campaign bus Thursday, called them "Nonsense," repeating the word eight times.

"I reject that categorically," McCain said. "And I would point out there's a lot of people who have endorsed me. They support my views. It does not mean that I support theirs...I repudiate as strongly as possible those remarks and those on the Catholic church as well."

McCain added that "I didn't attend Pastor Hagee's church for 20 years. There's a great deal of difference in my view between someone who endorses you and other circumstances."

by Matt Stearns

Democrats raffling tickets to convention

Not a candidate for president? Didn't get elected as a delegate from your state? Not to worry. You still may get a seat at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

For $35, you can buy a chance to win tickets to the convention, airfare to and from Denver, and hotel accommodations from Sunday Aug. 24 through Thursday, Aug. 28.

The raffle is being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises money for Democratic members of the House and Democratic candidates for the House.

"Can you picture it," the committee asks in an email to supporters. "The Democratic energy...and the promise of a historic nominee who will at long last restore the promise of America's future...and you can be right there when it happens."

Of course, the fund raising pitch from Brian Wolff, the committee's executive director, doesn't mention the possibility of a political blood bath at the convention. Then again, that might raise even more interest - and money.

Andy Griffith declares his choice for NC governor

In the race for governor, a fictional sheriff could be a political heavyweight.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Wednesday introduced a television ad featuring Andy Griffith endorsing Perdue's bid for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Griffith, who played the sheriff of the fictional North Carolina town of Mayberry in "The Andy Griffith Show," touts Perdue's vision, strength and honesty. He mentions her endorsements from various groups, including, "of course, sheriffs."

By Benjamin Niolet, Raleigh News & Observer

Obama supporter: Clinton should quit now.

Hillary Clinton's solid win in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary didn't stop the calls on her to quit. A prominent supporter of Barack Obama said Tuesday that Clinton should drop out of the presidential campaign for the good of the party.

"My advice to her is to go back to the Senate and let this party spend its money and ambition on beating John McCain," said Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

"This is somebody in the 4th quarter, down by 20 points, kicking a field goal and saying we can win. She's not going to win," Harpootlian said in an interview. "All she's going to do is destroy or help destroy our party."

   

Obama searches for momentum in North Carolina

More effort from the Barack Obama campaign to cushion the impact of Tuesday's Pennsylvania loss:

A few minutes after making new endorser Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry available to the media, the campaign announced "the endorsement of 49 prominent supporters of John Edwards."

Edwards, the former North Carolina senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has not endorsed anyone. But one of the next two big primaries is in North Carolina May 6, so Obama trotted out a roster of backers that included Ed Turlington, Edwards’ former National General Chairman, as well as members of Congress and the former state Supreme Court chief justice.

.“John Edwards has dedicated his life and career to fighting poverty in America. Barack Obama demonstrated that same commitment when he turned down a high-paying job on Wall Street to work in Chicago communities decimated by steel mill closings,” said Louise Coggins, a social worker from Wilmington who has known John and Elizabeth Edwards for 30 years.

Obama loses Oklahoma but gains the governor

Barack Obama's campaign tried hard to claim some momentum--despite his decisive loss Tuesday--as Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry endorsed the Illinois senator's presidential bid.

Hillary Clinton had easily won Oklahoma's Feb. 5 presidential primary, defeating Obama by 55 to 31 percent. so Henry was asked Wednesday why he suddently was getting behind Obama.

One, he likes how he brings people together. And two, Henry did not think Pennsylvania was a big Obama setback--even though it was another loss for him in a big, diverse state.

"I thought it was also very encouraging for Senator Obama and really underscores the momentum he has," Henry said. "If you just look weeks ago, Sen. Clinton had a 20 plus point lead in Pennsylvania...."

In fact, Henry said, even after his big loss, Obama "still has momentum, nothing has changed. It’s a foregone conclusion that Barack Obama is going to secure the Democratic nomination for President of the United States."

The Clinton folks obviously think otherwise; they'll be talking to the press about recent developments later today.

Money pours into Clinton camp

Just when they needed it, cash is pouring into the Hillary Clinton campaign. They raised $2.5 million in the first few hours after she was declared the winner of the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday evening.

Aides noted that 80 percent of that came from first time donors.

"It's our best night ever," said spokesman Phil Singer.

And none too soon.

New reports show Clinton entered April in debt.

The shirt? $10. The message? Priceless

As Barack Obama and his staff boarded the plane just now leaving Pennsylvania for Indiana, his strategist, David Axelrod, and communications director, Robert Gibbs, were wearing "Stop the drama, vote Obama" T-shirts.

Gibbs said he bought them from a street vendor in Philadelphia. They were $10 apiece, and he only had $20, so he just got two.

He showed it to Obama, who laughed.

By Margaret Talev

Clinton: They played the 'race card' on me

Bill Clinton's stirring up the presidential race again, this time accusing Barack Obama's campaign of using "the race card" against him.

"I think that they played the race card on me. And we now know, from memos from the campaign and everything that they planned to do it all along," the former president said in an interview with Phildadelphia's WHYY Rado. " *(YouTube) I was stating a fact, and it's still a fact."

Clinton bristled at such a strategy, saying, "you have to really go some place to play the race card on me." He offered a list of things he's done to help blacks, including having an office in New York City's Harlem.

Clinton came under fire in January when he made comments that were seen as suggesting Obama had won South Carolina's presidential primary because of race.

