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Clinton is getting tough on Obama over national security issues.

WACO, Texas (CNN) - Hillary Clinton attempted to raise the stakes of the upcoming March 4 primaries Friday by forcefully calling into question Barack Obama's qualifications to become commander-in-chief.

At a rally in Waco, with more than two dozen military veterans and flag officers standing behind her, Clinton criticized Obama for being "missing in action" during key security decisions in the Senate and claimed that he had "no responsibility" when he gave an anti-war speech in 2002 as an Illinois state senator.

Her comments coincided with a new campaign ad released in Texas that asks voters who they want to answer the phone in the White House at 3 a.m. when "there's something happening in the world."

Obama criticized the ad earlier Friday, saying it was an attempt to "scare up votes."

Clinton disputed that notion in her speech Friday, saying, "Well I don't think people in Texas scare all that easily."

In a salvo against Obama that lasted several minutes, Clinton said, "There's a big difference between giving a speech at anti war rally as a state senator and dealing with an international crisis as president."

"There's a difference between giving a speech when you have no responsibility," she argued, "and having to step up and take charge and take the responsibility for your actions."

She charged that Obama was "missing in action" when he missed a Senate vote last year on a nonbinding resolution in that labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization (Clinton voted for the measure and faced heat from Obama and other Democratic rivals for supporting a measure pushed by the Bush administration.)

She also said Obama was "missing in action" by failing in his chairmanship of a Senate subcommittee on Europe to hold a hearing on NATO's presence in Afghanistan, a fact she has emphasized in recent days on the campaign trail.

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CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from the Best Political Team.

(CNN) - National security has taken center stage just days before Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama go head-to-head in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas. Clinton released a new ad targeting voters' sense of security for themselves and their children. Obama fired back with an ad of his own trumpeting what he asserts is his superior judgment on issues of national security. Jessica Yellin reports from Houston, Texas.

National security was also on John McCain's mind Friday.  The Republican front-runner hammered Clinton and Obama, suggesting their pledge to renegotiate NAFTA might endanger Canada's continued support of the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan.  McCain also battled controversy as a Catholic group challenged McCain to reject the support of an evangelical pastor in Texas.  Dana Bash reports.

Will the nation's largest minority voters make history in 2008 by determining the outcome of the White House race? John Zarella takes a look at Latino voters, an important demographic group in key states on the electoral map.

Finally, Jennifer Mikell brings you this week's Trail Mix - a look at the most memorable moments out on the trail.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

A White House aide has resigned after admitting to plagiarism.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A senior White House official, Tim Goeglein, has resigned after he admitted copying large sections of an essay he wrote for a newspaper in Fort Wayne, Ind., the White House confirmed Friday.

"Today, Tim accepted responsibility for the columns published under his name in his local newspaper, and has apologized for not upholding the standards expected by the President," the White House said in a written statement. "The President was disappointed to learn of the matter, and he was saddened for Tim and his family. He has long appreciated Tim's service, and he knows him to be a good person who is committed to his country.

"President Bush accepted Tim's resignation today."

In an e-mail to The News-Sentinel, Goeglein, special assistant to the president and deputy director of public liaison, apologizes, saying, "It is true. I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses."

Goeglein said he has reached out to the author, Jeffery Hart, whose 1998 writings in the Dartmouth Review he copied nearly verbatim. "I have written to Jeff to apologize, and do so categorically and without exception," he says.

Full story

Clinton has a slight edge in Ohio while the two are statistically tied in Texas (AP Photo).

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are statistically tied in Texas while the New York Democrat holds a slight lead in Ohio, according to a new poll out Friday of the crucial March 4 primary states.

According to a new poll from Fox News, Clinton holds an 8-point lead in Ohio (46-38 percent), buoyed by demographics that have carried her to victory in previous primaries - white women, seniors, and members of the working class.

Obama has a slight edge in Texas (48-45 percent), but is statically tied with the New York Democrat there given the poll's 4 percentage point margin of error. The poll suggests Clinton's base is holding up in the state, but that support is not enough to overtake Obama's strong advantage among independent and African-American voters.

Factoring in the Fox poll, a CNN analysis of the most recent surveys from Ohio and Texas show Clinton with a 7-point lead in Ohio and Obama up by 4 in Texas.

