If Hillary is going to make a race of this one, she's got a lot of ground to make up, according to the latest Public Policy Polling survey:

Obama 54 (-1 vs. 3/24 poll)
Clinton 36 (+2)

In the RCP Average of North Carolina, Obama holds a 12-point lead (49.8 to 37.8).

"We from the government and we're here to help!" Paulson unveils the administration's plan to overhaul the financial system.

A Michigan congressman offers the latest solution to the state's delegates.

Meanwhile, the "Dem elite" are looking at a solution to the whole mess in June.

Launching his "Service to Amerca" tour, McCain got slightly sidetracked today regarding Iraq.

Read McCain's "Service to America" speech here.

Texas two-step continues: Even though Clinton "won" the state, Obama now has officially more of Texas' delegates.

Not that we needed more confirmation, but the little girl who greeted Hillary on the Bosnian tarmac has come forward.

A mayor in Brazil wants to ban death.

Doesn't seem like good news coming out of NATO.

PA Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, says Fox News is the fairest of them all:

From Clinton:

Secretary Jackson's resignation ends a tenure at HUD marked by an indifference to Congressional oversight powers, cronyism, and corrupt contracting practices that have no place in our government. Yet while Secretary Jackson's resignation is appropriate, it does nothing to address the Bush Administration's wait-and-don't-see posture to our nation's housing crisis, which is threatening to drive our economy into a painful recession.

Now is the time for immediate action, not more half-measures and white papers. While I appreciate the Administration's willingness to acknowledge the need for more regulation of our financial markets, we cannot let a discussion about rearranging the regulatory deck chairs divert us from the fact that our housing and credit markets are in crisis, and are sinking deeper every day that we fail to take aggressive action.

That's why today I am outlining immediate steps we can take to shore up the housing and credit markets, restore confidence in our regulatory infrastructure, and keep millions of families in their homes. These include smart, near-term regulatory changes that are calibrated to the actual crisis we face. And they include aggressive actions to help restructure at-risk mortgages and keep millions of families in their homes.

From Obama:

Secretary Jackson's resignation amid a housing crisis and charges of cronyism serves as a stark reminder of what's at stake in this election. It's harder than ever for working families to achieve the American Dream, and that's why we need a president who will cut ties with the special interests so that we can implement a plan that provides real relief to homeowners and prevents the lobbyists from writing the laws that regulate them. I've proposed a plan to create a new FHA Housing Security Program, create a new mortgage interest tax credit, fight mortgage fraud, and create a $10 billion foreclosure prevention fund. And on my first day in office, I'll introduce the most sweeping ethics reform in history, keeping industry insiders out of the regulation process and taking away the tools that the special interests use to curry favor. After nearly eight years of failed policies, rampant favoritism, and inaction in the face of crisis, that's the kind of leadership that America needs.

At the top of the week, speculation continues to surge around the state of the Clinton campaign. The Politico leads with a story on the increasingly "cash-strapped" Hillary campaign, which has reportedly "been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months." Meanwhile, the UK Telegraph speculates that the gender card is back in play:

Faced with a growing chorus to abandon the uphill battle against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton is falling back on what she sees as her trump card - her gender.

At other perilous junctures like the eve of the New Hampshire primary and the eve of Super Tuesday, the former First Lady highlighted her femininity during televised tearful moments. Now she is portraying the calls for her to quit as male chauvinism.

In comments leaked to the New York Times, Mrs Clinton is said to have told aides that she would not be "bullied out" of the White House race and in a conversation with two allies compared her plight to "big boys" trying to bully a woman.

This weekend, Clinton told the Washington Post she'd fare better than Obama against John McCain. "I have a better chance. You cannot as a Democrat win the White House without a very big women's vote. What I believe is that women will turn out for me."

With the latest Gallup poll numbers showing Obama in a ten-point lead, Clinton may be hoping for those women she's counting on to step things up a bit...

Part of McCain's "Service to America" week:

New Rasmussen polls in Michigan, New Jersey and Washington show McCain doing quite well. In NJ and MI, which have both voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections, McCain leads both Dems, though by statistically insignificant margins. Also, McCain leads Clinton in WA, which hasn't voted GOP since 1984.

