Says Obama is "presumptive nominee." Who's going to argue with Rahmbo? Not me.

Set aside the he-said, she-said aspect to the McCain-didn't-vote-for-Bush-in-2000 story for a second to savor the flawless irony of Arianna Huffington telling the New York Times that "she chose to speak out now because she felt Mr. McCain had abandoned his principles."

This is a woman who jettisoned her principles and raced across the ideological spectrum from one extreme to the other faster than a six-legged cheetah.

I have to recall, as I did a few years ago when she ran for Governor of California, Ed Rollins' searing description of Arianna from his 1996 memoir, "Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms," where he recounted his experience managing Michael Huffington's 1994 Senate run:

Since early July, I'd been working for two of the most unprincipled political creatures I'd ever encountered. One was such a complete cipher he gave empty suits a bad name. But his wife was even worse - a domineering Greek Rasputin determined to ride her husband's wealth to political glory at any cost....

Arianna Huffington had charmed me out of my socks to get me to manage her husband's campaign. But in a few short months, I'd come to realize that she was the most ruthless, unscrupulous, and ambitious person I'd met in thirty years in national politics - not to mention that she sometimes seemed truly pathological.

You have to hand it to her, though, the ambition and the transformation have paid off handsomely. The further left Arianna has gone, the more success she's had (in a way not totally dissimilar from Ann Coulter on the right), and in just a few short years she's become a doyenne of progressives.

Fox News's "Fox and Friends"

Geraldo Rivera, on Bill Clinton's outburst during his recent campaign speech: "He's right. Hillary Clinton tried her best to pass universal health care. She was filibusted and ridiculed. But that's not the issue. The issue is the demeanor of the former president in a contentious environment with the days dwindling down to a precious few. Clearly he was ticked in a way that was barely controllable, barely presidential, but very husbandly."

On Hillary Clinton's comments on her support among white voters: "Why not say working, or blue collar, or rural, or Reagan Democrats. There are so many different euphamistic ways to make the point, which is true. No one doubts the truth. ... Clearly there is a racial and unavoidable divide. ... But to say it that way, in that blunt, and in some ways wrong way, can only exasperate..."

MSNBC's "Morning Joe"

John Edwards, asked if who he voted for in the N.C. primary is who he'll endorse: "I'd say highly likely, yes." Asked for whom he voted for: "For now, to myself. Because right now it feels like the right thing to do. People on television act like these endorsements are a big deal. I may have missed something, but I think Barack Obama is doing pretty well without my endorsement." Asked if he and his wife voted for the same person: "Oh, I'm not answering that."

Asked if he was holding out on endorsing so he could be a broker that brings the primary process to an end: "That is an absurd concept. The notion that a failed presidential candidate has that kind of power. ... It's true that I have enormous respect for both of them. I do. ...[Obama] is clearly the likely nominee at this point."

On Clinton continuing to argue that Obama is not electable: "I think that they've been in a tough fight. And it's hard to change, to move off of that. I think about when I made the decision to get out of the race. ... It became pretty clear to me that I was not going to be the nominee. And I believed that since it looked like I wasn't going to win, number one, and number two, I believed that it was better for the process to end sooner rather than later, that I was not being helpful to our party or to our cause."

More on Clinton: "To have to get up today, under these circumstances, and go out there and face the media and face crowds and continue to make your case -- that takes a strength and toughness that is amazing. You can't help but admire it. However you criticize her for the specifics of what she's contending, that takes a strength that is admirable. ... But because she plays such an important role in the future of this country, and as a result the future of the world, she does have to ask herself, 'Where are the lines; at what point am I not advocating for myself, instead I'm doing damage for the cause I care about.'" (Video)

Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, on her column today: "I think Mrs. Clinton crossed a serious line, in the USA Today newspaper yesterday. She said essentially, 'I've got white voters.' I thought that was so startling. An Obama sympathizer got on the phone with me and said, 'Even Richard Nixon ... in the Southern strategy didn't say white.'"

Pat Buchanan, responding to Noonan: "What we seem to be saying is, it's verboten for her to say what everybody else is talking about. And maybe she shouldn't have said it, but frankly..." Noonan: "Pat, it's verboten for a great leader of a great nation to speak of the nation in such slice-and-dice, tear-'em-up kind of way. That's not how you keep everybody together. ... You know, you don't say, 'I got the Irish.' It's vulgar."

ABC's "Good Morning America"

George Stephanopoulos on Obama taking the lead in super delegates for the first time: "That means he leads in every important metric...he is consolidating this victory, moving toward unifying the party. They've got a new strategy they're starting to implement today where they're playing down the race against Senator Clinton and playing up the general election against John McCain."

On news of a potential Hillary Clinton VP slot: "Lots of very quiet waltzing with intermediaries...this would be the end of the end game if this were finally to come to pass."

Check the video here

NBC's "Today"

John Edwards on whether Clinton can still win: "I think she's made a very strong case for her candidacy, the problem she has is its very difficult to make the math work."