The new poll comes on the same day both presidential campaigns sought to raise the other's expectations next Tuesday. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Clinton needs to garner decisive wins to chip away at the Illinois senator's significant lead among pledged delegates. But Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson contended that Obama should win all the March 4 contests given that he outspent Clinton nearly 2 to 1 in those states.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Obama's campaign has issued its own 3 a.m. ad.

(CNN) - In a direct response to a Hillary Clinton television ad, Barack Obama's campaign Friday released its own 30 second spot raising the prospect of an early morning foreign policy crisis.

"It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep," the ad's narrator states in an obvious take off of the Clinton ad released earlier in the day. "But there’s a phone ringing in the White House. Something’s happening in the world. (Related: Clinton raises the stakes in new ad)

"When that call gets answered, shouldn’t the president be the one – the only one – who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start… Who understood the real threat to America was al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan, not Iraq," the narrator continues. "Who led the effort to secure loose nuclear weapons around the globe… In a dangerous world, it’s judgment that matters."

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) - Up against the ropes and in need of a good showing in Tuesday’s Texas primary to justify staying in the race, Huckabee told reporters in Lubbock Friday that his presidential bid will continue if John McCain fails to clinch the nomination on March 4.

“I guess we keep plugging away,” said Huckabee, “as long as people are contributing and giving us the capacity to keep going and we haven’t been defeated by the number of delegates that are required to beat us, then we’re still in it.”

Asked specifically what his plans are after the March 4 primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, Huckabee said he would go to Mississippi and Pennsylvania since they hold the next contests. He also noted that after Tuesday, the primary calendar is much more spread out.

Huckabee has argued in recent days that not only does McCain not have enough delegates yet for the nomination, but also that the Arizona senator may be unable to campaign between now and September, should the Federal Elections Commission rule he is subject to spending limits.

Asked if a sidelined McCain would benefit him, Huckabee responded, “[It’s] only good for me if nobody’s gotten those delegate counts because I could go ahead and campaign and he couldn’t.”

The former Arkansas governor has staked his future in the race on succeeding in Texas, but polls show him trailing McCain by almost 30 percentage points.

“We’re doing everything I know how to do, we’re hitting every community, every rally, our television [ads] went up,” Huckabee told CNN, “and you know, we’re feeling that we’re going to close that gap.”

– CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt

Obama would face a tough general election race.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Barack Obama doesn't even have the Democratic nomination, and yet questions are already swirling over whether he could withstand the fierce assault he certainly would face from the Republicans in a general election. Whatever criticism he confronted during the Democratic primaries would likely be child’s play compared to what’s coming up.

That fear was reinforced by the front-page story in The New York Times entitled “For Obama, Taste of What a Long Battle Holds.” Adam Nagourney writes that Republican “opposition research” is gearing up for a battle against Obama. The suggestion is that they will use material from Obama’s past that Hillary Clinton and the other Democratic candidates avoided.

“Some cases are simple let’s-go-to-the-video moments, like Mr. Obama’s statements that he would support giving drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens or would support raising taxes to shore up Social Security, lines of attack that Republicans are already employing,” Nagourney writes. Other material could be more explosive.

“He regularly goes out there and says he’s the person who can beat John McCain,” chief Clinton strategist Mark Penn is quoted as saying. “But the truth is, if he is ever in a general election, a lot of positions he took in 2003 and 2004 will come back to haunt him in a big way and a lot of the vetting that didn’t happen will happen. The independent and Republican support that he has had will evaporate really quickly.”

Clinton's camp is convinced that she could withstand a Republican assault in a general election campaign better than Obama. They have often pointed out that she has a lot more experience in this area – given the battles she’s faced over the years. Her supporters are especially anxious right now that voters in Texas and Ohio appreciate what could be in store for Obama before making up their minds. And that’s the case for the Superdelegates as well.

– Wolf Blitzer

Obama said Friday Clinton's ad is an attempt to scare voters. (AP Photo)

(CNN) - Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that rival Hillary Clinton is trying to scare voters with a new television ad that raises the prospect of a foreign crisis over images of children asleep in their beds.

"We've seen these ads before," the Illinois senator said at a campaign event in Houston, Texas. "They're the kind that play on people's fears to scare up votes.