Michigan
Clinton 42 - McCain 45
Obama 42 - McCain 43

New Jersey
Clinton 42 - McCain 45
Obama 45 - McCain 46

Washington
Clinton 43 - McCain 46
Obama 48 - McCain 43

In a new Rasmussen general election poll in Virginia (March 27, 500 LV), McCain's lead against both Obama and Clinton has doubled, after leading Obama by 5 points and Clinton by 10 points last month. The state could become a battleground in the general, as recent elections have given Democrats hope that Virginia could give its electoral votes to a Dem for the first time since 1964.

McCain 58 - Clinton 36
McCain 52 - Obama 41

In the wake of a horrible bowling performance Saturday night in Altoona, Pa., Obama's weekend got a lot better last night when news broke that Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar would endorse him.

Monday got even better, as the Wall Street Journal reports that North Carolina's seven Democratic House members will endorse Obama as a group sometime before the state's May 6 primary.

The baseball season got off to a great start last night (are we counting the games in Japan?), as the Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman smacked a walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning to lead the team to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the first ever regular season game at Nationals Park.

On hand was President Bush, who threw out the first pitch, which announcer Joe Morgan called "high heat." Bush was invited into ESPN's broadcast booth to speak with Morgan and Jon Miller, and ended up calling the first-ever home run at the new stadium, hit by the Braves' Chipper Jones.

Bush looked quite at home in the booth. The only time politics came up was when Miller mentioned Bush's 2004 State of the Union speech, in which he called on baseball to rid itself of steroids.

For more on this and the NCAA Tournament, check out RealClearSports.

With the coming season ahead of us, on this day in 1995 the longest strike in major league history ends. On to today's top stories:

"Clinton, Obama debate electoral-map strategy" (Christina Bellantoni, Washington Times) Clinton's argument is that she can take key battleground states like Ohio; Obama's argument is that he can put GOP strongholds like the South in play. One strategy is focused on the traditional way of winning the White House; the other on shaking up the old electoral map.

"McCain Faces Test in Wooing Elite Donors" (Michael Luo and Griff Palmer, New York Times) Part of John McCain's strategy for his bio tour this week is to introduce himself to voters before Democrats have a chance to define him. The other part is to get big-money donors excited for the coming battle.

"Driving Hard for Keystone Prize" (Kris Maher and Timothy Aeppel, Wall Street Journal) Pennsylvania is Clinton country to be sure, but there are sections where Obama should do well. Get to know the state's demographic breakdown.

"Obama, McCain Forged Fleeting Alliance" (Paul Kane, Washington Post) Wonderful anecdote on the first (and only) time Obama and McCain worked together in the Senate. Obama went to McCain to express his interest in forging an ethics bill and McCain accepted his support. Within a week, the collaboration was dead.

"To Working Class, Clinton Talks the Talk" (Jim Tankersley, Chicago Tribune) Apparently there are readability scales, which measure the education level needed to understand a piece of writing (or a speech), and Clinton scores on average two grades beneath Obama. Is that why she's winning the working class?

"McCain Polls Well Amid War, Economic Worries" (Associated Press) And it's driving the Democrats bananas. As always, it's too early to put much faith in these early polls, except to say that McCain's numbers show that he's probably doing the best a Republican candidate could do.

"Superdelegates: A Guide to the Undecided" (Avi Zenilman, The Politico) Of the 794 Democratic superdelegates, more than 460 are spoken for. That leaves about 250 or so to be fought over. Reporter Zenilman takes us through what might help that group decide.

"Gore Launches Ambitious Advocacy Campaign on Climate" (Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post) There's been a lot of talk of Al Gore riding to the rescue -- whether as a super-duper delegate who can moderate the endgame or as a candidate himself. So we might as well figure out what Gore is doing these days.

Get today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.

The Wall Street Journal reports that HUD Sec. Alphonso Jackson is expected to announce his resignation at a 10 a.m. press conference today. Jackson has served as head of the department since 2004.

