- Elizabeth Edwards argued yesterday that Clinton’s Health Care proposal was a rip-off of her husbands. The greater question is, what is a rip-off of Mitt Romney’s? The former Gov. has been digging into Clinton over her proposal but independent analysis of his own plan for Massachusetts shows some striking similarities.

- An ad taken out by MoveOn.org against Gen. Patraeus was met with condemnation in the Senate yesterday. Clinton & Dodd voted against the measure while Barack Obama & Joe Biden abstained.

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- For a quick bit of the minutia of politicking check out Marc Ambinder’s recap of microphone problems before Barack Obama’s tax speech. Also check out John McCormick’s 12 Bucks Buy 10 Lawn Signs.

- The Congressional Black Caucus, which is supposed to be a neutral organization, is facing some “grumbling” over the leaderships decision to hold a Clinton only forum.

- Another sign that Thompson’s much ballyhooed support from the religious right was probably just a media concoction as James Dobson, one of the nation’s most politically influential evangelical Christians, says he will not support the candidate.

- He hit Hillary Clinton hard over polluted fundraising but does John Edwards have his own bundler problems?

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- The big buzz in the political world is Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan. It has both Democrats and Republicans on the attack. The Clinton campaign calls these attacks politics as usual.

- The Values Voters debate, which was snubbed by all the front-runner Republican candidates was followed by a straw poll. Mike Huckabee came out on top with 64% of the vote, a major triumph for his campaign that follows on his second place nod in the Iowa Straw poll. Mitt Romney made the big news though receiving 0% of the vote.

- Speaking of healthcare John Edwards has vowed on the first day as president he will “submit legislation” revoking the presidents, vice presidents, Congress’ and all senior political appointees healthcare until they pass a universal healthcare plan.

My two-cents? Edwards is obviously upset that Clinton’s healthcare plan is taking the spotlight off of him. So he responded by saying something so silly it would gain headlines. At the end of the day though “submitting legislation” isn’t exactly the kind of language voters respond to. Seeing as how Congress holds the purse strings I don’t think Edwards could actually do anything to cut off those benefits. He would be “submitting” this legislation to Congress and I highly doubt they would do anything with it.

In a historical note when George Washington accepted the presidency he did so desiring to not accept a salary for the position. Congress overruled him because the constitution clearly stated he should be paid and because they did not want to setup a bad precedent whereby other presidents would be expected to turn down salary. With the same thought in mind, I doubt this Congress would stop anyones healthcare.

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News
- Thousands of democrats met in Iowa for Gov. Tom Harkin’s annual steak-fry. Six of the candidates were there and one of the topics of conversation was Iraq. The most notable news was that Senator Barack Obama suggested he now supports tying all Iraq funding to a timetable for withdrawal, leaving him at odds with Sen. Clinton & Sen. Biden.

- Hillary Clinton is getting back into Health Care. Clinton announced during the HuffingtonPost mashup debates that she would be revealing her new plan soon. Mitt Romney has already guessed what’s inside and attacked her on it.

- Speaking of Mitt Romney, he will hold his first online-only town hall.

- Retired four star general, supreme allied commander of NATO and former rumored/potential/defeated candidate in 2008 has given his endorsement to Clinton. “She will be a great leader for the United States of America and a great commander in chief for the men and women in uniform”

- Last week Fred Thompson made news by announcing he isn’t a church-goer and this week Sen. John McCain announced he is a Baptist, despite identifying himself as an Episcopalian for many years. “It plays a role in my life. By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist,” McCain said. “Do I advertise my faith? Do I talk about it all the time? No.”

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News
- Last night president Bush gave an address to the nation on Iraq. It was followed with a paid advertisement by candidate John Edwards, which you can see here, and will likely dominate the newscycle and the campaign today and for the rest of the week.

- Ahead of the speech Senator Joe Biden gave a “prebuttal” to the presidents address, attacking what was anticipated and leaked from the speech.

- Some are arguing the Patraeus report gives Sen. John McCain a boost in the Republican primary. McCain has been a steadfast supporter of the war and John Edwards labeled the surge plan the “McCain Doctrine”. Will the report make a major difference in public opinion, probably not. Will it give McCain an issue to capitalize on that could bring some energy to the campaign. Yes, indeed.

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