From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
HOPE MILLS, N.C. -- Jackals, no. But maybe spies.

In the first time Bill Clinton has ever publicly acknowledged the existence of his small and battle-hardened traveling press corps, President Bill Clinton noted today that his treks through rural America have expanded the horizons of the intrepid reporters who follow him.

"Some of the people that are embedded with me -- that's what you call the press that hafta follow you around," explained the former president, as your NBC reporter and her ABC colleague snapped to disbelieving attention from their seats on the distant press riser. 

"The embeds," he repeated to the audience with a giggle. "Sounds kinda like a spy, doesn't it?"

"Spy" may be more flattering than the terms used behind closed Escalade doors about the reporters who track him. The phrase "media jackals" has recently been bandied about in a recent report about how the one-time president feels about the press members in question. 

"Anyway," he continued in the inaugural shoutout to the campaign reporters who record his every move. "They see more of small-town America than they ever dreamed they would."

From Hope Mills, N.C. (population: 11,237). I have to say that, for once, he's absolutely right.

From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- After admitting that his gas tax holiday was not a "panacea," saying that it will not address America's reliance on foreign oil and calling it a "a nice little break for Americans," McCain once again hit Obama for not supporting his proposal.
 
"I noticed again that Sen. Obama refuses to endorse a tax-- gas tax holiday for Americans despite the fact that he voted for it several times when the price of gasoline was about a dollar and a half per gallon," McCain said. "All we need to do is cut out hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of pork barrel projects that have been funded by the pork barrel bills, the transportation and highway bills that have gone through the Congress of the United States."
 
After pushing his message of the day, McCain also responded to the recent ads released referencing his comments on a lengthy American presence in Iraq, quickly blaming Obama for misrepresenting his statements.
 
"It's a little distressing to me when Sen. Obama says that he wants to run a very great campaign that is above politics and above the mundane aspects of political campaigns and then keeps turning around and saying and totally falsifying my statement, which is clear in saying that after we win we may have a presence in Iraq the way we do in south Korea," McCain said.
 
Although admittedly Obama has misstated the intent of McCain's statement, he is not responsible for the television ads recently released by the DNC and MoveOn.org, which released an ad today.
 
McCain also commented on today's economic news: "Perhaps there was some small growth as far as statistics are concerned. I don't think that that helps Americans any. American families are hurting, 250,000 Americans just recently and suddenly lost their jobs. [Today's news] does not in anyway change my opinion that American families are hurting, they are having difficulties staying in their homes."

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
PORTAGE, Ind. -- The Clinton camp has worked hard of late to portray Hillary Clinton as the fighter in the race, someone with the determination to see her plans through no matter what the obstacles. Yesterday in North Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley (D) raised some eyebrows when he said Clinton was so determined she made "Rocky Balboa look like a pansy."

Well this afternoon, a local labor leader introducing Clinton pushed the envelope further, saying the nation needed a leader "that has testicular fortitude."
 
While defending Bill Clinton's role in the passage of NAFTA, Paul Gipson, president of a steelworkers local, said that union members need to look forward, and support a leader who can work to amend and improve provisions in the trade agreement.
 
"I truly believe that that's going to take an individual that has testicular fortitude," he said. "That's exactly right. That's what we gotta have."

Clinton, standing behind Gipson, smiled sheepishly before breaking into a nervous laugh. Gipson continued by slamming unnamed "Gucci-wearing, latte-drinking, self-centered, egotistical people that have damaged our lifestyle," before endorsing and introducing Clinton.
 
The New York senator, after some introductory remarks, then had some fun with Gipson's remarks. "I must say, Paul, I appreciate that endorsement. It means a lot to me," she said. "I do think I have fortitude. Women can have it as well as men."

Many in the crowd roared with approval.

Clinton's remarks focused heavily on trade issues and was full of hearty praise for the role of unions in American history.
 
"And no state needs a president more who understands the importance of manufacturing and the significance of the labor union movement than Indiana," she said. "We've got to fix our trade laws; it's overdue, and we've got to get tough on China. But you can't just make speeches about it; you both have to have a plan to do it and then you've gotta have the follow-through, so that when we get back to the White House in January 2009; we're going to hit the ground running, and we're going to start fixing the economy again."
 
The event took place after Clinton's much-anticipated interview with Bill O'Reilly was taped. She referred to it in passing while discussing her plan on taxes.
 
"I just taped an interview that will be on FOX tonight with Bill O'Reilly," she said, drawing some jeers. "Hey, I'm running for the toughest job in the world," she joked.
 
"We got into a little back and forth 'cause he said, 'You're going to raise my taxes, aren't you?' I said, 'I sure am.' If you make more than $250,000, you're gonna go back to pay the tax rates you paid in the 1990s. Because frankly, I'd rather cut taxes on all of you, and that's exactly what I'll do."

From NBC's Kristin Wilson
McCain, trying to burnish his "everyday man worries" credentials, repeatedly told reporters aboard his Straight Talk Express that "we ought to give the American people a break" on gas prices for the summer.

He suggested that giving Americans a break should include canceling the "Bridge to Nowhere" pork project in Alaska "and the $2.3 billion dollars in pork barrel projects that Sen. Clinton has asked for... that have contributed nothing to America's transportation system."

McCain said these earmarks have gone to unnecessary and unwanted projects that should have gone to repair the bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed last summer.

"The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse, because there wasn't enough money," he said. "The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork barrel projects."

A long-time opponent of pork barrel spending, McCain fired buck shot at his fellow legislators who earmark billions of dollars per year for projects in their home districts.

"It should surprise no one, when we look at the lists of projects that we are funding that have everything to do with power and the influence of the individual congressman or senator, and it has nothing to do with the actual transportation needs of the United States," he said. "Need I say more?"