While the exact reasons for Jackson's departure were not known by the WSJ, the paper reports that Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to Bush earlier this month "urging him to request Mr. Jackson's resignation, arguing that accusations of wrongdoing had made him ineffective."

While Jackson's clashes with Democrats in Congress have not helped Bush solve the current mortgage crisis, it's not clear that his leaving will help either.

Political analysts have been scaling down Hillary Clinton's chances of victory. Many have taken to offering up numerical odds of her success. A source for the Politico affiliated with the Clinton campaign pegs it at 10%. David Brooks puts it at 5%. The InTrade market has it higher - at about 20%. Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei do not offer a number of their own, but they claim she has "virtually no chance of winning."

I agree that Clinton is more likely to lose than win. I also do not necessarily disagree with these low estimates. However, I disagree with the way these estimates are occasionally presented. There is sometimes an implication that these are precise predictions - when in fact a prediction like this must be very imprecise. This is why I was so vague in offering my own estimate last week.

July 1: The date Howard Dean said he hopes the superdelegates can pick a nominee.

"Senator Obama enjoys talking about a new brand of politics, but his intentional political distortions attacking John McCain's record are nothing but old-style politics of the worst sort." - McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds on Obama's comments at the Bob Casey rally today.

DNC's Dean: McCain a "blatant opportunist." RNC's response: Dean should apologize.

Pennsylvanians ask: "Where's the love?"

Obama in Pittsburgh on the primary: "A good movie that lasted about half an hour too long."

Jonathan Martin catches McCain in a bit of a Mitt-flip-flop.

Mom would be better than Dad, says Chelsea.

Turns out Obama was a law professor.

Ha: "After confirming the video was a fake, KHQ did not run the story. The New York Times did." No wonder newspaper ad revenue is down.

Obama on "The View":

Jack Higgins, Chicago Sun-Times:

Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle:

Walt Handleman, Newsday:

Steve Kelley, Times-Picayune:

Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer:

Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel:

Seems the Vermont senator found his earlier comments a bit too harsh. From Halperin:

Any clear-eyed appraisal of the campaign at this stage adds up to two conclusions:

The bottom line is that, first, Senator Obama continues to hold a lead that appears to be insurmountable, and recent indications are that more and more unpledged delegates have begun to add their support to his column.

And second, John McCain, who has been making one mistake after another, is getting a free ride on those gaffes, because the Democratic candidates have to focus not on him but on each other.

Senator Casey’s endorsement of Senator Obama in Pennsylvania is the latest sign of how the race is going.

A Democratic victory in November is important to the future and to the change in course that the American people want and deserve. The last thing the American people need is for Senator McCain to continue a third term for President Bush.

Senator Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to. As far as the delegate count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there is not a very good reason for drawing this out. But as I have said before, that is a decision that only she can make.

Senator Clinton has begun a tremendous career in the Senate, and she has a bright future ahead of her. She faces difficult decisions ahead, and I wish her the best.

In other words, says Leahy, stay in, but you're going to lose.

Obama's new PA ad:

To which the Clinton campaign responds:

A new ad by Sen. Obama running in Pennsylvania falsely claims that Sen. Obama does not accept money from the oil industry. In the ad, Sen. Obama says, "I'm Barack Obama and I don't take money from oil companies or lobbyists and I won’t let them block change anymore."

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Obama has received over $160,000 from the oil and gas companies. Two major bundlers for his campaign -- George Kaiser and Robert Cavnar – are oil company CEOs. Sen. Obama has accepted money from Exxon, Shell, BP, Chevron and just about every other major oil company. Just last month, Sen. Obama accepted another $8,400 from ExxonMobil, $12,370 from Chevron and $6,500 from British Petroleum.

In 2005, Sen. Obama voted for the Dick Cheney energy bill, which was written in secret with the oil industry. Hillary Clinton opposed Cheney's energy bill, has a plan to eliminate oil industry tax breaks, and would require oil companies to contribute to a $50 billion strategic energy fund to jumpstart research and investment in clean energy technologies.

The economy has officially emerged as the top issue of the campaigns, the LA Times reports, with three major speeches this week--and major jabbing among the candidates:

The deteriorating economy took center stage in the presidential election Thursday as Democrat Barack Obama called for tighter regulation of financial markets and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed more retraining for displaced workers, creating a sharp contrast with Republican John McCain over how much the government should intervene.

Obama called Thursday for an overhaul of the nation's regulatory system, immediate relief for homeowners caught in the sub-prime mortgage crisis and a $30-billion economic stimulus package. Clinton, who had proposed a $30-billion fund to help prevent foreclosures a week ago, offered a new proposal to spend $12.5 billion on job-training programs.

The Washington Post reports further on the minor slugfest, noting that "on Tuesday, McCain (Ariz.) said he supports government assistance for Americans facing home foreclosure because of the turmoil in financial markets. But he declined to embrace the kind of government intervention for individuals and institutions favored by Clinton and Obama, arguing that 'it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.'"

Interestingly, these debates have coincided with week's of unprecedented action on the Fed's behalf. It's worth wondering, amid the debate about the role of government financial regulation, whether the Fed, in a small sense, has handed the candidates a bit of a fait accompli--and, even if that's not the case, their actions will certainly shape the debate going forward.

In which "The Tonya Harding Strategy" officially enters the political lexicon:

TO: Interested Parties

FR: Obama Campaign

RE: Voters and Superdelegates Rejecting Clinton's Tactics

DA: March 28, 2008

Weeks ago, as Senator Obama began to build momentum in the race for the Democratic nomination, the Clinton campaign put into motion their "kitchen sink" strategy--what one Democratic official called the "Tonya Harding" strategy [ABC, 3/25/08]: say and do anything to make Barack Obama an unacceptable candidate and win over the remaining superdelegates. But as new polling and news reports show, voters and superdelegates are soundly rejecting the Clintons' tactics.

The Clintons have made no secret of the fact that they relish negative campaigning. Just before the first votes were cast in this race, Senator Clinton called attacking Senator Obama "the fun part." Earlier this week, during a campaign stop in West Virginia, Bill Clinton signaled that the attacks won't be letting up anytime soon:

"If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on." [MSNBC, 3/2608]

There's just one problem: the only candidate paying a price for Senator Clinton's desperate attacks is Senator Clinton herself.

How are the voters responding to Clinton's tactics?

Today, the Wall Street Journal features two hefty columns on Hillary Clinton's Bosnia debacle. Peggy Noonan notes that, well, we should have all seen this coming:

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. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will.

That's what the Bosnia story was about. Her fictions about dodging bullets on the tarmac -- and we have to hope they were lies, because if they weren't, if she thought what she was saying was true, we are in worse trouble than we thought.

Meanwhile, Kimberley Strassel points out that it's now open season:

...It is no surprise that this week also saw the beginning of a tide of Democrats, many of them one-time Clinton defenders, calling on her to abandon her bid, laying out the reasons for why she cannot win this race, and telling her to let go for the good of the party. Mrs. Clinton, being a Clinton, may well ignore them. But what is clear is that questions about her character and honesty are no longer verboten. If she does stay in, answering them will become the new reality of her campaign.

Don't touch that dial, though--not everyone's tired of Hillary. These latest Pennsylvania poll numbers, for instance, don't look too shabby for Mrs. C.

In an interview with Vermont Public Radio, Sen. Pat Leahy, an Obama supporter called for an end:

There is no way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough delegates to get the nomination. She ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing Senator Obama. Now, obviously that's a decision that only she can make frankly I feel that she would have a tremendous career in the Senate. ...

I am very concerned...John McCain, who has been making one gaffe after another, is getting a free ride on it because Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have to fight with each other. I think that her criticism is hurting him more than anything John McCain has said. I think that's unfortunate.

(ht: Tapper)

To kick off next week's "Service to America" tour, the McCain campaign has released this ad:

Here's what we now thus far about the cast for Oliver Stone's much-hyped movie about George W. Bush:

But who's going to play The Architect? New York Magazine thinks they know who has the inside track for the part of Karl Rove.