Clinton Tuesday insisted his remarks were reported unfairly. "No, no, no, that's not what I said," he told a reporter. "You always follow me around and play these little games. And I am not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day, go back and see what the question was and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it just to get a another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us."

Obama's response: “So, former President Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similiar to (1984 and 1988 Democratic candidate) Jesse Jackson, and he’s suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it? Ok, well, you’d better ask him what he meant by that. I have no idea what he meant. These were words that came out of his mouth, not words that came out of mine.”

Obama leaves more than a tip

Someone's carrying the old phrase you are what you eat to a new level.

Barack Obama ate waffles at the Glider Diner in Scranton Monday, and someone took his plate and is now peddling it on e-Bay. It also comes with the uneaten part of the waffle and sausage he didn't eat, or so the seller says (It was wrapped with plastic wrap immediately after he left and is now in a freezer.)

The proceeds, says the seller, would go to rival Hillary Clinton.

Listen to what he said at the diner.

Obama sees a long fight

From Margaret Talev, on the trail with Barack Obama in Pennsylvania:

Barack Obama had a rare Q and A with reporters today, and noted that the Democratic nomination race is unlikely to end tonight.

"I have come to the conclusion that this race will continue until the last primary or caucus vote is cast. And that's not that far away," the Illinois senator said. Obama trails New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in most Pennsylvania polls, but analysts believe that an Obama upset would effectively end the race.

Obama, though, was more circumspect. A transcript of the press conference, held at Pamela's P & G Diner in Pittsburgh:

Q: Are you going to win today?

BO: We feel good about the organization that we put together, we think we made enormous progress. As I said before it is an uphill battle. Senator Clinton had a twenty point lead to start with and we think we have closed it but we still I think have to consider ourselves the underdog. A lot of it I think will depend on turnout, it is a beautiful day. We think we have the best organization on the ground, so who knows.

Q: If it is close can you make a case to super delegates that you can win in these kinds of states and that you can get white working class votes.

BO: Well look I think we can win no matter what the results. The polling shows that we can win no matter what the results. When I am the nominee, Ed Rendell is going to be working for me just as hard as he has been working for Senator Clinton. There is going to be a clear contrast between the economic message between the democrats and the republicans. This whole notion that somehow because there are some voters, whether it is older voters or blue collar voters who prefer Senator Clinton over me that that means I cant get their vote, that just isn't born out by the polling and it is not born out by the history of the peoples voting patterns. The party is going to come together after the nomination is settled.

Q: Bill Clinton said today I think they played the race card on me, we now know from memos from the campaign that they planned to do it all along. He is talking about the Jesse Jackson comment that he made it was in a radio interview

BO: I have no idea what you are talking about. What was he talking about.

Q: Inaudible

BO: so hold on a second. So former president Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similar to Jesse Jackson and he is suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it. Ok well you better ask him what he meant by that. I have no idea what he meant. These are words that came out of his mouth, not out of mine.

Q: Were there campaign memos or plan that suggested playing the race card on him?

BO: Was there a plan to get him to say that my campaign was like Jesse Jacksons. I don't know what he was referring to unfortunately.

Q: the money disparity between your situation and the Clinton campaigns. What do you think it says about the different style of operations?

BO: We are very proud to the non traditional approach we have taken to fundraising. When you have a million and 300,000 donors or a million and a half donors who have been giving 25 dollars a month or fifty dollars a month, they are in the position to sustain a campaign a lot longer than somebody that a smaller group of donors who are given 2,300. And I think that bodes well for our ability to compete in November.

Q: Senator can I get your reaction to Jimmy Carter's report yesterday of the breakthrough in his meetings with Hamas?

BO: As I said before I think it was a bad idea for President Carter to meet with Hamas without having recognized Israel or denounced terrorism or acknowledged previous agreements given that they are not heads of state. To sit down with them, I think it gave them a legitimacy that was unnecessary. And in fact what we are seeing now that even as president carter suggests that there was a breakthrough you had some of the same old rhetoric come out of Hamas representatives with regard to Israel. I think it is very important for the United States to actively engage in helping bringing about negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis and I think that President Abbas has indicated his willingness to make every effort to sit down with Prime Minister Olmert. I think that's where our energy should go. If we strengthen Hamas, if we are clear in improving the day to day lives of Palestinians then I think that wil do more than anything to encourage Hamas to renounce violence rather than simply sitting down with them.

Q: Whats your final feeling on Pennsylvania? You think you have a chance of taking it?

BO: You know I always think we have a chance and as I said, we've closed a big gap. We were down 20. SO this was always an uphill climb. But you know what we feel is that we've made significant progress. We've got a great organization. A lot of its gonna depend on turnout today and its really hard to gauge. You've got over 200,000 new registrants. DO they all come out to vote? If they all come out to vote, they are not being polled and we don't know which way they are going to break so we've got a chance.

Q: Inaudible

BO: Absolutely. We were glad to find some undecided voters here. I think we've gotten some. Before I answer this question, these really were maybe the best pancakes that I've tasted in a very long time. If you guys have time, get some take out. You don't even need syrup on them. They've got this crispy edges. They are just outstanding. Ya they are really good.

Q: Senator the other day you said that even john McCain would be better than George W. Bush. Did you in effect undercut or weaken the Democrats argument that John MCCain is the same as George Bush by suggesting that all three of you would be better?