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Hillary Clinton portrayed herself as a modern-day Teddy Roosevelt this morning, saying she'd build the political will to take on oil companies as president.

"At the turn of the last century, Teddy Roosevelt took on the oil companies," she said at the Deluxe Sheet Metal factory this morning. "We need a president who will take on the oil companies again, and I will do that. I will take away their tax subsidies. They don't need them to make these outrageous profits."

All week, Clinton has been beating the drum on her plan for a gas tax holiday. Today she used some different language on the issue, not calling it a tax holiday but saying she wanted "the oil companies to pay the federal gas tax this summer."

She also criticized McCain when asked about his statement that he'd use treasury funds to replace revenues the tax provides for the highway trust fund.

"I think that's a typical Republican response: don't pay for anything," she said of McCain's plan. "We haven't paid for the war in Iraq; we haven't paid for the tax cuts for the wealthy, so now we're not going to pay to replenish the Highway Trust Fund. … He is just driving us deeper and deeper into deficit and debt."

And she continued to knock Obama for, in her view, ignoring the short-term solution to the price crunch, adding that she hopes voters will consider this next Tuesday.

"I have no illusions about how difficult this would be, but you got to start somewhere," she said. "Going after the oil companies, which we're going to have to do in order take on our energy challenges and to get back into some balance in this country economically … means that we gotta start now to build the political momentum. I want this to be a voting issue. I hope people in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday will vote for me, because I'm willing to take on the oil companies."

Clinton took a few questions from reporters after her remarks, but carefully dodged one about Obama's comments yesterday distancing himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (She addresses it on Bill O'Reilly tonight, calling Wright's comments "offensive" and "outrageous.")

"You know what? I wanted to call on somebody from Indiana," she said, after hearing the start of the question. "I was looking for a hand from Indiana."

Clinton started her morning with a carefully choreographed photo op, commuting to work with Jason Wilfing, an employee of the Deluxe factory, stopping for gas along the way. After the tank filled at the Marathon station, Clinton acknowledged that she hasn't pumped gas herself in some time.

"I have a unique situation," she said, noting her Secret Service protection. "But I sure have heard a lot from so many people about what it costs them to buy gas, and you know, what we were just talking about is how the price of petroleum, as it goes up, everything else goes up."

Clinton picked up the tab for the $63 fill-up, got a French Vanilla cappuccino inside the mini mart, and then got back in the Ford F-250 pickup Wilfing borrowed from his boss for the drive to get work. Wilfing's own pick-up did not meet Secret Service specs for the drive, which also included Clinton's traveling aide and an armed agent.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
The Obama camp held a conference call Wednesday morning to publicize a 64-page complaint it has filed with the Federal Election Commission against the American Leadership Project, which is running an anti-Obama ad in Indiana and which Obama's lawyer called Swift Boat wannabes.

Obama's Chief Counsel Bob Bauer said the complaint alleged the group was violating the law by failing to register with the FEC as a political committee in order to collect money from anyone and in whatever amount without having to disclose that information.

Bauer said this type of group had been made famous by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which targeted Sen. John Kerry in 2004, and said the FEC complaint aimed to curtail the actions of such groups, calling it the first shot in the continuing "Swift Boat saga."

He said ALP was violating the law in exactly the same way as the Swift Boaters' group and that he hoped the FEC would enforce the law "to send the ultimate message" to other organizations that this kind of action wouldn't be tolerated.

Bauer said any legal defense of the organization would require a great deal of creativity and said there was nothing in the record to show the group's purpose was not to raise money for pro-Clinton efforts. He suggested the group was leaving a "documentary trail" to show this was its purpose.  

Bauer did not offer hard evidence that the group was coordinating with the Clinton campaign, saying an investigation would determine whether or to what extent that was taking place.

He said if the FEC was unable to investigate the allegations, the campaign hoped it would refer the matter to the Department of Justice, which also has jurisdiction.

The ALP, which the Obama camp calls a "so-called 527 political group led by Jason Kinney, the son of one of Hillary Clinton's Indiana state co-chairs" is airing an economy-focused ad that uses images of worried people with bills, houses with a "For Sale" sign in front and clippings from the Associated Press and Washington Post. The ad asks viewers to call the senator and tell him to "give Hoosiers a real plan to fix our economy."

Indiana State Rep. Matt Pierce was also on the call.

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A small but very fired up group of Floridians rallied in the street outside the Democratic National Committee's headquarters here today, demanding that their primary votes be counted and threatening to literally block the doors of the Democratic Convention if they aren't.

"We will shut down the convention!" exclaimed Rep. Corrine Brown. "If we are not seated, then nobody is going to be seated!"

Brown, a superdelegate pledged to Clinton, addressed a crowd of about 150 who had been bused up to D.C. from Florida this week under the auspices of LULAC, an Hispanic advocacy group. Though Brown and another super who spoke -- Rep. Hilda Solis -- are in the Clinton camp, organizers went out of their way to remove any hint that they favored one or the other Democrat in the race. Many in the crowd wore T-shirts with the name of each Democratic candidate, from Kucinich to Dodd to Richardson to Obama, printed across the back in the shape of a rainbow. There was but one Hillary '08 shirt or button to be seen.

"We're not supposed to talk about that," confided Harriet Meltzer, 83, a member in good standing of the Del Ray Democratic Club, though she allowed that she was, in fact, a Clinton supporter. "What's he going to do when he goes to the Middle East?" she asked of Obama, who she deems to be lacking in experience. "Charm them?"

