All Blog Posts from Horserace

With the Democratic race now coming down to March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas, outside groups are getting involved in hopes of having a say, reports CBS News senior political consultant Marc Ambinder. The most notable of those is the Teamsters union, which is set to endorse Barack Obama today.

The third largest union in the United States – the first, the Service Employees International Union, has endorsed Obama, while the National Education Association has remained neutral – the Teamsters were waiting until after Wisconsin's primary to make their choice, Ambinder says in a blog post.

The union has 1.4 million members and its backing could be particularly useful in Ohio, a blue-collar battleground, and Pennsylvania on April 22, if the race is still competitive. The endorsement would be Obama's second of the day from a labor union, after the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers.

But Clinton will get help in Ohio – as well as Texas and Pennsylvania – from an as-yet-unnamed 527 political group (named after the section of the tax code regulating such organizations). The group, Ambinder reports, is asking Clinton donors for pledges of up to $100,000, with a goal of raising $10 million by the end of next week. The law forbids 527 groups from coordinating with campaigns, but the effort appears to be an open secret among the former first lady's donors.

Update: The Teamsters have now made their endorsement of Obama official. “Senator Obama understands the challenges working people face every day,” union President Jim Hoffa said in a statement. “He is the candidate in the best position to lead our movement to restore the American dream for working people in this country. Senator Obama will fight for better wages, real health care reform, stronger retirement security, fair trade and an end to the outsourcing of good jobs. He understands the importance of giving workers a voice at work and will fight for strong unions to help rebuild America’s middle class.”

The endorsement decision follows a meeting in Austin, Texas, between Hoffa and Obama, the statement said.

Today Barack Obama took to the editorial page of USA Today, laying out the conditions under which he would agree to accept public financing in the general election – an idea his campaign once embraced wholeheartedly, only to be seen as wavering in recent days.

While Obama reiterates his earlier promise to "aggressively pursue" a public financing agreement with the Republican nominee – likely John McCain – if he wins the Democratic nomination, Obama also says that such an agreement needs to go beyond accepting public funding: It also needs to include a promise by both candidates to "commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing fundraising help to outside groups; and to limited their own parties to legal forms of involvement."

Those conditions weren't part of Obama's original statement on accepting public financing in November 2007, when he said in a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire, "I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." Now, it appears Obama wants that publicly financed general election to be relatively free of outside influences as well.

Campaigning in Ohio, McCain signaled he'd make Obama's financing an issue, particularly if the Illinois senator opts out of the public system. "We either keep our word or we don't keep our word. I intend to keep my word to the American people," he said, according to the Associated Press. "I think the American people would expect him to hold to that commitment, especially if we want to bring about change."

If Obama were to accept public financing as the Democratic nominee, he would have more than $80 million at his disposal to spend over two months – more than enough, even by this race's standards. But McCain would have the same amount, giving Obama no advantage for the final two months of the election. Still, Obama would be able to raise and spend money freely up until the moment he formally accepts the Democratic nomination, likely giving him an edge headed into what would be the campaign's home stretch.

Judges are now deciding whether a movie critical of Hillary Clinton and the ads promoting it constitute political advertising.

The makers of "Hillary: The Movie" say the movie and its ads should not be subject to campaign finance laws, which limit when ads can be broadcast and require disclaimers. But the judges deciding the case seem skeptical of their claims, according to an Associated Press report.

An attorney for Citizens United, a conservative advocacy group, said the film and its ads should be considered "issue-oriented" speech, since there is no direct appeal over who to vote for. Here's the exchange that followed a judges inquiry into what the issue is, according to AP:

"That Hillary Clinton is a European Socialist," [attorney] Bopp replied. "That is an issue."

"Which has nothing to do with her campaign?" U.S District Judge Royce C. Lamberth interjected.

"Not specifically, no," Bopp replied.

In the film, AP reports, conservative commentators make the case for why Clinton is not fit to be president. One ad for the movie features conservative commentator Ann Coulter offering "a kind word" about Clinton: She "looks good in a pant suit." An announcer then says, "Now, a movie about everything else."

John McCain's campaign has unleashed a direct-mail piece criticizing Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, reports the Nashua Telegraph. The mailing criticizes Romney on illegal immigration, pointing to a news report stating that Romney once supported allowing illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship and notes that a firm re-hired by Romney to work around his home employed illegal workers even after the issue came up previously.

"Like so many times before, Mitt Romney advocated totally inconsistent, policy positions,'' the mailing states. That's why voters don't trust Mitt Romney. No wonder why Mitt Romney is trying to cover up his own mixed-up record by smearing straight-talking John McCain," the mailing says. It also claims Romney has "flip-flopped" on a number of issues, including immigration, taxes and campaign finance reform. Romney New Hampshire director Jim Merrill responded, "Senator McCain's weak approach to illegal immigration should be the last issue he tries to use when attacking and distorting the record of Governor Romney."