Live in L.A. -- blogging the Democratic debate

by Rick Pearson

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert questioned John McCain’s Republican credentials today, saying he was always known among the GOP as “the undependable vote” in the Senate and always “allied with Democrats.”

Hastert, an Illinoisan who is backing McCain rival Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, also had a conference call with reporters earlier in the day in which he said the Arizona senator had changed “after the Keating Five scandal.”

by John McCormick

LOS ANGELES – Elizabeth B. Moynihan, who helped Sen. Hillary Clinton with her first bid for the Senate, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid.

The widow of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who represented New York for 24 years, said she considers Clinton a friend and good senator, but believes Obama will help rekindle political participation among young people.

In 1999, Clinton announced her candidacy for Moynihan’s Senate seat at his farmhouse in upstate New York. He and his wife stood with Clinton.

Calee-foh-nia Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the one with a couple of onetime and bigtime presidential contenders behind him. They toured a tech-plant together. Photo courtesy of Governor's Office.

by Mark Silva

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California and onetime action film-hero and muscle-builder, campaigned for the reelection of Presdent Bush in 2004. We remember one big crowd in particular, when the Arnold filled an arena in Columbus, Ohio. The governor, who had played that town in his body-building days, told the crowd he had come to pump Bush up.

Today, with the former mayor of New York to his right and Sen. John McCain to his left -- and what's wrong with that picture? -- the governor was pumping up the campaign of the senator from Arizona in the biggest of all states to hold a primary election on Super Tuesday.

By Jim Tankersley

LOS ANGELES – This is the land of command performances: Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown," Kirk Gibson in Game One, Johnnie Cochran in "If it does not fit, you must acquit."

The stage is set in Hollywood tonight for someone to join them. Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will debate at the Kodak Theater, their first one-on-one meeting of the campaign, with high stakes and great expectations.

It will be the first major debate in American presidential history not to feature a white male candidate. It comes only days before a pivotal burst of primaries and caucuses, highlighted by the delegate-loaded vote in California. And for Clinton and Obama, it's the best chance yet to break out as the clear frontrunner in what has been a see-saw Democratic contest.

The candidates take the stage, live on CNN, at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. They'll clash for 90 minutes, and if last week's South Carolina debate is any predictor, they'll waste little time on pleasantries.

Tune into The Swamp for a live-blog of the proceedings and full coverage of the fallout. We've rolled out the red carpet for this one.

By Mark Silva

In Las Vegas today, President Bush signed a 15-day extension of the federal law authorizing the administration’s surveillance of suspected terrorists – the one which was set to expire on Friday and which he urged Congress to renew during his State of the Union address the other night.

Taking his SOTU themes on the road this week, the president today reiterated his views about the challenge of “the ideological struggle’’ of our time – liberty versus tyranny. Surveillance of suspected terrorists is only one of the weapons employed in that struggle, the president said. The military, he said, must also stay “on the hunt.’’

“We got some good people working it,’ ’Bush said in Las Vegas. “I repeat to you, I know there's some good folks who think this is just simply a law enforcement matter. It is not. This is an effort that requires all assets of the United States, and requires coalitions working together. ‘’

The president replayed the themes which have run through much of his rhetoric, and much of the message which Vice President Dick Cheney also has delivered in speeches throughout the world.

And darned if the leader of the free world didn’t find a way in this Vegas stop to work in another reference to his remarkable relationship with the former prime minister of Japan, Koizumi, the indefatigable Elvis fan, and that tour the two leaders made of Graceland.

“The world in which we live is a dangerous world, but a world full of great opportunity,’’ Bush said. “We're involved in an ideological struggle -- the likes of which we have seen before in our history. It's an ideological struggle between those of us who love freedom and human rights and human dignity, and those who want to impose their dark vision on how people should live their lives….

by James Oliphant

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate majority whip, will prevent the nomination of Chicago federal judge Mark Filip as the Justice Department's No. 2 official from reaching the Senate floor for an up-and-down vote until the department satisfies Democrats on a number of fronts.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Durbin is a member, is scheduled to vote on Filip's nomination this afternoon, and he is expected to win approval. But Durbin (with the blessing of majority leader Harry Reid) will prevent Filip's nomination from a final floor vote.

Wednesday, a number of Senate Democrats on the Judicary Committee were unhappy with responses given by Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey on the legality of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding. Mukasey essentially punted during his testimony, saying he wouldn't declare the practice illegal because the Central Intelligence Agency isn't currently employing it.

At his confirmation hearing, Filip, too, demurred, saying he would defer to Mukasey on the issue.

The deputy attorney general is a key position at Main Justice. His office functions essentially as the nerve center for the sprawling agency. The job has been vacant since the resignation of Paul McNulty last summer. Filip was Mukasey's hand-picked choice.

Members of the Judiciary Committee are also pressing for responses from Mukasey on a variery of oversight requests, including information about the department's investigation into videotapes destroyed by the CIA of interrogations of suspected high-risk terrorists.

by John McCormick

LOS ANGELES – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will get plenty of questions this evening in Hollywood at their first one-on-one debate.

This morning, Obama warmed-up a bit with an outdoor "town hall" event on the campus of Trade Technical Community College, where he answered numerous questions from mostly students after speaking on matters of race, immigration and economics.

It was an increasingly rare question-answer session with potential voters as his campaign has moved from arena to arena in recent days in advance of the coast-to-coast series of primaries and caucuses on Tuesday.

Speaking to a heavily Latino and African American audience of several hundred, the Illinois Democrat used a new riff to make clear that he wants to fight for all people.

"Too many Americans today feel like the system is not designed for people like us," he said. "They feel like the education system isn't designed for people like us. And the job market isn't designed for people like us. And trying to get a mortgage isn't designed for people like us. And health care is not designed for people like us. Well let me tell you something, this is our country. America should be designed for people like us. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America, for all people, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, all people."

For the second day in a row, Obama praised John Edwards, whose endorsement he wants following the former North Carolina senator's departure Wednesday from the Democratic race.

He also called out those who suggest there is a "black-brown" divide in the nation. "We have to stop letting those in power turn us against each other," he said.

On immigration, Obama reiterated his position on "proper boarder security," but also stressed that America has always been a place for immigrants, saying his own father from African "didn't look like he stepped off the Mayflower" when he arrived in the United States.

"Not everyone who came through Ellis Island had their papers all in order," he said. "I'm just telling the truth now."

By Jim Tankersley

LOS ANGELES – California's action-hero governor endorsed a presidential candidate he called "a great American hero and an extraordinary leader" this morning, in an event heavy on environmentalism and bipartisanship.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) headlined a day of prominent Republicans jumping onto McCain's frontrunning campaign for the GOP nomination. Former Missouri Sen. John Danforth, an outspoken critic of the party's rightward turn on social issues, endorsed McCain this morning.

McCain promised a "flood" of upcoming endorsements from "liberals and conservatives" in his press conference this morning, including one later today from Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The question is whether that flood can bring more conservative primary voters into the McCain ark.

McCain, whose maverick stances on issues such as campaign finance and the Bush tax cuts have alienated parts of the Republican establishment, touted the endorsements as proof that he can unite the party before November and the country if elected president.

He dismissed a question of whether the endorsements of moderates such as Schwarzenegger and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani – who announced yesterday he was ending his campaign and backing McCain – would damage his efforts to win conservative support for his candidacy. A pair of former governors, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, have run better with conservatives than McCain in the primaries so far; Romney appears to be pinning his nomination hopes on uniting conservatives against McCain, whose policies he has derided as "liberal."

by Matthew Hay Brown

The Democatic Congressional Campaign Committee enjoyed its strongest fundraising year ever in 2007 today.

The House Democrats’ campaign fundraising operation raised $67.5 million last year while doubling its list of activists and supporters to more than 2 million, D-triple-C Chairman Chris Van Hollen announced today.

“The American people are energized and inspired by Democrats’ agenda of change and the strong candidates we’ve recruited across the country,” the Maryland Democrat said.

Van Hollen said the money has enabled House Democrats to remain on offense: Looking to build on gains from 2006, the D-trip is targeting 50 more Republican seats in November.

The National Republican Congressional Committee releases its numbers later today. An NRCC spokesman expressed skepticism about the Democrats’ prospects this fall.

by Frank James

Did President Bill Clinton help a wealthy Canadian mining executive get access to uranium ore in Kazakhstan and did the mining magnate give the former president's charity millions of dollars of contributions as a thank you?

Only the principals involved know if that's the case and they have denied any quid pro quo.

But the excellent New York Times exploration today by Jo Becker and Don Van Natta of the ties between the former president and the mining executive is sure to raise eyebrows for a number of reasons.

The story tells us about a September 2005 Kazakhstan trip Clinton made with the Canadian businessman, Frank Guistra. During that trip, the former president praised Kazakh strongman, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, for "opening up" the former Soviet state politically.

At a press conference during the visit, Clinton also supported the Kazakh goal to lead the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

What's really strange about this is that the former president's position contradicted the formal policy of the Bush Administration but also the stated position of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

by James Oliphant

With John Edwards out of the presidential race, those who would demonize the plaintiffs’ bar have some spare time on their hands -- enough time, apparently, to watch some television.

And so a pro-business trade group in Washington is wringing its hands over “Eli Stone,” a show that premieres on ABC tonight.

“Eli Stone” concerns a shark-like corporate defense attorney who only cares about two things: money and well, he can’t remember the second thing. But he begins having visions (of pop singer George Michael, for one, someone you usually need to travel to a county fair in the summer to see) which slowly convince him that he was put on this Earth to help others. It sends him off on a spiritual quest – to represent ordinary people against the very corporations he once defended.

(By the way, that’s not as preposterous as you would think. Many refugees of large corporate law firms will joke that they are “recovering” human beings.)

So, if you are keeping score at home, this means: Ordinary people = good, corporations = bad.

By Jim Tankersley

LOS ANGELES – Ron Paul sat sedately through much of last night's 90-minute Republican debate, watching rivals John McCain and Mitt Romney bicker over taxes, character and truthfulness. The bickering boiled over when McCain's questioned whether Romney had sufficiently supported the war effort.

That's when Paul, a libertarian congressman who opposed the war from the start, jolted into action.

"When I listen to this argument, I mean, I find it rather silly," he said, "because they're arguing technicalities of a policy they both agree with. They agreed with going in; they agreed for staying, agreed for staying how many years? And these are technicalities."

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will take the debate stage tonight in Los Angeles. If past exchanges are any guide, they'll be arguing Iraq "technicalities" as well, but of the opposite variety: Who has done more to stop the war, and who would end it fastest as president?

A month – has it really only been a month? – of early primary voting has narrowed the fields, with McCain and Romney (trailed by Mike Huckabee and Paul) emerging atop the GOP and Clinton and Obama left standing for the Democrats. It has also underscored deep divisions between the parties on issues, which promise to make the general election a stark choice for America.

Which is to say, when the Republican and Democratic nominees debate next fall for the first time, they won't be talking "technicalities" on Iraq. Or health care, for that matter. Or tax policy, social issues, foreign trade and the size of the military. Depending on who wins the nominations, you could see sharp contrasts on immigration and global warming, too.

In past presidential elections, some voters complained they couldn't tell the difference between the major party candidates. If we've learned one thing from the presidential race so far, it's this: that won't be the case in November.

by Frank James

What could stir up illegal immigration hardliners as much as the word amnesty? Try the idea that Illegal immigrants could get rebate checks through the economic stimulus plan now being considered in Congress.

Conservative bloggers and others who want more cracking down on illegal immigration have been riled up in recent days by the notion that people illegally in the U.S. could receive some of those rebate checks President Bush and most in Congress are determined to send out to get consumers spending again in order to keep the economy from slowing any further.

Illegal immigration hardliners have accused the House legislation which was passed earlier this week of containing a loophole that would allow the undocumented to receive rebate checks. That's because the House bill doesn't require a valid Social Security number for someone to receive a rebate.

The Senate, which is now working on its own economic-stimulus package, has included a requirement for valid Social Security numbers.

To quell the controversy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a joint statement this morning meant to reassure illegal immigration hardliners that the federal government won't be sending free money to illegal immigrants:

“The legislation that we authored, and which passed the House Tuesday with overwhelming bipartisan support, would not allow any taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegal immigrants. In fact, the bill includes language similar to the provisions included in the 2001 and 2003 tax relief bills to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving any benefits. We will take legislative action to clarify and underscore this prohibition so we can expedite the rebates to millions of eligible Americans.”

by Mike Dorning

Barack Obama has raised "at least" $32 million during January for use in the primary, campaign manager David Plouffe said in a conference call with reporters this morning.

The campaign added 170,000 new donors this month, for a total of 650,00 donors, Plouffe added.

"Obviously this contest could go on for some time in the primary, and we think that the strength of our financial position and the number of donors does speak to financial sustainability, Plouffe said. "If this ends up going through March and April, we think we’re going to have the resources necessary to conduct vigorous campaigns in every state to come."

Campaign spokesman Bill Burton declined to provide the amount of money that campaign has on hand, a better measure of financial strength than donations. Nor would Burton provide figures on campaign spending during the month.

The Obama campaign is already putting money into the contests following the Feb. 5 quasi-national primary. The campaing will begin airing television ads tomorrow in all of the states with primaries and caucuses in the week following the "Super Tuesday" vote: Louisiana, Washington state, Nebraska, Maine, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC.

The Clinton campaign has not yet responded to a query on its January fundraising progress.

But both Obama and Clinton have shown enormous financial strength, with both campaigns raising more than $100 million last year for their campaigns, an unprecedented pace of fundraising and one that has not been matched by any of the Republican candidates in the field.

The pace of Obama's fundraising has been "remarkably consistent" over the course of the month, Plouffe said. But the campaign's biggest fundraising day so far this month was the day following the Illinois senator's defeat in the New Hampshire primary, he said. Obama sent out a mass email fundraising appeal the day after the defeat entitled "We knew this would be hard."

"We took a lot of encouragement from that because it showed the resolve of our existing donor base. But we also added a large amount of donors on that day," Plouffe said.

by Jason George

WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Clinton is not scheduled to make a single campaign stop Thursday, instead focusing her efforts on preparing for this evening's debate in Los Angeles.

Clinton flew from Atlanta to the nation's capitol last night to have the chance to sleep in her own bed for the evening – the Clinton's own a home on Embassy Row in Washington – and read over all the facts and figures she wants for tonight's one-on-one debate with Sen. Barack Obama.

The Clinton team obviously feels tonight's sit down, the last before Super Tuesday, the first without a candidate besides Obama, is important enough to fill the day flying from here to Burbank, a nearly 6-hour sojourn. Clinton will surely spend much of the time studying and prepping. Obama, in contrast, is scheduled to hold a massive L.A. rally this afternoon before appearing at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

Whose strategy is best for the CNN showdown this evening?

We'll know in less than 12 hours.

by Frank James

The Washington Post political gossip blog, "The Sleuth" provides an interesting tidbit of information for anyone seeking more insight into why Sen. Edward Kennedy was so angry at the Clintons that he got off the fence and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama this week.

Much of the reporting made it seem like Sen. Kennedy's endorsement was all about President Bill Clinton, particularly his comments the day after the South Carolina primary in which he appeared to dismiss Obama's big win there as a race thing and nothing more.

Yes, Kennedy was upset by that sin of commission by the former president. But he apparently was also upset by the sin of ommission by Sen. Hillary Clinton who evidently sat by at a New Hampshire event while the person who introduced her appeared to diminish President Kennedy's civil rights role.

Reporter Mary Ann Akers has this on The Sleuth:

Sources say Kennedy was privately furious at Clinton for her praise of President Lyndon Baines Johnson for getting the 1964 Civil Rights Act accomplished. Jealously guarding the legacy of the Kennedy family dynasty, Senator Kennedy felt Clinton's LBJ comments were an implicit slight of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who first proposed the landmark civil rights initiative in a famous televised civil rights address in June 1963.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, January 31.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debate one-on-on tonight in their last such event before the Super Tuesday presidential primaries.

President Bush is in Nevada and Colorado for a speech on terrorism and to attend political events.

Human Rights Watch is releasing its World Report 2008.

by Jason George

ATLANTA – " We know that change is on the way. Are we ready for change?"

It's wasn't Obama delivering this opening line, but Sen. Hillary Clinton, speaking to thousands of Georgia Democrats at the state's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.

Obama wasn't the only candidate Clinton channeled in her speech, which also took up Sen. John Edward's poverty cry.

Calling inequity in America a "moral disgrace," Clinton said "children are going to bed hungry" and "John Edwards made us all face up to that."

She mentioned solutions like tying congressional raises to raises in the minimum wage and universal healthcare.

"No human being should be denied healthcare," she said.

by John McCormick

PHOENIX – This is increasingly feeling like a rock concert tour.

From arena to arena, Sen. Barack Obama traveled Wednesday, with a warm-up act at each stop.

At an early evening stop here, Obama's campaign said some 13,000 people were drawn to Veterans Memorial Coliseum to see Obama, Caroline Kennedy and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

"I don’t know if you are aware, but the Super Bowl is not until Sunday," Obama said in the city that hosts the big game this weekend.

Earlier in the day, his campaign said his road show attracted about 18,000 people in Denver.

Both Arizona and Colorado are on the list of 22 states that will hold primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, a coast-to-coast collection that Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are selectively passing through based on each campaign's strategic calculus.

After months of toiling mostly in just four states in often more intimate settings, the Democratic nomination battle is now mostly a tarmac-to-tarmac affair, with an occasional "town hall" event, such as the one Obama will hold Thursday morning in Los Angeles before an evening debate that will feature he and Clinton on the stage, alone, for the first time.

by Frank James

9:50 pm -- The last Republican debate before Super Tuesday is history and do we know anymore about the candidates than we did before?

I don't think so. They mostly repeated canned lines from their stump speeches which they have used in other debates, occasionally working in some new canned lines from the past couple of weeks.

Considering how high the stakes were, the debate was a surprisingly low-energy affair. The only time the two men battling for the Republican nomination really engaged was in the second half of the event when Romney got angry at McCain for twisting his Iraq timetable statement.

But Romney didn't used that moment to full advantage. McCain has made a key part of his candidacy his straight-talk. But he is really not being straight on the timetable charge.

Romney however didn't deliver any scorching or memorable line or soundbite that could be played repeatedly on the Internet or TV from now until Tuesday.

That's really surprising. There was no "Where's the beef?" or "You're no Jack Kennedy" moment. In a debate this important, you would've expected the Romney campaign would've prepared one. Maybe Romney's "reprehensible" or "old politics" comments were supposed to serve that purpose. But they didn't have the power the moment demanded.

So this debate seems like a wash.

One thing it made me wish for was a one-on-one between McCain and Romney. No offense meant to Paul or Huckabee supporters but such a debate would have allowed the tension between McCain and Romney to develop a little more. That might have revealed an important aspect about either man that would've made this debate decisive.

In any event, we'll be getting a one-on-one tomorrow night when Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have their final, pre-Super Tuesday debate. Thanks for joining us tonight and we look forward to tomorrow.

===========================================================

9:35 pm -- Hook asks Huckabee what he sees when he looks at Russian President Vladimir Putin, based on the famous Bush quote about seeing Putin's soul and McCain's crack about seeing KGB when he looked in Putin's eyes.

by Jill Zuckman

BURBANK, Calif. – The day after winning the all-important Florida primary, Sen. John McCain told reporters aboard his airplane today that he was looking forward to meeting with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is set to endorse him at 3 p.m. PST at the Reagan Library.

McCain said he had not spoken to Giuliani yet, even though word leaked Tuesday night that the former mayor would drop out of the presidential race and endorse McCain.

Tony Carbonetti, Giuliani's closest adviser, visited McCain's Miami hotel Tuesday afternoon and met with the senator and his top aides to make the arrangements.

"We waited for a phone call and we got the phone call," one McCain adviser said, explaining that they did not initiate any request for an endorsement after Giuliani finished a dismal third place in the Florida contest.

Asked why he thought he beat former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, McCain joked, "I would like to say it was charisma."

He chalked up the win to doing well on the economy and national security. "There's a lot of military connection here, a lot of patriotism," said McCain, who touted his experience as a Naval aviator.

McCain said he was surprised by the margin of victory – he won by five points. But when asked if he now considered himself the frontrunner, he said, "trying not to."

"I know we've got a ways to go," he said, acknowledging tensions within the Republican Party. "You've got to really have a united party. We all know that the party has great challenges. I see the polls that show the Democratic Party has more favorabilities on issues. We've got a lot of work to do. And a united party is really vital to do that."

By Jim Tankersley

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – Welcome everybody to the wild, wild West.

With those words, from the masterpiece "California Love" by the poet Dr. Dre, we bid you hello from the new center of the presidential campaign universe – at least for the next week.

Republicans descend on the Golden State this afternoon for a televised debate from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, a setting sure to evoke warm Gipper references from the candidates and pointed comments from pundits about how Reagan's hallowed coalition of social and fiscal conservatives has split so far in this primary.

The Democrats hit So Cal tomorrow for what will be the first one-on-one debate between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the two remaining Big Kahunas in the Democratic nomination pipeline.

Your Swamp correspondent has been in-state for a week, piling nearly 1,000 miles on a rented Saturn Ion, digging through polling data and chatting up voters across a wide – and politically varied – swath of California.

Residents of more than 20 states will vote or caucus for presidential candidates next Tuesday. None has more delegates up for grab or more bragging rights at stake than California. But voters here are just starting to see the tip of a full-scale electoral onslaught, which begins in earnest with tonight's debate and will continue through a few blistering days of speeches, ads and grassroots pushes to bring supporters to the polls.

