Scratching Obama's Teflon

"Obama is also cool in the other sense of the word; her tastes, references, and vocabulary--'freaky,' '24/7,' 'got my back,' 'American Idol,' Judge Mathis--if not exactly edgy, are recognizable, which, for a political spouse, makes them seem radical."

Rush Limbaugh alert! Frank Rich on John McCain: "Some Democrats do admire and like him. So does Jon Stewart, and so do many liberal editorial boards and card-carrying hacks in the mainstream American press. So, in fact, do many at The Times, including myself." Rich then proceeds to trash McCain's position on the war.

The Obama campaign pushes back hard against a Politico story about whether Catholic voters are backing Obama. A top spokesman for the candidate challenges the premise of the story, telling the online publication: "I was not questioning anyone's credentials or trying to be a jerk for the sake of being a jerk."

Bill Richardson says he's not endorsing, but who could he have been talking about, other than Obama, when he told Bob Schieffer that "whoever has the most delegates after Tuesday, a clear lead, should be, in my judgment, the nominee"?

Meanwhile, Is Hillary's team selling soap that the media won't buy? Joe Klein thinks so:

"As we rode down to Waco from Fort Worth on the Clinton bus this noon, various cellphones had the Clinton-spinners press conference-call on speaker. It was intolerable, like being forced into a small room with that obnoxious Cincinnati talk radio host. It went on for an hour and a half, and I was beginning to wonder if there was a hostage situation. The big news, the new spin was that Obama was going to have to prove his front-runnerdom by winning all 4 primaries next week. This sort of spin is . . . so 4 cycles ago. Do Penn and Wolfson etc. actually think this has any effect beyond making them seem stupid and petty?"

Gee, wasn't it Bill Clinton who was saying his wife had to win Texas and Ohio?

Are we headed for a big Democratic win this fall? The Standard cites a Pew survey that "finds reason for McCain optimism. First, the poll reveals public attitudes about the war in Iraq have turned more positive. '47% now favor keeping U.S. troops in Iraq until the situation there has stabilized, the highest percentage expressing this view in well more than a year,' the Pew poll reports.

"The report also highlights some potential Democratic base fissures that could handicap Senator Obama. 'Overall, 20% of white Democratic voters would vote for McCain if Obama is the Democratic nominee,' the poll shows--double the percent of white Democratic support McCain would get in a Clinton-McCain race. Indeed, most parts of Senator Clinton's base (seniors, lower-income, less-educated Democrats) would support McCain at higher levels if Obama were the nominee.

"It also reveals a majority of Americans (56 percent) believe Senator Obama has not provided enough information about his policies and plans. Only 37 percent say Senator McCain has not provided enough information."

Of course, Obama will pick off his share of independents, and even some Republicans.

Townhall columnist Matt Lewis also talks up McCain: