Greg Sargent reports that:

Hillary chief strategist Geoff Garin [said] "Senator Obama has said what he has to say . . .We respect the fact that Senator Obama has had his say on this and the campaign should move on."

Sargent also reports that Hillary Clinton said:

I regret the efforts by the Republicans to politicize this matter and I believe that if Senator McCain were serious he would do more than just send a letter[.] [H]e is the putative nominee[.] I think he could very clearly tell the North Carolina party[,] tell the Mississippi party[,] that he would not tolerate those kinds of advertisements and I'm waiting to see if he does that.

By Big Tent Democrat

The spread is in line with other NC polls. But PPP previously had Obama up by 25 points in NC. Now it is 51-39. The why is important:

The bulk of the movement in the NC race has come from white voters. Her lead is now back up to 56-35.

Demography is political destiny. In Ohio, PA, IN and NC, the polling is showing the same demographic breakdowns. The issue is how many white and A-A voters there are in the electorate. This is quite troubling. BTW, I wonder if Jim Clyburn will get the message now.

By Big Tent Democrat.

The New York Times reports that the Bush Administration's wiretapping of defense lawyers in terror cases in Oregon is having an effect nation-wide:

Sean M. Maher, a New York lawyer who is a co-chairman of the national security committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he knew talented private lawyers who were refusing to take on terrorism cases because of potential violations of their privacy, including monitoring of their communications with clients. That fear has grown as a result of the disclosures in Oregon, Mr. Maher said.

Lawyers who agree to defend terrorism suspects in cases involving classified information are required to undergo background checks that can include an F.B.I. review of their financial and medical records, including records of psychiatric care.

“People just aren’t going to get involved in this process,” Mr. Maher said. “I find it unfathomable that in our adversarial system, we’ve created a process to weed out qualified defense counsel.”

Background on the Oregon wiretapping is here.

The latest SUSA Indiana poll:

8 days until votes are counted, Hillary Clinton finishes ahead of Barack Obama, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for WHAS-TV in Louisville and WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. The results are identical to a SurveyUSA TV poll released 4 weeks ago, on 04/01/08. Clinton led then 52% to 43%, leads now 52% to 43%.

Crosstabs. Clinton leads among whites 56-39 (87% of the vote), Obama among African Americans 78-16 (10% of the vote). On election day, Obama will win A-As by 90-10. The issue is, as it has been for a while, will Obama lose whites by 20 points or more.

By Big Tent Democrat

Rev. Wright today spoke at the National Press Club. He continued his attacks on the media and again asserted Barack Obama speaks with electability in mind. Jake Tapper at ABC News writes:

He clearly was not doing Obama any favors, not only by reappearing before a ravenous media thus distracting from Obama's attempt to relate better to white working class voters in Indiana and North Carolina, but by implying Obama's condemnation of some of his sermons was not sincere.

"Politicians say what they say and do what they do because of electability," Wright said, arguing that Obama had not seen the sermons played in the media that Obama has called "offensive." "He had to distance himself because he's a politician...Whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God."

Wright also defended the comments in his past sermons that have placed him in the media spotlight.

But he didn't distance himself from any of the sentiments underlying the clips shown on television. Indeed, the former pastor embraced the most controversial items he has said.

On Louis Farakkhan [More...]

The Supreme court has upheld Indiana's Voter ID law:

The Supreme Court has ruled that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights. The decision validates Republican-inspired voter ID laws. The court vote 6-3 to uphold Indiana's strict photo ID requirement. Democrats and civil rights groups say the law would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots.

Opinion here (PDF). More . . .

So says this NYTimes report:

In interviews with several associates and aides, Mr. Obama was described as bored with the campaign against Mrs. Clinton and eager to move into the general election against Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Plus, this seems unsound to me:

In strategy sessions last week, advisers concluded that Mr. Obama, of Illinois, needed to do a better job reminding voters of his biography, including his modest upbringing by a single mother and one of his first jobs as a community organizer helping displaced steel mill workers

Obama needs to talk policy, not biography, imo.

The last ten minutes of Rev. Wright's speech. The theme of the speech: "A change is going to come. We can do it if we try."

He is a powerful speaker, no doubt about it.

You can watch Parts One, Two and Three here.

Update: Comments now closed, new thread on Rev. Wright is here.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright attacks the coporate media today in a speech to the NAACP. The audience of 10,000 gave him a standing ovation.

You can watch the entire speech here.

Update: Comments closing, a new thread on the speech is here.

Politico reports on a new Republican attack ad on Obama that is airing on television in Mississippi.

A television ad from Southaven Mayor Greg Davis tells viewers that his Democratic rival, Travis Childers, a realtor and Prentiss County official, has accepted the endorsement of "liberal Barack Obama." Then, with Childers' face beside footage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it says, "When Obama's pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing."

Then: "When Obama ridiculed rural folks for clinging to guns and religion, Childers said nothing." "He took Obama's endorsement over our conservative values. Conservatives just can't trust Travis Childers," the ad concludes.

Politico says:

The ads are a mark of how difficult, with the nomination apparently within his grasp, Obama will find it to stay above or outside the traditional, bitter partisan divisions he so often deplores. [More...]

"60 Minutes" featured Justice Anton Scalia tonight.

He's a very personable fellow. Among the highlights and lowlights so far:

• torture is not punishment when you are trying to get information out of someone

• Fetuses are not persons within the meaning of the Equal Protection Clause. Persons means people who can walk around. Pregnant women shouldn't be counted twice.

• He has 9 kids and 28 grandkids. He was an only child. Why? They practiced their version of "Vatican Roulette."

If you saw it, let us know what you thought.

When I discuss the Left Blogs' reaction to everything Barack Obama, I am past the point of pointing what I perceive as aspects of his political style that I find lacking. I am no longer pointing out Obama's feet of clay. I am pointing to the feet of clay of the Left blogs. Now Matt Stoller writes about Obama on Fox:

I think lost in all this nonsense is just how weakened we [the Left blogs] have become in all this. When we accept lies from our leaders and openly dismissive knocks from them, it destroys our core argument that Democrats need to have integrity and to stand up for themselves. No they don't. We don't stand up for ourselves and we let them lie to us without consequence.

Indeed.