If you're playing along at home – in which case we regret to inform you that it's sunny and 60 degrees here today, after a week of chilly rain - here's a quick primer on what to watch for in the next seven days.

by Jason George

SOMEWHERE OVER GEORGIA -- While back in Arkansas for a morning stop, Sen. Hillary Clinton took time to visit with old friends and stop at old haunts, including Kitchen Express, a popular diner known for its peach cobbler and grits.

The campaign actually bought a tray of that cobbler, and Clinton spooned platefuls to the press corps and secret service agents on the flight to Atlanta, where she set to appear tonight at the National Baptist Convention and the state's Jefferson-Jackson dinner.

Server Clinton was all smiles as she made her way down the aisle of the campaign's Boeing 737-800. (Like Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton is now chartering a plane from ATA airlines.)

When Clinton got to this reporter, who dutifully held out his plate, Clinton said "Ah, the Chicago Tribune. I grew up reading that paper."

As questions for comment were not allowed, I did not get to ask when was the last time she picked herself up a Trib.

Oh, and the cobbler was excellent, mostly butter, sugar and peaches, which seemed fitting for our arrival in the Peach State.

by Mark Silva

Mike Huckabee, the Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas, has no lock on the evangelical Christian vote. He has shared the vote with his Republican rivals in the early primaries and caucuses.

At the same time, Huckabee hasn’t collected much support beyond the vote of evangelical Christians in those early contests, exit polling shows.

But Huckabee has collected enough of that critical base of the Republican Party – four in ten of all Republicans nationally – and stands to collect enough in contests to come that he may well lay claim to path-finder for the nomination of Sen. John McCain.

So long as there is a strong evangelical magnet in the Republican contest, McCain’s leading rival, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, will have to share the conservative vote with Huckabee and McCain.

"We're far from out of this thing,'' Huckabee told Fox News today. "We're in it for the long haul.''

As rival Rudy Giuliani prepared to drop out today after a poor showing in Florida, Huckabee told Fox's The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum: "The fact is they say, well we've barely made fourth, but Rudy's the one dropping out today -- not me.''

by Ashley Wiehle

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—In promoting his wife’s candidacy for more than an hour at a university campus today, former President Bill Clinton touched on a dozen ideas but didn’t mention one subject—the rival candidacy of Barack Obama.

Clinton was in the Metro East area of Illinois acting once again as the surrogate in chief for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign on a visit aimed at drawing support not only for Illinois’ Feb. 5 primary but also for one just across the river in neighboring Missouri on the same “Super Tuesday” date, all the while trying to get free publicity in the St. Louis media market.

Speaking in a crowded auditorium at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, packed largely with college students who awaited entry in the morning cold, the former president didn’t bring up Obama, the first-term Illinois Democrat and favorite son contender, or address the departure of former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina from the Democratic presidential race.

by John McCormick

DENVER – Sen. Barack Obama appeared today in the city that will host the 2008 Democratic national convention, an event where he hopes to be the center of attention as his party's nominee.

"It looks like a Democratic convention crowd, except you don't have the funny hats yet," he said.

His campaign said the arena where he spoke at the University of Denver held nearly 10,000 people, but there about 8,000 more in overflow rooms and outside.

Obama honored the fallen candidates in the Democratic race, including John Edwards, who formally announced his departure this afternoon.

"We will come together after a long and hard fought primary campaign – and that’s a good thing," Obama said. "First of all, it's a good thing that we have such outstanding candidates. We've had class acts across the board. You think of people like Chris Dodd and Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson and John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, an all-star cast….It's a good thing we have had this hard-fought contest because each of us has inspired the other to do better, to communicate more clearly our vision for the future. It is through campaigns that we hear directly from the American people, we set our common goals, and debate our differences. It is through campaigns that we bring new people into the process, we build new coalitions; and renew who we are and what we stand for as a party."

But Obama's speech was not completely conciliatory, as he sought to suggest that Sen. Hillary Clinton may be too closely aligned with Republican front-runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"It is time for new leadership that understands that the way to win a debate with John McCain, or any Republican who is nominated, is not by nominating someone who agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq, who agreed with him in voting to give George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran," Obama said. "We need to offer the American people a clear contrast on national security, and when I am the nominee of the Democratic Party, that’s exactly what I will do."

Obama also played off a line once used by Bill Clinton about building a bridge to the 21st Century.

by Jason George

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – When John Edwards called Sen. Hillary Clinton this morning to say he was dropping out, he asked her to continue his crusade against poverty in her campaign. Five minutes after he finished speaking in New Orleans, she told reporters here that she would do just that.

"He has made poverty a centerpiece of his campaign and it needs to be on the top of the list of America's priorities," she said at North Little Rock High School, where she held a rally earlier focusing on the economy and credit card industry reform.

Clinton said that she did not ask Edwards for his endorsement during their phone call.

"I have not, because I think this is up to Senator Edwards to decide how he is going to participate, if at all, in this campaign," she said.
"I want to wish John and Elizabeth well, and thank him for running a great campaign."

Asked if she would re-tool her strategy to scoop up Edwards supporters', Clinton said no, arguing that she's already trying to win over all voters.

by James Oliphant

Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey continued Wednesday to hedge on the legality of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding, frustrating some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mukasey was appearing before the committee for the first time since it voted to confirm him as Alberto Gonzales’s successor in November.

During that confirmation hearing, Mukasey jeopardized his nomination by refusing to brand waterboarding as illegal torture. But he promised to research the issue once confirmed and report back to the Senate.

But prior to his testimony Wednesday, Mukasey sent a letter to Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont, telling him that because waterboarding currently isn’t authorized for use by Central Intelligence Agency operatives, he could not opine on its legality. (The CIA has, according to the administration, used the technique in the past on suspected terrorists.)

“I do not believe that it is advisable to address difficult legal questions about which reasonable minds can and do differ, in the absence of concrete facts and circumstances,” Mukasey said in the letter.

Andrew Zajac

Rudy, we hardly knew you.

And if you could have kept it that way, maybe you'd be in California raising money for your surging campaign instead of endorsing John McCain.

Former New York mayor turned one-man conglomerate Rudolph Giuliani is quitting the race for the Republican presidential nomination today, capping one of the more spectacular political flameouts in recent memory.

How did Giuliani blow it?

He ran as America's Mayor, the hero of 9-11. It was an image that spread widely though not deeply among voters, allowing them to reflexively serve up Giuliani's name to pollsters last fall when Giuliani led all GOP contenders. His campaign would claim 'momentum-proof' bulges in large, key states like New York, New Jersey and California.

The table was set.

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO -- That big endorsement that Sen. John McCain of Arizona is pulling in today, the day after trouncing Rudy Giuliani in Florida's Republican primary, will arrive at 3 pm Pacfic Time in Simi Valley, Calif., site of tonight's GOP debate.

That would be Giuliani making the endorsement.

The two will deliver their message at the national shrine of the Republican Party, the Ronald Reagan Library. McCain, struggling to convince his party's conservative base that he can be trusted, presents himself as a son of the "Reagan Revolution.'' Giuliani, who never got past the party's conservatives in his failed bid for the GOP nomination, will pay homage too.

That will leave Mitt Romney,- who declared himself to be a Republican in the mold of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush -- note the H in there '-- after winning his party's primary in Michigan, to explain tonight that neither McCain nor Giuliani speaks for the base he hopes to court in the flood of primaries arriving from California to New York on Tuesday.

Appropriately, perhaps, the McCain announcement will come at a press conference at the site of the debate - in "the spin room.''

(Updated at 2:28 p.m. EDT and combined with some material from previous posts.)

by John McCormick and Naftali Bendavid

DENVER – Democrat John Edwards formally dropped from the Democratic nomination race this afternoon, saying it was time to step aside "so that history can blaze its path."

Edwards said he is confident that the Democrats can win the White House.

"With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November," Edwards said, according to an Associated Press dispatch from New Orleans, where he had initially announced his presidential bid.

The Democratic primary battle moved into an even greater state of flux this morning when word broke that Edwards was leaving the race.

Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are hoping Edwards might endorse one of them before the more than 20 primaries and caucuses that will be held on Feb. 5.

Edwards, a two-time White House candidate, has stressed poverty issues throughout his campaign. He is expected to call on both Obama and Clinton to keep a focus on those issues in his absence.

Updated at 11:37 am

by John McCormick and Naftali Bendavid

Still dressed in his workout clothes, Sen. Barack Obama briefly commented on Edwards' exit from the race as he returned to a downtown Denver hotel after a morning workout.

He said Edwards had exited the race in a "classy" way. "I think he's run a great campaign," Obama said.

Asked whether he would get Edwards' endorsement, Obama smiled and walked inside, saying he would say more on the topic later in the day.

Obama said he had spoken to Edwards, but did not provide any additional details about their conversation.

That was Obama's off-the-cuff comment. His campaign also issued an official statement:

“John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn’t popular to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who’s up and who’s down, he made a nation focus again on who matters – the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington. John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this – that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America.”
.

by Naftali Bendavid

The two big questions posed by the withdrawal of John Edwards from the Democratic presidential race are why his candidacy didn’t catch on and how his departure affects the remaining battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Edwards always faced an uphill battle against the star power of Clinton—a former first lady with a potential to become the first woman president—and Obama, an electrifying orator and first viable African-American presidential candidate. He was never able to overcome their appeal or ability to generate crowds and turn out voters.

Edwards did not have a long record in politics; he’d served one term in the Senate and did not have a lengthy list of legislative achievements or causes associated with his name.

Edwards’ poverty-focused message did catch on with a good number Democratic voters—he did, after all, outperform two respected senators and a popular governor in the Democratic primaries.

But ultimately it’s not clear that the message resonated with many middle-class voters. And Edwards was continually dogged by questions about whether he came to the poverty issue late, despite his professed life-long passion for the subject.

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.

Sen. John McCain narrowly won the Florida Republican primary, the first closed party contest, beating Mitt Romney and likely driving Rudy Giuliani out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The win was likely to give McCain momentum as the race moves towards Super Tuesday next week. Sen. Hillary Clinton won the largely meaningless Florida Democratic primary, which was downgraded by the national party officials after the state moved its primary earlier.

McCain appeared to owe his Florida win to the votes of cultural conservatives being split between Romney and Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who has gotten strong support from such Republicans.

John Edwards was ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination after the former senator from North Carolina failed to win any primary or caucus and less than a week after coming in a distant third in the South Carolina primary which he had won four years ago.

by Christi Parsons and Jim Tankersley

Aides to Democrat John Edwards confirm that he is dropping out of the race.

Spokespersons Mark Kornblau and Eric Schultz say Edwards will make the decision official, less than a week before the Super Tuesday primary and caucus day.

by Frank James

The Associated Press is reporting that John Edwards is dropping his White House bid.

It's hard to know what the impact will be. Some of Edwards's support might have been anti-Clinton but a lot of it was probably pro-Edwards, too, voters who were captured by his populist message.

Many of Edwards's supporters were hard-core Democrats, and Sen. Hillary Clinton has consistently done better with them than Sen. Barack Obama. So she in the end, could wind up benefitting more from Edwards's departure than Obama.

That portion of his support that was decidedly anti-Clinton could go to Obama, however. Again, at this stage it's just difficult ot know what the impact of his departure will be.

Here's the AP story.

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) — Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voter's sympathies but never diverted his campaign, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two of his advisers. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former North Carolina senator will not immediately endorse either candidate in what is now a two-person race for the Democratic nomination, said one adviser, who spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement.

By Mark Silva

ORLANDO – Here are some closing, perhaps predictive, thoughts about what the campaign for the votes of this bellwether state of Florida has to say about the presidential election of 2008.

Rudy Giuliani once was viewed as the Republican Party’s front-runner here in Florida, the first mega-state to have its say this year.

After Florida’s hard-fought vote, Sen. John McCain now stakes a credible claim to the mantle of the front-runner in his party. And Giuliani, who had the most to lose here, is quickly readjusting to the reality of this race with an expected endorsement of McCain today in California, the mega-state of all mega-states.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, January 30.

The Federal Reserve Board could cut interest rates again today.

The Republican presidential candidates are debating in California in the last such encounter before the plethora of primary elections next Tuesday.

The Commerce Department is releasing the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product report.

by John McCormick

DENVER – Illinois is the third-largest state in play amid the 22 states that will hold primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, but Sen. Barack Obama has no plans of campaigning in his home state before the voting starts.

Obama said he expects to be in Chicago on Feb. 5, but does not plan to campaign there before then, he told the Tribune aboard his campaign plane as he flew from Kansas City to here Tuesday evening.

"If I can't win in Illinois," Obama said, not finishing the sentence.

A Tribune poll in December showed Obama with a 2-1 advantage over Sen. Hillary Clinton among Democrats looking to cast ballots in the Illinois presidential primary.

Obama is expected to campaign here Wednesday morning, before traveling to Arizona and California later in the day.

by Frank James and Jason George

So what does it mean that Sen. Hillary Clinton "won" the Democratic Primary in Florida? Not much, since none of the Democratic presidential candidates campaigned there and no delegates will be allocated to her.

It was kind of a Potemkin village of a race, like the one in Michigan which also didn't count on the Democratic side because, like Florida, Michigan moved its primary to an earlier date against the wishes of the Democratic National Committee.

A Potemkin race deserves a Potemkin victory celebration, and that's what the Clinton campaign provided as Clinton thanked her Florida voters for their support.

At her victory rally in Davie, Fla., Clinton said her win – even without delegates – bodes well for her ahead of the Super Tuesday contests.

"This has been a record turnout because Floridians want to hear their voices heard," she told her boisterous supporters.

Even though she won't get any delegates, Clinton clearly planned to use it for its bragging rights potential going into Super Tuesday next week.

Sen. Barack Obama got huge momentum coming out of South Carolina last weekend which was followed by the endorsements by Sen. Edward Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.

Also, given what happened in 2000 and how important Florida was then to the outcome, if Clinton winds up being the Democratic nominee, her appearance in the state tonight was her way to keep Democrats from ceding it completely to the Republicans today. So it was her way way to show Florida voters that she was simpatico with them. Maybe they'll remember in November.

by Jill Zuckman

Miami, Fla. – Although he was vastly outspent and out-organized, Sen. John McCain cobbled together a victory in Florida's Republican primary tonight, with combined support from Cuban Americans, seniors and veterans.

McCain's win here puts him on a path to the nomination thanks to his first-place ranking in national polls and the boost he is likely to get from beating back a stiff challenge from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

With this third primary victory behind him, McCain looked ahead to Super Tuesday and declared: "I intend to win it and be the nominee of our party."

Advisers to McCain said they felt confident moving forward that he is well positioned to win the Republican nomination.

"Senator McCain has won what are historically the three most important primaries in determining the nominee – New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida," said Charles R. Black, Jr., his chief strategist. "It's the biggest comeback in American history and it does now make him the frontrunner."

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO --- Rudy Giuliani, who repeatedly had predicted that the winner of Florida's Republican primary would become the party's presidential nominee, conceded in a sparsely filled hotel ballroom here just now that he has lost the Florida primary.

With initial returns showing a close contest between John McCain and Mitt Romney, the former mayor of New York -- who has banked his campaign for president on a big-state strategy that was supposed to start here in Florida -- is trailing the frontrunners by a wide margin. And CNN has projected McCain as the winner.

Jon Voigt, the actor, joined Giuliani on stage, facing a couple of hundred people standing in the hall of the Portofino Bay Hotel, where the cash bar stands as tribute to the financial state of the Giuliani campaign after investing millions of dollars on Florida TV advertising.

“It’s not over until it’s over,’’ a woman called out

“The great philosophy of Yogi Berra,’’ Giuliani said.

“There must always be a larger purpose,’’ Giuliani told his audience here. “Elections are about a lot more than just candidates… elections are about fighting for a cause greater than ourselves… most of all, they are about handing the nation to the next generation better than it was handed to us.’’

Giuliani said he had spoken to Romney and he commended McCain, as well as Mike Huckabee – and Ron Paul – “who won all of the debates,’’ Giuliani added.

“I believe that our party will be stronger as a result of the competition we’re going through… Win or lose, we are not done.

“We need to reestablish very, very clearly the idea that the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, the party of Reagan, the party of Bush,'' he said. "When we do it right, when we are on our game, when we are making our contribution… we are the party of freedom.’

“This is a big party,’’ said Giuliani. “I’m even in this party… This is a big party.

“The future of our nation is in good hands, because it’s in your hands,'' he told them. "You and I will keep fighting to build a better future.

“No pessimism, ever, ever ever, just optimism.’’

On Wednesday, Giuliani is expected to withdraw and endorse McCain.

by Christi Parsons

It didn't take long for the campaign of Barack Obama to release a television ad featuring the daughter of John F. Kennedy, endorsing the Illinois Democrat as the heir to her father's political legacy.

Yesterday, Caroline Kennedy said publicly she would work to elect Obama. Tonight, the campaign has put together an ad with footage of that event.

"Once, we had a president who made people feel hopeful about America and brought us together to do great things," Kennedy says in the new ad. "Today Barack Obama gives us that same chance."

by John McCormick

EL DORADO, Kan – Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has won the endorsement of the governor of Kansas, a state where no Democratic nominee since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 has won electoral votes.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius arrived at the end of an event here, in the hometown of Obama's grandfather on his mother's side, because of high winds and snow in Kansas.

"Right now, I think we are with the next president of the United States," she said.

Democratic presidential candidates had sought her backing, even though George W. Bush carried the state by large margins in the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Sebelius said Obama has "Midwestern values" that he got "from his grandparents and from his mom."

With the Kansas caucuses being part of the 22 states that will hold nominating contests a week from today, Sebelius urged more than 2,000 people gathered in a community college gymnasium to support Obama.

"Don't just applaud, but you caucus for him," she said.

by James Oliphant

We’ve noted earlier the pro-Ohio bias at Swamp HQ, even as we noted the difficult year the Ohio State University endured at the hands of the Southeastern Conference.

Today, one man stood up for Ohio State. Indeed, one man stood up for the entire state of Ohio – and he even isn’t from the Buckeye State. He’s from Arkansas, and he gets this correspondent’s vote for Courageous Legislator of the Year.

The House of Representatives Tuesday entertained a resolution congratulating Louisiana State University for its 38-24 trashing of Ohio State Jan. 7. The measure passed 409 to 1. Who was that one lonely voice? Rep. Marion Berry, a 1965 graduate of the University of Arkansas.

We don’t know, exactly, why Rep. Berry took his Braveheartian stand, but we can guess that, as a graduate of a fierce SEC rival in a border state, he wasn’t about to grant LSU anything. Well done, Rep. Berry.

(The image above comes courtesy of fans of LSU -- obviously.)

by James Oliphant, and updated

Update: The House instead passed a 15-day extension after the 30-day one appeared unable to gain the 2/3 majority needed for approval. The extension will now go to the Senate.

The House is set to vote on a 30-day extension for the Protect America Act this afternoon.

If that passes, expect the Senate to do the same before the act expires on Friday, despite some major-league hemming and hawing from Republicans. That would give the Senate leadership time to negotiate on moving forward on Judiciary Committee amendments to the renewal legislation that came out of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

However, this afternoon there were indications that House may not pass the extension after all, throwing the future of the act into serious jeopardy. The House is expected to depart for a retreat after today and would not be able to deliberate any further on the legislation, which would permanantly expand the government's eavesdropping powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The act was passed last summer as an emergency replacement for the administration's now-defunct warrantless wiretapping program for suspected terrorists. It allowed the government to bypass FISA's requirement to obtain a court order to put a wiretap in place if the communication started or ended in a foreign country, provided a certain criteria was met. The act contained a sunset provision for Feb. 1.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

by Frank James

Sen. Barack Obama was asked today on his campaign plane about what appeared to many witnesses at last night's State of the Union speech to be a snub of Sen. Hillary Clinton as he turned his back to her as she leaned in to shake the hand of Sen. Kennedy who was next to Obama.

Here's what Obama said after he was asked about his body language last night.

OBAMA: “I was surprised by the reports this morning. There was a photograph in the Times of me turning away. I was turning away because (Sen.) Claire (McCaskill) asked me a question as Sen. Kennedy was reaching forward. Sen. Clinton and I have had very cordial relations off the floor and on the floor. I waved at her as I was coming into the Senate chamber before we walked over last night. I think there is just a lot more tea leaf reading going on here than I think people are suggesting.”

McCaskill, who was traveling with Obama today, dismissed many journalists' interpretation of last night's near-miss.

A passer-by in dowtown Orlando, at the heart of a swing-voting region that will help determine the outcome of elections today and in November. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO – On a crisp, sunny day, at a polling place shaded by old oaks, a woman who offers her name only as Joan still is making up her mind as she heads into the brick back hall of the First Unitarian Church to vote.

“I will vote for someone who I truly believe can beat Hillary Clinton,’’ this registered Republican says. “I want someone I like, obviously. And I like Romney, but I do not want to see the Clintons back in the White House. I think, probably, McCain is the one to beat Clinton.’’

Yet this is a decision in the making, this middle-aged voter says on her way in to the polling place for Precinct 306, a precinct that skews urban young and retired old and runs somewhat gay as well, in a peaceful and shady part of Orlando only a mile from downtown where some streets still are cobblestone and $25,000 bungalows of old are fetching big money.

Her daughter-in-law got caught up in the early voting that has been going on here since Jan. 14, at a time when Republican Rudy Giuliani was a bigger contender than he is today, an early vote which the Giuliani campaign courted hard – “At that point in time, they thought Giuliani would do well,’’ she says of their vote. “They wish they had waited.’’

After a quick vote, she stops again in the breezy lot behind the church to talk about that decision made on the way in.

“I went with McCain for that reason – not just that reason,’’ she says of the electability factor. “I think he is a good man. I was torn.’’