"Well, it won't work this time," he continued. "Because the question is not about picking up the phone. The question is: What kind of judgment will you make when you answer?"

The ad, launched Friday in Texas ahead of that state's crucial March 4 primary, shows children asleep in their beds in the middle of the night while a narrator references a potential national security crisis and asks, "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safely asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe denounced the ad in a conference call with reporters earlier Friday. And in his comments in Houston, Obama said, "We've had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer."

The Clinton campaign meanwhile vigorously defended the ad, and brushed aside notions it is reminiscent of the famous Lyndon Johnson "Daisy" ad, which portrayed a young girl counting down to a nuclear attack.

"This is a positive ad," Clinton adviser Mark Penn said. "Very soft images, not at all like that ad. Soft images. And it poses a question to people that they have to answer themselves: Who do they want to pick up the phone?"

"That ad basically envisions the apocalypse, and that is not what this ad does," Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said. "This ad basically says, 'You know what? We are electing a president and it matters who is handling a phone call in a crisis at 3 a.m. as president.' That is a legitimate matter for a presidential campaign."

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Stevie Wonder at an Obama campaign rally.

Music plays an important role on the campaign trail. The right song can rally the crowd and get them pumped up before the candidate gets onstage.

But, several of the presidential candidates have had problems when it comes to picking their music. Hillary Clinton held an online contest to choose her song and came up with the "You and I" by Celine Dion. Fine, except Dion is Canadian. That song had to be scrapped.

John McCain at one point was using John Mellencamp's hits like "Our Country" and "Pink Houses". But the liberal rocker apparently wasn't comfortable with the conservative McCain using his tunes and told him to stop. McCain also ran into problems using the theme song from "Rocky," and also opted against using "Take a Chance on Me" by the Swedish group Abba because of licensing and other concerns.

To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here

Rockefeller endorsed Obama Friday.

(CNN) –Longtime West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller endorsed Barack Obama’s White House bid Friday, praising the Illinois senator for his initial opposition to the Iraq war.

"I am all too aware that the threats we face are unconventional," Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a statement. "They are sophisticated. They are constantly changing and adapting. And they are very serious. What matters most in the Oval Office is sound judgment and decisive action. It’s about getting it right on crucial national security questions the first time – and every time.”

News of the endorsement comes the same day both Democratic presidential campaigns are engaged in a heated back and forth over which candidate is best equipped to handle national security issues.

In the statement, Rockefeller also said he is supporting Obama because of his "commitment to rebuild America."

"I know Barack Obama will fight and win the battle for health care, good paying jobs, and energy security," Rockefeller wrote.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Hillary and Bill Clinton worked on George McGovern's 1972 campaign in Texas before they wed in 1975.

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) – Garry Mauro will never forget that night in 1972 when he says Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham ignored the post-election party surrounding them, instead preferring to huddle in a corner and talk about changing the future.

The young then-unmarried couple, attending Yale Law, weren't interested in letting off steam with their Democratic colleagues in Austin, Texas, according to Mauro, who's now a strategist with Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

The three were among a group of Young Turk Democrats working that summer to register voters in Texas. The Clintons had just started dating, said Mauro, who years later became Texas land commissioner. "They obviously had a lot of respect for each other, and they would spend hours talking to each other."

Full story

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton Thursday jabbed at Sen. Barack Obama for being a first term senator and called her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination a "blank screen."

In an interview on ABC's Nightline Thursday night, Clinton dismissed notion's Barack Obama voters are uninformed, but said the Democratic presidential front-runner aptly described himself in his 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope."

"I think the best description, actually, is in Barack's own book, the last book he wrote, 'Audacity of Hope,' where he said that he's a blank screen," she said in the interview. "And people of widely differing views project what they want to believe onto him. And then he went on to say, 'I am bound to disappoint some, if not all of them.'"

"He was in the state Senate, what, three years ago, four years ago?" Clinton said in continued jabs. "It's hard to know exactly what his positions are because they have changed rather rapidly in that four-year period. But there is something very appealing, and people have a right to vote for whomever they want."

