Obama plans major race speech tomorrow  —  Barack Obama will give a major speech on “the larger issue of race in this campaign,” he told reporters in Monaca, PA just now.  —  He was pressed there, as he has been at recent appearances, on statements by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

ON DEADLINE: Obama walks arrogance line  —  WASHINGTON - Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics.  A person must be more than a little self-important to wake up one day and say, “I belong in the Oval Office.”  —  But there's a line smart politicians don't cross — somewhere between …

A Generalized Run on the Shadow Financial System  —  Since the onset of the liquidity and credit crunch last summer this column has been arguing that monetary policy would be impotent to address such a crunch because, in part, of the existence of a non-bank “shadow financial system”.

IRAQ: Hillary's Remarks at The George Washingon University  —  Good morning.  I want to thank Secretary West for his years of service, not only as Secretary of the Army, but also to the Veteran's Administration, to our men and women in uniform, to our country.

Nacchio conviction reversed  —  The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the guilty verdict in the criminal insider trading case of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio and ordered a new trial before a different judge.  —  The decision was 2-1 to overturn the verdict.

Japan: Support for Tibet  —  As fires rage on in the streets of Lhasa, bloggers in another part of the world have been anxiously following developments in Tibet with open eyes and open ears.  Over the weekend, as mainstream media [ja] in Japan presented what many criticized as toned-down coverage …

FIRST THOUGHTS: IRAQ IS BACK  —  From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray  —  *** Iraq is back: Overshadowed in the last few weeks by the economy, the horserace, and even the recent back-and-forths over Geraldine Ferraro and Rev. Wright, the issue of Iraq returns to the campaign trail today.

Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog  —  A reader: … [Me] I repeat: Obama's toast.  He may yet get the Democratic nomination, but tens of millions of Americans who are neither (a) black nor (b) guilty white liberals are simply appalled that Obama would revere a guy like Jeremiah Wright for 20 years …

Rove's Second Act  —  Karl Rove, who has spent his career denigrating Democrats, was on the Fox News set last Monday when he was asked a point-blank question: Should Eliot Spitzer resign?  —  Pronouncing the situation “very sad,” Rove said he wasn't in the business of telling the New York governor what to do.