LIMBAUGH ASSAILS McCAIN, DOLE DEFENDS HIM

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is so exasperated about Senator McCain’s surge in the Republican presidential contest that he is coming to the defense of senators Clinton and Obama. On Mr. Limbaugh’s radio program today, he said people should not be rushing to back Mr. McCain based on issues of national security. The talk host said America’s direction in Iraq would not be substantially different even if Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama were elected. “They are not going to surrender the country to Islamic radicalism or the war in Iraq,”

Mr. Limbaugh said after mentioning the two Democratic senators by name. “They are not going to do that to themselves, despite what their base says. … The idea that we’ve only got one person in this whole roster of candidates, either party, who is willing to take on the war on terror is frankly, absurd.” Mr. Limbaugh edged closer to an all-out endorsement of Mitt Romney, saying Mr. Romney is the only candidate in the Republican race right now who can satisfy what many call the so-called three legs of the conservative stool: social, fiscal, and defense conservatives. The talk host continued to decry Mr. McCain, repeatedly accusing him of lying and disloyalty. “John McCain has stabbed his own party in the back I can’t tell you how many times,” Mr. Limbaugh said. Late yesterday the McCain campaign sent around a letter that the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, Senator Dole, sent to Mr. Limbaugh defending Mr. McCain on key conservative issues.

CLINTON COUNTS ON KEY MASSACHUSETTS ALLY

Senator Clinton will look to a powerful central Massachusetts ally, Rep. James McGovern, to get out the vote in the Worcester area today. Mr. McGovern was one of the hosts of an appearance by Mrs. Clinton at Clark University. Not only will Mr. McGovern, who helped elect the Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, provide volunteers and canvassers to Mrs. Clinton, but he is also attempting to blunt Senator Obama’s appeal among the antiwar crowd. Mr. McGovern authored a 2005 piece of legislation that attempted to cut funding for American troops in Iraq. “I have lead legislative efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to get George Bush to end this war in Iraq,” Mr. McGovern said. “She will end this war in Iraq. … She will bring our troops back here where they belong.” Mrs. Clinton, her voice hoarse from a frenetic spate of campaigning, also appealed to the crowd on the basis of her health care policy. “I am the only candidate with a universal health care plan,” she said, noting the support her campaign has received from the speaker of Massachusetts House of Representatives, Salvatore DiMasi, who helped author Massachusetts’s health care plan.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Senators Clinton and Obama each rolled out endorsements from tough-guy Hollywood actors yesterday, as Jack Nicholson went for the former first lady and Robert DeNiro backed the Illinois senator. Mr. Nicholson announced his endorsement in a joint appearance with Mrs. Clinton yesterday on the Rick Dees radio show in Los Angeles, where he praised her work on health care and women’s issues. On the other side of the country, Mr. DeNiro joined Mr. Obama at a Meadowlands rally in New Jersey. He riffed on the criticism that Mr. Obama is inexperienced, saying he “wasn’t experienced enough” to support the Iraq war, nor was he experienced enough to let special interests run the government, according to news reports. “You know, that’s the kind of inexperience I can get used to,” Mr. DeNiro said. “That’s the kind of inexperience our country deserves.”