BO: Oh no. you know, I know that conventional, text book politics means that unless you completely demonize the other side then you are showing weakness. I don't believe that. I think Senator Clinton's suggesting that she and John McCain are the two people who are qualified to be commadner-in-chief is probably something that could end up coming back to haunt us in November. I think to say that John McCain and some of his instincts may be better than George Bush's, that's a low bar. And what I also said in the same breath was that his ideas, what he's offering are warmed over versions of Bush foreign policy and economic policy. So there's no contradiction there. You know, but I've said repeatedly that I think john McCain is a genuine hero and a decent person. I just think he's got it wrong in terms of where we need to take the country.

Q: If you win today, is the race over?

BO: You know, I have come to the conclusion that this race will continue until the last primary or caucus vote is cast. And that's not that far away. And in the mean time, what we're doing is making sure that every single voter in America has a chance to participate in the primaries and the bright side of that is we're seeing record turnouts, record involvement. We're building organizations that are getting tested. Should I end up being the nominee the work that we've done here in Pennsylvania I think will be extraordinarily helpful in the general election.

Q: Will success tonight be defined by the spread?

BO: You know, I'm gonna let you guys sort out all that stuff. I mean, what I know is that going into this, six weeks ago, you know the Clinton campaign suggested that they were unbeatable and I think the strategy they were talking about was that they could overcome out delegate lead and our popular vote lead and the number of states that we have won by winning big in Pennsylvania and future contests and if you take a look at how the delegates play themselves out. At the end of the night, you should be able to measure, given how many contests are left, whether they can make up that ground.

##

Obama's closing argument last night in Pittsburgh

Barack Obama’s final day of campaigning in Pennsylvania before Democratic primary voters go to the polls started off low key, but he finished with a bang.

Just now, he packed the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center with a crowd of about 10,000. Speaking around 10:30 p.m., he called rival Hillary Clinton “a formidable adversary” and said he agreed with her on many policy areas.

However, he said, “I believe that I am more committed to bringing about the changes that are necessary than Sen. Clinton is. I think she is more committed to the status quo.”

He also acknowledged that the image of Osama bin Laden had appeared in a last minute campaign ad by Clinton, which his aides said was meant to scare voters. Obama said reminding voters of the threat bin Laden poses is “a legitimate issue” but assured, “My job as Commander in Chief will be to keep you safe.”

He then argued he was better prepared to lead because he had opposed the war from the start.

Teresa Heinz Kerry, a big Pittsburgh philanthropist and wife of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, introduced him. When she said, “We have the opportunity to elect the first African-American president,” the audience began chanting, “Yes we can!”

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Obama’s wife Michelle also warmed up the crowd.

Obama mixed lofty words about change and rhetoric critical of President Bush and Republican John McCain with small talk.

He recalled how the six-week campaign in this important primary state had challenged him to go bowling (“That didn’t go so well”). He also shared: “I fed a calf some milk. We were on a train.”

He said Steelers NFL Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris was in the audience and that as a boy growing up in Hawaii without a pro football team, “I adopted the Steelers.” Now, Obama said, he roots for his hometown Chicago Bears.

Obama said it has gotten to the point he’s now seeing his two young daughters just once a week. “It’s not acceptable,” he said, but added of the race: “There’s so much at stake.”

Obama tapes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

I was invited to be today's pool reporter inside the Obama traveling press group. So I got an insider's look as he sat in a Pittsburgh studio earlier this evening for a remote video appearance on the Comedy Central show that will air late tonight - and that he hopes lots of young voters in Pennsylvania (and Indiana and North Carolina) will watch. Here are some highlights, based on the pool report I filed:

Obama told Stewart during their interview that after starting out 20 points behind Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, “The polls are now showing us 6 to 8” points behind. Stewart told Obama what the "real" concern voters have is: “The Rev. Wright controversy, the flag pin controversy. . . Will you pull a bait-and-switch, sir, and enslave the white race. Is that your plan? And if it is your plan, be honest, tell us now!” Obama’s response (laughing, not mad): “That is not our plan, Jon, but I think your paranoia might make you suitable as a debate moderator.”

On the way into the studio, I asked Obama why he felt it important to respond to Hillary Clinton's late-breaking ad that invokes Osama bin Laden with an ad of his own and what he thought of her ad. “Are you supposed to be doing this with the pool?” he asked, and laughed. Then he sat down and had his earpiece put in. I asked him if he’d give us a comment after the taping and he said, “Maybe, it depends on how well behaved you are.” But then after the taping, I was whisked off ahead of him and didn’t get to bug him again.

In between, I asked his strategist David Axelrod about the Clinton ad. His response: “The irony of it is, she supported the president on the war and that’s one of the main reasons why Osama bin Laden is still free. And then you know to include him in this ad and emulate the sort of fear-mongering that we’ve seen over the last eight years is really ironic. She didn’t have the judgment to see that we were diverting our attention from bin Laden and now she’s using Bin Laden in an ad to say that she is the one who is ready to be president?"

Prior to the interview with Stewart, Obama sat in front of the camera (which was not rolling at the time) with an earpiece in listening to the show being taped. He swung his right leg back and forth and at times chuckled, grinned and laughed.

Stewart and the show’s senior black correspondent and comedian Larry Wilmore talked about the speculation about whether Obama had been giving Clinton “the finger” after the debate last week. “What if he was just scratching his face?” Stewart asked. Wilmore joked, “Black people’s face don’t itch.. . black people have a whole set of physical gestures only we can understand.” Wilmore called it “blanguage” which he defined as a “secret black language.”

