On The HUSTINGS

CLINTON CRITICIZES OBAMA HEALTH CARE MAILING

Senator Clinton yesterday decried what she said were "misleading" mailings by the Obama campaign that she said came right out of the playbook that Republicans and the health insurance industry used against her in 1993. The mailings criticize Mrs. Clinton's health care plan for "forcing" Americans to buy insurance, and they use an image of a frustrated married couple sitting around a kitchen table that is reminiscent of the famous "Harry and Louise" television ads bought by the insurance industry in 1993 that helped defeat Mrs. Clinton's first effort to achieve universal health care. "If you look at some of the misleading mailings that Senator Obama is sending out around the country, honest to goodness, it looks like it was written by the health-insurance companies," Mrs. Clinton said yesterday on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's so reminiscent of old 'Harry and Louise' talking about how, oh, the sky will fall if we try to have universal health care. He's playing right in to all of the arguments against this core value of the Democratic Party." She has derided Mr. Obama's plan for not including a mandate for adults, saying it would leave 15 million people uninsured, and she said her health care plan would offer up the sharpest contrast if Senator McCain is the Republican nominee in the fall. Mr. Obama made his own electability case on CBS's "Face the Nation," saying of Mrs. Clinton: "I don't think there's any doubt that Republicans consider her a polarizing figure."

CANDIDATES DIAL FOR VOTES IN MASSACHUSETTS

Robocalls from Democratic presidential candidates deluged Massachusetts voters preoccupied with the Super Bowl this weekend. Calls from Senator Kennedy, who is supporting Senator Obama, went out to voters yesterday afternoon. "February 5 is the date. Massachusetts is the state. Obama is our candidate," Mr. Kennedy said. A congressman of Worcester, James McGovern, also issued a call on behalf of his candidate, Senator Clinton. Mr. McGovern invited voters to an event for Mrs. Clinton on the campus of Clark University. With an ear to where many voter sentiments were yesterday, Mr. McGovern ended his message with a call of support for the Patriots.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Senator Obama received the endorsement of a popular writer and radio host, Garrison Keillor, who told the Illinois senator in a letter of support that his campaign was "a tonic for America." The author of best-selling books and humorist, Mr. Keillor is the host of "A Prairie Home Companion." Voters in his home state of Minnesota head to the polls tomorrow. "Seven years of a failed presidency is a depressing thing, and the country is pressing for a change and looking for someone with clear vision who is determined to break through the rhetorical logjam and find sensible ways to move our country forward. That's you, friend," Mr. Keillor wrote in his letter to Mr. Obama.

A former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America who had been a top backer of John Edwards threw her support yesterday to Senator Obama. Kate Michelman announced her support in an article on the Huffington Post, writing that Mr. Obama "is prepared to lead in a different than we have seen in decades. Not out in front with us behind him, but rather with us beside him."

NON-ENDORSEMENT WATCH

The three second-tier Democratic candidates who dropped out of the presidential race last month have all decided to stay neutral in the run-up to February 5. Senator Obama held a rally in Delaware yesterday, but the state's senior senator, Joseph Biden, was nowhere to be found. The Washington Post reported that Mr. Biden told both the Clinton and Obama campaigns that he was staying on the sidelines. Officials close to Senator Dodd of Connecticut indicated he would not endorse before the state's primary tomorrow. The same goes for Governor Richardson of New Mexico, but he did raise eyebrows by agreeing to watch the Super Bowl yesterday with President Clinton.