This same calculus is playing out today across the Sunshine State, where opinion polls have portrayed a dead-heat between McCain and Mitt Romney among Republican voters and Giuliani’s fortunes have apparently faded. Florida’s voters are weighing Romney, with his promise of righting the economy, against McCain, with his promise of winning in November.

Andrew Zajac

Attorney General Michael Mukasey is stoutly conservative in the mold preferred by the Bush Administration, but he has a better knack for explaining himself than did his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales, or at least for accepting responsibility for the positions he's taking, however unsatisfying they might be.

That's the impression Mukasey left in his first on-the-record press briefing last Friday, and in the advance copy of testimony he is slated to deliver Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Here's a copy of his remarks: Download file

by Frank James

If you were a Republican watching President Bush's State of the Union speech last night, there's a good chance the feelings in you that Bush evoked could be described as "competent, confident, in control, proud."

Meanwhile, if you were a Democrat, Bush probably conjured up feelings that could best be described as "suspicious" and "skeptical."

How do we know this? HCD Research Inc., a market-research company, tested the president's speech with 602 viewers using a testing method initially created to test the response of consumers to advertising. These were some of the results.

As Glenn Kessler, the head of HCD explains:

The methodology used to measure the emotions of Americans to the 2008 State of the Union Speech was the Ayer Emotion Battery (AEB). The AEB was developed by the former NW Ayer Advertising agency in the 1980s to understand the emotional impact of effective advertising. Ayer validated the elements with a nationally representative sample of advertisements.

The 2008 Speech was tested among 602 Americans between 10:02PM and 11:00 PM EST on January 28, 2008.

The results are fairly much what you'd expect. Still, it's good to see some evidence for those suspicions.

by Christi Parsons

Amid a brutal cycle of killings in Kenya, Barack Obama late last night appealed to Kenyans to renounce violence and “follow a path of peace.”

In a radio address to his father’s home country, the Democratic presidential candidate said that the post-election violence there bears “no resemblance to the Kenya I know and carry with me.”

“The rule of law and the rights of the Kenyan people, including freedom of the media and the freedom of peaceful assembly, must be restored,” Obama said in his address. “The opposition must turn away from the path of mass protest and violence in seeking participation in government.”

Obama said President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga should sit down and talk “unconditionally,” and he urged them to “welcome the assistance if your concerned friends.”

His address comes as the death toll from the last five days of fighting rose to 85 in western Kenya, as gangs of machete-wielding young men from Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe hunted down and killed people from Odinga's Luo tribe. The murders were reported to be revenge killings for violence against Kikuyus.

Aides to Obama said he gave the statement after consulting with U.S. Ambassador Mike Rannenberger, at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. The address was broadcast live during the morning commute in Kenya on Capital FM Radio in Nairobi.

The "beach pool" at the Florida resort where Giuliani will spend election night. In the morning, he says: "We'll make a decision.'' Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO -- "Not endorsed.''

That's the boast which Rudy Giuliani, the erstwhile frontrunner in the Florida contest for the Republican presidential nomination, is making at the close of a campaign critical to his future.

It was one thing when Giuliani attempted to cast The New York Times' editorial rejection of him astweek as a badge of honor -- dismissng the Times endorsement of John McCain as a reflection of the fact that Giuliani never did what the paper told him to do as mayor of New York.

But it is another thing to advertise one's rejections in the state which one says, flatly, will determine the Republican Party's nominee. And, okay, it is a "web ad,'' not a real ad that a lot of people will see, but this is what Giuliani's campaign web site-ad, called "Not Endorsed," says:

"“Rudy Giuliani is not endorsed by The Tampa Tribune. Not endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel. Not endorsed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In fact, he’s not endorsed by any of the liberal newspapers.

"When you’re responsible for cutting people’s taxes by an incredible seventeen percent …and announce a plan to give Americans the biggest tax cuts in history … when you fight to appoint conservative federal judges …want to grow America’s military to make sure our families are protected …demand that new citizens learn to read, write and speak English …and that welfare recipients work for the benefits …you’re the last person on earth to be endorsed by the liberal New York Times. Rudy Giuliani. Tested. Ready. Now.”

Those aren't the only Florida papers that have not endorsed Giuliani.

The problem for Giuliani: If he is "not edorsed'' by Florida's Republicans today, he will have some more explainig to do. "The winner of Florida will win the nomination,'' Giuliani has said repeatedly here in a campaign that has bet the bank on the Sunshine State. He will take an election night stage here in Orlando this evening, at a lush Universal resort which seems just a bit light on inhabitants at this high season of Florida tourism -- maybe a sign of that economic woe which appears to be foremost on the minds of Florida voters today?

People spend a lot of money to spend the month of January in Florida, the mayor said the other day in Cocoa Beach. He certainly has.

"Wednesday morning,'' Giuliani says,"we'll make a decision.''

by Mark Silva

President Bush, facing a faltering economy at home, an unpopular war in Iraq and persistent threats of terrorism, called on a wary Congress Monday night to help steer the nation through this “period of uncertainty.”

With the delivery of his final State of the Union address, Bush presented a starkly limited agenda for the remainder of his term, in contrast to the bold rhetoric and ambitious goals that marked earlier periods in his presidency.

As the nation faces fears of recession, he pressed for immediate and long-term relief for taxpayers. And as American troops gradually withdraw from Iraq, he asked for new surveillance authority in the war on terror.

With a sweeping overview of the world tumult and domestic controversy he has faced in seven years, Bush made only fleeting references to the bold reforms he unsuccessfully sought on immigration and Social Security during his second term. He suggested that now, any action on these fronts will be up to Congress.

For all the challenges remaining, the president, who will be out of office in a year, attempted with smiles and a forceful appeal to convey a cautious optimism in the televised address before a joint session of Congress.

“As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty,” Bush said. “At kitchen tables across our country, there is a concern about our economic future. In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth. But in the short run, we can all see that that growth is slowing.”

See the rest of the story in today's Tribune:

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Tuesday, January 29.

President Bush is going to Baltimore to discuss faith-based community initiatives.

The House is starting to consider the economic stimulus package.

The Federal Reserve Board is considering whether to again cut interest rates.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Updated on 1/29/2008 at 10:20 am with MSNBC material.

by Frank James

So President Bush has delivered his last State of the Union. And what everyone in the House press gallery is talking about isn't the speech. Rather, it's the snub.

Sen. Barack Obama refused to make himself available to greet Sen. Hillary Clinton before the speech.

When members of the Senate entered the chamber, Obama came in before Clinton. He went out of his way to greet as many House members as possible and walked halfway across the chamber to greet members of the Supreme Court, the president's cabinet, the military joint chiefs.

That made what happened next even more striking. Obama returned to stand by his seat next to Sen. Edward Kennedy who endorsed Obama today in a widely watched event that reverberated across the political world.

As Clinton approached, Kennedy made sure to make eye contact and indicated he wanted to shake her hand. Clinton leaned towards Kennedy over a row of seats and Kennedy leaned in towards her. They shook hands.

Obama stood icily staring at Clinton during this, then turned his back and stepped a few feet away. Kennedy may've wanted to make peace with Clinton but Obama clearly wanted no part of that.

As president, Obama has said he would meet with the U.S.'s enemies without precondition. But making nice with Clinton apparently is another mattter after the increasingly angry fight the two have waged, with charges and countercharges, for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The sense in the press gallery was that Obama didn't cover himself in glory. Someone even used the word "childish." (Not this writer.) Judging by how much conversation there was about this brush off in the press gallery, Americans will be hearing a lot more about this tomorrow and in coming days.

by Mike Dorning

While President Bush delivered his State of the Union speech tonight, two wounded Illinois soldiers were watching above from the House gallery.

Army Spec. Christopher Gross of Oswego and Army Staff Sgt. Mathew Ritenour of Chicago both wounded in Afghanistan and currently being treated for combat-related injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., were guests of Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Gross was wounded in September during a firefight on the Afghan/Pakistan border. Ritenour also was wounded in September as his unit was conducting a patrol in Zabol Province in Afghanistan, according to a statement released by the senator’s office. The statement did not describe the soldiers’ injuries.

by James Oliphant

As we await the State of the Union, here's an update on this morning's imbroglio involving Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund and his report that Sen. John McCain has told "conservatives" that he would support Supreme Court nominees in the mold of John Roberts, but not Samuel Alito. Conservative bloggers immediately erupted with predictable outrage at the Arizona senator.

The National Review's Byron York caught up with McCain in Orlando today to ask him about Fund's report. Here's what he said:

"Let me just look you in the eye. I've said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I've said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the eye and tell you I've said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible], and I am proud of my record of working to get them confirmed, and people who worked to get them confirmed will tell you how hard I worked."

McCain suggested that the report was perhaps a dirty trick on the eve of the Florida primary. "It's distressing," he told York, "on the day before a primary that something like this should come up, because one, it's distracting, and two, I have done nothing but support these people."

BTW, in this household, the pageantry, such as it is, before the president's speech was not greeted warmly by its most junior member. "I don't want to watch this," daughter Kate declared, eyeing an interview with Rep. Ike Skelton with deep suspicion. "I want to watch Curious George."

Perhaps so might much of America.

by Frank James

President Bush's final State of the Union speech is scheduled to start in less than an hour. Your devoted Swamp reporter is in the House Press Gallery where all of us journalists--reporters and photographers-are waiting until the doors leading into the chamber itself are opened.

It promises to be a historic night: this is the first time the Bush Twins, Jenna and Barbara, have deigned to come to the SOTU.

More importantly, the next POTUS may be sitting in the room. Sen. Barack Obama is supposed to attend tonight. I believe Sen. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to be here too.,

My Swamp mate, Mark Silva has already set up the themes of tonight. The president will hit the Iraq War and the economy hard. He'll also inveigh against earmarks.

In a yearly ritual, we are being shown the short video that instructs us how to put on the emergency hoods in the event of some kind of terrorist attack that involves poison gas. As we do every year, we journalists laugh at the part where we are informed to breathe normally if we must don the hoods and run for our lives. Right. .

by James Oliphant

This week's fracas over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (see below) promises to be at least a short-term campaign issue.

Within minutes of today's action on the Senate floor, the Republican National Committee criticized Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (both making cameo appearences in the chamber) for voting against cutting off debate on the bill and thus delaying its passage.

"If Sens. Obama and Clinton were serious about national security they would realize that while our ability to monitor terrorist communication expires in a matter of days, the terrorist threat against our families will not,” said Mike Duncan, the RNC chairman.

Expect President Bush to mention the FISA bill tonight in the State of the Union address, putting more pressure on congressional Democrats to get something done by the end of the week. Leaders in both houses want more time to consider potential amendments that they say would protect Americans' privacy and are seeking an extention to finish the bill.

Meanwhile, Sens. Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold, two members of the Judiciary Committee who are trying to get some of those amendments approved, blasted Republican senators' attempts to force the bill to a vote. “The Senate today rejected the tactics of obstructionism and delay employed by the Republican minority and the White House," Leahy said. "In refusing to allow the entire Senate the opportunity to openly and fairly debate the important issue of amending our surveillance laws, Republicans have brought to a screeching halt the Senate’s extensive efforts over the last several months to protect this country and the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans."

The drama continues tomorrow when the Senate will take up the bill anew.

by Mark Silva

President Bush, who will deliver his final State of the Union address tonight, will call on Congress to act swiftly in the face of an economic slowdown at home, hold to the military mission in Iraq and reauthorize domestic surveillance of suspected terrorists.

““As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty,’’ the president plans to say. “And at kitchen tables across our country, there is concern about our economic future. In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth.

:“To build a prosperous future, we must trust people with their own money and empower them to grow our economy,’’ Bush plans to say in an appearance before a joint session of Congress.

Bush also will address the war in Iraq and the prevention of terrorism at home, calling on Congress for reauthorization of legislation permitting surveillance of suspected terrorists.

“The actions of the 110th Congress will affect the security and prosperity of our nation long after this session has ended,’’ the president plans to say in his address to Congress at 9 pm EST – a speech expected to run about 40 minutes, and Bush’s last.

by James Oliphant

A few minutes ago, the effort of the White House and Senate Republicans to cut off debate on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewal bill failed by a 48-45 floor vote in the Senate. Sixty votes is needed to cut off debate.

The bill would supplant the current Protect America Act, which expires Friday, and reauthorizes the government's extensive domestic wiretapping regime when it comes to gathering intelligence from foreign agents in the United States.

The vote threw the chamber into even more of a procedural morass. Majority Leader Harry Reid then attempted to secure a 30-day extension for the legislation in place in order to debate the FISA bill more thoroughly. (President Bush has vowed to veto an extension.) But that cloture vote also failed by the exact same vote.

Now Congress will have but a handful of days to get the FISA bill finished. Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who opposes a 30-day extension, suggested that some sort of a short-term extension could still be considered.

A key sticking point remains whether to give telecom companies like AT&T;, which allegedly cooperated with the Bush adminstration's now-defunct secret eavesdropping program, immunity from civil lawsuits from Americans who believe their privacy rights were violated.

One senator who has consistently resisted granting immunity has been Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. In a press release today, in a (virtual) roar that Russell Crowe in Gladiator would appreciate, Dodd vowed to "continue to fight retroactive immunity with all the strength any one senator can muster."

He then, shockingly, killed a tiger that had leaped from a trap door in the floor.

Then First Lady Rosalynn Carter next to serial killer John Wayne Gacy in May 1978. Tribune file photo.

by Frank James

The photo that emerged last week of President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton posing during the Clinton presidency with the newly arrested Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the indicted Chicago businessman, political contributor and one-time friend of Sen. Barack Obama, brought back memories of other photos that politicians, their spouses or other government officials wish they had never posed for.

Here's a rogues gallery of such photos which goes to prove that taking photos with unsavory and sometimes outright evil people is one of politics' occupational hazards.

by Jim Tankersley

John Edwards entered 2008 with a front-loaded plan to win the Democratic presidential nomination: score wins or strong finishes in the four early states, build momentum, and ride it through Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

It didn't pan out like he'd hoped. Edwards followed a second-place finish in Iowa with three straight thirds behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, most recently in his native South Carolina. Strategy scuttled, Edwards faced two choices: drop out, or get a new plan.

He picked the new plan.

The Edwards campaign laid out the former North Carolina senator's "path to the nomination" in a memo released to reporters today. The strategy banks on ad campaigns in 10 Feb. 5 states – including several of the "red" states where Edwards has been pitching himself as the only Democrat with a shot to win in November – and grassroots pushes in the more than a dozen others that vote on Super Tuesday. It's bankrolled by internet donations the campaign says have rolled in over the last month (analysts say money, more than anything, will dictate how long Edwards can compete).

The strategy presumes that the Democratic nomination, with three viable candidates, will remain a dogfight for individual delegates for weeks to come. It also presumes Edwards will survive to face either Obama or Clinton "one on one" in the final weeks of the race, and that Democrats who haven't heard his message to this point will pick Edwards at the end of the game.

As the campaign writes in its memo: "The bottom line: John Edwards is the underdog against two celebrity candidates who have each raised over $100 million, yet he enjoys broad support – and is in position to win delegates -- across the country."

Read on for the full Edwards memo.

by James Oliphant

Everything was looking good for Barack Obama today at American University. Big crowd. The Kennedys (well, most of them). Lots of enthusiasm.

Obama finished his speech and then came the exit song. Note to all remaining campaigns: In an election dogged by allegations of candidates being beholden to special interests, this song is never a good idea.

Like a fool I went and stayed too long
Now I'm wondering if your love's still strong
Oo, baby, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours!

Then that time I went and said goodbye
Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry
Oo, baby, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours!

Here I am baby
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours
(You got my future in your hands)
Here I am baby
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours
(You got my future in your hands)

I've done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean, didn't I?

Seen a lot of things in this old world
When I touch them, they mean nothing, girl
Oo, baby, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours!

Oowee baby, you set my soul on fire
That's why I know you're my heart's only desire

Here I am baby
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours
(You got my future in your hands)
Here I am baby
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours
(You got my future in your hands)

Barack, you've just admitted to doing a "lot of foolish things" that you really didn't mean. You don't think Clinton's going to be all over that? Here at the Swamp, we're expecting an attack from the Clinton campaign in our inboxes any moment.

by Mike Dorning

WASHINGTON—At the site of one of John F. Kennedy’s most famous speeches, Sen. Edward Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama as a worthy heir to the martyred president and one who could restore the sense of national possibility of Camelot.

“Even in the darkest hours, I know what America can achieve. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it—and with Barack Obama, we can do it again,” Kennedy said.

Obama was surrounded by a tableau of Kennedys on the platform, including Caroline Kennedy, the former president’s only live child, and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), the Massachusetts senator’s son, both of whom also spoke on behalf of Kennedy.

“I stand here with a great deal of humility,” Obama said when he rose to speak after the three Kennedys. “I know what your support means. I know the cherished place the Kennedy name holds in the hearts of the American people.”

Senator Kennedy’s endorsement rested heavily on the themes of national possibility and generational change that propelled John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign and also Obama’s bid for the presidency.

by James Oliphant

Conservative pundits are smoldering over a column today by Wall Street Journal writer John Fund in which Fund says that Sen. John McCain, if elected, would support Supreme Court nominees such as John Roberts but not Samuel Alito.

Fund wrote that “Mr. McCain has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because 'he wore his conservatism on his sleeve.'"

Commenters at conservative blogs such as the The Corner on National Review Online have been churning all morning:

McCain has got to explain himself to conservatives now, on Alito for sure, and on much else as well. While I’m unquestionably concerned about what a McCain nomination might mean for the Republican coalition, I’m not one of those who feels it would necessarily be disastrous. On the contrary, I can see scenarios where McCain and conservatives could patch things up rather well. But this Alito thing is serious. It bugs me, and I need to know more, quickly. McCain needs to forthrightly address conservatives concerns on this and other issues, and he needs to do it before Super Tuesday

Of course, the report has been seized upon by the Mitt Romney campaign as more proof that McCain’s conservatism runs only skin-deep. For what it's worth, McCain voted to confirm Alito in 2005, when Alito was approved by a 58-42 tally.

Meanwhile, McCain has secured the endorsement of former Attorney General Bill Barr, now general counsel at Verizon. Barr served as attorney general to President George H.W. Bush. Barr had supported ex-candidate Fred Thompson. Barr, in a statement released by the McCain campaign, seemed to directly address the Fund allegation, saying:

He has been a consistent conservative and he will bring to the White House a firm vision for the judiciary. I believe, as he does, that judges should honor, and not reinterpret the Constitution. As president, I know John McCain will nominate judges who follow in the traditions of strict constructionists. John McCain has been a leader national security, fiscal discipline and conservative values, and I am proud to support him."

Stay tuned. Judicial nominations are of extreme importance to the conservative intelligencia, who obviously don't plan to let McCain off easy.

All campaign paths cross Orlando, and this is where the Florida campaign of Rudy Giuliani will end on election night, the Portofino Bay Hotel, where a faux Italian fishing harbor belies the fury of the Florida campaign underway. Photo by Mark Silva

by Jill Zuckman and Mark Silva

ORLANDO – Remember that decidedly nice debate among the Republican candidates for president here in Florida last week?

Fugettaboudit.

On the eve of a hotly contested primary election in which Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain are struggling for the endorsement of Florida’s Republicans, camp Romney is dispatching robotic phone calls into the homes of targeted Republicans slamming McCain, and camp McCain is hitting Romney hard on the radio.

“Hi, 'm calling on behalf of Mitt Romney,’’ the campaign’s robo-caller says, with a message tailored for a state whose conservatives have little truck with illegal immigration. “You can learn a lot about a candidate by looking at their friends John McCain and Ted Kennedy wrote an amnesty bill And McCain teamed with another liberal Democrat to write campaign finance reform.’

“They say Mitt Romney likes numbers,’’ the announcer of McCain’s radio ad states. “His campaign says he likes to look at data. Well here are some numbers that should scare every Florida Republican. 400 million dollars. That’s how much over budget the Romney health care debacle costs taxpayers in Massachusetts. 700 million. A tax increase Romney stuck to the people of Massachusetts.’’

The Clintons also play in this campaign warfare: With Romney warning that McCain is a friend of Bill Clinton and McCain warning that if the GOP makes Romney its nominee, it could lose to Hillary Clinton by 16 points. "We can't afford Mitt Romney,'' the radio warns Floridians.

by Frank James

Toni Morrison, the Nobel Prize laureate who dubbed former President Bill Clinton the nation's "first black president" because of his affinity for African-Americans and theirs for him, has come out in support of the man who would then be the second black president if he were voted into the White House, Sen. Barack Obama.

Here's the press release from the Obama campaign:

Toni Morrison Endorses Barack Obama for President

CHICAGO, IL — Nobel Prize winning author and Pulitzer Prize recipient, Toni Morrison today endorsed Senator Barack Obama in a letter citing the need for the country to embrace this rare opportunity to vote for change. Toni Morrison has been a voice of leadership and inspiration through her many awarding winning novels and continued work in education. This is Toni Morrison’s first public endorsement of a presidential candidate.

“Toni Morrison has touched a nation with the grace and beauty of her words, and I was deeply moved and honored by the letter she wrote and the support she is giving our campaign,” Obama said.

ENDORSEMENT LETTER

Dear Senator Obama,

This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important, most interesting, or both Washington-related stories.

Many Republicans oppose Sen. John McCain because of his tendency to buck conservative orthodoxy on a range of issues, but many of his critics in the party are likely to rally around him if he becomes the party's nominee.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, fought fiercely to win the Florida Primary on Tuesday as they looked to gain momentum heading into Super Tuesday next week.

The Democratic presidential candidates took their campaigns national as they tried to hit as many states as possible before Super Tuesday as they chased after convention delegates.