Obama was laughing uncontrollably (still off camera).and briefly did his own subtle finger face itch. Obama’s smiled waned a bit when Wilmore went on to this joke: “Look at Rev. Wright. All he said was G-D America and everybody went crazy. He could have said the same thing in blanguage and nobody would have been the wiser.”

Here’s what Obama told Stewart about the Pennsylvania primary once their interview started:

“It is a mad dash but the people of Pennsylvania have been terrific.”

Obama said Clinton’s tough campaigning did him “a favor” . . . . “She has put me through the paces,” he said. If he wins the nomination, he said, everything’s “going to be old news” by the general election.

At one point, Stewart asked Obama whether he worried "that you could win the nomination at the Convention and defeat John McCain in the general and, you know, go to the inauguration and Hillary would still be running?"

So maybe McCain likes some earmarks

John McCain's "It's Time for Action" tour took him to remote Gee's Bend, Alabama, Monday, a town isolated for more than 40 years when county officials cut off the ferry connecting the mostly black hamlet to the larger town across the Alabama River.

The ferry was reinstated in 2006.

McCain rode the ferry today with a dozen Gee's Bend residents; a perfect photo op: A sunny day, a slight breeze, a pretty landscape and a white politician surrounded by African-Americans.

Except for one thing: McCain has long crusaded against earmarks. He's even promised to do away with them if he's elected.

And the Gee's Bend ferry was reinstated with the help of a $2 million earmark in a 2005 congressional spending bill.

N.C. debate canceled

Plans for a debate in North Carolina between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were canceled today by the state Democratic Party.

The party cited "time constraints and logistical issues associated with such a large, national event." In a news release, party officials also cited growing concerns about how a debate would affect party unity.

From the News & Observer

McCain lauds civil rights heroes

John McCain campaigned in Selma, Alabama Monday and lauded the civil rights heroes who made the southwestern Alabama town famous in 1965.

In a speech by the banks of the Alabama River, the Edmund Pettus bridge looming behind him, McCain recalled in vivid detail the brutal Bloody Sunday, when Alabama state troopers beat back civil rights activists who wanted to march to Montgomery to highlight their lack of voting rights.

It's the second time Campaign 2008 descended on Selma; a year ago, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama came to the anniversary of the march; all three joined the re-enactment of the march across the bridge in a day of barely organized chaos.

From McCain's speech:

Forty-three years ago, an army of more than five hundred marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; an army that brought with them no weapons, which intended no destruction; that sought to conquer no people or land. At the head of the column, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, tie and tan raincoat, marched a twenty-five year old son of Alabama sharecroppers, John Lewis. They had planned to march from Selma to Montgomery, but they knew they would never reach there. They had been warned they would be met with force, and at the crest of the bridge, they were. Until then, they had marched in silence, with dignity and resolve, men, women, children and old people. All was quiet, even the angry crowd that watched the marchers. But everything was alive with apprehension, with the expectation that something momentous and terrible was imminent.

On the other side of the bridge, row upon row of state troopers in blue uniforms and white helmets, many on horseback, prepared to charge and stop with violence the peaceful army, intent only on conquering injustice. John Lewis took the first blow, a baton thrust to the stomach that shoved him back on the marchers behind him. He took the second blow, too, a hard swung club to his head, leaving a permanent scar where it struck. Blood poured from the wound, darkening his raincoat. He tried to struggle to his feet, and then collapsed unconscious, his skull fractured.

That evening, millions of Americans watched in stunned silence as ABC News broadcast the clash of might against right. They watched brave John Lewis fall. They watched the marchers -- peaceful, purposeful, loving, kneeling in humble resistance -- scattered and overrun by the troopers, who struck them with clubs and whips, chased them as they fled, trampled them beneath their horses' hooves. They watched old men and women fall. They saw dignified people claiming only their constitutional rights; affirming the promise of the Declaration of Independence without anger, malice or the least threat of violence, whipped and clubbed for their patriotism. They watched, and were ashamed of their country. And they knew that the people who had tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge weren't a mob; they weren't a threat; they weren't revolutionaries. They were people who believed in America; in the promise of America. And they believed in a better America. They were patriots; the best kind of patriots.

The beaten and dispersed army on Edmund Pettus Bridge had conquered something after all -- the indifference of too many Americans to their courageous struggle for the basic rights of American citizenship.

"When I care about something," John Lewis wrote, "I'm prepared to take the long, hard road." I've seen courage in action on many occasions in my life, but none any greater or used for any better purpose than the courage shown by John Lewis and the good people who marched for justice with him. All his life, John Lewis has believed in Dr. King's concept of the "beloved community;" a country "not hateful, not violent, not uncaring . . . not separated, not polarized, not adversarial."

Waffles? Obama eats 'em

From Margaret Talev, on the road with Barack Obama:

Obama got a healthy diet of symbolism Monday, one day before Pennsylvania voters go to the polls.

At the Glider Diner in Scranton, he ordered waffles, as well as sausage and orange juice, while supporter Sen. Bob Casey got pancakes.

Obama has often said rival Hillary Clinton has changed her position on key issues--notably Iraq. Clinton voted in 2002 to give PResident Bush broad authority to wage war, but has since been sharply critical of American involvement in the conflict.