Naturally, the Seattle papers are buzzing over the story that Saddam's intelligence services funded Rep. Jim McDermott's 2002 trip to Iraq. The Seattle Times runs a in-depth news story by David Postman and an editorial that gently warns McDermott to be more careful in the future.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer runs an editorial calling the episode "embarrassing and unfortunate, but nothing more" while affirming that McDermott was "right" about the war. PI columnist Joel Connelly strikes a similar tone:

Biases of this space are well known. I've criticized McDermott's many travels abroad, complained that he neglects the home front, and suggested he retire from Congress.

In 2002, this column wondered whether McDermott had been in a "Hussein asylum" to suggest that Iraqi regime's claims be taken at face value.

The Iraq trip remains a monumentally dumb move, and McD's remarks probably stampeded some Democrats into voting for Bush's war resolution. Still, shouldn't McDermott get chits for resisting the rush to war?

Last but not least cartoonist Eric Devericks of the Seattle Times hit McDermott with this:

On this day in 1834 Congress censures a president for the first time after Andrew Jackson refused to hand over documents relating to the bank of the United States. Also on this day in 1969, Dwight Eisenhower dies at 78. On to today's top stories:

"McCain to Embark on 'Biography Tour'" (David Jackson, USA Today) Starting next week, McCain will visit schools and military institutions "that have played a significant role in shaping who I am today," as McCain put it in a fundraising letter. As reporter Jackson notes, the goal is to fix McCain's image in voters' minds before the Democrats are able to define him.

"Obama Casts Wide Blame for Financial Crisis and Proposes Homeowner Aid" (Michael Powell and Jeff Zeleny, New York Times) The blame for the financial meltdown, said Obama, should go to lobbyists and politicians, who, in the 1990s, dismantled much of the regulatory framework. As reporters Powell and Zeleny note, there is little difference between Obama's and Clinton's views on the economy.

"Subprime Politics" (Christopher Cooper, Wall Street Journal) Barack Obama hadn't even finished his economic speech, writes reporter Cooper, before the Clinton camp blasted out an email showing that Obama had taken more money from the sub-prime industry than both Clinton or John McCain.

"Romney, Huntsman Join McCain at Lunchtime Fund-Raiser in Salt Lake" (Lisa Riley Roche, Deseret Morning News) Back together, yet this time throwing no mud. Romney and McCain campaigned in Utah, where one helped the other raise over $400,000. Is this the beginning of a beautiful relationship?

"Clinton's Belfast Role Draws Criticism" (Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press) Critics in Belfast say that Hillary's self-state role in bringing peace to this corner of the world amounted to little more than christening a symbolic park, which doesn't even exist today.

"Democrats See McCain Losing Western States" (Joseph Curl, Washington Times) In recent years Democrats have made serious inroads in the traditionally Republican Mountain West. Democrats, pointing to McCain's poor showing in those states' primaries, say that the trend will continue in 2008.

"Mutual Appreciation - But No Endorsement - as Bloomy Hosts Obama" (David Saltonstall, New York Daily News) Obama gave his economic address at New York's Cooper Union, where Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most important pre-presidential speeches. Mayor Bloomberg, whom rumors pegs as an Obama guy, introduced this Illinois legislator, fueling rumors of a coming endorsement.

"Obama Would Have Left if Wright Stayed" (Associated Press) In an interview on ABC's "The View" to air today Obama suggest that had Jeremiah Wright not retired, he "wouldn't have felt comfortable staying at the church."

"North Carolina Can Change Race Dynamic" (Nick Timiraos, Wall Street Journal) Hillary made her first stop in North Carolina, where she will need to win if she has any hope of making a late comeback. But Obama holds a sizeable lead in the state and an upset looks unlikely.

Get today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.

New Pew Research poll (March 19-22) shows the race unchanged versus a month ago: Obama 49, Clinton 39. Pew also reports the following head to head match ups:

Obama 49 - McCain 43
Clinton 49 - McCain 44

New Gallup tracking numbers: Obama 48 - Clinton 44.

Rasmussen has it Clinton 46 - Obama 44.

