TWO PROMINENT SUPERDELEGATES SPLIT FOR CLINTON, OBAMA

Senators Obama and Clinton split the endorsements of two prominent superdelegates yesterday, with a veteran New Mexico lawmaker, Senator Bingaman, going for Mr. Obama and Governor Easley of North Carolina going for Mrs. Clinton. A senator since 1982, Mr. Bingaman heads the chamber’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His endorsement gives Mr. Obama the lead in the battle for support among Senate Democrats; he now has 14 senators in his corner to 13 for Mrs. Clinton. “To make progress, we must rise above the partisanship and the issues that divide us to find common ground,” Mr. Bingaman said in a statement. “We must move the country in a dramatically new direction.” Mrs. Clinton may get the more immediate boost with the endorsement of Mr. Easley, who leads one of the two states voting on May 6. Polls have shown Mr. Obama with a wide edge in the Tar Heel State, and Mrs. Clinton has thus far focused more on Indiana. The governor is expected to endorse Mrs. Clinton today in Raleigh, according to several news reports.

DEAN CONFIDENT HE WON’T HAVE TO FORCE END TO PRIMARY

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, says he’s confident he won’t have to step in and force either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama out of the presidential race before the party’s nominating convention in late summer. “Either of these candidates, if it’s time for them to go, they’ll know it and they will go,” he said yesterday morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “They don’t need any pushing from me. You know when to get in and you know when to get out. That’s just part of the deal.” Mr. Dean has been outspoken of late in urging undecided superdelegates to make their choices known, and if not now, then soon after the last primary votes are cast on June 3. “We really can’t have a divided convention,” Mr. Dean said. “If we do it’s going to be very hard to heal the party afterwards.”

POLL GIVES ELECTABILITY EDGE TO CLINTON

A new poll is giving Senator Clinton a boost in making her case that she would have an easier time than Senator Obama in defeating Senator McCain. The Associated Press-Ipsos survey released yesterday shows Mrs. Clinton holding a nine-point lead over Mr. McCain nationally, 50%-41%, and Mr. Obama with a two-point edge that is within the margin of error. The same poll three weeks ago showed the candidates roughly even. While other polls have shown a closer race, Mrs. Clinton has been buoyed by her victory last week in the Pennsylvania primary.

CONSERVATIVE GROUP FILES FEC COMPLAINT OVER MCCAIN FUND-RAISER

A conservative watchdog group that has gone after the Clintons is now urging the Federal Election Commission to investigate Senator McCain for a fund-raiser he held in London. The group, Judicial Watch, wants regulators to examine whether the venue for the March event, London’s Spencer House, constituted an in-kind contribution from foreign nationals, which would be a violation of federal campaign finance law. But he McCain campaign may not have much to worry about. A spokesman, Brian Rogers, said the campaign made an agreement to pay for the costs associated with the event and that they will be reflected in its next FEC filing report.

CLINTON CRITICIZES MCCAIN OVER WRIGHT ADS

Senator Clinton is taking the unusual step of criticizing Senator McCain for his inability to get state Republican officials to stop running ads critical of her Democratic primary opponent, Senator Obama. Officials in North Carolina and Mississippi are launching television ads that go after local candidates by linking them to Mr. Obama and invoking his controversial former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Mr. McCain wrote a letter urging the North Carolina Republican Party to not run its ad, but the party ignored him. “I regret the efforts by the Republicans to politicize this matter, and I believe that if John McCain were serious, he would do more than send a letter,” Mrs. Clinton said in North Carolina, CBS News reported. She has said Rev. Wright would not have been her pastor, but yesterday she largely deflected questions about the issue.