At his diner stop, Obama did bat away a question about Hamas from a reporter, saying, "Why can't I just eat my waffle?"

At the old-style diner, founded in 1945 by two World War Ii veterans, Obama met a local radio host who got him to agree to record a promo for the show via cell phone. "This is Barack Obama and I endorse Daniels and Webster," he said, after mangling it a few times.

Obama said veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan must get screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and get better access to mental and physical services. "We've got to open up more VA clinics," he said. "We've got to make sure we've got more people processing disability claims quicker."

Lance Perry, 57, a Vietnam veteran who owns a roofing copany, said Obama had his vote

Also in the crowd: Joseph Boga, 17, an Abington Heights High School student, sitting in a booth with friends, who stood up and played a trumpet solo. "Ho!" Obama said, as he embraced the teenager.

A waitress said the boys had been waiting outside the diner at 6 a.m., when it opened. On the other side of the diner, two Scranton High seniors had skipped school to meet the candidate, and they got him to sign passes excusing them from class. "I hate to be cliched, but he's really the Kennedy of our generation," said Colin Saltry, 18, class president.

Clinton has no opinion of husband's pardons

Hillary Clinton had plenty to say last week about Barack Obama's relationship with a former member of the radical 1960s group, the Weather Underground.

But she has nothing to say about her husband's relationship with two other members of the group who actually were convicted of crimes. In fact. she doesn't even have an opinion of her husband's presidential pardon of one of the former radicals and his commutation of the sentence of another.

Bill Clinton's decision to pardon one former Weather Underground member and commute the sentence of another, clearing two women who — unlike Ayers — had been convicted of crimes from that era. The two women were serving sentences of 40 years and 58 years on explosives and weapons charges before Bill Clinton freed them.

"I'm not aware that she had an opinion," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Monday when reminded by a reporter on a conference call that he had promised to get Clinton's comments last week.

Pressed to find out if she has an opionion now - especially given that it's come up in a debate and the campaign - Wolfson refused.

"I don't have anything more for you than what I've given you," he said. Which was nothing.

It was a big deal last week, when Clinton jumped on Obama for having a relationship with a former member of the radical 1960s group. That one refused to apologize for his role in planting bombs at government buildings to protest the Vietnam War. He was never convicted of a crime.

Obama called the bombings detestable, and in turn challenged Bill Clinton's pardon of the other members of the group.

Obama fans in Clinton country

Margaret Talev writes from Scranton, Pa.:

At the Riverfront Sports Complex in Scranton, Pa., there was Astroturf on the ground and turf war in the air.

As Barack Obama fans gathered for an evening rally, clusters of Hillary Clinton fans gathered on a road leading there to wave signs with her name and heckle Obama supporters – just to make sure everybody knew this was Clinton country.

Scranton was the hometown of Clinton’s father and grandparents, and she spent summer vacations here.

Still, Obama drew a hearty crowd, accompanied by President Kennedy’s daughter Caroline Kennedy, and by Sen. Bob Casey, whose political family hails from Scranton.

Some fans were defiant in their support for Obama. “We need you!” one man shouted. “I know! I’m coming!” Obama said back.

When Obama said Clinton’s name, the crowd booed loudly and yelled out insults, to the point where Obama said “No, no,” and “This is a feisty crowd!” Obama called Clinton a “hard worker, tenacious and capable. She’s run a tough race and I admire her.”

Then he slammed her as too close to lobbyists and said her criticisms of him were disingenuous. “We send back money from (federal) lobbyists and send back money from PACs (political action committees). But she just ignores the facts. She’s essentially saying ‘Yeah I’m bad but he’s just as bad.’ What kind of argument is that? What kind of inspirational message is that?”

Caroline Kennedy told the audience that Obama could inspire voters the way her father once had, that he could relate to single mothers and to adults whose parents face illness because of his own experiences, and that he “had the courage and judgment to oppose the war from Day One.”

“He has the best opportunity to unite people,” said Richard Wolfgang, a retired teacher. “He doesn’t come with a lot of extra baggage and he seems to have a good heart. It’s probably more Clinton country, but it’s hard to stereotype people from this area.”

A Pennsylvania tale

Tim Neuenhaus is the sort of struggling, white Democratic voter who’s supposed to be Hillary Clinton’s firewall in Pennsylvania. He says bitter is an understatement about he and plenty of others feel. But he’s decided to support Barack Obama. As he waited for Obama to arrive at a town hall meeting on Sunday at Reading High School in Reading, Pa., he predicted there will be enough late converts to put Obama over the top in the state’s primary on Tuesday.

Neuenhaus described himself as 46, a gun enthusiast, Marine veteran and a single father of four children, whose wife had depression and committed suicide a decade back. He runs his own Internet business, which was successful until last summer, when he was hospitalized for congestive heart failure, which triggered organ failures and forced him to stop working for six months. He was uninsured because of an earlier preexisting condition.

His mortgage rates surged meanswhile and he's facing foreclosure and trying to avoid bankruptcy. Asked what he plans to do now, he says, “I haven’t a clue.” He says he desperately needs universal health care coverage.