Overall, Obama leads by 2.9% in the RCP National Average.

Chris Dodd says it's time to end it.

Once bitter primary rivals, now campaign partners.

A Pew poll finds that "nearly a quarter of Democrats (23%) who hold a negative view of Obama believe he is a Muslim."

Newt had some thoughts today on Obama's race speech.

Clinton donors are circulating a petition, "A Declaration of Fairness," to recognize the Michigan and Florida delegations.

Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, an Obama superdelegate, has been indicted.

Is the Clinton campaign having trouble selling out its Elton John fundraising concert?

Rasmussen has new head to head numbers in Oregon (March 26, 500 LV) showing John McCain losing to Barack Obama but beating Hillary Clinton:

McCain 46 - Clinton 40
Obama 48 - McCain 42

This is only one poll, to be sure, but it doesn't help Hillary Clinton's electability/electoral college argument with the superdelegates to see that she'd be in danger of losing a state like Oregon to McCain.

A new Insider Advantage poll for North Carolina has Obama in a comfortable lead with about five weeks until the May 6 primary:

Obama 49
Clinton 34
Undecided 17

In the RCP Average for North Carolina Obama has a 12.7-point lead (50 to 37.3).

So Michael Bloomberg's introduction of Obama at today's economic speech at Cooper Union is fueling speculation of a coming endorsement. Coy as ever, Bloomberg is playing it safe, but, if they weren't already, rumors of a third party run for him should be six feet under by now.

In any case, you can read Obama's economic address here.

Over at CBS News, Vaughn Ververs writes that despite what should be a Democratic year Republicans are feeling a "palpable sense of relief these days."

For starters, McCain may be uniquely positioned to run against either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Against Obama, the likely matchup for the moment at least, McCain may have the wave of change to fight against but could Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani or Mike Huckabee pose the same threat to the Illinois senator among crucial independent voters that McCain does? Would any of them have the upper hand on Clinton on national security and experience? And could they attract the disgruntled supporters among the loser of the Democratic fight the way he has (according to this Gallup poll)?

Even more importantly in a quest for 270 Electoral Votes, McCain appears to be positioned to wage a campaign covering a much bigger map than Republicans have in recent cycles. As a westerner, he should be better able to fend off Democratic encroachments in states like Colorado and New Mexico and perhaps even eat into their west coast strongholds of Washington and Oregon. Maybe, just maybe, he could even make Democrats sweat a little bit in the holy grail of the Electoral College -- California.

Republican strategists dream of McCain playing well even in some Democratic must-have states, like Michigan where he is a familiar figure and where Democratic fighting over the primary may hurt. Other states McCain might target are Minnesota (where the GOP convention will be), Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and even New Jersey. While Democrats dream of forcing the Republican party into a retreat toward the South and their do-or-die states such as Ohio and Missouri, McCain may force them to play as much defense as offense, something that would be a huge victory given the national landscape.

Ververs goes on to cite recent polling data that shows McCain matching up well against either candidate, as well as putting up good numbers in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. All this, Ververs says, means McCain is off to a "good start."

Indeed, and that's about as far as we should go right now. Democrats have yet to really sink their teeth into McCain (and vice versa) on many issues which could resonate in November -- the war and the economy. McCain has the luxury of time right now, to not only prepare his election team and ground game but also to brush up on hot-topic issues like the economy. Considering the economy should dominate the coming months, McCain should have no excuse for coming off uninformed when the general really heats up.

With the Democrats in disarray, the GOP has been handed an surprise gift: McCain has broken out of the gates to a significant lead. The question is whether he can sustain it.

Clinton made an appearance on Fox News' Greta van Susteren's show last night:

Part 2 is in the Vlog.

You may know the title of this post, as I do, as one of the all time great movie lines spoken by the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) in the 1986 cult classic, The Highlander. These days it could also serve as the mantra for Hillary Clinton's run for President. (UPDATE: Ok, I've now been informed by at least 20 people that the line is originally from Neil Young's 1979 hit "Hey Hey, My My.")