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO – A heated contest between Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney for the endorsement of Florida’s Republican voters is closing with a virtual tie among likely voters, a new election-eve poll shows.

McCain claims the support of 32 percent of those surveyed by Quinnipiac University, Romney 31 percent.

And the political fortunes of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani apparently have faded in Florida, a state where the New Yorker has banked all of his hopes for the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nomination – a state which, Giuliani has flatly declared in the closing days of his campaign, will name the GOP’s nominee. Giuliani draws 14 percent of those surveyed.

In the uncontested Democratic primary – with candidates refraining from campaigning here because of the national party’s punishment of the state party for holding a January primary against party rules – Sen. Hillary Clinton maintains an apparent 20 percentage-point lead over Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton plans to fly to Florida on election night, appearing after polls close, to draw attention to the “win.’’

The Quinnipiac poll, when taken in the long view of earlier surveys, portrays long and precipitous slide for Giuliani, once the apparent front-runner here. The race appeared to present a four-way tie among leading Republicans as recently as Jan. 14 in Quinnipiac's surveys.

by Mark Silva and Tim Jones

LAKELAND, Fla. – On a cool weekend morning in the middle of Florida, the square-dancing convention at a downtown hotel kicks off with a click of cowboy-boot heels and a flourish of bright, poufy dresses, and a pig roast heats up at Joker Marchant Stadium, spring-training home of the Detroit Tigers.

Yet, here in downtown Lakeland, business is off this year.

“Business is off 20 to 25 percent, says Jim Doig, who runs an art gallery where prices run the gamut from $6 to $4,000. “There’s a fear factor,’’ he suggests. “People see gasoline one day for $3.09, the next day it’s $2.99 and the next it’s $3.15. I think this has made people afraid of spending money.’’

Unease about the future of the Florida economy weighs heavily on the minds of Floridians facing a heated presidential primary election on Tuesday which could prove pivotal to the 2008 campaign for the White House – potentially catapulting the hopes of one Republican and scuttling the hopes of others.

And here, in the central “I-4 Corridor’’ of Florida built around a ribbon of highway stretching from Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Daytona Beach on the Atlantic and coursing through Orlando along the way, the swing-voting ability of open-minded voters has made this prime hunting territory in the final days of Florida’s primary campaign. A Republican boost here could seal the winning formula for any of the GOP’s leading contenders heading into the spree of big-state primaries on Feb. 5.

“The catapult you get coming out of the first mega-state going into the first mega-primary, I don’t think anyone can calculate the positive effect of that,’’ Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, said Sunday. “Everybody’s got a Florida connection – they’re going to be watching what Florida does.’

See the report in today's Tribune, and see an expanded report here in the Swamp:

by Jill Zuckman

PENSACOLA, Fla. — John McCain went to the Senate floor in 2003 to mercilessly ridicule a fellow Republican, then-Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, for tucking a $1 million earmark into a spending bill to study the DNA of Montana’s bears.

“One can only imagine and conjure up an idea as to how this might be used,” mocked McCain. “Approach a bear: ‘That bear cub over there claims that you’re his father and we need to take your DNA.’ Approach another bear: ‘Two hikers had their food stolen by a bear, and we think it is you. We have to get the DNA.’”

That sort of acid rhetoric, part of McCain’s longtime crusade against pork, has earned him the enmity of Republicans as well as Democrats. More broadly, the Arizona senator has angered numerous conservatives over the years by working with liberal Democrats on issues from immigration to torture, from campaign finance to judicial nominations.

And now, as McCain hopes to cement his front-runner status with a win in Florida on Tuesday, the question is whether Republican leaders and impassioned party loyalists, frustrated by years of what they consider McCain’s grandstanding at their expense, will line up behind him should he win the presidential nomination.

Good morning.

President Bush is delivering his last State of the Union speech to Congress, at 8 p.m. Chicago time.

by Jill Zuckman

LADY LAKE, Fla. – Every so often, a voter confronts Sen. John McCain about his age, questioning whether a 71-year-old is too old to be president.

The reverse happened at the Scarlet O'Hara Theater in the Villages retirement community this afternoon. About 1,500 people packed the room and spilled outside into the parking lot where golf carts filled the spaces.

When McCain opened the town hall meeting up to questions, the first person to speak told him she didn't actually have a question for him.

"I just want to say for everyone who thinks you're too old, you look great, you sound great and you will last another eight years," said Maryanne Lane, 65.

McCain thanked her, and told the audience about his 95-year-old mother, Roberta, who tried to rent a car in Paris, but was turned down because of her age. "So she bought one," McCain said to loud applause.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman chimed in as well.

"Maybe it's not so bad that he doesn’t have as much hair as some of the other candidates," Lieberman said in what could be interpreted as a dig at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. "He's got experience. He's been through a lot. He's been tested…he wants to get things done and he's learned how to get things done."

In an interview, Lane said she was initially planning on supporting her fellow New Yorker, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But somewhere along the way she changed her mind and decided to vote for McCain on Tuesday.

"He's just won me over," she said.

Sen. Barack Obama, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, at President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

by Mike Dorning and Jill Zuckman

Barack Obama, whose eloquence and barrier-breaking candidacy so often stirs comparisons to John F. Kennedy, is now being anointed a worthy heir by the martyred president’s closest living relatives.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the president’s brother and the guardian of Kennedy’s political legacy, also a hero in his own right to the Democratic party’s liberal wing, will endorse Obama on Monday at a rally in Washington.

Caroline Kennedy, the president’s only living child, published her endorsement in the New York Times today in an article entitled “A President Like My Father.”

The two endorsements arrive just as the struggle for the party’s nomination becomes a truly national contest, a coast-to-coast campaign in which 22 states and the U.S. territory American Samoa will simultaneously vote on Feb. 5.

Ron Jon Surf Shop, open 24 hours a day. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!' chant dozens of people crowded inside the center of the famous surf emporium, the Ron Jon Surf Shop, on a sparkling if chilly Sunday, the last stop on the former mayor of New York's bus tour of the Sunshine State.

Giuliani rolls out of here this evening and heads out for one final fly-around tomorrow in the state where he has banked his campaign for president -- a state where polls show him trailing two of his Republican rivals, Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

The candidate brought with him an erstwhile candidate, former Gov. Tommy Thomson

"This is a gigantic store,'' the ex-mayor exclaims.

"Not as big as New York,'' a woman calls out.

Here in the realm of long shorts, tank tops and flip flops, Giuliani has not shed the business suit that he has worn throughout this final day of ground-campaigning. "I want Florida to make a real statement on the 29th -- a statement about who you want for the next president of the United States,'' he says, promisng "real change,'' unlike those Democrats, he warns, who only want to take "the change out of your pockets.''

It's that kind of day -- an upbeat recitation of the same closing lines. Yet upbeat for sure.

Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama "are doing such a good job of attacking each other -- let's just sit back and be nice,'' Giuliani says, and with Romney and McCain doing such a good job of attacking each other, he suggests, why not vote for him. "A presidential election is not about game-calling, about 'gotcha' and kind of high school politcs. A presidential election is about something bigger than us.''

By Mike Dorning

Clearly anxious to generate more attention for the Florida primary despite Democratic party sanctions stripping the state of its delegates, Hillary Clinton announced today that she would go to Florida on primary night to thank her supporters there.

All the major Democratic candidates promised not to campaign in Florida to avoid a backlash in the crucial party-sanctioned early primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Florida violated party rules by moving its primary ahead of Feb. 5.

Clinton said on CBS's Face the Nation this morning that she would be in Florida "Tuesday night" when the results are counted for the state's primary. This afternoon, her campaign put out put out a statement explaining that she would time her visit to avoid breaking her pledge against campaigning there.

Clinton "will visit the state after all polls are closed in the Florida primary, in accordance with her pledge not to campaign in the state before its primary," the campaign said in its statement.

A Clinton appearance at a campaign party in-state would provide video that draws more attention to the results in Florida. And since she is expected to win, a victory in speech in Florida clearly would provide better momentum for the campaign leading up to the Super Tuesday Feb. 5 primary than her 2-to-1 loss in South Carolina.

Polls have shown Clinton leading in Florida throughout the campaign. And none of the major Democratic candidates have campaigned in the state.

In the parking lot of the Italian-American Civic Association in Vero Beach, which has packed the clubhouse on a cool sunny Sunday to see Rudy Giuliani. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- It may not be all that hard to turn out a crowd of retirees in Vero Beach on a chilly, sunny Sunday afternoon, but the Italian-American club here has done a good job for the visiting Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York.

As the sound people warm up the public address speakers with some tapes before the event, a man at the club approaches them and asks if they might play something with "an Italian flair.'' Sorry, the campaign soundmen say, it's a tape. So it's: "Taking Care of Business'' for now.

Giuliani, who also has campaigned for the Cuban-American vote, stopped at a gourmet pizza parlor in Port St. Lucie along the route to this event. He likes to tell crowds that they may be hyphenated Americans, but in the final analysis, they are all Americans.

And even here, along a coast which sports some of the finest beachfront mansions of the Atlantic shore, the impact of the nation's economy is felt among the more modest neighborhoods of the mainland side of Vero, says Carole Jean Jordan, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who is in the landscape irrigation business here.

Jordan, campaigning for Giuliani, wears a floor-length red sweater dress in the clubhouse his chilly afternoon. "People on a limited income are really having a hard time,'' she says. "I think it has changed the tempo of a lot of campaigns in that they have to talk about the economy - and that's certainly true in Florida. ... I think it's changed the messages of the candidates. I think they realize that middle America is hurting.''

by Mark Silva

VERO BEACH, Fla. – For months, Republican candidates have courted the popular Republican governor of Florida, Charlie Crist. But only in the final days has Crist thrown his support to Sen. John McCain.

The results of Florida’s first “mega-state’’ primary, Crist confidently predicts, will have a tremendous impact on the mega-state contests to follow on Feb. 5. And Crist just as confidently predicts a win here for McCain.

“The catapult you get coming out of the first mega-state going into the first mega-primary, I don’t think anyone can calculate the positive effect of that,’’ Crist says. “Everybody has friends in Florida, or family in Florida. Everybody’s got a Florida connection – they’re going to be watching what Florida does.’’

Crist, a former state legislator, education commissioner and attorney general who has built a political career here on policy calculations good for his own fortunes, says that he has made the call for McCain with his “heart.’’

“From my heart, to be honest with you,’’ the governor said of his decision in a telephone interview with the Tribune today. “All these people are good people. My conclusion is, I’m gonna vote for McCain… I hope it helps.’’

by Jill Zuckman

Tampa, Fla. – Shortly after criticizing Mitt Romney for his stance on Iraq during an appearance on Meet the Press, Sen. John McCain said he would not let go of the national security issue even if voters say they are currently more worried about the economy.

While Romney has tried to focus his campaign on the economy, McCain harshly criticized him yesterday and again this morning for having backed timetables for withdrawing troops in Iraq, quoting Romney himself.

"This statement was looking for the blinking exit sign," McCain charged.

Romney, however, responded on CNN's Late Edition, saying, "Nice try, John." The former Massachusetts governor, who disputes McCain's assertion, accused his chief rival of simply trying to change the subject away from the economy, a topic McCain has acknowledged is not his strong suit.

Talking to reporters aboard his bus this morning, McCain said that once the economy is fixed, the threat of radical Islamic extremism would continue, citing the unpredictability of Iran, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, the recent showdown in the Straits of Hormuz and the continuing difficulties in Afghanistan.

"Even if the economy is the quote 'number one issue', the real issue will remain America's security," McCain told reporters aboard his bus. "If it's not the most important issue in the minds of many voters, America's security will remain the number one issue with me."

"And if they choose to say, 'look, I do not need this guy because he's not as good on home loan mortgages' or whatever it is, I understand that," he continued. "I will accept that verdict. I am running because of the transcendant challenge of the 21st century, which is radical Islamic extremism, as you know."

by John McCormick, updated

MACON, Ga. – The morning after winning South Carolina's primary, Sen. Barack Obama said he has shared everything that is to be known about his relationship with indicted Chicago developer Tony Rezko.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," the Illinois Democrat and presidential hopeful also answered a series of questions about racial campaigning and his leading challenger, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama was asked specifically about a paragraph in an endorsement in Sunday's editions of the Chicago Tribune that calls on him to "divulge all there is to know about that relationship."

The editorial continues: "Until you do, the journalistic scrubbing and opposition research will intensify. You should have recognized Rezko as a political seducer of young talent. But given that you've not been accused of any crime or ethical breach, your Rezko history is not a deal-breaker."

Obama responded by saying there is nothing more to say.

"This is a story that has been out there for a year and has been thoroughly gnawed on by the press, both in Chicago and nationally," he said. "Tony Rezko was a friend of mine, a supporter, who I had known for 20 years. He was a contributor, not just to myself, but Democrats, as well as some Republicans throughout Illinois. Everybody perceived him as a businessman and developer. He got into trouble that was completely unrelated to me, and nobody has suggested that I've been involved in any of those problems. I did make a mistake by purchasing a small strip of property from him, at a time where at that point he was under the cloud of a potential investigation. I've acknowledged that was a mistake. But again, nobody has suggested any wrong-doing, and I think at this point, it's important for people to recognize that I have actually provided all the information that's out there about it."

Host George Stephanopoulos then asked whether Obama would return any additional money he has raised during his political career that has ties to Rezko.

New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, arrives to deliver remarks at the Boca Raton Synagogue in Sarasota, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO --"People spend a lot of money to spend the month of January in Florida,'' says Rudy Giuliani, whose campaign for president today will carry him from a synagogue in Boca Raton to Paisano's gourmet pizza parlor in Port St. Lucie, the Italian-American Club in Vero Beach and the commercial icon of surfing on the Atlantic Coast, Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach.

And today, on CBS' Face the Nation, the former mayor of New York insisted that his high-stakes Florida strategy for claiming his stake to the Republican Party's presidential nomination is right on.

"We're going to win in Florida,'' Giuliani told host Bob Schieffer, with an allusion to the early voting that started en masse here on Jan. 14 and which the Giuliani campaign counts on for a cushion of support on Tuesday. "We have been campaigning here very steadily since the early voting began. There has been an unprecedented amount of early voting.''

"I believe the best stragtegy for us was one where we concentrated on Florida, given all the pros and cons of our races,'' said Giuliani, interviewed in Boca Raton this morning, and trailing Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain in newspaper polls here. "The best chances were here in Florida… That’s going to be proven correct on Tuesday.’’

Sen. John McCain with Avery Smith,3, of Tampa, Fla. on his lap, at a campaign stop with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, second left, at the First Watch Cafe, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. Also pictured are Cindy McCain, far left, Brian Smith and his Emily, 1. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

by Mark Silva

ORLANDO – Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney, locked in a close contest for the support of Florida’s Republicans on Tuesday, are throwing each other’s words back at each other like heat-seeking campaign missiles.

Romney has read back McCain’s comments about lacking deep knowledge about the economy, and McCain is reading back Romney’s words about a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

And Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York struggling to save his campaign here, is warning voters that McCain and Romney are starting to sound a lot like the feuding Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

“It is getting a little nasty,’’ Giuliani said here in Orlando over the weekend. “My two rivals, Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney, are spending a lot of time attacking each other,’’ he added at the Orange County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner last night. “If they keep doing that, it’s going to sound like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. We don’t need that…. ‘’

Today, appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, McCain stood by his comments about Romney, reading his rival’s own words about Iraq. Like Clinton, he suggested, Romney was among the people talking about withdrawal -- which spells only defeat.

Voters at the polls in South Carolina for the Democratic primary.(Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

by Christi Parsons and Lisa Anderson

COLUMBIA, S.C.-- After a rancorous and sometimes racially charged contest, Barack Obama scored a resounding win in the South Carolina primary Saturday, sweeping past his Democratic rivals on a towering wave of support from African-American voters, along with a healthy share of votes from whites. (See exit polling results here.)

Obama's win had a leveling effect on the race for the Democratic nomination, and its depth left the contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York, at rough parity heading into the coast-to-coast primaries on Feb. 5.

The Illinois senator defeated Clinton by a 2-1 ratio in a vote powered by an unusually heavy turnout, with voters galvanized in large measure by the historic nature of the contest between the most viable female candidate and most competitive black candidate ever to seek the White House.

Clinton finished second over South Carolina native John Edwards, who for weeks has trailed in a distant third place in state and national polls.

The primary broke distinctly along racial lines, exit polling showed, with Obama winning almost 80 percent of the black vote—which constituted half of the primary electorate—while garnering a quarter of the white vote.

Still, in his victory speech, Obama touted support from "the most diverse coalition of Americans we've seen in a long, long time," referring to multiracial support from voters in recent contests elsewhere.

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. Photo: JEAN-PIERRE MULLER/AFP/Getty Images

by John McCormick

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Caroline Kennedy, the daughter President John F. Kennedy, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid.

In an op-ed published Sunday in The New York Times, Caroline Kennedy cited his judgment in opposing the Iraq war from the star and other traits in making her decision.

Obama issued the following statement of thanks: “I am honored to have the support of Caroline Kennedy. Caroline has been a tireless advocate for providing every child with a quality education, most recently through her work with New York City’s public schools. And through her role in selecting Profile in Courage awardees, she has shined a spotlight on leaders who have the courage to tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

It’s also a special privilege to have this endorsement because I’ve always believed that Caroline’s father was one of our greatest presidents. At a time of great challenge at home and abroad, President Kennedy led this nation with judgment and courage, pulling the world back from the brink of war, calling a generation to service, and inspiring this entire nation to reach for new frontiers.”

by John McCormick

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- On the night Sen. Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary, one of his two hometown newspapers has endorsed his presidential bid.

In its Sunday editions, the editorial page of the Chicago Tribune calls Obama the "Democrat best suited to lead this nation."

On the Republican side of the primary race, the newspaper endorsed Sen. John McCain of Arizona, saying the present dangerous world is a place he "unknowingly spent a military and political career preparing to confront."

The Obama editorial is linked here, while the one backing McCain is linked here.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Sen. Barack Obama just finished his victory speech following the South Carolina primary. His remarks are below.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
South Carolina Primary Night
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Columbia, South Carolina

Over two weeks ago, we saw the people of Iowa proclaim that our time for change has come. But there were those who doubted this country’s desire for something new – who said Iowa was a fluke not to be repeated again.

Well, tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people of South Carolina.

After four great contests in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans that we’ve seen in a long, long time.

by John McCormick

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Black voters in South Carolina overwhelmingly supported Sen. Barack Obama in today's Democratic primary, with eight in 10 backing him.

About a quarter of whites also voted for Obama, with the bulk splitting their votes evenly between Sen. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks.

Edwards' support came almost exclusively from white voters, while black women backed Obama at roughly the same proportion as black men.

by John McCormick

COLUMBIA, S.C. – When his victory was announced about an hour ago, there was hardly a peep in the convention center hall that will hold Sen. Barack Obama's celebration later this evening.

As the television networks declared him the winner of the South Carolina Democratic primary immediately after the polls closed, hundreds of people were still lined up outside to be processed through metal detectors,

"The margin is a pleasant surprise," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director. "Obviously, we are very happy."

Obama remains with his wife, Michelle, at a nearby Hampton Inn. His speech later this evening will be timed to hit for local newscasts on the West Coast.

Gibbs said Obama simply nodded earlier this evening when it became clear from exit polls that he would win. "He's very happy," Gibbs added.

To keep relaxed this afternoon, Gibbs said Obama played some basketball as he awaited news of what appears to be a sizable victory in the first heavily African-American state to hold a primary.

David Axelrod, Obama's top strategist, noted heavy turnout and called the victory a "heartening day because it was an affirmation of a new politics."

Gibbs said the race in South Carolina crossed racial and economic lines and shows Obama can win across a wide swath of the nation.

Sen. John McCain thanks Florida Gov. Charlie Crist after he endorsed McCain for president at the Pinnelas County Lincoln Day Dinner in St. Petersburg, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

by Jill Zuckman ad Mark Silva

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a surprise announcement with major implications for the Republican primary, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist threw his weight behind Sen. John McCain for president at the Pinellas County Lincoln Day Dinner here calling him "a true American hero."

"I think the world of him," Crist said of McCain.

"We have to think about, when it comes to Tuesday, who you're going to vote for and who you're going to support," he said, adding that he had thought long and hard about his decision. "I don’t think anybody would do better than the man who stands next to me."

McCain and Crist embraced at the podium as the audience stood and applauded before McCain gave a spirited thanks.

Crist is a popular Republican and a plum get in the race for endorsements. All the candidates had worked long and hard to woo him. But McCain had campaigned for Crist over the years and the two had become friends, one campaign adviser said.

McCain, who already had the state's three Cuban-American congressmen, also picked up the backing of Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-born lawyer from Orlando, this week.

The McCain campaign had no idea earlier today that Crist was going to make an endorsement. They had previously arranged for Crist to introduce McCain at the dinner. But Crist arrived early at the hotel and told McCain this evening that he planned to publicly offer his support.

Crist, a former state legislator and attorney general who rose to prominence with his own hard-line stances -- he was known as "Chain Gang Charlie'' during his days as a state senator for his insistence that prison inmates in Florida work while behind bars -- does not bring any personal political machinery to the McCain campaign. But he brings a popular name.

by Mark Silva and updated with Giuliani press conference.

ORLANDO – Protesting firefighters have staked out the lush floral entrance to the convention hotel where Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, is staging the first of two campaign appearances.

The posters of the International Association of Firefighters bear the name, Guiliani, with the international red circle-and-bar sign over it.

Jon Voigt, the actor, is working the room inside on behalf of the Republican presidential candidate. And inside, supporters are talking about what has drawn them to Giuliani – while collecting some Voigt autographs.

