Bob Casey to endorse Obama, join bus tour  —  Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president today in Pittsburgh, sending a message both to the state's primary voters and to undecided superdelegates who might decide the close race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

U.S. Planes Attack Militia Strongholds in Basra Fighting  —  BAGHDAD —American military forces for the first time conducted air strikes on targets in Basra late Thursday, joining Iraqi security forces in trying to oust Shiite militias in the southern port city.

Transcript: Mark McKinnon On Why He'll Leave The McCain Campaign If Obama Is The Democratic Nominee  —  National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with Mark McKinnon for the March 28 edition of “National Journal On Air.”  This is a transcript of their conversation.  —  Q: I want to introduce Mark McKinnon.

Obama now says he might have left church  —  In appearance taped for airing this morning on “The View,” Senator Obama makes news by saying he might have left Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ if the Rev. Jeremiah Wright had not retired.  —  In a clip posted by ABC, Obama says …

Rice hits U.S. ‘birth defect’  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the United States still has trouble dealing with race because of a national “birth defect” that denied black Americans the opportunities given to whites at the country's very founding.

GIULIANI WEIGHING ‘SPECIAL’ RUN FOR GOV  —  In the latest twist in New York politics, Rudy Giuliani is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign, sources say.  —  A top adviser to the former mayor, who pulled the plug on his presidential bid …

42 Democrats Vow a Drawdown in Iraq If They Win Seats  —  More than three dozen Democratic congressional candidates banded together yesterday to promise that, if elected, they will push for legislation calling for an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq that would leave only a security force …

Loans and Leadership  —  When George W. Bush first ran for the White House, political reporters assured us that he came across as a reasonable, moderate guy.  —  Yet those of us who looked at his policy proposals — big tax cuts for the rich and Social Security privatization — had a very different impression.

American Anchor Quits Al Jazeera  —  Dave Marash, the most prominent American anchor on Al Jazeera English, has quit the 24-hour news channel, citing an increased amount of editorial control exercised by the channel's headquarters in Doha, Qatar.  —  “To put it bluntly, the channel that's on now …

Getting Mrs. Clinton  —  I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign.  This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't.  There's no dodging now.  You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't.  You either understand who she is, or not.

Limbaugh safe from voter-fraud charges  —  Radio host encouraged fans to vote Democratic  —  Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has been telling his audience for days now that he could be indicted for encouraging Ohio Republicans to take a Democratic ballot in the March 4 primary in what he calls “Operation Chaos.”