As noted at Politics Nation this morning, the new NBC/WSJ shows Hillary's favorable ratings tanking, going from a net of plus 2 (45 very/somewhat positive vs. 43% very/somewhat negative) two weeks ago to a net -11 points this week (37-48). As Jackie Calmes points out in her write up of the results, even a plurality of women hold a negative view of Clinton according to the new survey.

(It's interesting to note, however, that Bill's ratings have actually improved slightly over the same period. Two weeks ago he was at a minus 3 net - 42% very/somewhat positive vs. 45% very/somewhat negative- versus a minus 1 in the most recent poll, 42-43.)

Nevertheless, I don't think the Clintons care much about these kinds of ratings, nor do they necessarily care about the whining and moaning from Democrats who chastise them for their tactics or counsel them to get out. For them, this is the way its done.

As Bill said yesterday in West Virginia, "If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on."

It's telling that Clinton mentioned the risk of "an occasional clip." For the football illiterate, a "clip" is an illegal play where one player hits another player from behind and below the waist. Because striking a player that way could potentially result in a serious injury, "clipping" carries the maximum penalty of 15 yards. The suggestion that players from the same team would set out to clip each other on purpose in what amounts to an intrasquad scrimmage (albeit an extremely high stakes one) is exactly the kind of thing that has some Democrats feeling anywhere between queasy and repulsed by some of the tactics they've seen from the Clinton campaign.

Again, I don't know that Hillary is all that concerned about the niceties and nuances here. She's in the fight of her life, she's hanging on by a thread, and she's got the political instincts of a pit bull. In other words, she's destined to burn out. Fading away was never an option.

UPDATE: Mark Halperin makes a good point about the double standard at play here. Why has the Obama campaign gone after Clinton so hard lately? Halperin's reason number 9: "Because they can: the media continues to highlight the Clinton campaign's negative tactics in a disapproving way, but only rarely points out the intensified negative tone and rhetoric Obama's campaign has been using - even though it conflicts with the candidate's professed desire for a new kind of politics."

In fairness to Clinton, Halperin is right: the Obama campaign has indeed gotten away with murder. They've been having it every which way from Sunday: attacking Clinton with impunity while claiming some sort of political high ground, and playing the put upon victim when attacked or criticized. It's a great strategy - if you can get away with it, and Obama seems to be pulling it off.

It's official: campaign fatigue has set in. The long pre-nomination campaign is giving a fair share of wear and tear to both Obama and Clinton, the Wall Street Journal reports; Barack Obama is publicly wishing his vacation wasn't so short; and Gail Collins is begging for it to stop:

We should have known this was coming when people started talking about how exciting the Clinton-Obama race is. We live, after all, in a country where the Christmas shopping season begins in October. We have a sports calendar in which basketball leaches into baseball, which leaches into football. Too much of a good thing is our middle name. Now, the Democratic primary has become the McMansion of politics.

Michael Kinsley, meanwhile, argues that Hillary has it worse, thanks to...cosmetics:

Every day, seven days a week, for almost two years, the candidates campaign. The average day is probably 15 to 20 hours. The average amount of sleep could be four hours. And yet every day the male candidates can sleep an extra precious half hour or more -- or spend the time cramming for the day -- simply because our culture doesn't impose the same rules on them about their appearance.

And there it is: the injustice of Maybelline. Maybe Hillary really was tired when she made those Bosnia comments after all...

Some March Madness history for you: On this day in 1939 Oregon defeats Ohio State in the first NCAA championship. At the time, only eight teams were invited to the tournament. On to today's top stories:

"Democrats Are Tied in New Poll" (Jackie Calmes, Wall Street Journal) Lots of stuff to mull over in this one. Not only does it seem as if Barack Obama has weathered the Wright scandal (at least among Democrats), but Hillary Clinton's favorability rating has dropped to its lowest point in the WSJ poll (37%).

"Democrats' Party Divide Runs Deep" (Christina Bellantoni, Washington Times) A new Gallup poll finds that 28% of Clinton supporters and 19% of Obama supporters would not vote for the other candidate in the general election. If those numbers hold by November, McCain could take the rest of the year off. They won't hold, but that doesn't mean the Democrats have nothing to worry about.

