SAGINAW, MI — During a campaign stop in Berea, OH to deliver a pep talk to local volunteers today, McCain raised debate expectations for his Democratic rival, calling Barack Obama “very, very good.”

“As you know we’ve got a debate on Friday night, and we’ve got a couple of debates after that. And look, have no doubt about the capabilities of, of Senator Obama to a debate. I mean, he’s very, very good. He was able to defeat Senator Hillary Clinton who as we all know is very accomplished, very accomplished. And he was able to, I think, with his eloquence, inspire a great number of Americans,” McCain told supporters gathered at Baldwin Wallace College. “So these are going to be tough debates my friends, but I believe on the substance, on the substance I can convince the American people that I can keep reform government restore prosperity and keep peace.”

After a week spent referencing a Saturday Night Live sketch ridiculing the media for Obama-worship, Hillary Clinton got her own turn with the Not Ready for Prime Time Players last night — delivering an “Editorial Comment” after a similar parody of Tuesday’s debate in Ohio.

Addressing the camera, Clinton said “the scene you just saw was a reenactment, sort of, of last Tuesday’s debate, and not an endorsement of one candidate over another,” joking “I can say this confidently because when I asked if I could take it as an endorsement I was told ‘absolutely not.’”

She was then joined on set by her SNL doppleganger, Amy Poehler — dressed in the same brown pant suit — who told Sen Clinton “I love your outfit.” Hillary responded “I love your outfit, but I do want the earrings back.” Poehler then unleashed her impression of one of Clinton’s famous belly laughs.

“Do I really laugh like that?” Clinton asked.

She even got to deliver the show’s signature line, saying “I would like to take this opportunity to say to all Americans, be they from the great state of Ohio or Texas, Vermont or Rhode Island, Pennsylvania or any of the other states — live from New York it is Saturday Night!”

The campaign made every effort to keep the appearance a secret. Clinton’s traveling press knew something was up when the NY Senator wasn’t on our press flight to Ohio last night — but staff would only tell us that she was going somewhere else and that it was “nothing bad.” Aides would not even confirm the trip to New York after some astute reporters confirmed the cameo appearance shortly before take-off — and the campaign has yet to issue a release or statement about it.

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Since the Clinton campaign announced it had accepted five invitations from television networks to debate yesterday (including one from FOX News), Barack Obama and his staffers have been asked repeatedly if they would also agree to participate in the debates. Both staffers and Obama himself did not give yes or no answers, but hinted they would probably not agree to all of the offers.

Well, today the campaign announced it has agreed to participate in just two debates prior to the March 4th primaries. Obama accepted NBC’s invitation to debate Senator Clinton on February 26th in Ohio, and agreed to another in Texas before March 4th that was not on Clinton’s list.

Earlier today on a flight from Louisiana to Nebraska, Obama, the candidate was asked again about the then unresolved matter. “I’ve got to spend time with voters. We got seven primaries in seven days. You know, Sen. Clinton’s better known in a lot of these states. I’ve got to do more work on the ground. But we’ll have more debates,” he said. “It is very important for me to have voter contact. What we’ve seen is in those states where I have time to campaign and people have a chance to meet me, I do better.”

Look below the jump to read the campaign’s press release   (more…)

At a press availability in Chicago today, Senator Barack Obama, the self-described perpetual underdog admitted he has some momentum. The campaign claims to have won more states and more delegates than Senator Clinton, and is expected to do well in upcoming races.

But the candidate still lowers expectations by continually referring to himself as the underdog in this campaign because Hillary Clinton has more establishment support and name recognition. When a reporter questioned him on the legitimacy of such a moniker, he hedged. Check out the exchange here, plus his response as to how long this fight for the nomination will go on.

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Senator Obama was also asked if he would participate in the four debates Hillary Clinton has accepted (including one on FOX News). He didn’t commit, but responded that the campaign is “still trying to sort through our schedule.”

“We benefit from being on the ground talking to voters directly” and “not using up so much time preparing for debates,” he added. When pressed, Obama said he was sure “we will accept at least one.”

Though you wouldn’t know it based on some of the messages you are hearing tonight. McCain and Romney aimed their early economic message with Michigan-specific references–where they are battling for a Jan. 15 victory.

Meanwhile, Giuliani is pushing messages (Israel, Castro) for the Florida crowd—his must-win state.

Thompson and Huckabee are actually more focussed on the Palmetto State—where they are set for a fight next week.

And Ron Paul…well, is being Ron Paul.

Dennis Kucinich was none too happy about being left out of today’s Democratic Debate. Check out his angry press release below… my favorite part:

“Setting arbitrary Iowa-specific criteria for a debate that will be broadcast all across the nation and around the world is a ruse and a fraud. It is a disservice to the people of Iowa, to voters everywhere, and to the spirit of democracy. The Des Moines Register has imposed itself as the ultimate arbiter of who should be heard, what should be heard, and what is important. This is a disgraceful display of elitist arrogance and journalistic manipulation of the democratic process.”

(more…)

Asked whether with so many former Clinton staffers advising him on foreign policy, he could really bring the change he professes to desire, Sen Obama laughed — but not as hard as Hillary Clinton herself, who joked “I want to hear this,” before unleashing her now-famous “cackle.”

Senator Obama said, “Well Hillary, I hope to have you advising me as well.” Best line of the night, at least as far as reaction from a mostly-bored national press corps in Media Room 3 was concerned.

UPDATE: Here’s FOX Edwards embed Cristina Corbin and Obama embed Bonney Kapp, as well as the rest of Media Room 3, reacting to the joke and to the laugh - which was the subject of much spin room speculation.

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This is the closest thing to an attack on her rivals that we’ve seen so far. Every candidate gets :30 to talk directly to Iowans, and Hillary used it to talk about change. “Everyone wants change,” she said, and “well everyone on this stage has ideas on how to get change.”

“Some say you get it by demanding it,” she said, seemingly a reference to Sen Edwards.  “Some say you get it by hoping for it,” definitely a reference to Sen Obama. “I believe you get it by working hard for change.”

“That’s what I will do as president,” she said.

Ending with a call for support, Clinton said “I hope you will go caucus for me on January 3rd. Stand up for me and I’ll stand up for you in this campaign and in the White House.”

Some of the GOP candidates complained about the yes-or-no, hand-raising questions posed at yesterday’s Republican debate… particularly one question on whether they believed Global Warming was a problem. Apparently, Hillary Clinton was paying attention. Piping up in between questions, she joked “Do you want us to raise our hands on Global Warming? You didn’t get a very good response with the Republicans.” As the candidates and crowd laughed, she added, “We want to go on record. We believe in it. We think it’s a real problem.”

We’d heard she might get aggressive against Obama today, since its her last chance on a debate stage to reverse some of her downward momentum. While she’s been strong and relatively fiery on the issues, she’s also had some softer, “human” moments like this one — and has avoided directly addressing any of her opponents.

Given how many times the candidates say this sort of stuff, it was bound to happen… John Edwards, who often talks about improving the country for our children and granchildren, says he wants to leave the country “better than we left it.”
He quickly corrected himself, though, laughing and saying he really meant he wants to “leave it better than when we started.”

Sen Clinton laughed along with Sen Edwards, who simply shrugged his shoulders.