On whether Jeremiah Wright will hurt Obama in the general election, "Most Americans are fair minded, they're not going to blame Barack Obama for what someone else said."

(Greg Bobrinskoy contributed to the Morning Roundup)

Woodrow Wilson's ancestral home in Northern Ireland was nearly burned to the ground, but was saved in the nick of time by superdelegates firefighters .

Leno is feeling inspired by Hillary:

Letterman cracks that Hillary has a substantial lead in at least one state:

Vito Fosella, adding to the embarrassment of being busted for drunk driving last week:

Representative Vito J. Fossella, the Staten Island Republican who was arrested on drunken-driving charges in Virginia last week, acknowledged on Thursday that he had fathered a daughter, now 3, in an extramarital affair. But he declined to address questions about his political future.

Reid had an advance on this story yesterday, as well as a look at Fosella's district should he decide to retire - which is looking more likely with each passing news cycle.

A good start to the day in the super department for Mr. Obama:

DeFazio throws support to Obama On Thursday night, Rep. Peter DeFazio became Oregon's third Democratic congressman to endorse Sen.Barack Obama, putting the Illinois politician one delegate closer to the presidential nomination.

Congressman Payne, NJ superdelegate, switches from Clinton to Obama
Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.), a New Jersey superdelegate who had been supporting Hillary Clinton for president, has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama.

"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne told The Star-Ledger for today's editions. It was "one of the most difficult decisions I have made," Payne said. "I've really been mulling it over for quite a while."

Overall, Obama is closing in on Clinton in the super delegate department, though Dan Balz writes today not to expect Clinton to exit the race until they've all declared. And even then, of course, they can always change their minds right up until the first ballot in Denver.

Mark Salter fires off a memo this evening slamming Obama for his choice of words today and his "new brand of politics:"

To: Interested Parties

From: Mark Salter, Senior Advisor

Date: May 8, 2008

Re: Senator Obama's Attack Today

First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.

We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is.

It is important to focus on what Senator Obama is attempting to do here: He is trying desperately to delegitimize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States.

Through their actions and words, Senator Obama and his supporters have made clear that ANY criticism on ANY issue -- from his desire to raise taxes on millions of small investors to his radical plans to sit down face-to-face with Iranian President Ahmadinejad -- constitute negative, personal attacks.

Senator Obama is hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.

Senator Obama has good reason to think this plan will succeed, as serious journalists have written of the need for 'de-tox' to cure 'swooning' over Senator Obama, and others have admitted to losing their objectivity while with him on the campaign trail.

Today, Senator Obama is complaining about comments John McCain made about a senior Hamas advisor stating that Hamas would welcome Senator Obama's election as president. Indeed, on April 13th, senior Hamas political advisor Ahmed Yousef said, 'We don't mind -- actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance.'

The McCain campaign has never suggested that Senator Obama supports Hamas' agenda, but it is more than fair to raise this quote about Senator Obama because it speaks to the policy implications of his judgment.

Just today, the president of Iran, whom Senator Obama wants to meet with unconditionally, called the state of Israel a 'stinking corpse.' Iran is the paymaster and state sponsor of Hamas.

In his victory speech this week, Senator Obama stated that 'wisdom' is meeting with our enemies, including Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Raul Castro. John McCain couldn't disagree more. Rather than giving tyrants and dictators the prestige of meeting with an American president, John McCain will instead meet with the champions of human freedom around the world and opposition leaders fighting for liberty .

We understand why Senator Obama doesn't want to engage in a debate over leadership and judgment with John McCain, but the American people demand that debate take place.

These are serious times that call for a serious debate on the profound issues facing our future. John McCain is ready for that debate and we hope Senator Obama will one day get serious and join it.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton fired right back with this response to the "McCain Campaign Rant:"

"Clearly losing one's bearings has no relation to age, given this bizarre rant that Mark Salter just sent out. It's clear why a candidate offering a third term of George Bush's disastrous economic policies and failed strategy in Iraq would want to distract and attack, but it's not the kind of campaign John McCain has promised the American people that he would run."

Preview to a testy general election, to be sure.

A very cautious discussion about whether Obama is the "presumptive nominee:"

North Carolina Rep. Brad Miller announced today he's endorsing Obama for president. Obama carried Miller's Raleigh-based 13th District with 63% of the vote in Tuesday's primary.

In a press release, Miller stated: "If Senator Obama and Democratic candidates up and down the ticket win this year and then deliver next year, we can build a consensus that will last a generation."

Fellow North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler endorsed Clinton yesterday, a day after she carried his Asheville-based 11th District with 55% of the vote.

UPDATE: Washington Rep. Rick Larsen announced this afternoon his endorsement of Obama. This gives Obama five of the state's 17 superdelegates, with six still uncommitted. Obama carried every county in the state in its February 9 caucus.