"Clinton Donors Warn on Superdelegate Fight" (Jeff Zeleny, New York Times) Now Clinton donors are threatening the House Speaker? The letter they sent to Nancy Pelosi in many ways confirms the worst fears of the party bigwigs -- that Clinton will fight on until the bitter end, without regard for the party's prospects.

"McCain Outlines Foreign Policy" (Michael Shear, Washington Post) Calling himself a "realist idealist," John McCain attempted to square the Iraq war, which he supports without reservation, to a more multilateral foreign-policy. Call it McCain's way to distance himself from the Bush administration.

"Obama Criticizes McCain on Mortgage Crisis" (Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times) Obama took a break from the primary battle with Clinton to go after McCain on the economy. Talking about McCain's economic speech from the day before, Obama said "It's the road George Bush has taken...for the last eight years."

"Federal judge: Michigan's Presidential Primary Law Unconstitutional" (Gordon Trowbridge, Detroit Free Press) Take your pick: One side says this essentially ends all hopes of a re-vote; the other side, the Clinton side, says it makes a re-vote that much more imperative.

"McCain's Senate Record Not Always Conservative" (David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers) We can laugh at the headline and say, "Duh," but the deeper point behind it is that Republicans aren't exactly unified behind McCain's candidacy. It's not as bad as over on the Democratic side, but the goal is the same: McCain still has to unify the party before the fall.

"GOP Looks to ‘McCain Democrats'" (David Paul Kuhn, The Politico) Pitting McCain against his opponents polling finds more cross-over support for McCain than for either Democrat. These then are the "McCain Democrats," whom McCain will need to win. Judging by the Gallup poll mentioned above, McCain would also get a nice boost from the other party should Obama become the nominee.

"Phila. Democrats Might Not Endorse Clinton or Obama" (Marcia Gelbart, Philadelphia Inquirer) So high are tensions between Clinton and Obama supporters that many Philly ward leaders are declining to endorse either one for fear of enraging the other side.

Get today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.

New PPIC poll in California:

Obama 49 - McCain 40
Clinton 46 - McCain 43

Favorable/unfavorable ratings:
Obama 61-34 (+27)
McCain 49-45 (+4)
Clinton 45-52 (-7)

Approval ratings:
Schwarzenegger 49%
Feinstein 49%
Boxer 44%
Congress 30%
President Bush 27%
State Legislature 25%

Also, Quinnipiac has numbers in Connecticut:

Obama 52 - McCain 35
Clinton 45 - McCain 42

Favorable/unfavorable ratings:
Obama 59-24 (+35)
McCain 52-31 (+21)
Clinton 46-47 (-1)

Approval ratings:
Rell 76%
Lieberman 52%
Dodd 51%
Bush 20%

Bill Clinton confirms many Democrats' worst fear - that he and his wife are going to grind this race out until the last dog dies - with this statement today in West Virginia tellling folks to "saddle up" (via First Read):

"If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office," he said. "If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on."

Clinton then alluded to the resignations and calls for resignations that have been traded back and forth between the campaigns.

"I don't think any of these people oughta be asked to resign," he said. "All these guys that say bad things about any other campaign, they say, 'Should they resign?' My answer is no; they're repeating party line. They oughta stay right where they are. Let's just saddle up and have an argument. What's the matter with that? That's what America's about, right?"

The "matter with that," of course, is that many Democrats are apoplectic about the way the Clintons have gone about waging this intraparty argument, and the lengths they appear to be willing to go to win it.

The Clinton and Obama campaigns are locked in a vicious cycle of negativity, with each side holding daily conference calls and blasting out memos to reporters slamming each other's integrity, honesty, judgment, experience, and behavior. And there doesn't appear to be any event on the horizon that will break this cycle over at least the next four weeks (when PA votes) but more likely until June 3 (the end of the primaries).

This seems to suit Bubba just fine, which has me thinking that Maureen Dowd wasn't too far off the mark this morning in writing about the Clinton's "Hillary or Nobody" strategy.