Pro-Clinton 527 Prepares For Ohio, PA and Texas  —  Allies of Hillary Clinton plan an expensive, stealth campaign to buttress her standing in the must-win states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.  —  They're canvassing Clinton donors for pledges of up to $100,000 in the hope of raising at least $10M by the end of next week.

Opposing view: Both sides must agree  —  I will seek a good faith pact that results in real spending limits.  —  In 2007, shortly after I became a candidate for president, I asked the Federal Election Commission to clear any regulatory obstacles to a publicly funded general election in 2008 with real spending limits.

Chris Matthews Humiliates State Senator Kirk Watson On MSNBC  —  Texas State Senator Kirk Watson (D-TX) learned a lesson in preparedness Tuesday night when he was humiliated on MSNBC.  Watson was on to talk about his support of Senator Obama alongside Representative Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH), who backs Senator Clinton.

“Barack Will Never Allow You to Go Back to Your Lives as Usual.”  —  Last night I appeared on Hugh's show, and his producer Duane mentioned a Michelle Obama speech at UCLA.  Captain Ed talked about this a bit, but I hadn't seen anyone transcribe the part of the speech where it gets a little... unnerving.

O'Reilly: “I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels"  —  During the February 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly took a call from a listener who said of Michelle Obama …

A CLINTON SURROGATE, A DEM DIVIDE?  —  From NBC's Abby Livingston  —  Oh snap!  Who needs a Rottweiler when you've got surrogates?  —  Tom Buffenbarger president of the machinists' union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) was the the latest in a string of Clinton junkyard dogs unleashed upon Obama.

The Obama Delusion  —  It's hard not to be dazzled by Barack Obama.  At the 2004 Democratic convention, he visited with Newsweek reporters and editors, including me.  I came away deeply impressed by his intelligence, his forceful language and his apparent willingness to take positions that seemed to rise above narrow partisanship.

McCain: Soft on Al Qaeda?  —  A curious passage from John McCain's victory speech last night: … In time, I'm sure, Barack Obama will explain that any meetings with Iranian leaders will be fully prepped by staff in advance, including advance meetings at the ministerial level...but what about the first part of the quote?

Rigged Trials at Gitmo  —  Secret evidence.  Denial of habeas corpus.  Evidence obtained by waterboarding.  Indefinite detention.  The litany of complaints about the legal treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is long, disturbing and by now familiar.

Teamsters Plan To Endorse Obama  —  The 1.4 million-member Teamsters union will endorse Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidacy today, Democrats briefed on the decision said.  —  A Teamsters official confirmed the endorsement.  —  Nothing says tough, or evokes “gruff,” more than the Teamsters.