But others were adamant that this was about right and wrong, not Obama and Clinton. "We've been robbed. I didn't get a say," said Glenda O'Laughlin of Clearwater. "This is a betrayal of our rights as citizens," added Branford Fambro, also of Clearwater.

Protesters eventually turned their ire on Howard Dean, literally calling him out with taunting chants of, "Be a man, Howard!" and "Where is Howard!?"

After organizers went inside to meet with DNC officials, who they got outside to address the crowd was not Dean but Luis Miranda, deputy communications director for regional and specialty media. His promise of Florida representation in Denver was greeted with shouts of "When?" and "How?"  He had no details to offer.

Meanwhile, Clinton campaign official Harold Ickes made a closed-door appearance this morning before Clinton supers in Congress, where he told them that HRC would end up winning the popular vote by 300,000, according to a Democrat in attendance. He also told the group the Obama was "writing off Florida" and that the only hope to win the state in November was with a Clinton nomination. Ickes comes up regularly for these outreach sessions.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The Clinton and Obama campaigns announced one more superdelegate each.

CA Rep. Lois Capps endorsed Obama, and Puerto Rico superdelegate Luisette Cabanas endorsed Clinton. (Chelsea Clinton is stumping in Puerto Rico today.)

Today, Obama has three superdelegates to Clinton's two.

To recap:
OBAMA: Rep. Baron Hill (IN), Rep. Bruce Braley (IA), Rep. Lois Capps.
CLINTON: Bill George (PA AFL-CIO president), Luisette Cabanas (PR DNC member).

SUPERDELEGATE TOTAL: (280 uncommitted)
CLINTON 268
OBAMA 247

PLEDGED: Obama 1,490-1,334
OVERALL: Obama 1,737-1,602

Since the PA primary, Obama leads 10-6 in superdelegates.

From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
SANFORD, N.C. -- As his wife was spending the morning with an Indiana driver to publicize her plan to fix suffocatingly high gas prices, her husband was in North Carolina, fiercely defending her support of a gas tax holiday.

"She has been criticized by her opponent and by others, who say, 'Oh, it is just pandering to people to offer them gasoline relief,'" he said, standing atop a long flatbed truck at an early polling rally.  "Well, let me tell you something folks -- when people are choosing every week between whether they got enough money to go to work and enough money to put food on the tables for their kids -- it is not pandering to try and help them get through the next six months."

Clinton has concentrated on the oil issue during his two-day swing through North Carolina. His wife's proposal to eliminate the gas tax during the summer months has been criticized by rivals who point out that the short-term benefit for many Americans would register at a savings of less than $50.

Other critics say that the summer solution fails to encourage the responsible seeking of long-term solutions to the energy crisis. The former president took special exception to that claim in Apex this morning.

"Hillary has got a long record as an environmentalist," he said. "But to say that giving people a little slack on these gas prices is going to discourage us from switching to higher mileage cars is just factually wrong. We're dealing with people here that cannot pay their bills."

From NBC's Ron Allen
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Sen. Clinton just went along on the morning commute with Jason Allen Wilfing of South Bend, who works at a sheet metal plant. They stopped for gas in his white pickup truck at a Marathon station where the price for regular is $3.75 a gallon. Clinton and Wilfing are now "commuting," to his job, in a motorcade, a motorcade that incidentally included eight low-gas mileage SUVs.

It was all quite contrived, like many campaign events, with Secret Service in the back seat of the truck and a swarm of media at the station. However, this one seemed a bit more "unnatural," shall we say, than most. And Sen. Clinton admitted because of her "special circumstance," she hasn't bought gas in a long while. But it's an example of how determined Clinton is to win over working-class voters by showing her concern and understanding of "kitchen table" issues.

While the gas dial was rolling up to $63.67, Clinton and Wilfing "chatted" about the high price of groceries and how rising fuel costs are affecting many aspects of family life.

Clinton also made a pitch, when asked about it by reporters, for her "gas tax holiday," which would suspend fuel taxes for the summer months. While Sen. Barack Obama and others have called the proposal a "gimmick" that only would save most families about $28 over the summer, Clinton says small businesses, trucking firms, farmers and families driving off for vacations would save much more. Clinton seems determined to make this a defining issue over the remaining days of the campaign.

Clinton also talked about how there's a need to "sound the alarm" about how high prices are hurting families. She talked about how it's a question of the nation's priorities while pointing out that the government bailed out Wall Street investment bank Bear Sterns, but she says, has done little for working-class families.

And there was more. Clinton talked about the need to investigate the energy markets, an unregulated business she says should be investigated for "market manipulation." She also called for more pressure on the OPEC "cartel," which she said operates a monopoly that should in some ways be more accountable under U.S. anti-trust laws. Much of that has become part of her stump speech here in Indiana, where her main theme continues to be "jobs, jobs and jobs."

We're now at Delux sheet metal, where Clinton is chatting with workers assembled on the factory floor here for her remarks.

"We've got to gather the political will to take on the oil companies," she said.

Quite a morning commute for one of the company's workers. And, in case you're wondering, the Clinton campaign did pay for her commuter buddy's gas. She just said someone told her the prices in some places went up 20 cents a gallon overnight.

"I'm asking people who work hard for a living ... to support me," she just said, adding that the country needs a "fighter" and a "change maker" in the White House.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
A small wave of superdelegate endorsements this morning. We mentioned Rep. Bruce Braley (IA) in First Thoughts for Obama. In addition, Obama picked up the endorsement of congressman Baron Hill. Clinton also picked up one -- Pennsylvania AFL-CIO president Bill George.

Hill represents Indiana's hotly contested ninth congressional district. Hill is a former Indiana high school basketball star who is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside NBA legend Larry Bird.