“I think he’s managed a large governmental agency,’’ says Hobie Fisher, an Orlando Republican who sells electrical controls and signed up yesterday to volunteer for the Giuliani campaign – at a time when the ex-mayor is struggling to hold his claim to a big-state election strategy.

“I’ve read the parts where some of the firemen and policemen said he didn’t treat them right,’’ Fisher says. “He’s been under fire, but he’s proven himself. ‘’

Asked what he is looking for in the next president, this staunch Republican – can’t think of a Democratic for whom he has voted – says: “I want a strong leader…. I think our economy is very strong. I think a lot of the business problem we’re going through is fake – the market has been manipulating our economy with false profits.’’

That’s false profits, he makes a point of noting. Not false prophets.

And when Giuliani arrives, he is quick to note how heated the race between the apparent front-runners in his party here has grown -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney dueling over each other's perceived lack of experience. The ex-mayor also warns voters here that the Republicans will do well in averting any emulation of the feud between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

"We don’t want to become like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,'' Giuliani tells the crowd here. "They’re trying to work their way out of it. We don’t want to work our way into it.''

by John McCormick

COLUMBIA, S.C. – As voters across the state head to the polls, the Democratic candidates are making the retail campaign rounds here today, seeking to keep their faces on television as much as possible.

Sen. Hillary Clinton just left the Liberty Tap Room & Grill, literally just around the corner from the hotel where staff members for Sen. Barack Obama are hanging out waiting for exit poll information and results.

Obama, meanwhile, stopped by a Baptist church, a college and restaurant, in between local television interviews. This afternoon, he is doing interviews with local TV stations in Feb. 5 states via satellite.

The pool report on Obama's morning activities, courtesy of Scott Helman of the Boston Globe, is below the jump.

Here in Florida, they take the Swamp seriously. Photo by Holly Bailey.

by Mark Silva

YEEHAW JUNCTION, Fla. -- Out here in the middle of Florida cattle country, where scarcely a campaign sign is seen, a familiar voice steps out from the car radio.

"This is Jeb Bush,'' the former governor reports. "Casino operators want to bet the future... on a bad plan.''

He is talking about the initiative on Tuesday's ballot in Miami-Dade County authorizing slot machines at parimutuels -- the dog tracks, jai alai frontons and horse tracks of the Miami area. In a state whose voters have three times rejected casino gambling, yet given counties the option of making some gambling choices for themselves -- and also authorized a statewide lottery and watched the Seminoles erect casinos on tribal territory -- the gambling question in Miami is expected to help spur the vote in Tuesday's presidential primary election.

Bush, the former governor, is the premier voice of a campaign against slot machines in his home town. "Casino operators will make millions exploiting the poorest amongst us,'' Bush warns radio listeners. "Don't let this happen, please... Vote no on slots.''

The former governor also passed along these remarks to the Tribune today: "Slots are bad for Miami-Dade because it is a false hope economically and will increase social costs. Attracting high wage industries, improving infrastructure, improving education and training programs are part of a more dynamic and long range strategy for my beloved community. Gambling will bring few benefits and will hurt in the long run.

Swamp note: This could be the first time we have posted from a rest stop along Florida's Turnpike, aka "Ronald Reagan Turnpike,'' thanks to the effusive spirit of Republicans who took hold of the state Legislature some years ago. Time to get back on the road.

(And the photo above comes from one of the good friends of the Swamp, Holly Bailey of Newsweek, with thanks to you, Holly. This Swamp's for you.)

by Christi Parsons

COLUMBIA, S.C.-So just how well does Barack Obama have to do in this state's primary to score a "win" today?

It depends on whom you ask, of course. Sen. Hillary Clinton this week has tried implicitly to downplay expectations for her own performance, continuing her campaigning in Feb. 5 precincts and making a few strategic touchdowns in the Palmetto State.

And Clinton aides this afternoon are reminding everyone of Obama's large lead in voter opinion polls.

But the Obama camp recalling the lessons of the New Hampshire primary; even when the poll numbers suggest Obama is doing pretty well, you can't underestimate the power of the Clinton operation to turn out votes.

Also, don't forget that Bill Clinton has been working the small towns of South Carolina vigorously this week. Bubba's not bad on a Southern stump, and could help his wife cut into Obama's support.

That makes it all the harder to guess what today's turnout -- quite healthy, from the latest reports -- portends for either side.

In any case, with African American voters poised to play such a crucial role in the voting, Obama needs to perform pretty well to meet expectations.

Voter surveys suggest black voters may favor Obama by as much as 5-to-1 -- no small matter, if African Americans cross the halfway mark in the number of Democrats who show up to vote today.

And don't forget the role John Edwards supporters will play today. The South Carolina native is back by double-digits in the polls, but he's hoping a decent showing could keep hope alive among his core of progressive backers as the three Democrats head into the 20-plus state primary a week from Tuesday.

Notables to keep an eye on: Will Obama's demonstrated strength among white voters hold up in South Carolina? And what will happen to the storyline of the gender gap on Sunday morning?

by Mark Silva

MIAMI -- As President Bush prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address on Monday night, touting "great progress'' made during the past seven years, he will stress the urgency of the emergency tax relief that he is seeking as a "shot in the arm'' for the economy.

"While economic growth has slowed in recent months, the foundation for long-term growth remains solid,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address today offering a preivew of his address to a joint session of Congress at 9 pm EST on Monday. Yet he is asking Congress to enact the tax relief which leaders have approved, including tax rebates for Americans, "as soon as possible.''

Bush also will ask for action on an extension of the nation's intelligence surveillance laws, underscoring the continuing threat that terrorism poses and the urgency of acting.

For all the insistence of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the economic relief approved must be big enough "to make a difference'' and must be swift, the taxmen at Treasury say that May or June may be the soonest they are able to deliver any of these rebates.

And it is, perhaps, a measure of the president's limited influence in his remaining year -- with his party grappling over a nominee to replace him here in Florida in the first mega-state primary election of the season the day after the State of the Union address -- that Bush has chosen to highlight just two things today: Economic relief and terrorism surveillance.

The leading Republican candidates have said here in recent days -- and all four of them reiterated this in appearances in Miami on Friday -- that the tax relief which Congress is eyeing does not go far enough. Rudy Giuliani, struggling to save his campaign here, is promising to "jump-start our economy'' with the largest tax cuts in history. The Democrats, dueling for the support of their party's voters in South Carolina's primary today, have different ideas about reviving the economy. But Monday evening, in Washington, Bush will hold center stage.

As is customary, the president will take his message on the road with a three-day post-SOTU tour -- starting with three stops in California on Wednesday, includng Los Angeles, and carrying him through Las Vegas, Colorado, and Kansas City. But, of course, it will be the looming campaign of the Feb. 5 primary elections - including, of course, California's -- that occupy much of the public's attention in those days ahead.

By Lisa Anderson

COLUMBIA, SC--Primary Day dawned misty here in the state capitol, but the weatherman promises sunny skies and temps in the low 50's for most of the state today.

That's a far better scenario than the sleet, snow and rain that greeted Republican voters going to their primary polls a week ago and served to depress turnout 22 percent from the all-time high of 573,000 in 2000.

The last time the Democrats had a primary vote was in 2004, when about 290,000 people voted. Although voters are not registered by party, it's estimated that Republicans outnumber Democrats by about two to one.

But, given the historic candidacies of Obama and Clinton in this race, enthusiasm is running high on the Democratic side and state party officials say there could be a record turnout of as many as 350,000 voters.

Another sign of interest: state election officials report that 32,000 absentee ballots have been issued in the state for today's primary compared to about 22,000 issued for the GOP contest on Jan. 19.

With African Americans expected to make up at least half of primary voters, a heavy turnout could boost Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who has been gaining strength in that community.

On the other hand, women, both black and white, are among the most reliable of primary voters and a strong turnout among them could favor New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has seen her African American support drop in recent days, even as she gained among white voters.

The polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.

Sen. Mel Martinez, center, endorsing Sen. John McCain, greeted McCain and wife Cindy at Latin Builders Association. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

MIAMI -- Sen. John McCain, who has campaigned on the streets of Little Havana with his life-story of war-imprisonment in a Communist country, came to the chandeliered ballroom of the Latin Builders Association, a chamber of power brokers in the Cuban-American community, courting a vote that will accouint for one in ten of all Republican ballots cast here next week.

And the senior senator from Arizona brought with him late this afternoon the junior senator from Florida, Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-born attorney who was carried to the United States as a teenager in the "Pedro Pan'' airlifts from Cuba run by the Catholic Charities.

The campiagn endorsement of Florida's highest-ranking Cuban-American official caps a furious week of campaigning for McCain at a time when he apparently is pitted against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a bid for the backing of Florida's Republicans in Tuesday's primary. Martinez faces his own problems here in Florida. The former general chairman of the Repbublican National Committee stepped down recently to focus more on politics at home, where the former Orange County chairman's approval ratings have been sagging.

Today, though, this was McCain's chance to tout a trophy at the end of a long day of Republican candidate-screening by the Latin Builders, who saw Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in separate addresses at a downtown Miami hotel. McCain and Martinez greeted the builders at cocktail hour, in a ballroom set with stand-up tables and bars that resembled a political fund-raiser.

McCain walked in to the hall with Martinez behind him a minute ago.

'We're confident that we're going to win here in Florida,'' McCain said later, with Martinez, shown below left, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, (R-Fla.), McCain and the senator's wife, Cindy, by his side at a round of questions from reporters after the endorsement announcement here.

by John McCormick

CLEMSON, S.C. – After flying separately from his media entourage for most of the past month, Sen. Barack Obama shed his smaller plane today and started flying with the pack.

On a four-city South Carolina fly-around today, the Illinois Democrat, his Secret Service detail, several staff members and members of the media all shared space -- and expense -- for a 737-800 aircraft.

Obama had spent much of the past year crisscrossing the country on a much smaller, more comfortable Gulfstream II. In most cases, when his campaign offered a press charter, it was on a different aircraft than the candidate.

Reporters had started to gripe about not having the candidate on the same plane, something considered a tradition in presidential campaigns.

Earlier this month, for example, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign introduced a 737 plane dubbed "Hill Force One," a bird that has suffered several mechanical glitches in recent days, delaying her to several events.

So far, it has been smooth flying on the ATA Airlines aircraft that is expected to serve as Obama's plane from here forward, as the campaign transitions after Saturday's South Carolina primary to a flying marathon between states that will hold primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5.

by Glenn Thrush

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The quotable, powerful dean of the New York congressional delegation, Charlie Rangel, was in South Carolina stumping for Hillary Clinton today and boy was he missing Harlem.

Asked if he was alarmed by a poll showing Barack Obama winning only ten percent of the white Democratic vote, Rangel shot back in an affably combative way: "I'm not a South Carolinian --I don’t know if the goddam Civil War is over here or not—what are u asking me? I'm not a historian."

Nor was he too impressed with recent migration of New York retirees to the state.

"Boy, you should appreciate New York," he told a reporter in a chilly parking lot at Benedict College. "You take New York for granted, you know, elevators don’t work, people don’t show up on time, there are no schedules, you don't know where you are going next, hey, it's your life —hey, that’s New York. New Yorkers, old timers, are leaving to relax down here – if I retired down here I would lose my goddam mind!"

by Christi Parsons

COLUMBIA, S.C.--Rep. Charles Rangel and former New York Mayor David Dinkins joined Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail Friday, appearing with her first thing in the morning at Benedict College, a historically black school.

Rangel went straight to the point of whether he, as an African American, should be supporting Barack Obama for president instead of Clinton.

"Some people have asked me," he said, "'Do I feel awkward supporting the senator when her opponent is of color?'"

In answering, the New York congressman took a slight jab at Obama, who speaks so often of the country's future with use of the word "hope."

"I find it very easy to say, 'Who do you know who can do the job?'" Rangel said. "As opposed to, 'Who do you hope and dream could do the job?'"

Rangel told the crowd members they'd "better think in terms of how we can have a great country" and "make sure we don't dream about a better tomorrow, that we make sure that we move forward."

Dinkins praised Clinton for paying her dues, and for showing up in the Senate and "realizing she was one of 100 senators . . . She did everything but fetch coffee for the Republican senators, and she won them over."

"Lofty rhetoric is nice," he said, "but ultimately you've got to govern. And we need somebody who has the capacity to govern."

Clinton praised both of the two leaders, placing a heavy emphasis on how they earned their way through the world.

Noting Rangel's powerful position as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, Clinton said, "He didn't get there by leapfrogging. He got there by lots of hard work, day in and day out, week in and week out."

Of Dinkins, she said, "He gave himself to public service in the city that we love . . . He served as mayor at a very difficult time. David always zeroed in on what would matter to people's lives."

She didn't say anything about Obama's resume, which her camp considers a bit thin. Then again, it was a well-educated crowd, and they probably got the point.

By Jim Tankersley

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A cold gray veil has settled over California, dumping rain on the beaches and snow in the Sierras and cutting visibility; descending into the Oakland airport yesterday, the Golden Gate Bridge lay hidden beneath a low cloud ceiling before bursting into view moments before landing.

We offer this weather report as a quick metaphor for the Republican presidential race here, which is looking quite stormy with a week and a half to go before the Feb. 5 primary.

Two highly respected in-state polls this week show a cloudy and volatile struggle for the GOP lead in the Land of Reagan. A Field Poll released Wednesday had Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) leading with 22 percent of the vote, followed closely by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 18 percent (which is within the poll's margin of error). Late last night, the Public Policy Institute of California released a poll showing McCain up a dozen points on Romney, 29 percent to 17 percent.

Note that in both cases, the leading candidate still claims less than a third of the vote. (That's a contrast to the Democratic side; both Field and the PPIC have Hillary Clinton at about 40 percent and beating Barack Obama by double-digits.) In the Field poll, in one five Republicans still hadn't decided on a candidate. In the PPIC survey, nearly half said they weren't satisfied with their crop of candidates.

Both polls show Rudy Giuliani's California fortunes sinking fast. The former New York City mayor has dropped to about 10 percent of support – putting him in the same ballpark as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) – after leading the pack with a quarter of the vote in December polls.

Giuliani's drop coincides with McCain's climb, and it mirrors national polls. That suggests the numbers could change again, perhaps dramatically, depending on the results from Florida's primary next week.

The state weather forecast looks a little more static: rain, well into next week.

By Mark Silva and updated.

MIAMI – Welcome to a genuine, pre-primary cattle call at the Latin Builders Association, a daylong assembly of some of Miami’s best-wired movers and shakers in a ballroom of a towering downtown hotel where the leading Republican candidates for president are parading one by one.

Mitt Romney addressed the business-suited crowd this morning, talking about his wisdom as a businessman and how he is ready to take on Washington and turn it around. The Swamp missed his appearance, but is told he received good reviews here. Rudy Giuliani is addressing the crowd at lunch now. Mike Huckabee is expected at 2 pm EST, John McCain at 5.

It has turned cloudy here in Miami, and the storm clouds of a critical election are amassing on the horizon. On Tuesday, at least one of the four leading Republicans is likely to suffer a campaign-altering defeat in the Sunshine State’s presidential primary election. And one will soar with the results, priming him for the run of primaries that follows on Feb. 5.

They are calling this session “Decision 2008.’’

The Clintons, pictured with Tony Rezko. Hillary Clinton said today on the Today Show that she has posed for thousands of pictures and doesn't know the man. Frame photo by MSNBC.

By Mike Dorning

CHARLESTON, S.C.--A photo has surfaced that shows Hillary and Bill Clinton posing with Chicago developer Tony Rezko, a Barack Obama contributor whom Hillary Clinton condemned as a "slum landlord" supporter of the Illinois senator earlier this week.

Clinton was shown the photo during an interview on NBC's Today Show this morning but told host Matt Lauer she did not remember meeting Rezko.

"No, I don't," Clinton told Lauer. "You know, I probably have taken hundreds of thousands of pictures."

"I don't know the man. I wouldn't know him if he walked in the door. I don't have a 17-year relationship with him," Clinton added.

During a presidential debate Monday evening, Clinton blasted Obama for his relationship with Rezko, telling Obama she had fought Republican policies as first lady during the 1990s while "you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago."

The photo is undated but Lauer said NBC News believes it was taken during Bill Clinton's presidency.

According to a database of campaign contributions maintained by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Rezko made a $15,000 contribution to the Democratic National Committee in March 2000, the last year of the Clinton presidency. Rezko also made a $1,250 contribution during the Clinton re-election campaign in 1996 to a Democratic party account that funded activities in Illinois to help win the election.

As the leader of the party, President Clinton and the first lady were active fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee during his presidency. They frequently hosted events for signicant contributors and party fundraisers that often included a chance to be photographed with the first couple.

At the time, "soft-money" contributions to the party were not limited in the same way that contributions are to federal political candidates. The Clintons, drew heavily on contributions to the party to support the Clinton re-election campaign and later the Al Gore presidential campaign, just as Republican presidential candidates did with contributions to the GOP.

Lauer asked Clinton “if there's no such thing as ever being able to fully vet who you come in contact with, is it appropriate to make this kind of an attack on your opponent?”

But Clinton responded by pointing to the extensive relationship Rezko forged with Obama.

“There's a big difference between standing somewhere, taking a picture with someone you don't know and haven't seen since, and having a relationship that, you know, the newspapers in Chicago have been exploring,” Clinton said

Song de La Loma, at the Little Havana senior 's center. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

MIAMI – A 15 piece, salsa-dancing and singing company of older men and women dressed in white from head to toe – the women gowned, the men wearing guayaberas and slacks – sways on the low stage of a Little Havana senior citizens center to the beat of a conga drummer.

“Florida is Rudy Country,’’ reads the hopeful banner strung behind the stage, as a couple of hundred elderly people fill the rows of metal folding chairs on the speckled linoleum floor, the hall lighted in fluorescence, the neighborhood bathed in the winter sun of a cool and breezy Miami morning.

This was supposed to be part of the base of Rudy Giuliani’s high-stakes campaign for the Republicans of Florida. Yet here, as elsewhere in Florida, polls show the former mayor of New York’s hold on the staunchly Cuban-American community of Miami-Dade County is slipping.

“Giuliani!’’ exclaims a man in the back of the hall, Victor Laval, asked why he has come here this morning. But will he vote for Giuliani, Laval is asked. “Maybe…. Maybe,’’ he says, fluttering a hand in doubt. "Maybe... maybe.''

by Christi Parsons

BELTON, S.C.--The clerk at the Willietakeit Pawn Shop was preoccupied with his iPod when your Swamp reporter showed up asking for directions yesterday.

But when he heard the destination was a campaign event for Democrat Hillary Clinton, he set aside his tunes, turned his ballcap around frontways and said he had an opinion to share.

Eyeing the giant gold cross around his neck, the scruffy red beard and and the overalls, not to mention the row of rifles within his reach, your correspondent engaged in a bit of cultural profiling and got ready to take notes on the "I Hate Hillary" rant.

"You give her my best," he said. "Tell her she's got my vote."

Even a native Southerner -- including this reporter -- sometimes forgets how inaccurate those old regional stereotypes can be.

Helpfully, South Carolina is full of people ready to reboot your perspective. Consider the local lawyer at that very Hillary event, who seized the question-and-answer period as an opportunity to publicly lecture the people seated in the press row.

She thinks the national media in town to cover the important South Carolina primary have been caricaturizing her state.

"We don't all care about people's color or their gender," Kathy Adams said, addressing the press as the rest of the audience clapped and cheered. "We care about finding a leader."

"Amen!" shouted Hillary Clinton.

"People might surprise you," Adams said afterward, "if you let them."

That includes the next overall-wearing gentleman you meet, whose iPod isn't necessarily playing Skynrd.

"You want to hear something good?" he asked before I left, offering me an earbud so I could listen to some Janis Joplin.

by Frank James

The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll out last night on how Americans feel about the economy has at least two interesting results.

One is counterintuitive, given all the statements lately by pundits, politicians and others about the public's surging economic anxiety.

The poll found that even though nearly 80 percent of Americans thought there'd be a recession within the year, a majority also felt their own economic situations were just fine.

As the related article in the Los Angeles Times puts it:

The anxiety Wall Street is feeling from the mortgage crisis, housing slump and high oil prices is resonating with more than two-thirds of adults surveyed, who think the economy is performing badly. An even greater percentage -- 79% -- are convinced a recession is likely within the next year.

But two-thirds of adults also say they have yet to feel the effects of that dour forecast, rating their personal situation as secure.

The level of confidence rises with income. Among adults earning more than $100,000 a year, 92% feel safe, while more than half of those bringing in less than $40,000 a year describe their finances as "shaky."

Experts attribute the prevailing optimism in the face of an economic storm to the fact that many more Americans survive recessions unscathed than are harmed by them -- particularly those in two-income households with fixed mortgage rates and stable jobs.

"Those folks are not in bad shape, and they don't have much to fear about the recession," said Gus Faucher, an economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Recessions put millions out of work, but there are many more people who keep their jobs."

by Matthew Hay Brown

So House leaders are congratulating themselves on the bipartisan agreement they reached with the White House on an economic stimulus package that’s expected to hit the floor for a vote next week. But what happens when the legislation reaches the Senate?

“It is imperative that this streamlined and focused stimulus package not be loaded down with extraneous provisions,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warned Thursday.

It isn’t that the Maryland Democrat opposes extending unemployment benefits or increasing food stamps. But Democratic negotiators agreed to drop those efforts in order to gain Republican agreement to issue tax rebates to individuals who earned as little as $3,000 in 2007.

In a release, House Republican leaders referred to Democratic proposals to boost unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid and transportation infrastructure as “extraneous spending.” The deal now consists of the rebate checks of $600 to $1,200 for most taxpayers, along with tax breaks for business investment.