Neuenhaus started out a Clinton fan. But the more he watched the two Democrats, the more he gravitated to Barack Obama. And the more Clinton or her supporters or television debate moderators suggest Obama is elitist or unpatriotic or out of touch, the more it solidifies his support for Obama. “I think the conventional wisdom in the media is that Americans are stupid,” he said. “We just want the truth in this country." To Neuenhaus, Obama seemed more consistent in his positions, more forthright in his answers. They're the same age, also. And Obama's image as more of a Washington outsider gives him more credibility in Neuenhaus’ eyes. “He seems to tell the truth,” Neuenhaus said, two of his kids by his side. “God help him if he’s not telling the truth.”

Margaret Talev

McCain releases tax records, but not wife's

John McCain today released his tax returns for the last two years, but refused to release those filed separately by his wife, Cindy.

McCain's campaign said the two have maintained separate finances throughout their 27-year marriage and have for many years filed tax returns separately.

She is chairman of Hensley & Company, a beer distributorship founded by her parents.

A McCain aide likened the refusal to release her returns to that by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. In 2004, Kerry released his returns, but not those of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wealthy widow of the late ketchup heir and senator John Heinz.

McCain himself reported $215,304 in taxable income in 2006 and paid $72,771 in federal income taxes.

He reported $258,800 in taxable income in 2007, and paid $84,460 in federal income taxes.

His income comes from his Senate salary, book royalties, Social Security and his Navy pension.

To see McCain's returns, http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainfinancial/

McCain campaign: we're ahead

John McCain's top campaign team met with reporters Friday to tell them that, despite all the media attention to the Democrats, the Republican senator is doing well, raising money, adding staff, hiring a pollster, and building a national team and strategy to take on either Hillary Clinton OR Barack Obama.

So well, in fact, that they handed out electoral college maps showing McCain leading either Democrat.

"We have planned out two different general election strategies," said strategist Charles Black. "We have no preference" over which Democrat to face. McCain, he added, "can win against either one."

The campaign handed out maps of the country, adding up what they stressed is a very rough estimate of current publicly available state by state polling.

Their guesstimate: a McCain-Obama contest would start now with McCain ahead in states with 253 electoral votes to Obama's 203. Another 81 would be up for grabs in swing states.

It takes 270 to win the presidency.

As proof of how admittedly rough the estimate is, the numbers do not add up to the 538 votes in the electoral college.

A McCain-Clinton match would start with more states falling into one column or the other, and fewer swing states.

The starting point, according to McCain's map: he would lead in states with 290 electoral college votes, 20 more than needed, and Clinton would have 225.

The campaign's four top advisrs attended the meeting, including Black, Rick Davis, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter.

They met with reporters in McCain's 13th floor headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The floor is marked M on elevators, rather than 13.

They stressed that McCain, who operated on a shoestring while running for the Republican nomination, now is raising more than $10 million a month, enough to add more than 50 people to a staff that numbered fewer than 100. As one sign of how McCain's fortunes have improved, Davis joked that the conference room was in a part of the headquarters kept vacant for nearly a year because there were no aides to fill it.

Clinton to Obama: toughen up

Sen. Hillary Clinton took a verbal swipe at Sen. Barack Obama Friday for complaining about the questioning he received during Wednesday night's televised Democratic presidential debate. In an interview with a Philadelphia Fox television affiliate, Clinton said the level of questioning Obama received from ABC News' George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson was nothing compared to the treatment he'd receive as president.
"The special interests are going to be a lot tougher than 90 minutes of questions from two journalists and we need a president who is going to be up there fighting everyday for the American people and not complain how much pressure there is, and how hard the questions are," she said in the interview.
Clinton's comments come weeks after her campaign complained about what it considered unbalanced coverage that favored Obama. One campaign aide urged the reporters to take note of a "Saturday Night Live" skit that showed reporters fawning over Obama during a debate
.

Bill agrees with Chelsea: Hillary would be the better president

So now it's unanimous in the Clinton family--even Bill thinks Hillary Clinton would be the best president in the family.

He offered his opinion at a Thursday night rally in Clearfield. Clinton was joking with the audience, recalling daughter Chelsea's response to a question last month in nearby Allentown about whether her mother would be a better president.

"Yes," Chelsea said, "I do think she'll be a better president."

Thursday night, Bill at first joked about the comment. "You ever see a family whose women don't stick together?" he asked, then explaining that was a good thing.

"I agree with Chelsea," Bill continued. "I think she (Hillary)'s the best qualified person I've ever been able to vote for....I'd be here for her even if I weren't married to her."

What's the truth about Bill Ayers and Sept. 11?

During Wednesday night's debate on ABC, George Stephanopoulos linked a 1960s radical, William Ayers, to the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaida terrorist attacks and then to Barrack Obama. The allegation set off a firestorm from Obama supporters Thursday, with MoveOn.org, among others, posting a petition and clips. The exchange also got dim reviews in the foreign press and from Tom Shales at the Washington Post. And there's ample reason to complain. Stephanopoulos clearly distorted the historical record when he linked Ayers to Sept. 11.

Here's how Stephanopolous phrased his question to Obama: "A gentleman named William Ayers. He was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He’s never apologized for that. And, in fact, on 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times saying, 'I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.' An early organizing meeting for your state senate campaign was held at his house and your campaign has said you are 'friendly.' Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won’t be a problem?"

Left unmentioned in Stephanopolous's question is the actual timing of The New York Times article and the Ayers interview. The story was published before the 9/11 attacks and Ayers was interviewed days before that.

In the article's 1,900 words, there's not a single mention of terrorist incidents other than those perpetrated by the Weather Underground three decades earlier (I can't link to it; the copy I've read came from Lexis/Nexis). Ayers doesn't endorse others' terrorist acts.