Here's how the numbers shake out:
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 267, Obama 246 (282 uncommitted)
PLEDGED: Obama 1,490-1,334
OVERALL: Obama 1,736-1,601

Since Pennsylvania, it's Obama 9-5 in superdelegates.
Here's how those break out:
CLINTON (5): Bill George (PA DNC), Rep. Ike Skelton (MO), Gov. Mike Easley (NC), Kathy Sullivan (NH add on), Rep. John Tanner (TN).

OBAMA (9): Rep. Baron Hill (IN), Rep. Bruce Braley (IA), Rep. Ben Chandler (KY), Richard Machacek (IA), Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM), Charlene Fernandez (AZ DNC), Rep. David Wu (OR), Audra Ostergard (NE DNC), Gov. Brad Henry (OK).

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Dumping Wright: A day ago, we asked if yesterday would be the day Jeremiah Wright would go away, at least in the context of the Obama-Clinton primary race. Well, not quite. Obama made sure the story would last one more day by holding a press conference in which he unequivocally denounced Wright. That denunciation -- just like his speech on race more than a month ago -- has received universal praise. It made him look strong, and it might have even helped him a bit if he wins the nomination (after all, denouncing him now is MUCH better than doing so in October). But the criticisms still to be leveled against Obama are twofold: 1) it was late and 2) he did this only after Wright personally attacked him; Obama didn't get angry over the OTHER things Wright said, but only when Wright made it personal. One thing still hanging in the air: will Wright respond; he did a sort-of response through a blind quote in the New York Post but considering how upset black church leaders seem to be with Wright, he may end up keeping quiet. Clearly, superdelegates were the most important audience yesterday. They may be relieved Obama finally showed an ability to deal with a baggage crisis head-on, but they still will want to know if Wright will continue to dog him. Obama's back was against the wall and he delievered. But like every other time, it feels a little late, the question is, was it TOO late.

VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd discusses Obama's fallout with his former pastor. 

*** The odd good news for Obama: The Wright Story Volume 2, which began on Thursday when PBS released excerpts of the reverend's interview with Bill Moyers, has now lasted six days -- which, by the way, is the same amount of time between now and Tuesday's elections in Indiana and North Carolina. And unlike right before the past contests in Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania, it is Clinton -- not Obama -- who seems to have all the momentum. The perception is that Obama is bleeding. But this COULD be a good thing for Obama, relatively speaking, of course. Clinton won the expectations game in those past three contests, primarily because it seemed like Obama had all the Mo'. But now that Mo' is on Clinton's side. What happens if Obama is still able to defeat Clinton by double digits in North Carolina and essentially split the delegates in Indiana? Of course, the bigger question for his campaign might be: What if he doesn't? And what if those exit poll cross-tabs in North Carolina and Indiana show white voters abandoning Obama in greater numbers than in Ohio and Pennsylvania?

*** Hillary, working 9 to 5: Per NBC's Ron Allen, Clinton begins her day today with an interesting "event." A typical Indiana resident -- Jason Allen Wilfing, who has worked at Deluxe Sheet Metal for 15 years -- will just happen to stop by the hotel where Clinton is staying, and she will join him on his typical commute to work. And what's more, they will have to stop for gas. (The tank just happens to be running dry while Clinton's along for the ride.) Clinton will then help Wilfing pump gas. And then he will complete the typical trip to work. Of course, we all wonder when was the last time Clinton drove a car? Or pumped gas? Or even, after that $109 million, had to worry about the cost of gas? Politicians do all kinds of things to attract votes, but this has the potential to be memorable. Indeed.

*** Pander alert: The Clinton gas event is yet another sign that Clinton is trying to harken back to the '90s and hammer home the "I feel your pain" aspect of the Clinton years that voters responded to so well back then. But the debate over the gas-tax holiday is an interesting one -- and it's a test of just how closely voters are following the campaign. Will voters respond simply on the pocketbook front and demand this gas tax holiday, despite all the downsides that many experts have outlined about the idea? It's the old "if it feels good, do it" (that Clinton and McCain have seen succeed for so long during times that pocketbook politics have dominated the debate) versus the intellectual argument Obama is trying to have (that usually is praised by, well, intellectuals but dismissed by rank-and-file voters who want their tax cut or gas prices cut). Clinton is trying to own this issue big time -- even running TV ads about it and constantly criticizing Obama for not supporting the gas-tax holiday.Obama's criticism of McCain's plan and Clinton's are accurate. The only problem is it leaves voters saying, "Ok, it's a gimmick; so what's your proposal? This feels like Clinton v. Tsongas '92. But the electorate acts as if its more informed than it was 16 years ago, and also could be a bit more distrustful of government handouts than in the past. Regardless, one could argue that the Clinton-Obama debate over this issue sums up their candidacies and potential presidencies. In this environment, which do voters prefer?

*** How low can you go; how high can you fly? Yesterday, we released some early numbers from the latest NBC/WSJ poll, which comes out tonight. The numbers? Only 21% approve of President Bush's job in handling the economy -- his lowest number ever as president on that question. Also, a whopping 81% believe the US is currently in a recession. Interested in the latest numbers in the Obama-Clinton race? Want to know how both stack up against McCain? Or curious about which party -- Democratic or Republican -- holds the advantage heading into November? And want to know which relationship is worse: Bush or Wright? Tune into Nightly News, or click onto MSNBC.com, at 6:30 pm ET.

*** One more plug: Obama will be on Meet the Press for the full hour this Sunday. Tim Russert will travel to Indianapolis to sit down with the Democratic front-runner for the live interview, taking place on the even of what could be the most significant primaries of the campaign season. Set your TiVOs now if for some reason you haven't yet clicked "season pass" for Meet the Press.

