Tuesday into Wednesday Headlines

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that former Member of the House of Representatives Lee Hamilton is endorsing Barack Obama. The Times calls him "one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign affairs experts," who will bolster Obama's national security credentials. Hamilton was the co-chair of both the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group.

Plus Hamilton was a Member of Congress from Indiana, where the May 4 primary may be the decisive contest for the Democratic nomination if Obama wins it. A Survey USA poll announced Tuesday gives Clinton a 52% to 43% lead there, but most observers believe the state could go either way. Update: Associated Press now has the Hamilton endorsement story, too, and mentions that Hamilton is not a super-delegate.

SUSA's latest Pennsylvania poll shows that Clinton's lead has shrunk from 19 points to 12. Obama is picking up strength among men. SUSA has been the most reliable poll in the primaries, but Rasmussen is not far behind--and their new PA poll has Clinton up by just 5 points.

There was talk Tuesday but no firm figures on March fundraising. Time is reporting that a Clintonites "hinted" their March take will approach $20 million, while an Obama campaign official said they brought in more than $30 million, but they're still counting it up (there was a chance to have "dinner with Barack" with contributions ending March 31.) The rest of the story was about the Clinton campaign's unusually high level of debt.

Obama also got a letter of support signed by some 70 Jewish professionals in Pennsylvania, led by Josh Shapiro, deputy speaker of the PA House.

Senate Leader Harry Reid joined party chair Howard Dean in calling for the Democrats to settle on a candidate no later than July 1. , Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is less specific, saying only that it should be settled "a long time before" the convention in August.

Astute political blogger Kid Oakland came away from the California state convention this weekend with some interesting observations, mostly conciliatory towards Clinton backers (he's an Obama activist) but he also reports this from the Latino caucus:

Finally, legendary Latino activist Luis Valdez got up to make an impromptu speech. He talked about hope and the need for change. He talked about the days of Cesar Chavez. He talked about his perception that James Carville had singled out Bill Richardson as a Latino in calling him a "Judas" and the room erupted in agreement. Valdez concluded with this thought, (I'm paraphrasing here): "Whomever you support...Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama...I want you to realize that our community has to rally behind the winner. We need to come together behind a winner. Barack Obama is a winner."

It was an unreported moment at the convention that every one who witnessed it later agreed was very significant. That speech made ripples whether one agreed with it or not."

This is very interesting, not only for its bolstering of the idea of inexorable movement towards Obama as the nominee (and it was widely reported Tuesday that a Missouri Rep and Clinton backer told Canadian public radio that he would be "stunned" if Barack Obama is not elected as the next President) but that it reveals a specific resentment towards how a Clinton activist attacked--and continues to attack--the only Latino governor in the U.S.