Clinton compounded Stephanopoulos's distortion by saying Ayers' quotes in the article were “deeply hurtful to people in New York,” as if he had said them after the attacks. But is it really likely that New Yorkers who read the article before the attacks had any reaction at all to the recollections of an aging '60s radical? And after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower at 8:45 a.m., ushering in the post-9/11 world, is it likely anyone bothered to read a feature story about such long-distant events?

Tell them I'm nice

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was asked by a student at suburban Philadelphia's Haverford College what he should tell fellow students about her when he goes knocking door-to-door on campus on her behalf.

"You know, knock on the door and say...'She's really nice,'" Clinton suggested.

After trading sharp elbows with Democratic rival Barack Obama during Wednesday's presidential debate, Clinton struck a decidedly softer tone Thursday, stressing family and women's issues at Haverford College.

She told the audience that, as president, she would seek to expand the federal Family Medical Leave Act, create a $3,000 caregiver tax credit, and work to close the pay gap between men and women.

-From William Douglas in Pennsylvania

NC Dems still with Obama, poll finds

North Carolina Democrats haven’t abandoned Barack Obama over his remarks about "bitter" voters clinging to religion and guns, according to a new poll. The one-day survey of 541 voters by Insider Advantage and the Southern Political Report found Obama leads fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton 51 percent to 36 percent ahead of the May 6 primary. The survey was conducted April 14, after a full weekend of“bitter” coverage. Pollsters said there was no significant change since the group’s previous survey in late March, and that because so much of the state’s white Democratic vote is concentrated around universities in the state’s “Research Triangle” a theoretical Clinton appeal to rural voters to reject Obama might have less of an impact.

Gun group not bitter, backs Obama

The American Hunters and Shooters Association has endorsed Barack Obama’s presidential bid. The group’s president, Ray Schoenke, said the membership approached Obama about its support before the tempest over Obama’s remarks in San Francisco on April 6 about “bitter” small-town voters who cling to their religion and guns. In announcing the endorsement Wednesday, Schoenke said he was “stepping up to set the record straight” and that charges of elitism made by Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and from Republican John McCain are “patently ridiculous.”

“We know Sen. Obama gets it,” Schoenke said. Key to the group’s endorsement, Schoenke said, was Obama’s support in 2006 of the Vitter amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, to make clear the government cannot confiscate guns during times of crisis. Clinton opposed the amendment.

Bob Ricker, executive director of the group, said its members are more interested in “civic responsibility” and less “extreme” about gun rights than the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America. The association also considers candidates' views on conservation and global warming.

How about a current litmus test for gun advocates, whether a candidate supports the District of Columbia’s handgun ban now being considered by the Supreme Court? Ricker admitted that Obama’s public stance is not entirely clear and that as a result “I’m not sure” of his take. “He says he supports the individual right to bear arms,” he said.

Endorsing in the USA: Springsteen backs Obama

Score a point for Barack Obama in the debate over his much-criticized remarks about "bitter" small town voters who turn to God and guns.

The Boss has weighed in.

Bruce Springsteen, the everyman of rock poetry, has chosen sides. He's the pen behind lyrics like:

Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores

Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more

They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks

Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown

Maybe not too different from what Obama and his supporters contend he was trying to express with his bitter comment, however clumsily.

"Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand," Springsteen said in a letter released this morning by the campaign. "Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."

It all comes down to 8 percent of the Pa. voters

The battle for Pennsylvania could come down to 8 percent of the electorate. That's how many voters are "truly undecided," according to a new poll and analysis today by experts at Franklin & Marshall College.

Their Pennsylvania poll, like others, shows New York Sen. Hillary Clinton with a lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. But the race is still somewhat fluid, and could hinge on just who turns out.

Obama, for instance, is more popular in southeastern Pennsylvania, which accounts for about 31 percent of the voters in the college's survey. But they are actually 36 percent of the state's Democrats, so if they turn out in those numbers, Obama could do well.

Clinton, on the other hand, does better in the western part of the state and among older voters.

A look at the analysis: http://media.philly.com/documents/fmdn4168.pdf

Don't get bitter, buy air time

Barack Obama has a new ad out trying to turn Hillary Clinton's criticisms of his "bitter" voter comments around on her. 

Trade Issues? They Matter....

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had some serious points to make Monday at the Alliance for American Manufacturing forum in Pittsburgh. But most of the accounts of the speeches focused on how the crowd reacted to the candidates (some boos for Clinton, applause for Obama) and their ongoing feud over the meaning of Obama's reference to blue collar workers as bitter.

Tuesday, AAM Executive Director Scott Paul said he was not pleased with the coverage.

Here's his statement:

“The candidates responded candidly and directly regarding the serious policy issues they will face when one of them becomes the Democratic nominee. As we move from our event on Monday to tomorrow’s debate in Philadelphia, we hope that the candidates will continue to discuss their positions on issues like China’s cheating on trade laws.

“It is unfortunate that media coverage of AAM’s forum has focused on determining whether Sen. Hillary Clinton received “boos” for remarks she made regarding her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama. AAM hopes that in the future the press will provide voters with intelligent and meaningful coverage of the issues and stop reporting to the lowest common denominator.

“The crowd reacted strongly throughout both candidates’ remarks, voicing agreement or disagreement, cheering and applauding in response to both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama.

