NAACP’S BOND WANTS FLORIDA, MICHIGAN DELEGATES SEATED

The chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons, Julian Bond is objecting to the Democratic Party’s plan to deny delegates from Michigan and Florida seating at the party’s convention in August. In a letter to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, Mr. Bond expressed “great concern at the prospect that millions of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted,” according to a political news outlet, Politico.

Both states were denied delegates after moving primaries to dates outside the so-called window set by the national party. Senator Clinton, who prevailed in both contests, has called for the delegations to be seated. Senator Obama of Illinois, who was not on the ballot in Michigan and came in a distant second in Florida, has argued that seating those delegates would be unfair since there was no official campaigning in either state.

Mr. Bond’s letter called for “some solution” and did not explicitly rule out some proposed compromises, like a re-vote or state party conventions to choose delegates.

OBAMA, McCAIN IN SENATE FLOOR ‘MAN HUG’

Senator McCain and Senator Obama had an friendly encounter on the Senate floor yesterday as the two men and other colleagues milled around during votes on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The two men greeted each other warmly in what the Washington Post described as a “modified man hug.” The Arizona senator later described the exchange as “a friendly conversation, like you have with colleagues.”

On one of the day’s key votes though, the two men were at odds. Mr. McCain voted for immunity for telecommunications companies who aided President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program; Mr. Obama voted against it. Senator Clinton also opposes such immunity but she did not take part in yesterday’s votes.

CLINTON SETS LOW-DOLLAR, WOMEN-ORIENTED EVENT AT HUNTER COLLEGE

New Yorkers who don’t mind getting up early and have a spare $50 will have a chance to see Mrs. Clinton next week in the City. She is set to appear next Thursday at the Hunter College Auditorium on 69th Street for an event billed as “New York Women for Hillary Make History with Senator Hillary Clinton.” According to an invitation obtained by The New York Sun, doors will open at 7:30 a.m. for the unusually early fundraiser. The cheapest tickets are $50, cut from $100 a few days ago.

AD WATCH

Senator Clinton launched a wave of television ads yesterday in states she hopes will salvage her listing presidential campaign: Wisconsin, Ohio, and Texas. The buy in Wisconsin, which votes on Tuesday, touts her commitment to universal health care. In Ohio and Texas, which vote March 4th she is pushing that issue and laying out her lifelong work for liberal causes.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Senator Clinton got the nod yesterday from a former astronaut and senator, John Glenn of Ohio “With all of the challenges facing Ohio and America, we need a leader who can deliver real solutions on her first day in office,” Mr Glenn said in a statement.

Mr. McCain scored an endorsement from a conservative talk show host and Iran-Contra scandal figure, Oliver North. “I cannot sit silently while my fellow conservatives do to John McCain what GOP ‘moderates’ did to me Today, the stakes for our country are far higher,” Mr. North wrote in a column in the Washington Times. The Arizona senator also picked up the backing of a veteran fund-raiser for President Bush, Mercer Reynolds.

Michael Huckabee, who has little support from Republican officeholders, has won the endorsement of a Texas congressman John Culberson of Houston.