Obama is trying to get back on message after letting Clinton’s tactics fluster him Monday night and Clinton is responding positively to the fire she’s come under for her tone of late. Both have withdrawn attack ads they were airing in South Carolina.

Actually, these comments from Obama are remarkable.

Obama minimized any tensions arising from the tit-for-tat with the Clintons, telling reporters during a stop in Beaufort that he did not begrudge Bill Clinton his right to be a forceful advocate for his wife. “I don’t feel the candidates are being bloodied up,” Obama said. “This is good practice for me so, you know, when I take on these Republicans I’ll be accustomed to it.”

He brushed off concerns about a loss of black voters in the general election should Clinton win the nomination after an ugly primary — a worry that many others in the party have alluded to. “Black voters shouldn’t blame Senator Clinton for running a vigorous campaign against me,” he said. “That should be a source of pride. It means I might win this thing. When I was 20 points down, I was a ‘person of good character’ and my health-care plan was ‘universal.’ The fact that we’ve got this fierce contest indicates I’m doing well, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

Obama struck a similar tone when asked about Bill Clinton’s role in the campaign. “Let me sort of dispose of the whole issue of President Clinton. I have said this repeatedly. He is entirely justified in wanting to promote his wife’s candidacy,” Obama said. “I have no problem with that whatsoever. He can be as vigorous an advocate on behalf of her as he would like. The only thing I’m concerned about is when he makes misstatements about my record. That’s what I’m seeking to correct.”

Would that his handlers had pumped that into him before Monday night.

But we saw pretty much the same thing 10 days ago. It didn’t hold up long then. Can it stand the strain of the Super Tuesday stretch? Will Obama keep his cool from now on? Will Clinton put a leash on her husband? Almost on queue as predicted, Clinton wigged out on another reporter. This time most of the media appears to be ignoring it.

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The New York Times has endorsed Clinton and McCain.

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Meanwhile, I got to see some of the Republican debate tonight. I can see why the Republicans hate the presence of Ron Paul. While they were all gushing over “the troops” while tossing out token criticisms of how the war has been managed (to his credit, McCain actually went after Rumsfeld), on the issue in particular it was almost as if the Democrats had a mole in there. Of course the magic disappeared when he and Huckabee started talking about dismantling the IRS and the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, it should come down to McCain and Romney soon enough. Giuliani was about as inarticulate as I’ve ever seen him, and Huckabee’s ship has sailed. He’s out of money.

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While en route to Eureka today I listened to Michael Medved desperately trying to convince his callers to support McCain. One caller said he is a “greeney.” The hardcore conservatives can’t quite forgive McCain-Feingold.

Rush Limbaugh meanwhile has it in for McCain. I mean, Clinton and Obama are doing their best to throw the victory to the Republicans this year, but it’s going to be a huge challenge. Maybe nobody will win.

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Everybody’s been thinking that the nominations would be decided on Super Tuesday. But barring some sort of hemorrhage by one of the candidates, according to this AP analysis the race will probably continue for some time afterward.

So if Obama stays close enough and is still within striking distance on February 12, he could sweep the three primaries (DC, Virginia, and Maryland) and be in pretty good shape.

But the Hispanic vote seems to be Clinton’s ace in the hole. The UFW endorsement may just have made the difference.

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I was touting that Ebenezer Church address in a previous post. Somebody mentioned the mixed response to his gay rights comment, which somewhat mitigates his homophobic religious connections. Actually, I’m impressed with Obama for challenging the black community on its homophobia when he needs its votes the most.

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Photo comes from Needlenose.