House Minority Leader John Boehner called it a “win for the American people.

“It will help to stimulate our economy in the most direct and effective way possible: by putting money back in the pockets of middle class families, and by giving employers incentives to create new jobs and grow our economy,” the Ohio Republican said. “Equally as important, this agreement contains no unrelated spending or tax increases – a Republican condition of support from the outset of our negotiations.”

How long that support will last is the question.

by Frank James

Is Sen. Hillary Clinton the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee again, at least in the eyes of her campaign?

That's certainly one inference that can be drawn from this statement issued by her campaign after last night's Republican presidential debate in Florida:

Clinton Campaign Statement on GOP Debate

“Senator Clinton looks forward to debating the eventual Republican nominee, making her case for bringing the troops home quickly and responsibly and detailing her solutions for jumpstarting the economy and reversing the Bush policies.”

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, January 25.

President Bush is speaking at a House Republican retreat in West Virginia.

U.S. Archivist Allen Weinstein is holding a public conversation with former First Lady Barbara Bush.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are speaking at a National Press Club luncheon.

by Lisa Anderson

COLUMBIA, S.C.—The New York Times came out Thursday night endorsing New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as “the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House” and Arizona Sen. John McCain as “the only “Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe.”

The paper said it had “enjoyed hearing Mr. Edwards’s fiery oratory, but we cannot support his candidacy. The former Senator from North Carolina has repudiated so many of his earlier positons, so many of his Senate votes, that we’re not sure where he stands.”

As for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the New York Times said, “The potential upside of a great Obama presidency is enticing, but this country faces huge problems, and will no doubt be facing more that we can’t foresee. The next president needs to start immediately on challenges that will require concrete solutions, resolve, and the ability to make government work. Mrs. Clinton is more qualified, right now, to be president.”

On the Republican side, the New York Times said it could not back former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.”

In fact, the paper said, “The other candidates offer no better choices.”

But McCain, the New York Times said, “has been a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, working with Senator Russ Feingold, among the most liberal of Democrats, on groundbreaking legislation, just as he worked with Senator Edward Kennedy on immigration reform. That doesn’t make him a moderate, but it makes him the best choice for the party’s presidential nomination.”

And then there were five.

- Jason George

____________________________________________________________________________

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Updated: 10:45 p.m. EST

That's all folks. The two-hour debate was cut to about 100 minutes at the requests of the candidates, at least that's what Brian Williams said.

What was the highlight?

Nothing too crazy tonight – all in all it was the tamest of affairs.
Perhaps what was most impressive was when Russert spent what seemed like a full five minutes going after Romney, questioning him about giving money to his own campaign and many Americans still saying they won't vote for a Mormon.
Romney handled both questions with ease and used the valuable time to get into several of his talking points. For a moment, you could've forgot other candidates were on the stage.

And so much for our Rudy 9/11 Watch – he never mentioned the day once, except indirectly.

Who did come up?

John McCain's mother was mentioned in three separate instances. Chuck Norris came up twice, and Sylvester Stalone was invoked once.

The name most mentioned tonight (beyond Bush and those on stage)?

Hillary Clinton – Romney, McCain and Giuliani all took shots at her, never once mentioning Senators Barack Obama or Edwards.

While that might demonstrate that the Republicans don't consider them a threat, I doubt the two men minded being left out of the discussion.

Good night.

By Mike Dorning

BEAUFORT, S.C.--Three words: Vice President Oprah.

That was No. 1 on the Top Ten Campaign Promises list that Barack Obama taped today for the Late Show with David Letterman. Obama taped the segment, to air tonight at 10:35 pm Central/11:35 pm Eastern on most CBS stations, just before speaking at a rally here this evening.

The complete Top Ten List, as read by Obama:

10. To keep the budget balanced, I’ll rent the situation room for sweet sixteens.

1. Three words: Vice President Oprah.

by Jason George

Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich is dropping his presidential bid, according to a story on the Web site of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Kucinich never did better than 3rd place, which he got in Michigan, where no candidate campaigned. He finished 5th in New Hampshire and 8th in Iowa.

In announcing the news, Kucinich said: "I want to continue to serve in Congress," but that is not a given, as he's got four Democratic challengers in the upcoming OH primary.

Kucinich said he will not necessarily endorse another primary candidate, but whoever gets the nomination will get this question from him: "What are you going to do for Cleveland?"

With Kucinich gone, only Clinton, Edwards, Obama and former Sen. Mike Gravel remain.

by John McCormick

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sen. Hillary Clinton's top spokesman suggested this afternoon that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign had been "measuring the drapes" for the White House, before it was surprised by a second-place finish in New Hampshire.

The comment came during a conference call with reporters where several members of her husband's administration provided testimony on what they said were policy achievements during the 1990s, seeking to further tweak Obama for statements he made last week about Republicans being the "party of ideas" during the period.

"It was Democrats who did it," said Steve Richetti, a deputy chief of staff during the Clinton administration. "We're here to argue that the new ideas and leadership was provided by Democrats."

Mark Penn, Clinton's top strategist, said Obama made the comments while trying to win support from a more conservative newspaper editorial board in Reno, Nevada.

"He never in that transcript says that they were bad ideas," he said. "He says that the Republican Party was the party of ideas for the past 10 or 15 years."

Penn called on Obama to provide specifics on the "ideas" he was talking about. "We have yet to see any specific answer," he said.

Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director, defended a radio ad that her campaign took off South Carolina airwaves that used Obama's comments about Republicans and suggested he thought those ideas superior to Democratic ones.

"The advertisement uses his own works," Wolfson said, later adding that the ad was replaced with a new one that offers a closing argument for South Carolina.

Before its second-place showing in New Hampshire, Wolfson said Obama's campaign was "measuring the drapes" for the White House.

by Glenn Thrush

ANDERSON, S.C. -- The battle for South Carolina is making Nevada look like a pillow fight. The Obama camp has been accusing the Clintons of distorting their record, particularly in stretching the candidate's mild-ish praise of Ronald Reagan to make it seem like Obama adored the Great Communicator.

Not to be outdone in the complaining-about-dirty-tricks-department, Hillaryland has posted a list of alleged Obama's nasty statements on NAFTA, Bill's paid speeches and the Clintons reported "20-year pact of ambition" to rule the universe.

"Senator Obama and his campaign have engaged in the very kind of political kneecapping and distortion that they now purport to detest," reads the intro.

Our favorite "distortion" is the very last one, which seems to be just a garden variety re-telling of L'affaire Rezko.

SEN. OBAMA FALSELY CLAIMED HE HAD NEVER DONE ANY FAVORS FOR REZKO. As a state senator, Barack Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting his political patron Tony Rezko's successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens. [Chicago Sun Times, 6/13/07]

by Glenn Thrush

ANDERSON, S.C. -- In a new fundraising e-mail, Michelle Obama slams Bill Clinton, decrying Bubba's "win-at-all-costs tactics" against her husband.

She writes:

In the last week or two, another candidate's spouse has been getting an awful lot of attention.

We knew getting into this race that Barack would be competing with Senator Clinton and President Clinton at the same time.

We expected that Bill Clinton would tout his record from the nineties and talk about Hillary's role in his past success. That's a fair approach and a challenge we are prepared to face.

What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record.

Barack isn't relying on a former President of the United States to campaign for him.

Please stand up in the face of these new attacks. Make your first online donation of $50 today and own a piece of this campaign.

Rudy Giuliani, with the chairman of his Florida campaign, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, left. Giuliani said it was "politically correct'' to focus on Florida. Photo by Mark Silva

By Mark Silva

BOCA RATON, Fla.– Rudy Giuliani, facing the press near the end of a Florida campaign that could make or break his bid for the presidency, was asked today if he had made a mistake in banking so heavily on Florida.

“I think it was politically correct to focus on Florida,’’ Giuliani said. “When you consider all the circumstances that were presented to us… no, I don’t think it was a mistake.’’

Asked if he would carry on his campaign, if he were to lose Florida’s Republican primary on Tuesday, the former mayor of New York said: “I am going to continue my campaign. I have no intention of ending my campaign… I have no reason not to anticipate winning…

“We are very competitive… In an election as fluid as this, I think we’ve got a very good chance.’’

The newest poll today, however, shows that Mitt Romney and John McCain are running a neck-and-neck race in the Florida primary – with 30 percent of Republicans surveyed supporting Romney and 26 percent McCain in a survey taken by Mason-Dixon Opinion Research. Giuliani, who once was the apparent frontrunner in Florida, drew 18 percent.

Before climbing into the passenger seat of a black Cadillac Escalade SUV en route to the scene of tonight’s debate at the palm-lined, sun-splashed campus of Florida Atlantic University, where the Swamp is now seated, Giuliani was asked if tonight’s debate – airing at 9 pm EST on MSNBC – will provide his “last chance’’ to claim a Florida victory.

“No, a debate is never the last chance,’’ he said. “The last chance is on Monday to turn it around… The debate is important, but the whole campaign is the thing that turns it around…getting your message out.’’

by Mike Dorning

KINGSTREE, S.C.—Even as he repeated complaints that Hillary and Bill Clinton are spreading falsehoods about his record, Barack Obama today dismissed suggestions that bad feelings from the Democratic primary campaign would hinder the party in the fall or depress turnout among African-Americans if Clinton is nominated.

“Black voters shouldn’t blame Senator Clinton for running a vigorous campaign against me,” Obama said during a press conference following a rally here. “That should be a source of pride. It means that I might win this thing.”

Obama added that he is “confident that the Democrats will rally together” for the campaign in November because the differences among the Democratic candidates “pale in comparison” to differences with Repulicans.

Several party leaders including Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) have reportedly contacted the Clintons in recent days to ask them to tone down their rhetoric against Obama lest the increasingly bitter tone of the campaign risks divisions in the party. Party leaders particularly have worried that African-American enthusiasm to vote could be dampened if Clinton is nominated through a campaign that is perceived as unfair to Obama.

Obama was peppered with questions about a radio ad his campaign is airing in South Carolina that charges Clinton is “making false attacks” and will “say anything to get elected.”

Giuliani signed autographs after a speech before about 200 lsupporters in a chandeliered hotel hall. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- "I don't want our heads down,'' Rudy Giuliani told his crowd here, with the former mayor of New York promising lower taxes and a revived economy, a bigger military and greater security for all. "I want our heads up.’’

“Rudy, you did it in New York,’’ a woman called out.

“I did that in New York,’’ he said.

"Yes you did,’’ she echoed.

That was Mary Colombo, a retiree who first started coming to Florida as a "snowbird'' in 1989 -- "always went back to vote for Rudy'' -- and settled here in 2000, in Wynmoor, a retirement community in Coconut Creek. She joined a couple hundred other mostly elderly people filling a small, stuffy and warm chandeliered room of a Boca Raton hotel where Giuliani staged an appearance and a press conference before tonight's debate.

And this is the part of Florida where Giuliani hopes to build a winning vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday. With his campaign targeting 23 counties throughout the state -- running a line from Southwest Florida and up the I-4 corridor to Jacksonville, the three big counties of Southeast Florida, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade are his anchor.

With voters like Colombo: "I am from New York originally, and what he did for New York, we got to ride the subways without getting robbed... You know what they call that? Fascist.''

This retired Republican lived for 45 years in Elmhurst, in Brooklyn, and she has not yet cast her vote in the early-voting or absentee balloting widely available here. She plans to spend election day turning out her neighbors to vote for Giuliani.

"I vote in Wynmoor because I push my neighbors to vote.’’

by Jason George

Remember New Hampshire?

The contest there might seem like years ago, but it was only about two weeks that Granite State voters went to the polls, with Rep Dennis Kucinich soon calling for a recount of those votes. Well that recount is now done – or at least has ended – on the Democratic side.

Yesterday, the NH secretary of state's office stopped the Democratic recount because the state had gone through the $27,000 Kunicich had paid to finance the process. By that point, the state had recounted about 40 percent of the ballots and saw no major problems, except for handfuls of votes being off because of human error. You can see the comparison here.

The recount on the Republican side began this morning with no word on when the task will be completed. The recount on that side is being paid for by Republican candidate Albert Howard, who will need nothing short of an act of God to turn the 44 votes he received on Jan. 9 into a victory. According to his Web site though, this might not be a problem, as Howard has a line in to the Almighty:
"The Angel of the Lord told me in January of 1992 that Hillary Rodham Clinton and I would meet and be running against each other and that she would lose."

Anyone in New Hampshire today can check out the recount, in person, at the State Archives and Records Management Building in Concord.

by Frank James

Wow, that was fast, especially for this Congress. House Democrats and Republicans have agreed to an economic stimulus deal.

It's amazing what can happen during an election year when the economy is tanking and neither party wants to wear the hair shirt for not doing enough to address the nation's economic woes.

The broad outlines of the deal are being reported by the Associated Press:

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican congressional leaders reached a tentative deal Thursday on tax rebates of $300 to $1,200 per household and business tax cuts to jolt the slumping economy.

Congressional officials close to the negotiations said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio reached agreement in principle in a telephone call Thursday morning.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two wanted key members of their parties to sign off on the approximately $150 billion accord before any announcement.

by James Oliphant

A far as legal-brained firepower goes, the chief beneficiary of Fred Thompson’s decision to pull out of the presidential race is Mitt Romney.

The Romney campaign Thursday announced that a host of conservative lawyers and scholars who were backing Thompson have joined the Romney camp.

Among them is Victoria Toensing, who made her mark as an anti-terrorism policy-maker at the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. Toensing is joined by her husband (and fellow regular on the cable news circuit) Joseph diGenova, the former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.

by Glenn Thrush

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Some of the Hillary people have been spinning a possible third-place finish in South Carolina for about a week now -- which seemed totally preposterous until John Edwards began surging here.

"It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility," said one major donor. Of course all this could be part of the usual lowering expectations thing.

Now comes a Zogby/Reuters/C-Span poll showing Obama 39, Clinton 24, Edwards 19.

Sen. John McCain likes the flag for a backdrop. It appears behind him in a new TV ad in Florida and it appeared here in West Palm Beach, behind McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Photo by Mark Silva.

(Updated at 1:11 pm with Clinton campaign comment)

by Mark Silva

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona, holding a "town hall'' assembly at the Palm Beach County Convention Center now, accused Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York of raising a "white flag'' of "surrender'' in the war in Iraq.

McCain, fighting for a victory in Florida's Republican primary election on Tuesday to bolster his victories coming out of New Hampshire and South Carolina, brought a South Carolina senator with him here today. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said he had "been interpreting for John all through South Carolina,'' urged voters to remember one thing when they vote here.

"When you vote, you are voting for the commander-in-chief of a nation of war,'' said Graham, evoking the image of American troops at war. "The question is who is best able to walk in their shoes, understand their language and lead them to victory.’’

And McCain wasted no time here at a forum still underway in drawing a bright line between himself and the Democrat whom he expects to face in November, should both of them survive the brusing primary campaigns underway in both parties this winter.

Things are going well in Iraq, McCain maintained, "and now, incredibly, incredibly, in the Democratic debate a couple of nights ago…. incredibly, incredibly Sen. Clinton decided that she wants to surrender, she wants to raise a white flag… We are succeeding, and she is committed to setting a date for withdrawl, for surrender… My friends, I will not let that happen.''

by Jill Zuckman

For a while, it seemed like Mike Huckabee had a lock on the campy tough guy vote as he toted Walker Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris around Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Then John McCain got Wilford Brimley, the gruff and tough actor turned oatmeal pitchman.

Today comes the tie break.

Sylvester Stallone of Rocky fame has come out for McCain.

"I like McCain a lot. A lot. And you know, things may change along the way, but there's something about matching the character with the script," Stallone told Fox and Friends. "And right now, the script that's being written and reality is pretty brutal and pretty hard-edged like a rough action film, and you need somebody who's been in that to deal with it."

When informed of the big news, McCain said: "I'm going to Philadelphia and running up the steps."

by Christi Parsons

GREENVILLE, S.C.--Hillary Clinton is running a little late for her speech here this morning, but her local supporters are finding ways to keep the crowd entertained.

Rep. Fletcher Smith of Greenville vamped for a while on the state of education policy, and on the need for health-care reform, and also took a minute to ruminate on recent criticism about how Bill Clinton has been handling himself on the campaign trail.

Some critics have suggested the former president pipe down a bit, but Fletcher disagrees.

"I am so proud of Bill Clinton," Smith said. "Any man who does not stand up for his wife does not deserve to have a wife the caliber of Hillary Clinton."

And anybody who thinks differently, he says, should be on notice that "Fletcher Smith has Bill Clinton's back."

This was followed by a surprise performance by a local singer, unexpectedly called out of the crowd to perform "Amazing Grace" a capella.

"Well," she said nervously before she began, "at my church we always say, 'Be ye also prepared.'"

by Frank James

If a politician wants to score points with the public, it never hurts to beat up on the media, something which President Clinton, a politician with few equals, knows and demonstrated yesterday when he got gnarly with Jessica Yellin of CNN.

Yellin asked Clinton a legitmate question. If the former Democratic Party state chair likens the tactics used by a former president of his own party to those once used by Lee Atwater, one of the most fearsome Republican political strategists, that certainly needs a response from the accused.

Surely, if CNN had just reported the comments of Dick Harpootlian, the former South Carolina party chair, without offering Clinton a chance to repond, that would not only have violated journalistic ethics but it would have no doubt angered the former president, and justifiably so,

So this was clearly a case where Yellin was damned either way.

by Frank James

After New Hampshire, we're all more skeptical about polls although it should be said in their defense that they more often than not do a good job of predicting in which direction a political race is headed.

Given that disclaimer, there's a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll that suggests John Edwards helped himself somewhat with his performance Monday night in the Democratic presidential candidates' debate and that Sen. Barack Obama is showing a little slippage while Sen. Hillary Clinton appears to be flat.

Here's what the Zogby polling outfit reports. Keep in mind the margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percent:

Utica, NY – Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s lead over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has shrunk by four points overall and by nine points among black voters, during the last 24 hours of polling, but he retains a sizable edge, the latest Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby survey shows.

The telephone tracking poll taken Jan. 21-23 shows Obama with 39% support from likely Democratic voters, compared to Clinton’s 24% support. The three-day daily tracking survey included 811 likely Democratic primary voters across South Carolina and carries a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. In yesterday's tracking poll, Obama had 43% support to Clinton’s 25%.

So according to this poll, Obama still has a substantial lead in South Carolina of around 15 percentage points.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards still trails, but has gained four points and now has support from 19% of likely voters.

Obama still has a healthy lead among African American voters, but lost almost nine points since yesterday, dropping from 65% to 56% support among that group. Edwards, who registered no support from black voters the day before, picked up five points and Clinton added about two points to reach 18% of black support. Nearly one in five - 19% - of black voters said they were not sure for whom they would vote, which was up a point from the day before.

by Mark Silva

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Sen. John McCain stands before an American flag filling the frame of the new television ad he is airing here in Florida as he somberly states: “Floridians are concerned about the threat of radical Islamic extremism and their economic security. There's no one more qualified to meet our national security threats.’’

If this sounds like the calling card of Rudy Giuliani, the erstwhile front-runner in Florida now competing with McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee for the endorsement of the Sunshine State’s Republicans on Tuesday, the cards are shuffling in this shifting race. Giuliani’s campaign is placing a huge emphasis now on local, Florida issues – ranging from tax-cutting to a national catastrophic fund for hurricane relief.

Giuliani also is counting on something else here: The “early voting’’ that started on Jan. 14, at a time when polling portrayed a four-way tie among the Republican Party’s frontrunners.

As more recent polls have shown voters shifting toward McCain and Romney, the Giuliani campaign is confident that it made a big investment in turning out early voters supportive of the former New York mayor in polling places open for two weeks before the primary – as well as courting a robust absentee vote in Florida – that will provide a strong base for the final vote count.

Bill McCollum, the Giuliani campaign’s Florida chairman, said in an interview this morning that Giuliani also is connecting with voters on issues of direct concern to Floridians.

(Updated at 1:02 pm with new Obama quote)

by Frank James

There's a question that ought to asked frequently of Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama or any of the Republican candidates.

In Clinton's case, it has to do with her campaign's repeated representations of certain statements Sen. Barack Obama made when he appeared before the editorial board of the Reno Gazette Journal and his statement that he never said he supported single-payer, i.e. government-run health care system.

The question is this: Given what happened in the run up to the Iraq War, with the way the Bush Administration selectively presented classified intelligence in a manner that best suited its case for war, why shouldn't voters worry that a Hillary Clinton or Obama, or Mitt Romney administration wouldn't similarly shape intelligence in a way that suited its agenda?

The question arises partly because of the way Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have handled what in intelligence would be called open-source material, Obama's statements in Reno.

As has been widely reported, Sen. Clinton and the former president Bill Clinton have accused Obama of praising Ronald Reagan and the Republican Congress in those comments when it appears to fair-minded observers who've read the transcript and seen the video that he did no such thing.

Instead, he was stating a historical fact, that Reagan did transform the shape of American politics (think Reagan Democrats) and that the congressional Republicans, particularly under House Speaker Newt Gingrich, did seem to be full of ideas about governing in contrast with congressional Democrats who didn't. At least not in the early 1990s. Even congressional Democrats admit as much.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, January 24.

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee is holding a hearing on the nomination of Edward Schafer to be agriculture secretary.

President Bush is meeting with Elsa Morejon, wife of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Oscar Biscet.

Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag is discussing the national economic outlook with the Senate Budget Committee.

by Mike Dorning

DILLON, S.C.—The fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is getting more bitter and more personal by the day.

