HUCKABEE SAYS CAMPAIGN ROUTINE MIMICS ARAFAT’S

A Republican presidential hopeful running a scrappy, low-budget campaign for the White House, Michael Huckabee, compared his travel habits to those of the longtime head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. “Honestly, I tell people I’m living the life of Yasser Arafat; I sleep in a different place every night,” the former Arkansas governor told supporters at a rally in Houston.

“Of course, he’s sleeping in the same place every night now, and it’s not good. My reason for spending the night in a different place is a little different than his was when he was around.”

EMILY’S LIST TO AID CLINTON IN OHIO, TEXAS

A group that supports women candidates in favor of abortion rights, EMILY’S List, is coming to Senator Clinton’s aid in Ohio and Texas, which hold primaries on March 4.

In federal reports filed yesterday, the organization reported spending almost $40,000 for pro-Clinton mailings and travel in Ohio, as well about $91,000 for radio advertisements urging Texas voters to back the former first lady.

While others are promising to move soon, EMILY’S List looks to be the first group out of the gate with major independent expenditures in those key states.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Senator Obama won the endorsement yesterday of the labor federation Change to Win, which split recently from the AFL-CIO. “There certainly is a movement here. The winds of change are blowing, and they’re blowing for Barack Obama,” the chairwoman of the federation, Anna Burger, told reporters.

She also said Senator Clinton might need to bow out of the race after March 4. “We do think it is time to bring this nomination process to a close,” Ms. Burger said.

The import of the labor federation’s announcement was somewhat murky.

Four unions in the breakaway group, UNITE HERE, the Service Employees International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the Teamsters, had already announced support for Mr. Obama. Two others, the Laborers and the Carpenters, are still deciding.

One Change to Win union, the United Farm Workers, has endorsed Mrs. Clinton.

Ms. Burger said the Laborers, the Carpenters, and the Farm Workers abstained from a vote on the federation’s endorsement, allowing the pro-Obama unions to coordinate get-out-the-vote efforts in upcoming primaries.

OBAMA WINS DEMOCRATS ABROAD VOTE

Senator Obama won the support of about 65% of Americans voting in special primaries for Democrats overseas, but the victory only netted him half of a delegate more than Senator Clinton.

About 20,000 Americans joined in the Democrats Abroad vote, which allocates four and a half of the group’s seven delegates. The other two and a half will be picked in April at a convention in Canada.

CLINTON LEADS IN OHIO, TIED WITH OBAMA IN TEXAS, POLL SHOWS

Senator Clinton has maintained a slim lead over Senator Obama in Ohio, but she has fallen into a tie with him in Texas, a new poll shows.

An ABC News/Washington Post survey of Democratic voters in Ohio has Mrs. Clinton leading 50% to 43%, while voters in Texas give her a statistically insignificant edge, 48% to 47%.

The former first lady had held wider leads in both states in recent weeks, indicating that a string of victories by Mr. Obama has cut into Mrs. Clinton’s advantage.