Many of those in the audience remain genuinely undecided, and were grateful to have the opportunity to hear both candidates address their concerns about China’s unfair trade practices.

“Unfortunately, we have not seen coverage of the detailed and diverse policy positions discussed on Monday, including Sen. Clinton’s statement that she intends to designate China as a currency manipulator or Sen. Obama’s that he would use sanctions to insist that China stop its cheating. These candidates have not previously offered such strong policy prescriptions on trade with China.

“Issues like trade are integral to the worries most Americans currently have about the U.S. economy. And, just as Americans are looking to the candidates to voice their opinion, they are looking to the press to provide a means for that voice to be heard.”

McCaskill does stand-up routine on Bush

Sen. Claire McCaskill’s introduction of Barack Obama to the Building Trades National Legislative Conference this morning in Washington was more like a 7-minute stand-up routine on why she thinks President Bush stinks, all the way down to his “ridiculous grin.”

Obama may be running for president to build bridges between Democrats and Republicans – but let’s just say his freshman colleague from Missouri had the kerosene and the match this morning. (There was a subtle dig at Obama’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, as well, involving beer). The union crowd, for what it’s worth, was eating it up.

Listen to her introduction.

by Margaret Talev

BET founder says race is major factor in election

Wading back into the Democratic presidential race, billionaire businessman Bob Johnson said Monday that Sen. Barack Obama would not be his party's leading candidate if he were white.

Johnson's comments to the Observer echoed those of former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. She stepped down as an adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton last month after saying Obama wouldn't be where he is if he were white.

By Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer

Obama's "bitter" controversy: Day 9

Hillary Clinton sees still more mileage to be gotten from Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama's clumsy comments on April 6 in San Francisco. The latest: an open letter signed by 11 mayors of Indiana towns expressing their “sincere disappointment” that Obama “demeaned the values of small Midwestern towns.”

“These views are offensive to millions of hardworking Hoosiers who strive everyday to provide for our families, lift up our communities and strengthen our country,” said the letter.

Obama apparently had been trying to explain how church, guns and immigration are used as wedge issues on disaffected working-class voters, but instead he managed to insult those same voters by implying they clung to God, the Second Amendment and distrust of others out of bitterness. Obama has spent the last week trying to explain and sort of apologize for his comments, while calling Clinton and Republican John McCain hypocrites for criticizing him as an elitist. Obama has been endorsed by several other Indiana mayors. If they throw together their own open letter, we'll post it as well.

Pennsylvanians not bitter about latest political developments

The flap over Barack Obama's remarks about "bitter" blue-collar Pennsylvanians apparently hasn't soured a lot of voters on the Illinois Democrat.

A new Quinnipiac University poll, conducted April 9 to 13, found virtually no change in the race. Obama's remarks began to generate widespread publicity late last week and have dominated political coverage since then.

Obama first made his comments April 6 at a San Francisco fundraiser. Referring to distressed workers, he said: "It's not surprising; then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment as a way to explain their frustration."

Rival Hillary Clinton has been blasting away at Obama, suggesting his remarks show him as elitist.

But the poll found that on April 12 and 13, when the story was huge news, "there was no noticeable difference" in voter attitudes toward the candidates.

Clinton holds a 50 to 44 percent lead over Obama among likely Democratic primary voters, unchanged from last week.

That's good news for Clinton. She is "fighting off...Obama's drive to make it a close race," said Clay F. Richards, Quinnipiac poll assistant director.

To read the poll:http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1168

How the gun rights advocates see it

As Barack Obama says he made a poor word choice, we talked to a couple of prominent gun-rights advocates about their take on Obama’s recent remark that voters who are “bitter” about their economic prospects "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment as a way to explain their frustration." We also asked what they made of Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton's criticism of his comments.

The National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre: “It was a crack in the door that gives all of us a peek at how the ‘special people’ really think about all the rest of us. It’s this group of elites that really do look down their nose at people who own a gun and fly the flag and go to church. Americans can read that code. I absolutely think it will hurt him (with working-class voters). I think it’s already hurting. But I think it hurts her (Clinton), too. I think people look at the two of them and see it for what it is – total insincere pandering. There’s not a sincere drop when they speak about the 2nd Amendment. They talk out of both sides of their mouths, they say they’re for the 2^nd Amendment and they run back to Washington and do everything they can to destroy the 2^nd Amendment. Come election time, they try to confuse the voter and think the American public won’t see through it.”

Larry Pratt, executive director, Gun Owners of America: “It’s an elitist view that you need religion as a crutch or you need a gun to make you feel like a man. For Obama to think their gun ownership is merely a reflection of their sorry, low status in life is merely what you’d expect out of an Ivy League liberal.” However, Sen. Clinton “is going to have to polish up her F rating that she gets from Gun Owners of America. Her message is good but the messenger was suspect, shall we say.”

Er, that's Osama. Misspeaking at Obama lunch

At a luncheon gathering today in Washington of the nation's newspaper editors, Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews Group and chairman of the board of directors of the Associated Press, asked Barack Obama a question about moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to go after "Obama bin Laden." To which the Democratic presidential contender paused, responded, "I think that was Osama bin Laden," and then busted into a wide grin. Singleton, mortified: "If I did that, I'm so sorry."

Hear the exchange.

McCain supports press shield law

Sen. John McCain came out in support of a press shield law Monday.

Such a law would protect reporters' use of confidential sou