Mondale: ‘Red Phone’  —  Here's the original “red phone” spot — for Mondale, and by Roy Spence, who is now supervising Hillary's ad strategy.  (The ad starts 10 seconds in.)  —  The script: … It's the template for dozens others over the year, not just today's Clinton spot.

Some Texas Republicans to vote for Obama  —  True support combines with stop-Clinton sentiment in next week's primary  —  One of Sen. Barack Obama's surest applause lines comes about halfway into his standard stump speech.  It goes like this:  —  “They whisper to me.

FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S DISADVANTAGES  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** The GOP's Disadvantages: The New York Times' Nagourney does a smart preview piece of how Republicans are likely to go after Obama in a general election, and are already doing so …

Clinton's “Red Phone”  —  Perhaps the most provocative ad Hillary Clinton has run this cycle.  It's bound to evoke comparisons to LBJ's “Daisy” ad and Walter Mondale's “Red Phone” ads — asking the essential question: if the White House phone rings at 3:00 am and there's a crisis brewing, who do you want on the other end of the line?

DUMB SPIN.  —  Sometimes, I really wonder how dumb the Clinton campaign thinks we are. … So if Obama doesn't outright win the states Clinton is favored in — if he merely closes the gap — Democrats are “having second thoughts about him.”  —  Who is this aimed at?  Political reporters know it's dumb.