For more than a week, Bill and Hillary Clinton have seized on a remark Obama made in a newspaper interview that Republicans were “the party of ideas” during the 1990s to suggest that the Democratic presidential candidate is, in fact, an admirer of the other party’s policies.

Obama has vociferously argued that the Clintons are mischaracterizing his comments. His protests that the portrayal was false formed the opening volley in the remarkably hostile presidential debate between the Democratic frontrunners on Monday.

Now, after the Clinton campaign went on the radio airwaves in South Carolina today with an ad that again uses the remark to suggest he is suspect in his opposition to Republican views, the Obama campaign has fired back with an ad that unmistakably calls Hillary Clinton a liar.

The Obama radio ad, which the campaign said it sent out to South Carolina stations late this afternoon, claims Clinton is “making false attacks on Barack Obama.” And it cites the Washington Post to assert “Clinton isn’t telling the truth.” The ad quotes a Post article that reported Obama “did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans.”

“Hillary Clinton,” the ad concludes, “She’ll say anything, and change nothing.”

by Frank James

The presidential candidates talk the talk when it comes to vowing to end America's addiction to oil but do they walk the walk or, better yet, drive the drive when it comes to their personal choices in the vehicles?

The answer appears mixed but there definitely is a tendency among them for bigger, gas guzzlers, as this photo gallery indicates.

by Mark Silva

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The stage show is getting underway at the Brazilian Steakhouse and Tropicana Stage Show, where there s a definite crack in the tweeter of the loudspeakers on the right side of the stage -- my side - as the Brazilian band strikes up a Portuguese number.

I lowered the median age of this mirrored, suburban strip mall dining room by 10 when I arrived. And I am 54. They asked me at the door if I had reservations. Yes, I replied, plenty of them.

But when they offered to cut the $41.99 dinner and show fee to $25.99 for me, taking pity on the only sole diner in the hall topped with glass chandeliers and ringed with mirrors, I decided that this was an offer I could not refuse.

Death by beef: They are walking around with sticks of barbecued beef and pork and chicken and leg of lamb and beef wrapped in bacon and bacon wrapped in God knows what, and the band has struck up what clearly is, to this well-trained ear, The Girl from Ipanema. Silva is Portuguese, if you didn't know. Can't put one past me -- or my laptop, not a dance, but a computer, and the aircard attached to it, seated on the glazed table with my pile of heart-attack, my date tonight. Or the busted tweeter on the stage. Did I mention the Key lime pie?

Only wish I'd brought the camera.

The band is moving on to that Brazilian favorite, the Beatles' Yesterday. Tomorrow, it's a presidential debate, in Boca. Tonight, it's the Tropicana in the strip mall. Shahk a boom.

And now, after dinner, the lights have dimmed and the dancers have arrived, muscular men bare-chested, voluptuous women in sarongs, making moves to the sound of electric drums that this audience hasn't made since physical therapy. Fifty-four and counting here, friends.

We started to worry when the announcer declared that, "Once there were masters and slaves.'' But the acrobatic male dancers who followed performing hand-walking, leg-flailing moves left the Swamp truly impressed, if worried about the feather-capped Carmen Miranda impersonator who lip-synched her way around the room picking up Brylcreem in her hands caressing the heads of over-fed male diners.

I think, if a cruise ship grounded, this is what it would look like. If it sunk, we might let it go.

Welcome to South Florida, friends. Shahka boom.

by Mark Silva

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- There's a thick band of storm clouds amassing out here in the Everglades, where suburban South Florida has busted the limits of environmentally sound development. And clouds are gathering over the Republican debate coming here tomorrow.

Our friends at the St. Petersburg Times this afternoon are reporting online the results of a new Florida poll showing Arizona Sen. John McCain drawing 25 percent of Florida Republicans surveyed this week, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pulling 23 percent.

The real news here: Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, pulled only 15 percent of those surveyed Jan. 20-22 -- tied with Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas.

This is in a state that Giuliani must win to make bona fide his big-state primary campaign strategy, a state in which all four of these Republicans were virtually tied in a Jan. 14 survey by Quinnipiac University and where Giuliani held a solid lead over his rivals early last year.

Elliot Bundy, spokesman for the Giuiliani campaign here, suggests that polls will be "all over the place'' in the final days. (Indeed, 27 percent of those surveyed say they might change their minds.I Giuliani can only hope so, if he hopes to head out of Florida with newfound strength for the series of big-state primaries coming on Feb. 5. In the meantime, the former mayor is parking is Florida campaign bus, apparently, and looking at the possibility of a several-city "fly-around'' in Florida near the eve of Tuesday's primary.

"Bye-bye Rudy,'' the St. Pete Times declared in an online headline that the ghost of Harry Truman might enjoy.

The survey also found that, in the uncontested Democratic primary here -- at the inistence of a DNC angered over Florida's early voting -- Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York remains strrong.

The survey of 800 voters by pollster Rob Schroth was conducted Jan. 20-22 for the St. Petersburg Times, Bay News 9 and The Miami Herald. Among Democrats surveyed, the possible margin of error is plus or minus 5.4 percent, among Republicans 5.1 percent.

by Mike Dorning

SUMTER, S.C.—Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is seeking to draw even more attention to a remark rival Barack Obama made last week that Republicans were the “party of ideas” for much of the 1990s.

The Clinton campaign is now airing a radio ad on stations around South Carolina broadcasting a tape of the remark that suggests Obama supports—or at least does not oppose—some unpopular Republican policies. The ad juxtaposes Obama’s comment with declarations that Clinton opposes “disastrous Republican ideas” such as corporate tax breaks, refusing to raise the minimum wage and running up the national debt.

Hillary Clinton and particularly her husband Bill Clinton have spent much of the past week focusing on his comment and suggesting that the remark indicates Obama may admire Republican policies.

That has drawn a furious response from Obama, who has challenged the truthfulness of the former president and first lady. His protests over their portrayal of the remark formed the opening volley in the bitter, fiercely personal fight between the Democratic frontrunners at the presidential debate on Monday night.

by Naftali Bendavid

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) did not exactly create a juggernaut in his recent presidential run, winning minimal support before dropping out of the race.

Nonetheless, today he threw whatever influence he has behind Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose own campaign is facing financial challenges after finishing a close second to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the South Carolina primary.

And Huckabee, no doubt, is happy to get the endorsement.

Former President Bill Clinton campaigning for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), at West End Community Development Center January 22, 2008 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

by Glenn Thrush

CHARLESTON, S.C -- Bill Clinton, speaking to reporters in a Charleston bar and grill, said that criticism he and his wife have recently endured on racial issues is the product of an overzealous media whipped up by Barack Obama and his surrogates.

"This is almost like once you accuse someone of racism and bigotry the facts become irrelevant," a red-faced Clinton said, staring down several print and TV reporters. "Not one single solitary citizen asked about any of this and they never do… They [Obama's camapign] are feeding you this because they know this is what you want to cover, this is what you live for, but this hurts the people of South Carolina—what they care about is not going to be in the newspapers tonight because you don’t care about it – what you care about is this and the Obama people know it — and they just spin you up on this and you happily go along."

Clinton's 90-minute session with Democrats touched on the economy, Israel, the housing crisis, health care and his wife's toughness. But one questioner from the audience did mention the effect "race-baiting" was having on the campaign, without referring to a specific episode.

When a reporter (me) asked him if he was claiming Obama was injecting race into the campaign, he walked away and began shouting over his shoulder as he signed autographs: “You just want one more story -- shame on you! Shame on you, you just want one more story! Print the facts. Nobody ever prints any facts.”

Quoting Andrew Young and John Lewis, two of his wife's defenders in the civil rights movement, the former president added, "They both said... she didn’t play the race card but they [Obama's camp] did."

The impromptu news conference began when CNN asked Clinton to respond to Obama supporter Dick Harpootlian's claim the Clintons were running a nasty, Lee Atwater-type campaign in the state. He shot back, "This is crazy, this rhetoric is getting a little carried away here."

By Jim Tankersley

As President Bush prepares to give his final State of the Union address, Rep. Rahm Emanuel has prepared a handy scorecard for the president's seven-year tenure. As you might expect, it's scathing.

Emanuel is far from an unbiased source when it comes to the Bush administration. He's a Democrat, for one, and the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House at that. He also worked in the Clinton White House, and it's fair to say he's partial to the way he and his colleagues ran the ship back then.

His indictment of Bush today, though, rested less on rhetoric -- an Emanuel specialty, to be sure -- and more on cold, hard statistics. Here's the chart Emanuel displayed at a press conference critique of Bush's record on America's economy, quality of life and role in the world. The upshot: Growth is down, prices are up, and other countries just don't like us as much these days.

UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Republican National Committee spokesman Chris Taylor responds with this: "If only Rahm Emanuel would put as much effort into finding bi-partisan solutions to America's problems as he does into these political attacks, maybe then he wouldn't be leading the lowest rated Congress in history."

Heath Ledger on Nov. 6, 2006 (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh)

by Frank James

The death of actor Heath Ledger even had an impact on Washington. The White House cancelled a prescription-drug abuse event that had been President Bush's schedule today due to fears that Bush could've been accused of exploiting the actor's death.

Here's how the Associated Press reported the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The death of actor Heath Ledger prompted the White House to postpone President Bush's event on Wednesday promoting an ad campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.

Ledger, 28, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," was found dead Tuesday in his New York apartment. There were sleeping pills near him, but the cause of his death remains under investigation.

The president was to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse. A federally financed study released in December at the White House showed illicit drug use by teens continued to gradually decline overall this year, but the use of prescription painkillers remained popular among young people.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's event had been scheduled for a while.

"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," she said.

Sen Barack Obama in Lexington, S.C., January 22, 2008. (Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

Chicago Tribune religion writer and blogger Manya Brachear asks this question on her blog, The Seeker: in underscoring that he is a Christian, should Sen. Barack Obama go further?

When he upholds his Christianity, should he emphasize for those who are Muslims and those who aren't, that there's nothing wrong with being Muslim?

Manya writes:

The repeated and false claims that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is a closet Muslim have prompted the candidate to reiterate that he is a committed Christian.

But he stops short of saying that being Muslim wouldn’t be a bad thing. In addition to setting the record straight about his own faith, should Obama also give a shout-out to his Muslim brothers and sisters and defend Islam?

Good question. Manya continues:

by Doyle McManus

This year's presidential campaign -- and it's not even half done -- is already historic for several reasons. It has been the first truly wide-open campaign since 1952, with no incumbent president or vice president anywhere in the competition. On the Democratic side, it has been the first campaign with a viable female candidate and a viable African-American candidate. On the Republican side, it has seen at least a temporary fragmentation of Ronald Reagan’s coalition into factions of economic, national security and social conservatives, a problem the GOP must now resolve.

And one more odd distinction: It's setting a new record for the number and variety of debates. We’ve had no fewer than 20 Democratic debates beginning in April 2007, eight months before the first caucus in Iowa -- including such innovations as a radio debate and a YouTube debate (the one with the talking snowman). The Republicans have been more restrained: they’ve held only 18 debates, but they'll nearly catch up with a debate in Florida Jan. 24.

Which raises an unexpected question: Is there such a thing as too many debates?

by Mark Silva

All the attention on Florida's presidential primary election on Tuesday is focused on the Republicans, because the Democrats agreed to forgo campaigning here when the Democratic National Committee penalized Florida for staging an early primary, with the national party vowing not to count Florida's delegates at the Democratic convention in Denver.

But today, the highest-ranking Democratic state official in Florida is calling on the party to reconsider in the final days of a heated Republican campaign in the Sunshine State.She plans a lunch-hour press conference to show a letter she will send to the DNC urging the party to permit a campaign here in the closing days of a heated Republican primary contest.

Polling has long portrayed, and still portrays, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York as favored among Florida's Democrats. With the prospect of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois potentially winning South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday, Clinton probably would like nothing more than quick three-day swing through Florida to highlight a win here and counter the Obama factor heading in to Super Tuesday's multi-state contest on Feb. 5.

"She has a base down here,'' says Dario Moreno, a political scientist at Florida International University in Miami. It's solid enough to withstand an Obama victory in the Palmetto State, he says, and solid enough to serve her well in November, should she become party's nominee.

President Bush makes remarks before signing legislation authorizing military action with Iraq, Wednesday, October 16, 2002 in the White House East Room. Secretary of State Colin Powell and House Speaker Dennis Hastert stand nearby. Chicago Tribune photo by Pete Souza.

by Frank James

The Center for Public Integrity has a new report out this morning which it says chronicles at least 935 falsities that President Bush and his team made in the runup to the Iraq War in order to win over public opinion in the U.S. and abroad.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to download the report. Perhaps the server the center uses is being overwhelmed with demand for the report: “Iraq – The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War.”

In any event, the center's press release gives some flavor of what we'll see in the report, if we ever get it.

The press release says:

WASHINGTON, D.C. January 23, 2008 — Leading up to the five-year anniversary of the Iraq war, the Center for Public Integrity has released the first analysis of its kind, “Iraq – The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War.” This comprehensive examination of top Bush administration officials’ statements over a two-year period shows how top officials galvanized public opinion in the run-up to the March 18, 2003 invasion of Iraq. The project’s chronology provides a framework for examining how the administration’s false statements led the country into the war in Iraq. The results of this analysis question the repeated assertions of Bush administration officials that they were merely the unwitting victims of bad intelligence.

by Frank James

There was a moment at Monday night's Democratic presidential debate where Sen. Hiilary Clinton expressed frustration that it was hard to have a "straight up" discussion with Sen. Barack Obama because he allegedly keeps shifting his stances on issues. (Bet that's not the first time she's said that to a charismatic politician.)

She said that Obama once endorsed a single-payer healthcare system. Obama said he didn't. The reasons this did-too, did-not dispute matters are twofold.

Clinton is trying to knock Obama's halo off. It's hard to be the standard bearer of "change" and a different kind of politics if you're revealed to be another politician who opportunistically takes up and drops positions like changes of clothes.

Also, advocating single-payer makes you appear way too liberal for even a lot of Democrats. It puts you right out there with Michael Moore, the film maker behind "Sicko."

So if you did once advocate a government-run system, which is what single-payer means, as a presidential candidate with a real shot at the nomination, it's not illogical that you might be pull back from that position.

Reporter Laura Meckler has an informative posting on The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" blog about this whole back and forth between Clinton and Obama in which she reports on the existence of video from 2003 in which Obama says he supports a single-payer system.

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of today's most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.

The Congressional Budget Office said the nation's budget deficit will increase to $250 billion this fiscal year, after three years of decline, because of the slowing economy. And that was before at least $100 million from the economic stimulus package now being discussed by the President Bush and Congress.

U.S. financial markets continued to slide even after Tuesday's surprise interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve as recession fears continued to dog the markets.

Senior House leaders met with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wednesday morning as the Bush Administration and congressional leaders tried to work out the details on an economic stimulus plan.

Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks after being endorsed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Posted by Josh Drobnyk

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell will announce his support for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton today at an event in Philadelphia, according to a source affiliated with the campaign. The endorsement will come at a midday news conference at City Hall as Clinton heads to New Jersey for evening campaign events.

Rendell's support comes late in the game, in a state whose primary is scheduled for April 22, but it will give her day-long news coverage in the New Jersey-Delaware-Pennsylvania media market less than two weeks before Super Tuesday, when she hopes to grab support in key northeastern states, including New Jersey. It could also give her a fundraising boost in Pennsylvania, where Rendell remains widely popular.

With Rendell's support, Clinton has now wrapped up several key endorsements in the state, including that of new Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

by Frank James

In Monday night's Democratic presidential slugfest, er, debate in South Carolina, Sen. Hillary Clinton hit Sen. Barack Obama with the charge that as a young lawyer he represented a now infamous Chicago "slumlord" named "Rezko."

She was referring, of course, to one Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the indicted entrepreneur and friend of Illinois politicians, including Obama, whose fraud trial begins next month.

Chicago Tribune reporters Bob Secter, Ray Gibson and David Jackson, have an excellent recap today of what we know about the relationship between Obama and Rezko. Gibson and Jackson first reported about Obama and Rezko's 2005 personal real estate dealings involving the Obamas' South Side mansion and the adjacent property next door Rezko's wife purchased on the same day the Obama home purchase closed.

It's interesting that of all the things Clinton went for, she chose the you-represented-a-slumlord charge. In many respects, that charge is the easiest for Obama to refute. The facts uncovered by Gibson and Jackson show there's no fire there, just smoke.

Here's a theory. Clinton chose that allegation because she knew the word "slumlord" would resonate with a black audience in a state that has some of the poorest black communities in the nation.

She was also talking to blacks beyond South Carolina as well, many of whom may be middle class now, but grew up in much poorer circumstances.

If you're going to push a button, might as well push one likely to work.

But the Obama-Rezko relationship that's even more troubling for Obama, because it goes to the heart of his campaign's argument about his judgment being superior to the other candidates, is the personal real-estate deal the two men did.

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf chats with his tank troops at Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, January 12, 1991. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)

by Jill Zuckman

Orlando, Fla. – One of Florida's most famous military men, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, has put his weight behind Sen. John McCain's bid for the presidency today.

"Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf, a retired four-star general who was commander of the Coalition Forces in the 1991 Gulf War, became well known to most Americans with his daily, televised press conferences describing the course of the war. As the co-author of the plan for Operation Desert Storm, Schwarzkopf's strategy was so successful that the ground war concluded in just four days.

"Sen. John McCain has served our country with honor in war and in peace," Schwarzkopf said in a statement. "He has demonstrated the type of leadership our country sorely needs at this time. For that reason, he has my complete support."

In the highly competitive Florida primary, McCain is seeking every advantage to appeal to conservative members of the military and veterans that make up as much as 40 percent of the Republican primary electorate. During the last two days, McCain has zipped across the top of the state from Jacksonville on the Atlantic to Pensacola in the Panhandle.

McCain, whose central message is his mastery of national security affairs, has been reminding voters that he used to live in the state – both in Pensacola and Jacksonville. He did his flight training in Pensacola and commanded his squadron out of Jacksonville after he returned from five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

A group of prominent veterans, including Sen. John Warner, the former Secretary of the Navy, and a number of former prisoners of war during Vietnam, are campaigning separately for McCain, hitting communities that are home to large numbers of active military, National Guard and Reserve members, and military retirees.

Schwarzkopf is not in Florida today, but may appear with McCain at a later date.

by Jason George

It's not as much as his totals last Nov. 5 ($4.3 million) or Dec. 16 ($6 million), but Rep Ron Paul has managed to again squeeze the Internet for a boatload of campaign cash.

Paul hauled in $1.85 million on Monday, besting a Tuesday NYC fundraiser by Sen. John McCain, which gathered about $1 million, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee's Sunday trip to Chuck Norris's ranch, which Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman says brought in about $330,000. (Norris' goal was $10 million.)

Paul has yet to win a primary, but he's finished in the top five in every single one, including a second place finish in lightly-contested Nevada. He's earned 6 delegate pledges so far, putting him in 5th place in that hunt. As Rudy Giuliani would probably prefer that no one point out: Paul has bested him in every contest except New Hampshire.

In announcing Monday's results last night, Jonathan Bydlak, Paul's financing director, couldn't stop himself from using some schadenfreude to appeal for more money:

"For those of you who haven't heard, Mike Huckabee's campaign is broke. Don't let the same thing happen to Ron Paul. After all, where else would Mike Huckabee get all of his ideas? Contribute today!"

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, January 23.

Vice President Cheney is speaking at the Heritage Foundation on foreign intelligence surveillance legislation.

Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orzag is discussing the national economic outlook at a House Budget Committee hearing.

The House Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing on post-surge alternatives in Iraq.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is holding its winter meeting in Washington.

by Jill Zuckman

Fort Walton Beach, Fla. - Armed with a contingent of high profile veterans and former prisoners of war, Sen. John McCain hammered home his core message of keeping the nation safe from terrorism as he wooed voters in this heavily military region of the state before flying to New York to pick up cash and a key endorsement.

"As president, I'd like to serve this nation a little while longer and I'm asking for your support," McCain said at one of his largest events of the campaign at the Fort Walton Beach Convention Center. "And here, all across North Florida, is where I will be depending upon our veterans. I will be depending upon our servicemen and women."

Congressional medal of honor recipient Bud Day, McCain's roommate in prison, accompanied McCain, offering a quiet but powerful endorsement. He and a group of prominent veterans are also campaigning separately for McCain this week in Panama City, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville, among other areas where the military is predominant.

McCain raced up to New York in the afternoon for a fund-raiser that brought in more than $1 million, said Charles Black, his senior adviser.

And, in what could be construed as a slight to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato, a powerhouse in New York politics, gave McCain a ringing endorsement.

"This is a man whose time is here, who will restore confidence and people will have confidence in what he says not only here in America, but in the world," D'Amato said. "He will be in my opinion, the strongest Republican candidate _ and for those of you who say, well, I disagree with him on one issue or another – if you want to win in November, John McCain – he's the man."

by James Oliphant

On the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, People for the American Way, the liberal interest group, is going after Sen. Susan Collins, the moderate Maine Republican, for siding with the Bush administration on judicial nominees.

Collins is up for reelection next year and PFAW wants to make sure Maine voters know she voted to confirm Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The ad, narrated by the now-gravelly-voiced actor Kathleen Turner, is set to run next week on radio stations across Maine.

There's also a video version of the ad here. (You can tell it's an attack ad because Collins' picture is seen first in color and then fades to black and white.) In the ad, Turner says:

Senator Susan Collins says she’s pro-choice, but she voted for George Bush’s Supreme Court nominees.

Now, the Supreme Court is poised to dismantle women's choice piece by piece.

When it came to the Supreme Court, Susan Collins didn’t stand up for our rights. She stood with George W. Bush.

This week, tell Susan Collins to oppose judges who oppose Maine values.