*** Closer to the magic number: Obama picked up another superdelegate just this morning, Rep. Bruce Braley (IA), who was a strong supporter of Edwards. Yesterday, Obama picked up two more superdelegates: Kentucky congressman Ben Chandler and Iowa DNC member Richard Machacek. Clinton also picked up one: Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton. Skelton cited Clinton's "support in rural America" as a reason for backing her. Since the Pennsylvania primary, Obama has gotten eight superdelegates to Clinton's four. Here's where the counts stand: SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 266-245; PLEDGED: Obama 1,490-1,334; OVERALL: Obama 1,735-1,600.

*** On the trail: Clinton spends her day in Indiana, stumping in South Bend, Portage, Lafayette, and Kokomo; McCain raises money in Florida and then holds another health-care event in Allentown, PA; and Obama, in Indiana, has events in Indianapolis and then holds a rally at Indiana University in Bloomington. Also, Bill Clinton has a whopping seven events in North Carolina, and Michelle Obama is in Indiana.

Countdown to North Carolina, Indiana: 6 days
Countdown to West Virginia: 13 days
Countdown to Kentucky and Oregon: 20 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 188 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 265 days
 
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The New York Times' lead: "Obama broke forcefully on Tuesday with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in an effort to curtail a drama of race, values, patriotism and betrayal that has enveloped his presidential candidacy at a critical juncture." More: "At a minimum, the spectacle of Mr. Wright's multiday media tour and Mr. Obama's rolling response grabbed the attention of the most important constituency in politics now: the uncommitted superdelegates - party officials and elected Democrats - who hold the balance of power in the nominating battle."

VIDEO: NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports on Sen. Barack Obama calling remarks by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "destructive".

"Eileen Macoll, a Democratic county chairman from Washington State who has not chosen a candidate, said she was stunned at the extent of national attention the episode has drawn, and she said she believed it would give superdelegates pause. 'I'm a little surprised at how much traction it is getting, and I do believe it is beginning to reflect negatively on Senator Obama's campaign,' Ms. Macoll said. 'I think he's handling it very well, but I think it's almost impossible to make people feel comfortable about this.'" 

The Los Angeles Times writes, "Some black leaders said Tuesday that they were frustrated at Wright for undertaking a publicity tour in recent days that may have harmed the chance to elect the first black president. And a number of African American church leaders expressed alarm that Wright, whose views on social issues are far to the left of most black clergy, claimed on Monday to speak for all black churches. 'I wish that Jeremiah, my friend, had kept his eye on the prize,' said the Rev. Frank Madison Reid III, pastor of a large African Methodist Episcopal congregation in Baltimore who studied with Wright and has invited him regularly to preach at his church. 'And the prize here for America, for all Americans, is that we can elect the first black man for the presidency.'"

The Washington Post: "At a meeting of black religious leaders at the Howard University School of Divinity on Tuesday, Wright declined to address the firestorm that his remarks had ignited. 'You heard what I said [Monday] morning,' he told a reporter. 'I just wish that the media would focus on more of what they are saying in there, because they are trying to make this about me and Barack.'"

The New York Post: "After 20 years of loving Barack like he was a member of his own family, for Jeremiah to see Barack saying over and over that he didn't know about Jeremiah's views during those years, that he wasn't familiar with what Jeremiah had said, that he may have missed church on this day or that and didn't hear what Jeremiah said, this is seen by Jeremiah as nonsense and betrayal," said the source, who has deep roots in Wright's Chicago community and is familiar with his thinking on the matter. 'Jeremiah is trying to defend his congregation and the work of his ministry by saying what he is saying now," the source added. "Jeremiah doesn't care if he derails Obama's candidacy or not . . . He knows what he's doing. Obviously, he's not a dumb man. He knows he's not helping.'"

The Boston Globe: "The condemnation was a dramatic shift for Obama, who had tried to navigate a personal and political minefield: maintaining a relationship with the minister who brought him to Christianity, performed his wedding, and baptized his two daughters, while distancing himself from Wright's most incendiary sermons and trying to quell a controversy that threatened to undermine Obama's campaign's focus on racial unity."

The Washington Post's editorial page mostly praises Obama denouncing Wright yesterday. "Did Mr. Obama climb out of that hole yesterday? It seems to us that the whole sorry episode raises legitimate questions about his judgment… But Mr. Obama is right when he says that his entire career is antithetical to the divisiveness of the Rev. Wright's comments. We've found things to cheer and things to criticize about Mr. Obama during this long campaign, but we don't see how anyone could question his commitment to transcending old racial battles and finding common ground. The Rev. Wright doesn't speak for the candidate, and we hope the pastor doesn't become a continuing excuse for political ads built on racial fears."

The New York Times' editorial page: "It took more time than it should have, but on Tuesday Barack Obama firmly rejected the racism and paranoia of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., and he made it clear that the preacher does not represent him, his politics or his campaign." 

Maureen Dowd: "The Illinois senator doesn't pay attention to the mythic nature of campaigns, but if he did, he would recognize the narrative of the classic hero myth: The young hero ventures out on an adventure to seek a golden fleece or an Oval Office; he has to kill monsters and face hurdles before he returns home, knocks off his father and assumes the throne. Tuesday was more than a Sister Souljah moment; it was a painful form of political patricide. 'I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency,' Obama said. In a campaign that's all about who's vetted, maybe he should have."

The Globe's Canellos writes that "voters and other political observers will inevitably wonder what took so long -- and how Obama could have misjudged someone to whom he was very close." 
 
