CLINTON DOES WHISKEY SHOT, BEER CHASER

Senator Clinton’s weekend included a working-class trifecta of whiskey, beer, and pepperoni pizza at a bar in northwest Indiana. Producers for ABC and CBS reported that Mrs. Clinton downed a shot of Crown Royal whiskey Saturday and later had a few beers as she ate pepperoni pizza at Bronko’s Restaurant and Lounge in Crown Point, Ind. “My campaign drives people to drink,” the senator of New York joked as she chatted with locals and supporters.

Mrs. Clinton was less voluble in Pennsylvania yesterday when a reporter plumbing her claims that Senator Obama is an elitist asked her when she last fired a gun or attended church. “We can answer that some other time,” she said, according to CNN. “This is about what people feel is being said about them. I went to church on Easter. I mean, so?”

DEMOCRATS TO SUE OVER McCAIN’S USE OF MATCHING FUNDS

The Democratic National Committee plans to file suit today against the Federal Election Commission to block efforts by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator McCain, to withdraw from the federal matching funds program. Mr. McCain, who sought the matching funds when his fund-raising was lagging, has now decided he can spend more freely by ditching the program.

Democrats contend that Mr. McCain cannot withdraw because for a time he paid his campaign’s bills with a loan backed by the promise of the federal funds. “We do believe that this is not a loan that could have been made lawfully but for all the conditions that the McCain campaign agreed to with respect to matching funds,” an attorney for the Democratic Party, Joseph Sandler, said.

Democrats filed a complaint with the FEC in late February, but the panel cannot act at the moment because it lacks a quorum due to several vacancies and a standoff between the White House and Congress. Mr. Sandler said that stalemate allows the Democrats to ignore the legal requirement to wait 120 days before suing over an unaddressed complaint. In February, a similar argument from a longshot Democratic candidate, Mike Gravel, fell flat in a suit he brought against a political group aligned with Senator Clinton. “Plaintiff cannot avoid the FEC by taking a shortcut through the federal courts, even if Plaintiff believes the required statutory procedure will take him nowhere,” Judge Jack Zouhary wrote.

CARTER SAYS HE WON’T ENDORSE UNTIL CONVENTION

President Carter says he won’t endorse a Democratic candidate until the party’s nominating convention this summer, even though he has hinted that he supports Senator Obama. “The only thing I know is that, I have not made an endorsement, and don’t intend to, until the time of the convention,” the former president said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week.” “I’ll let you make your own judgment … about my inclinations.” On a trip to Nigeria earlier this month, Mr. Carter made a point of saying his entire family supports Mr. Obama, although the ex-president stopped short of confirming his own position. In the ABC interview, he sided with the Obama camp on the question of superdelegates, saying it would be “a very serious mistake” for the party if superdelegates voted against the candidates who won the most pledged delegates, the majority of states, and the popular vote.

McCAIN HELPS GIULIANI RETIRE CAMPAIGN DEBT

Senator McCain’s campaign is helping Mayor Giuliani pay off the debt incurred by his own run for the White House. The Arizona senator’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, sent an e-mail message to donors asking them to contribute to Mr. Giuliani’s campaign committee to retire the debt, Politico reported. “We need to help Mayor Giuliani retire his debt as soon as possible so we can move forward with everyone spending 100% of their time helping to get John McCain in the White House,” Mr. Davis wrote. “The time Rudy Giuliani has to spend raising money to pay down his debt is time he could be spending raising money and reaching out to voters for us.” Mr. Giuliani, who reported $3.1 million in debt as of last month, endorsed Mr. McCain immediately after dropping out of the race in January and campaigned with him in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.