By Mike Dorning

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Hillary Clinton has been using the gathering signs of economic trouble to make the case that her greatest asset with voters—experience in the White House at the side of Bill Clinton—takes on a new significance with the potential of an economic crisis early in the next presidency.

But today, as the stock market opened with another breathtaking plunge, Barack Obama turned to the national economic unease to amplify his own criticism of Clinton’s political leadership.

His message was a simple one, and one that has had a durable appeal throughout the world and over the course of history: in uncertain times, people need to be able to count on a leader with firmly fixed principles.

And, he argued, on economic matters as well as other issues Clinton has shown herself to be a creature of political expediency.

“In this time of economic anxiety and uncertainty, what this country needs most is a President who says what he means and means what he says; a president who won’t just do what’s right when the politics are easy, but when the politics are hard; a President who’s not just in it to win it; but in it for you,” Obama said in a speech delivered at Furman University in Greenville.

by Mark Silva

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – It seems that everyone but Rudy Giuliani has figured out how critical a victory in Florida’s Republican primary vote next week will be to his future as a Republican candidate for president.

Publicly, at least, Giuliani has shifted his must-win Florida rhetoric to important-win talk. A while back, he had said he must win Florida. Then John McCain came on strong.

Most Republicans in these parts believe that the once-mighty Giuliani, who has trailed even Republican Ron Paul in some of the early contests, must prevail in the Sunshine State in order to maintain a credible campaign in the Feb. 5 sweeps.

“It’s a real important win,’’ Giuliani said of Florida’s primary in an interview with Neil Cavuto for the Fox News Channel airing this afternoon and again this evening. “I don’t think any candidate ever puts himself in a corner and says, must win, have to win, must win. But it’s a really important win.’’

It’s important, all right. Possibly the end of the road for the Republican who once stood as his party’s putative front-runner.

By Jim Tankersley

Bill Richardson may be out of the Democratic presidential race, but his spirit lived on at last night's debate.

Just take his word for it.

And while you're at it, please send money.

In an e-mail this afternoon to supporters of his stalled-out-in-New-Hampshire campaign, the New Mexico governor says he watched his former rivals on television in South Carolina last night and "couldn't help but be struck by how much their positions have come around to the positions that you and I hold dear" on Iraq, health care, energy independence and education.

"It was like I was still in the debate!" he writes.

Personal back-patting settled, Richardson goes on to raise "one last issue I still need your help on before I can officially end my presidential bid" -- a batch of debt he rolled up in the final weeks before his single-digit finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"I recognize that it's a hard thing to do with the nomination no longer on the line," he writes. "But I believe it is essential that the final act of our campaign is to meet every outstanding obligation."

Read on for the full plea:

By Mike Dorning

GREENWOOD, S.C.--The State, the largest newspaper in South Carolina, endorsed Barack Obama for president today as "the Democrat most likely to unify America."

The Columbia, S.C.-based newspaper posted the endorsement on its web page a few minutes ago.

"We...have a good idea what a Clinton presidency would look like," the paper's editorial board wrote in its endorsement. "The restoration of the Clintons to the White House would trigger a new wave of all-out political warfare. That is not all Bill and Hillary’s fault - but it exists, whomever you blame, and cannot be ignored."

"Sen. Obama’s campaign is an argument for a more unifying style of leadership," the endorsement continued. "In a time of great partisanship, he is careful to talk about winning over independents and even Republicans. He is harsh on the failures of the current administration - and most of that critique well-deserved. But he doesn’t use his considerable rhetorical gifts to demonize Republicans. He’s not neglecting his core values; he defends his progressive vision with vigorous integrity. But for him, American unity - transcending party - is a core value in itself."

by Frank James

What was that joke about President Calvin Coolidge? When writer Dorothy Parker was told that Coolidge had died, she said "How could they tell?"

Who could be blamed for reacting like that to the news that Fred Thompson, the actor and former senator from Tennessee ,had dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination?

Was he ever really in the race? A lot of people had their doubts.

Thompson, who got in the race late after seemingly taking forever to decide, had said that he had to do well in South Carolina in order keep his bid going. South Carolina Republicans weren't motivated enough by that ultimatum to make it happen for him. He came in third place, with 16 percent of the vote.

By Mike Dorning

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Hillary Clinton wants to make eye contact with you at the next presidential debate.

That is, if you are a lucky campaign donor.

“One of my favorite moments in any debate -- like the one we had last night -- is when I look out into the audience and make eye contact with someone I know,” Clinton wrote in an e-mail sent out to supporters this morning. “Sometimes it's a friend, or a family member. Often it is someone I just met who shared their story with me.”

“Next Thursday, I want you to be that person,” She continued. “Would you come to an upcoming debate and be there for me in the audience?”

The campaign already has seen plenty of pitches to rouse interest from small-dollar Internet donors: Among them, box seats for a baseball game with Mitt Romney’s son Tagg, a pie recipe from John Edwards’ mother, and dinner with Barack Obama.

Now add the lure of a presidential debate, with eye contact from Hillary Clinton included.

“Enter before midnight Saturday,” the pitch continued, “and you and a friend could join me at the January 31 debate in Los Angeles.”

by Frank James

Fellow Chicago Tribune blogger Eric Zorn goes where Sen. Barack Obama fears to tread.

Eric is flat out declaring in a post on his "Change of Subject" blog that Obama's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and former President Bill Clinton, are flat out lying about what Sen. Barack Obama said regarding the late President Ronald Reagan.

Eric provides the transcript of Obama's comments to the Reno Gazette Journal's editorial board when he was campaigning in Nevada.

We also have video so that you can either believe the Clintons or your lying eyes and ears:

Anyway, Eric starts out by quotiing from The Swamp's live blog of the debate last night:

(Barack) Obama stopped just short of calling (Hillary) Clinton and her husband liars... from the Swamp's live blog of last night's Democratic debate.

Hmm. I see no reason to stop short. Bill and Hillary Clinton have lied brazenly about Obama's recent statement about Ronald Reagan.

Let's look at the transcripts (emphasis added):

Hillary Clinton, Jan 18:

My leading opponent the other day said that he thought the Republicans had better ideas than Democrats the last 10 to 15 years.

Bill Clinton, Jan 18:

(My wife's) principal opponent said that since 1992, the Republicans have had all the good ideas....I'm not making this up, folks.

Well, yes he is. The key, inflammatory words in the Clintons' quotes are better and good, and I invite you, reader, to find it these transcripts of what Obama has actually said:

by Matthew Hay Brown, updated

If it’s Jan. 22, it must be the March for Life. On the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, demonstrators today are filling Washington hotels, crowding the Metro and jamming up the streets en route to the National Mall, where they will hear speeches and make their opposition to abortion known.

They have been welcomed by Republicans including President Bush, who met with several marchers this morning at the White House.

“Thirty-five years ago today the United States Supreme Court declared and decided that under the law an unborn child is not considered a person,” Bush said. “Biology confirms that from the start each unborn child is a separate individual with his or her own genetic code. Babies can now survive outside the mother's womb at younger and younger ages. And the fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul.”

Supporters of abortion rights, meanwhile, are celebrating the anniversary. The National Organization for Women is planning a vigil this afternoon outside the Supreme Court.

“Though we are celebrating 35 years of constitutional protection of a woman’s right to abortion, we cannot led our guard down,” NOW President Kim Gandy said. “With so many limitations and roadlocks, the promise of Roe is already denied to many women, and access to birth control is under increasing attack. This year we have the chance to elect a new administration and send new members to Congress who will help protect and expand our reproductive freedom. Come November we must elect a president who will be vigilant in upholding a woman's right to make her own childbearing decisions, including access to birth control and abortion.”

By Mike Dorning

GREENVILLE, SC—After a fiercely personal debate last night, the barbs continued back and forth between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton today.

Hillary Clinton kicked off the day with a press conference this morning in which she dismissed Obama as a “very frustrated” candidate and repeated criticism of his legal work for “slumlord” Tony Rezko, an Obama campaign contributor who has since been indicted on unrelated corruption charges.

Shortly afterward, Obama was again charging that Clinton and her husband have been duplicitous in campaign trail attacks on his record, suggesting that the Clintons have shown a willingness to “fudge the truth” and will “say anything to get a political or tactical advantage.”

Obama was asked about Clinton’s morning press conference in a brief conference call with reporters to announce an endorsement from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)

"When it comes to Senator Clinton's remarks, I think it's very clear that Senator Clinton has and President Clinton have been spending the last month attacking me in ways that are not accurate,” Obama responded.

He went on to refer to a comment Hillary made just as the presidential campaign was heating up in Iowa in December that the “fun part” of the campaign had begun.

“Senator Clinton announced while we were still in Iowa that this was going to be her strategy and called it the fun part of campaigning. And, you know, I don't think it's the fun part to fudge the truth," he said. "The necessary part of this campaign is to make sure that we're getting accurate information to voters about people's respective records."

"If you get the kind of looseness with the facts that Senator Clinton's displayed and you're willing to say anything to get a political or tactical advantage — that erodes people's trust in government,” he continued. “It makes them cynical. It's part of the perpetual campaign that is how Washington all too often operates these days and it keeps us from solving problems."

By Jim Tankersley

WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) called a news conference this morning to pitch her economic stimulus plans in light of another dizzying day of losses in global stock exchanges. But the reporters who turned out were more interested in rehashing last night’s sharp-toned Democratic presidential debate, and Clinton was happy to oblige.

Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama fenced for much of that debate over policy and personal backgrounds. While rival John Edwards largely stood on the sidelines, Obama accused Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, of lying about his record – and slammed Hillary Clinton for once sitting on the Wal-Mart board of directors.

Hillary Clinton responded by questioning whether Obama’s actions match his words – a criticism she repeated throughout this morning’s press conference – and accusing him of having done legal work for a “slumlord,” Tony Rezko.

This morning, Clinton said Obama “clearly came (to the debate) last night looking for a fight.”

“What we saw last night was that he’s very frustrated – Sen. Obama’s very frustrated,” she said. “The events of the last 10 days, particularly the outcomes in New Hampshire and Nevada, have apparently convinced him to adopt a new strategy.”

A moment later, she continued: “I believe that words matter, but I think actions matter more. And time and time again (with Obama), we see where words and actions don’t match… He has a hard time responding to questions about his record.”

by James Oliphant

The Supreme Court Tuesday shoveled the last clump of dirt on a massive suit brought against investment banks that allegedly participated in the fraud that brought down Enron Corp. and injured thousands of investors.

The court declined to hear an appeal out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which had barred the lawsuit against the banks, which included Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Credit Suisse. The plaintiffs, led by the University of California, claimed $40 billion in losses. The Fifth Circuit tossed the suit, saying the banks had never directly misled the investors, as their relationship lay with Enron, not the banks themselves

By Mike Dorning

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Congressman Bennie Thompson, an African-American Democrat from Mississippi, endorsed Barack Obama in a conference call a few minutes ago.

Thompson is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

African-American members of Congress have been closely divided between Clinton and Obama. But in recent weeks support for Obama has surged among black voters.

Mississippi is not likely play a key role in the Democratic nominating contest. The state does not hold its presidential primary until March 11

by Frank James

If the economy is in a recession or soon to be in one, it will be hard to blame Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke.

The Fed's move this morning to cut the federal-funds rate, the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans, by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 3-1/2 percent, can only be described as a bold, aggressive move, especially since the Fed board has a regularly scheduled meeting next week and many analysts had expected something more like a half of a percentage point cut.

But a majority of the Fed's board members, under Bernanke's leadership, clearly thought they had to send a strong message to the world's financial markets, which appear to be melting down, that they are on the case, that they will do everything they can to provide liquidity to the system.

In its statement, the Fed makes a point that is troubling which is, that despite after all its efforts so far, the credit crunch still has a vise grip on lending to both consumers and businesses.

As the Fed statement said:

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-relared stories.

The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, surprising many observers by not waiting till its regular next week to make the move, and acting amid global worries that a recession in the U.S. economy could slow the world's economies, concerns that have sent the world's financial markets into a tailspin.

U.S. financial markets plunged sharply immediately upon opening this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 400 points after opening, amid rising anxieties that the U.S. economy is either in or about to enter a recession.

The Democratic presidential candidates had their fiercest face-to-face exchange yet in a debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. in which both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama questioned each other's integrity as John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, tried to stay above the fray.

The Republican presidential prospects descended on Florida whose primary is just a week away and where a win would give a huge boost to any of several campaigns and a loss would likely doom at least one, that of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, who has staked his entire effort on winning that state.

by Frank James

It was clear from the start of last night's Democratic presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. that both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had come to battle, that it was going to be survival of the fittest which would be determined by who could land and take the toughest blows.

Who would show the most grit in the land of grits? that was the question.

In the end, it looked like a draw between the two leading candidates while Sen. John Edwards benefited from playing the conciliatory voice of reason who occasionally used his position on the high road to throw rocks at both Clinton and Obama below.

The most memorable moments were the ones in which Clinton and Obama traded personal charges.

When Obama took that shot at Clinton, telling her he was on the streets as a community organizer working with the families of laid off steelworkers while she was working as a corporate lawyer for Walmart and she got that "Oh, no you didn't" look on her face, that was a scene that will be likely go into the documentaries made about the 2008 campaign.

Same for her retaliatory strike, when she said that she was fighting against bad Republican ideas when Obama was working as a lawyer representing indicted Chicago wheeler dealer and fundraiser Tony Rezko in his "slum landlord business."

For anyone who still had questions about Obama's ability to mix it up, to take on both Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, those doubts were probably greatly lessened by the senator from Illinois's performance last night. South Carolina is do or die for Obama, and last night you could tell that.

His determination was summed up at the shot he took at Sen. Clinton and the former president who's been relentlessly criticizing him on the campaign trail when Obama said: "...I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes."

by Mark Silva

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Forget the breakfast counters, coffee houses and town halls.

Florida is a TV state.

And across this state of more than 16 million people -- with a distinct "media market'' for about one in every 1.5 million of those Floridians -- the TV is burning this morning with ads.

On a day when the United States appears to be bracing for a run on the financial markets, Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, is promising on TV to"jump-start our economy.''

On a day when Americans are waking up to videotapes of that slugfest of a debate between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in South Carolina last night, Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, is warning TV viewers: "If you send the same people back to Washington, just to sit at different chairs, nothing will happen. I wll take it apart and put it back together. I will change Washington.''

He also is pulling at the family heartstrings of Cuban-American voters with a Spanish TV salute by his son, called simply, "Mi Padre'' -- "Mitt Romney es mi papa,'' son Craig explains.

And Sen. John McCain, whose roller coaster of a campaign has been recharged by wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and who is campaigning across Florida with reminders of the courage he displayed as a prisoner of war, is teling TV viewers here: "Never surrender.''

10:26 p.m. --WRAP UP: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Well, if you were looking for political hot stuff tonight, you should have been wearing asbestos.

The veneer of civility--and it was thin to begin with--cracked within the first few minutes of the two-hour debate as Clinton, Obama and Edwards landed blow after blow upon each other.
Obama seemed to have the biggest bullseye painted on his back.

Both Clinton and Edwards--who physically flanked him for the entire evening- hit him on everything from his voting record in the Illinois state legislature to his association with indicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko. Obama handled it, for the most part, smoothly by briefly but firmly answering the charge and then changing the subject.

A lot of this probably flew by most people in the audience, but they certainly got the idea that Obama was taking major heat. And, that could help him.

Obama stopped just short of calling Clinton and her husband liars, charging them with spreading misleading information about his record. He reserved most of his fire for Clinton, but took a few swipes at Edwards as well.

Caught in the relentless crossfire between Obama and Clinton, Edwards was left so gasping for airtime that CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer felt obligated to apologize to him. Edwards remained the coolest during the debate, landed some blows and made some good points about his positions. But, what he really needed wasn't an apology but the time to make the case that, despite the polls, his campaign deserves more consideration and has a future.

The bottom line: If this debate was any preview of the next five days here before the primary, it's a good thing that fireworks are legal in South Carolina.

Good night and thanks for joining me.

10 p.m. KING ME

The last question: If Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today, why should he endorse you?

by Jim Tankersley

Moments before he and rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are set to debate in South Carolina -- and at the end of a holiday that saw Democrats and Republicans pay homage to Martin Luther King Jr. -- John Edwards' campaign just released a glowing letter to the former North Carolina senator from Martin Luther King III.

Edwards met with King, the first son of the famed civil rights leader, on Saturday in Atlanta. In a follow-up letter, King lauds Edwards for his commitment to social justice and his focus on making poverty a presidential campaign issue.

Much has been made of the struggle for African-American votes - which are critical in South Carolinna - between Obama, the best-financed African American presidential candidate in history, and Clinton, whose husband cultivated deep affection from the African-American community as president. Obama and Clinton tussled in recent weeks over their respective invocations of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.

Edwards largely avoided that skirmish while relentlessly pushing his people-against-the powerful campaign message - a decision Martin Luther King III seems to appreciate.

"There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy," he wrote in the letter to Edwards. "It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.

"I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice."

In closing, he wrote: "So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud. "

Read on for the full letter.

by Jason George

LITTLE ROCK – Beginning Tuesday, former Gov. Mike Huckabee will campaign for the first time since November without carrying the national press corps along – an unorthodox move, staffers say is designed to shift attention toward local media and save money in the process.

It can also been seen as an attempt to take the reins and reassert their message after the South Carolina primary loss over the weekend, which sparked chatter that Huckabee's Iowa win was a electoral fluke. Exit polls in New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina show that the former Baptist minister has failed to catch fire beyond his base of evangelical Christian voters.

Huckabee plans to focus this week on Florida, where he has six fundraisers scheduled; and while the campaign is not predicting a victory there as they did in South Carolina, staff members hope the candidate can finish in the top three.

The decision to leave the press corps today in Atlanta, where Huckabee attended an event at Ebenezer Baptist Church, was not endorsed by everyone in the campaign, according to several sources at Huckabee HQ. The governor himself often seemed to enjoy joking and chatting with the reporters – despite how uneasy it made some staffers.

News organizations, including the Chicago Tribune, who chose to travel with Huckabee paid their own way, being charged for bus and plane rides to follow the governor. A spokeswoman said though that the larger planes to accommodate the media were costing too much to transport staff.

by John McCormick, updated

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – As Sen. Barack Obama started running a biographical ad nationwide on cable television Monday, it was quickly criticized by his leading Democratic primary challenger.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign charges that Obama violated a pledge to not campaign in Florida, after the state decided last year to move up its primary to next week in violation Democratic National Committee rules.

Whether it was a true violation remains murky. The pledge was something promoted last year by state party leaders in early voting states, not the DNC.

"Clearly the Obama campaign has decided not to fulfill that pledge," former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Clinton campaign supporter, said in a conference call with reporters.

Obama's campaign responded by saying that it is not possible to make a nationwide cable ad buy that does not include Florida.

“For that reason we consulted with … South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler who told us unequivocally she did not consider this to be in violation of pledge made to the early states,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

In an Obama conference call this evening, Florida Rep. Robert Wexler called the Clinton charge "silly and a bit of an exaggeration."

Campaign manager David Plouffe said Obama has no plans to campaign in Florida.

"We made a commitment to the early states," he said. "The second point is there are no delegates at stake, so we will not be campaigning in Florida."

Tribune colleague Glenn Thrush has a related post linked here.

by Jill Zuckman

Jacksonville, Fla. - Sen. John McCain likes to tell voters that he has been involved in every important national security matter facing the United States over the last 20 years.

It turns out, McCain's involvement goes back even further if you consider the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Back then, he was part of an air wing on the USS Enterprise, one of the first nuclear powered aircraft carriers.

"They said we were going out to sea because of a hurricane, but there was no hurricane," said McCain, when asked about the event during a day of campaigning from Miami to Jacksonville and Pensacola.

His aircraft carrier was first to the scene, circling around the island.

"I remember going into the ward room and listening to President Kennedy talk to the nation…outlining the threat we faced, the discovery that the Russians had placed missiles in Cuba," he said of the Cold War crisis that riveted the nation and had special resonance for the people of Florida.

(The ward room, for those who do not know, is the room where officers ate on board the aircraft carrier.)

by Glenn Thrush

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Citing Barack Obama's purchase of a CNN national ad airing in Florida, Hillary Clinton's aides are now saying they will "review all options" -- including breaking the DNC's ban on campaigning in the state's unauthorized Jan. 29 primary.(CORRECTION: The candidates voluntarily pledged not to campaign in the state. A ban wasn't imposed by the DNC)

"If they are trying to upend the playing field, it's our obligation to explore the playing field—all options are open," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), one of Clinton's top Sunshine State surrogates. When asked if Obama's buy would prompt Clinton to campaign there in person or over the airwaves, spokesman Mo Eilethee also used the "all options are open" line.

All top-tier Democratic candidates pledged to avoid campaigning in Florida when the state moved up its primary before Feb. 5th in violation of the DNC's restrictions. The national party says it won't seat the state's delegates, although it's widely believed some compromise will be worked out during the August convention in Denver.

Obama's campaign chided Clinton earlier this month over a pair of fundraisers planned for the former first lady on Sunday.

Calls to Obama's camp haven't been returned yet.

by Frank James and Jill Zuckman

The Republican presidential candidates wove Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. into their stump speeches today, the official federal holiday honoring the civil-rights leader, as they campaigned in Florida.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, cited King as an example of one person making a difference, as you can see in the accompanying video. It was truly impressive how, without much of a transition, he went from lauding King to bashing Washington.

Meanwhile, Rudy Guiliani, the former New York City mayor, praised King as a leader, which allowed the candidate to segue quickly to talk about his leadership abilities. There was even someone in the crowd holding up his book on leadership.