But the Globe's Lehigh writes, "So as we begin yet another round of discussion about the radical reverend, let me offer a radical proposition. What's really relevant here is not what Jeremiah Wright says but what Barack Obama believes." More: "With the wrathful reverend now delightedly reinjecting himself into the headlines, that's precisely what Obama needed to do. ... And yet, no matter what conspiracy theories the reverend subscribes to and no matter what moral equivalencies he draws, it's Obama, not Wright, who is the presidential candidate.

Some editorials hit Wright harder than anyone else, like this one in the Cleveland Plain Dealer…  

… and this one from the San Antonio Express-News. 

Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune believes Obama will face more Wright tests. After watching Wright on Monday, the paper doesn't seem to believe Wright will simply fade away. 

More polling evidence that Clinton and Obama supporters are starting to hate the other candidate more than John McCain.

Politico reports, "Capitol Hill insiders say the battle for congressional superdelegates is over, and one Senate supporter of Barack Obama is hinting strongly that he has prevailed over Hillary Rodham Clinton. While more than 80 Democrats in the House and Senate have yet to state their preferences in the race for the Democratic nomination, sources said Tuesday that most of them have already made up their minds and have told the campaigns where they stand. Asked which way the committed-but-unannounced superdelegates are leaning, McCaskill -- who has endorsed Obama -- said: "James Brown would say, 'I Feel Good.'"
 
But Clinton spokesman Phil Singer was singing a different tune ("You've gotta have faith?") "Considering the rough patch Sen. Obama is going through, it's understandable that Sen. McCaskill would want to change the subject, but her observations don't jibe with what automatic delegates are actually saying," he said. "Most are concerned about Sen. Obama's electability and are impressed by the fact that Sen. Clinton is winning the states that Democrats must carry if we are to be successful in November." 
 
A Michigan compromise? "Michigan Democrats working to get the state's delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday suggested splitting them 69-59 between presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton has argued that she should get 73 delegates based on the results of the Jan. 15 primary, which she won -- 18 more than Obama. Obama, who removed his name from the ballot, wants the 128 pledged delegates split evenly, 64-64.
 
"The compromise, suggested Tuesday in a letter to Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer [from Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, Sen. Carl Levin and Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, wife of Rep. John Dingell], fell halfway between the two proposals."

INDIANA: Obama is spending three of the next four days in Indiana. Clinton spends the next two days there.

NORTH CAROLINA: John Edwards, you lost the Dem nomination a few months back and you just can't decide whom to endorse... what are you going to do next!?!?! Edwards: "I'm going to Disney World!"

That's right, "Edwards is vacationing at Walt Disney World in Florida this week, fueling speculation that he's not going to endorse either Democratic presidential candidate before the May 6 primary. But then, another vacation turned out differently. In July 2004, Edwards took his family to Disney World for a vacation, leading many to declare he was not John Kerry's vice presidential pick. As it turned out, Edwards had slipped away, catching a flight to Washington to meet with Kerry."

Mike Easley's endorsement of Clinton focused on her outreach to blue-collar voters. "Easley doesn't have a powerful state organization, nor is he a national political figure. But Easley's endorsement of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could help the Democratic presidential candidate in her quest for more traditional rural and small-town blue-collar Democrats in North Carolina's primary Tuesday."

"Easley's reputation as a sort of 'Governor Bubba' helped make him the only two-term Democratic governor in the South. Easley was elected to office as a pistol-packing former prosecutor and was re-elected as the governor who crashed a NASCAR race car into the wall during a charity event."

"'Easley probably appeals to more conservative Democrats, to the blue-collar voters that Hillary Clinton has been targeting,' said Steven Greene, an N.C. State University political science professor. 'He strengthens her efforts among those groups.' But Greene said he thought Easley's endorsement would have only a modest effect, noting that public opinion polls suggest that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has a double-digit lead."

The Raleigh paper covered Obama's appearance at a UNC hoops practice in the sports section. By the way Duke fans, UNC may have violated NCAA rules...  "North Carolina's men's basketball team on Tuesday had what a team official called an extraordinary chance to play basketball with presidential candidate Barack Obama. So extraordinary that an NCAA rule appears to have been broken -- and the NCAA is apparently going to ignore it. 'This was a unique situation and not an NCAA issue,' NCAA media relations director Erik Christianson said in an e-mail message to The News & Observer on Tuesday. 'It certainly was a great opportunity for the student-athletes to interact with a presidential candidate.'"

"At issue is the timing of the informal scrimmage and the fact that UNC coach Roy Williams watched it from the sideline. According to NCAA bylaws, coaches are not allowed to watch pickup games at any time during the offseason. Division I basketball teams also are prohibited from any mandatory athletically related offseason activities through final exams. Exams began Monday at UNC. Team spokesman Steve Kirschner said Williams knew he wasn't supposed to be at the Smith Center practice gym under the letter of the NCAA rules, but that these were 'extraordinary circumstances,' and, with the number of Secret Service personnel on site, the coach wanted to be there to make sure that everything went OK." 

Meanwhile, speaking of hoops, the AP's Ron Fournier played pick up with the Illinois senator recently and described his game, in part, this way: "Obama is extremely confident with his game, for good reason. He glides more than runs, high and soft on the balls of his feet and with graceful strides that put enough space between himself and his opponents to launch a solid left-handed jump shot. Obama, who usually plays with younger men, says he's a step too fast for most his age." Obama's "signature move: Fake right and drive hard to the left. A political statement? 'Nah,' he said with a wan and sweaty smile, 'I just love to play this game.'" (video)

The New York Times' Friedman hits both Clinton and McCain on their gas tax holiday support. "It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer's travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country."  