The comments came a day before the Clinton campaign launched a tough new ad in Texas that aims to portray Clinton as considerably more prepared to handle a foreign policy crises than Obama. Over scenes of sleeping children, the ads narrator asks, "Who do you want answering the phone the phone?" at 3 in the morning.

Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe forcefully responded to that ad in a conference call with reporters Friday morning."We don't think the ads are going to be effective at all, because Senator Clinton has already had her red phone moment. It was a decision whether to allow George Bush to invade Iraq, and she answered affirmatively," Plouffe said.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) – Likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain raised a little over $12 million in February, two campaign sources tell CNN's John King.

That compares to the $35 million the Clinton campaign has reported raising in the same time period. Obama's campaign has not said how much it raised in February, but has indicated it is significantly more than Clinton's total.

A U.S. Capitol police officer admits to setting fires.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A policewoman suspected in a series of small fires in restrooms in buildings around Capitol HIll late last year has admitted guilt and agreed to resign and pay restitution to avoid prosecution.

Karen E. Emory, a U.S. Capitol Police officer, must resign by March 4, get a year of professional counseling, and avoid any other criminal activity over the next 12 months.

She was indicted for destroying government property after investigators and prosecutors suspected she was behind at least two fires in women's restrooms in the buildings. None of the fires caused injury or substantial damage, and restitution is listed at $215 dollars, payable within 90 days.

Full story

– CNN's Paul Courson

The Clinton campaign says Obama needs to win big on March 4, or else he has a problem.

(CNN) – Seeking to raise the expectations for its rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign said Friday that Sen. Barack Obama needs to sweep the March 4 primaries.

The Illinois senator should win all four states - Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont - decisively, given the amount of money and resources he has devoted to them, the Clinton campaign said in a memo circulated to reporters.

"If he fails to garner big wins, there's a problem," the memo states.

"The Obama campaign and its allies are outspending us two to one in paid media and have sent more staff into the March 4 states. In fact, when all is totaled, Senator Obama and his allies have outspent Senator Clinton by a margin of $18.4 million to $9.2 million on advertising in the four states that are voting next Tuesday."

"Senator Obama has campaigned hard in these states," the memo continues. "He has spent time meeting editorial boards, courting endorsers, holding rallies, and – of course – making speeches."

The memo came out moments after Obama campaign manager David Plouffe finished a conference call with reporters, during which he said the New York senator needs big victories in Texas and Ohio Tuesday if she hopes to chip away at Obama's now 153 pledged delegate lead - according to CNN's latest estimate.

"The Clinton campaign needs to begin wining big states by big margins to have any hope of eliminating this delegate lead they are facing," he said.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Watch Michelle Obama's comments Thursday.

(CNN) - Michelle Obama came to her husband’s defense Thursday, saying those who criticize him because of his middle name are playing on the public's fear.

“[Critics] said he was too black,” Michelle Obama told a group of supporters in Ohio. “Then they said he wasn’t black enough. [Then] when all else fails be afraid of his name and what that could stand for because it's different.”

Clinton launched a tough new ad Friday.

(CNN) - The Democratic White House hopefuls took to the airwaves Friday to battle over national security credentials, with Hillary Clinton’s campaign releasing a tough new ad that pegged her as the presidential candidate best-prepared to take on foreign crises, and Barack Obama’s team responding with the re-release of a spot that painted him as the White House hopeful with the best judgment to be commander-in-chief.

“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there’s a phone in the White House, and it’s ringing. Something’s happened in the world,” says the announcer in the 30-second Clinton spot, which is set begin running in Texas Friday. A phone rings insistently over images of sleeping children.

“Your vote will decide who answers the call. Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military. Someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world.

“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?”

The Clinton campaign said the new ad - titled “Children” - is meant to make voters ponder “who they want in the White House during a crisis.”

Within roughly an hour of the ad’s debut, the Obama campaign announced that it was re-releasing “Gulf,” a 30-second spot that first ran prior to the Iowa caucuses. The ad features retired Air Force Gen. Merrill McPeak, a former combat pilot who was the service’s highest-ranking uniformed officer during the first Gulf War.

“As a combat pilot and Air Force chief during Desert Storm, lives depended on the judgments I made,” McPeak says in the spot. “And judgment is what we need from our next commander in chief. Barack Obama opposed this war in Iraq from the start, showing insight and courage others did not.”

