CLINTON BACKER SAYS OF McCAIN: ‘IT’S NO OLD MAN’S JOB’

A prominent backer of Senator Clinton, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, veered a bit off-message when introducing her yesterday morning in Washington, saying the presidency is “no old man’s job.” Mr. Murtha, a congressman since 1974, noted that he had served with seven presidents and said they “all get older” during their time in office. “This one guy running is about as old as me,” the 75-year-old lawmaker said of Senator McCain, 71. “Let me tell you: It’s no old man’s job.” A ballroom packed with union members from the Building and Construction Trades Department laughed and applauded. Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, would be the oldest person ever elected to his first term if he wins in November. While polls have shown voter concern with his age, Democrats have said they will not make it an issue, at least overtly. Mrs. Clinton was not onstage at the time and did not mention the age comments in her speech. The Arizona senator responded to Mr. Murtha’s remarks in an interview yesterday afternoon on CNN. “I admire and respect Jack Murtha,” he said, before adding with a smile: “Speak for yourself, Jack. I’m doing fine.”

OBAMA RESPONDS TO NEGATIVE CLINTON AD IN PENNSYLVANIA

Senator Obama’s campaign in Pennsylvania is responding to a negative ad from Senator Clinton with a 30-second ad hitting back at the former first lady. Mrs. Clinton had put up a spot that criticized Mr. Obama for misleading voters by boasting that he did take money from oil companies, which her ad noted has been against the law for more than a century. The Clinton ad also decried Mr. Obama’s vote in favor of an energy bill that she said was laden with corporate perks. The Obama campaign responded yesterday by launching a spot that takes aim at Mrs. Clinton’s tactics. “Across Pennsylvania families are struggling,” a narrator intones. “What’s Hillary Clinton’s answer? The same old politics. Misleading negative ads.” The ad goes on to cite Mr. Obama’s support for eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and higher gas mileage standards. While Mrs. Clinton has moved to hit Mr. Obama more aggressively on television in recent days, the Obama campaign is outspending her in the Keystone State less than a week before its April 22 primary.

OBAMA PICKS UP NOD OF PITTSBURGH POST AND THE BOSS

Pittsburgh’s largest paper is endorsing Senator Obama on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary. “One candidate is of the past and one of the future,” the editors wrote yesterday. “The litany of criticisms heaped on Senator Obama by the Clinton camp, simultaneously doing the work of the Republicans, is as illustrative as anything of which one is which. These are the cynical responses of the old politics to the new.” The Pittsburgh paper credited Mr. Obama for bringing “an excitement and an electricity to American politics not seen since the days of John F. Kennedy.”

Mr. Obama also scored the endorsement of a quintessentially American singer, Bruce Springsteen. “Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest,” Mr. Springsteen said in a statement issued by the Obama campaign. “A great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.”

OBAMAS REPORT $4.2M IN INCOME FOR 2007

Income tax returns released by Senator Obama’s campaign show that he and his wife, Michelle, made $4.2 million in 2007. The Obamas paid $1.3 million in taxes and made charitable donations of $240,370, a far larger sum than in past years. About 90% of the Obamas’ income came from sales of books written by the senator from Illinois.

CHELSEA CLINTON TO HEADLINE PITTSBURGH FUND-RAISER

Chelsea Clinton is being billed at the lead attraction at a $500-a-plate fund-raiser in Pittsburgh tomorrow night. An invitation obtained by The New York Sun, the dinnertime reception is scheduled to take place at the home of a local food wholesaler, Elaine Bellin.