Uh, oh. The Wall Street Journal: "Although the major presidential candidates are making record gasoline prices a campaign issue, they are avoiding mention of measures they each support that would indirectly raise prices at the pump. ... Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican John McCain support some type of corporate cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gases, which likely would increase fuel prices. In addition, the Democratic contenders have called for a 'windfall profits' tax on oil companies, which ultimately could be passed on to consumers."

In an ed board meeting with the Indy Star, Clinton said Dems shouldn't switch sides if their candidate doesn't win the Dem nod. "Clinton also said Tuesday that she thinks the primaries have been 'energizing' rather than divisive, resulting in many new voters being brought into the electoral process. She's committed, she said, to keeping those voters in the Democratic column, regardless of whether she or Obama ends up as the nominee."

More: "Clinton wouldn't address whether she'll stay in the race if she doesn't win Indiana, but said her upbringing near Chicago and her message of turning this from the 'rust belt' to the 'opportunity belt' helps her connect with Hoosier voters. 'I'm going to try to do as well as I can in Indiana. I never make predictions because who knows,' she said." 

The Wall Street Journal looks at how Clinton is playing on economic fears of voters to win them over.  "By focusing on voter fears about globalization and job losses in troubled industries, Sen. Clinton has cultivated support among factory workers and others worried about U.S. competitiveness that has given her an edge over Barack Obama in several key races, including Pennsylvania and Ohio. 'She's cultivated a message that focuses on industries that share commonality -- in terms of the pressures they're under and the impact on the working-class population,' says Chris Lehane, a Democratic political consultant based in California. 'That means metals in Pennsylvania, tires or rubber in Ohio, coal in West Virginia."

Staying on the econ message, a separate WSJ piece notes how Clinton's focus on the '90s economy also risks reminding voters of the '90s Clinton scandals.

Clinton stressed economic issues last night as she called the Hoosier state "the most important manufacturing state" in the country, NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli reports. "You're the people of steel and of autos and of defense and of so much else that really makes America work," she told nearly 2,000 supporters during a chilly, outdoor rally. "But the economy is not working for hard-working Americans right now. The jobs are not there, the incomes not rising, the cost of everything from filling up your tank to paying the health-care bills to the utility bills is getting way beyond what anybody dreamed. So we've gotta start playing both defense and offense again."

Politico's Martin looks at Republicans ignoring Clinton: "Clinton, it seems, has been erased from the picture, Soviet-style. Republicans mostly act like she doesn't exist -- an unusual turn of events considering her run of big-state victories and the fact that not so long ago Republican campaign plans were predicated on the idea of Clinton as the Democratic nominee. Indeed, her recent success has only increased the volume and ferocity of the attacks -- not on her, but on Obama." 
 
Clinton "will appear in a two-part interview on The Fox News Channel's 'The O'Reilly Factor' starting Wednesday at 8. Part two will air Thursday at 8 p.m."

The Washington Post says McCain yesterday "rejected calls by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, instead offering a market-based solution with an approach similar to a proposal put forth by President Bush last year… Democratic Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) have vowed government action to fulfill what they cast as a moral right for Americans to have health insurance. They favor mandates for coverage; McCain (R-Ariz.) proposes tax incentives. Obama and Clinton would impose new regulations on insurers; McCain's plan is designed to avoid direct regulation. The Democrats would build on the current employer-based system; McCain would shift to a more individual approach."  

The New York Times adds: "His proposal to move away from employer-based coverage was similar to one that President Bush pushed for last year, to little effect. And his call for expanding coverage through market-based competition is in stark contrast to the Democrats' proposals to move toward universal health care coverage, with government subsidies to help lower-income people afford their premiums." 

The Times also looks at what kind of relationship McCain could have with congressional Republicans while in the White House and notes some of the rocky nature they've had. "The McCain campaign and House Republicans, in an effort coordinated by Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the party leader, are engaging in a bit of therapy to strengthen their political marriage. Top McCain officials gathered recently with chiefs of staff to House Republicans to emphasize the idea that it is to their mutual advantage to pull together as the election unfolds."

"Mr. McCain has reached out more to the House leadership. Republican officials say that Mr. Boehner sought and received assurances from Mr. McCain in a private meeting in February that he would not ignore the interests of his backers in the House when pushing his policy ideas. Mr. Boehner would not comment on those discussions. But he noted that, on major topics like the Iraq war and federal spending, most House Republicans and Mr. McCain are now in sync." 

From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
BOONE, NC -- In the North Carolina college town that is home to one of football's greatest upsets, Bill Clinton was quick today to paint his wife as an underdog -- and as a defensive player.

"Most of what people have said in this campaign is wrong, including who's been more positive and who's been more negative," said Clinton in an address to more than 2,000 at Appalachian State University. "She's talked relentlessly about the solutions. She won in Pennsylvania after being hit with negative ad after negative ad after negative ad, and negative letters. And all she did was respond."

Clinton opened his remarks with a shoutout to the school's football team, which famously defeated the University of Michigan in a stunning upset last fall. "I think it will have special meaning here if I begin with a line I always say today," he said. "Whenever somebody tells you you can't win, it's because they're afraid you will."

From NBC's Mark Murray
We are releasing some early numbers from the latest NBC/WSJ poll, which comes out tomorrow night.

The numbers? Only 21% approve of President Bush's job in handling the economy -- his lowest number ever as president on that question.

Also, a whopping 81% believe the US is currently in a recession.

Interested in the latest numbers in the Obama-Clinton race? Want to know how both stack up against McCain? Or curious about which party -- Democratic or Republican -- holds the advantage heading into November? Tune into Nightly News, or click onto MSNBC.com, at 6:30 pm ET tomorrow.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Obama opened a somber, nearly half-hour press conference this afternoon by saying he was outraged and saddened by Wright's comments to the National Press Club in Washington the previous day and that the Wright who spoke those words was not the man he had met 20 years ago.