McPeak backed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race.

– CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

For Sen. John McCain, Ohio could be a critical proving ground in his effort to win war-weary voters.

EVANDALE, Ohio (CNN) - John Dyer remembers being unable to sleep.

"I woke up at 4 in the morning and walked around the neighborhood. Part of my mind was just torn with anger. I wanted to go to Iraq and find those people who had done this and kill them," he said.

Two and a half years have passed since the knock on Dyer's door. The Marine flag still flies outside his suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, home, the Gold Star banner in the window a reminder of the message delivered by two Marines that August day.

Full story

Bush criticized Obama Thursday for his comments at a recent debate.

(CNN) - President Bush is often reluctant to talk about the presidential race, but he couldn't resist weighing in on Democratic candidate Barack Obama's remark this week about Al Qaeda camps in Iraq.

"That's an interesting comment," Bush said at press conference Thursday. "'If al Qaeda is securing an al Qaeda base - then yes?' Well, that's exactly what they've been trying to do for the past four years.... That's one of the challenges we face, is denying al Qaeda a safe haven anywhere."

The comments are in reference to an answer Obama gave at Thursday's Democratic debate, when he said he would redeploy troops to Iraq if al Qaeda was successful in establishing bases there after the U.S. withdrew.

"I believe Senator Obama better stay focused on his campaign with Senator Clinton, neither of whom has secured their party's nomination yet," Bush added.

Bush's remarks echo those of GOP candidate John McCain, who on the campaign trail Wednesday sharply criticized Obama for his comments at the debate, and suggested the Democratic presidential frontrunner wasn't aware members of Al Qaeda are already in the country.

"I have news for Senator Obama, al Qaeda is in Iraq and that's why we're fighting in Iraq," McCain said Wednesday while campaigning in Texas. McCain's press office also released a statement Wednesday stating, "Is Sen. Obama unaware that al Qaeda is still present in Iraq, that our forces are successfully fighting them every day, and that his Iraq policy of withdrawal would embolden al Qaeda and weaken our security?"

Obama sharply rebuked those comments, saying at a campaign rally Wednesday, "Well first of all, I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq. That's why I've said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."

Bush declined to talk about the White House race further in his press conference Thursday, saying "there will be ample time to discuss whoever their candidate - the positions of whoever their candidate is."

Obama issued a sharp response to the president and John McCain, saying both have "called for staying the course with an endless war in Iraq and a failed policy of not talking to leaders we don’t like."

"Americans of all political persuasions are calling for change," he said. "The American people aren’t looking for tough talk about fighting for 100 years in Iraq, because they know we need to end this war, finish the job in Afghanistan, and take the fight to al Qaeda."

Related: CNN Analysts say Bush criticism will help Obama

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Compiled by Jonathan Helman
CNN Washington Bureau

Washington Post: Bush Assails Democratic Candidates' Foreign Policy Views
President Bush has tried, with varying degrees of success, to avoid playing the role of "pundit in chief" on daily campaign developments. But yesterday he weighed in on some of the foreign policy issues that have cropped up recently on the trail, criticizing the Democratic presidential contenders for their positions on Iraq and trade and, in the case of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), for his willingness to meet with U.S. adversaries.

Washington Post: Democrats Blaze Trails In February Fundraising
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama continued to rewrite fundraising records this month, with Clinton announcing yesterday that she had rebounded from a disappointing showing in January to raise $35 million in February, by far her biggest one-month total of the campaign. Obama (Ill.), who raised $36 million in January, has not yet announced a total for February, but aides said it will be "considerably more" than that raised by his rival for the Democratic nomination.

USA Today: Primaries Turnout Prompts Concerns For Nov.
Record turnout in this year's presidential primaries has election officials worried about possible shortages of machines, ballots and poll workers in November.

NY Times: Nader’s No. 2
The 2008 campaign has its first official vice-presidential candidate, and it is not Mike Huckabee. The candidate, in a selection that will please fans of both his politics and his art, is Matt Gonzalez, aspiring collage artist and former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Ralph Nader, who on Sunday announced his fourth formal campaign for the presidency, as an independent, introduced Mr. Gonzalez as his running mate at a Washington news conference Thursday.

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