Wright has been a particularly thorny issue for Obama, since snippets of his sermons -- which many viewed as divisive and unpatriotic -- aired repeatedly on YouTube and cable television last month in the lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary. The remarks threatened to alienate the white, working-class voters Obama has been attempting to woo away from Clinton in recent contests, with little success.

Obama has framed his candidacy -- or it has been framed for him -- in "post-racial" terms and many of his supporters have been inspired by a campaign that cast itself as one about unifying people across ethnicities, creeds, and political parties. A close association with a man whose message is seen as divisive would damage that over-arching theme, something the senator acknowledged.

Obama said he had given his pastor the benefit of the doubt during his speech on race in Philadelphia and had spoken to him after delivering that speech, though he would not elaborate on their conversation. But the senator said there was no excuse for Wright's comments yesterday linking the US government to the creation of AIDS, praising Louis Farrakhan, and connecting US wartime efforts to terrorism.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the Black Church," he said. "They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs and if Rev Wright thinks that's political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well and based on his remarks yesterday, well I may not know him as well as I thought either."

Speaking slowly, deliberately and at times sternly, Obama repeatedly said Wright's comments contradicted everything his campaign was about, all that he had worked for throughout his life and his vision for America, while acknowledging his former pastor had a right to make his views known.

He called Wright's "performance" an exploitative spectacle, and while he praised the work of Wright's ministry in the community, he said his relationship with the man had suffered "great damage". Still, he declined to say it had been irreparably damaged, instead focusing on how he defined his relationship with the pastor.

"I know one thing that he said was true was that he wasn't, you know, he was never my quote-unquote spiritual adviser. He was never my spiritual mentor; he was, uh, he was my pastor," Obama said. "And so to some extent how ... the press characterized in the past that relationship, I think, wasn't accurate. But he was somebody who was my pastor and married Michelle and I and baptized my children and prayed with us at uh, when we announced this race - and so I'm disappointed."

The senator declined to speculate on the impact the Wright issue would have on the race, saying the election was in a few days "so we'll find out."

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Hillary Clinton defended her plan for a gas tax holiday, saying it would have a larger impact on the nation's economy than just the immediate savings for drivers.
 
Clinton toured a family owned furniture manufacturer in Indiana's largest city to illustrate that the high cost of fuel has a significant impact on small businesses, as well as truckers who move the products made here. She claimed the company had seen orders canceled because customers were unwilling to pay fuel surcharges on shipping.
 
"You've gotta bring those logs in; you've gotta send the finished products out," she said. "And the costs are sent down the supply chain, from the factory floor to the corner store."
 
The New York senator highlighted new oil company profit figures as evidence her proposed windfall profits tax was the answer.
 
"The oil companies have figured out a way to keep profiting no matter what else happens," she said. "Over the last three months, while you were being pummeled by high gas prices, Shell's profits rose by 25 percent, and BP's by 63 percent. So the oil companies are doing very well, and it's high time that they helped to relieve the burden of high gas prices on our families and our businesses."
 
The Obama campaign has said Clinton's plan would have a minimal impact, a charge Clinton pushed back on while suggesting he was ignoring the impact to rural areas.

"There are a lot of people in Indiana who would really benefit from a gas tax holiday," she said. "That may not mean much to my opponent, but it means a lot to people who are struggling here, people who commute long distances to work: farmers and truckers, who are in the business of driving a lot of vehicles over a lot of miles."
 
And she again hit Obama for voting in favor of what she calls "Dick Cheney's energy bill."

"My opponent talks a lot about standing up to big oil," Clinton said, "but when the time came to take action, he voted for the bill that gave billions of dollars in tax breaks to the oil companies, and I voted against it. I didn't think they needed any more of your money to make a profit."

She also targeted McCain, who also proposes a tax holiday, but she said he does not compensate for funds dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund. (That's a point the McCain campaign has contested.) "Sen. Obama won't provide relief, while McCain won't pay for it," she said. "And I'm the only candidate that would provide immediate relief at the pump with a plan to make it happen, turning talk into action."

From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
With the North Carolina Democratic primary a week away, Elizabeth Edwards tells MSNBC she'd be "surprised" if either her or her husband endorsed either Obama or Clinton before the contest. But she quickly left the door open for a change of heart saying, "You never say never" -- given that there are big news events that can impact the race.    
 
"My inclination is not to say more than I have said," noting that she has only gone so far as to endorse Clinton's health-care proposal for universal health care coverage.
 
She also said the Edwards family is on vacation in Orlando, Fla. When asked about a New York Times report suggesting the possibility that she would endorse Clinton and her husband would endorse Obama, she responded, "We're more concerned about whether we're going to stand in line for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain next."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Missouri congressman Ike Skelton endorsed Clinton, per the Clinton campaign.

"It is my intention as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention to vote for Senator Hillary Clinton because of her support in rural America, her commitment to National Security, and her dedication to our men and women in uniform," Skelton said in a statement released by the Clinton campaign.

This brings the superdelegate count to:
CLINTON 266
OBAMA 244

Since Pennsylvania, it's Obama 7, Clinton 4. (285 are uncommitted).

PLEDGED: Obama 1,490-1,334
OVERALL: Obama 1,734-1,600

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and NBC's Mark Murray
WINSTON SALEM, NC -- In an extraordinary press conference here, Obama denounced the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, saying that Wright's comments yesterday angered and saddened him -- and are antithetical to what his campaign is about.

"I've known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church."

"They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Rev. Wright thinks that that's political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well I might not know him as well as I thought, either."

More to come...