In a sign of difficult times ahead, there was more pressure on the Democratic Party to devise a way to seat delegations from Michigan and Florida. The governors of both states — Charlie Crist of Florida, a Republican, and Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, issued an unusual joint statement urging the Democratic National Committee to find a solution for seating the delegations.

“It is intolerable that the national political parties have denied the citizens of Michigan and Florida their votes and voices at their respective national conventions,” Mr. Crist and Ms. Granholm said.

Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, responded by suggesting that the party was open to a solution that would seat the states’ delegations provided they agreed to “follow the rules.”

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who left the Democratic presidential race after losing in Iowa, said he was not worried about the consequences of the primary fight.

“I think people are getting a little too excited about it,” Mr. Biden said, suggesting that the emphasis on the Democratic contest may make it hard for Mr. McCain to be heard in the coming weeks. “I think the party is absolutely, positively united in its desire to win the White House. I don’t think there will be any problem getting back together.”

His campaign aides on Wednesday urged Mrs. Clinton to release her tax returns from 2006, as well as her papers from her years as first lady, which Mr. Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, described as “secreted in the Clinton library.”

“She’s made the argument that she’s thoroughly vetted, in contrast to me,” Mr. Obama said to reporters aboard his campaign plane. “I think it’s important to examine that argument.”

Over the last year, though, Mr. Obama has struggled to deliver that examination. He picks up the cudgel, and then sets it down. The problem is that Mr. Obama has built a campaign persona as the man of hope, a young candidate with oratorical skills who promises to build bridges across the ideological divide.

If he indulges his inner Chicago pol, formed in a city where politics is conducted with crowbars, he risks taking the shine off.

Asked on the plane whether he and Mrs. Clinton might make a good ticket, he smiled. “It’s very premature,” he said, “to start talking about a joint ticket.”

Obama's losses followed a week in which journalists -- some of whom may have been embarrassed by the "Saturday Night Live" skits portraying them as swooning over the Illinois senator -- gave him rough treatment for the first time in this campaign. Obama even grumbled to reporters: "This whole spin of how the press has just been so tough on them and not tough on us, I didn't expect that you guys would bite on that."

"After 44 contests, 28 million votes, and at least $275 million spent, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination grinds on as an increasingly brutal struggle for the soul of a party riven along the lines of race, class, gender, and generations," says the Boston Globe.

"Mr. Wolfson said the Clintons' tax returns since they left the White House would be available on or around April 15."

Atlantic's Marc Ambinder cautions that "a Clinton 'recovery' and nomination is not impossible. It just isn't likely. In the gut of many Clinton advisers 48 hours from now may be the sense that the confetti is ephemeral."

Ambinder also votes for a dream ticket, with Obama on top:

"That's because the longer Hillary Clinton stays in this race, the more inevitable it is that she, by force of will, earns a spot on the ticket. Obama cannot ignore her demographic coalition, her breadth and depth of the support, the energy that she generates, just as Hillary surely cannot ignore -- would not ignore -- everything that Obama has come to stand for and has accomplished."

HuffPost's Marc Cooper says Hillary can't win "democratically"--although the superdelegates are part of the party's process and everyone agreed to play by those rules. But Cooper says "the more steely-eyed amongst us . . . would do well to psychologically prepare for the nomination going, somehow or another, to Hillary Clinton. Which means, in turn, that Democrats ought to simultaneously prepare to be beaten by John McCain."

Clinton's transformation of the political climate with her decisive victory in Ohio and unexpected narrow win in Texas coincided with Obama facing adversity for the first time in his magical candidacy, and he did not handle it well.

By chance, this critical week for Obama began Monday with jury selection in the Chicago corruption trial of his former friend and fundraiser Tony Rezko. For the first time, the story of this political fixer's connections with the Democratic Party's golden boy spread beyond the Chicago media. In a contentious news conference, Obama was uncommunicative. He ended the session by walking out and announcing that eight questions were enough.

Syria, due to host an Arab League summit late this month, could make an unprecedented and historic overture to Israel by inviting its prime minister to participate in the meeting. Only Damascus is in a position to take such a bold step toward peace and publicly offer an olive branch to its longtime enemy.

If Damascus undertook such a move, it would have the support of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and most of the Gulf states. Syria would also enjoy the backing of its powerful neighbor to the north, Turkey, and of course the European Union.

George Bush's administration would find itself embarrassed by having to applaud such an initiative, despite its reservations regarding the regime of President Bashar Assad.

For Israel, such an invitation would represent a real dilemma: go or not go?

Indeed, if such an offer were ever made, Mr. Olmert would find himself in quite a conundrum. He would never be forgiven for turning down such a historic offer, while accepting the invitation would require as much courage as it would have taken Damascus to make it.

This may sound like far-fetched, wishful thinking, but to break the unending cycle of violence and avoid having the Middle East descend into even deeper hostility, bold steps are needed. The question is: Will someone have the courage to take those very difficult and painful steps? Miracles have been known to happen.

Surrounded by more than 500 skeptics in a space where alarmist bogeymen such as outspoken former Margaret Thatcher advisor Lord Christopher Monckton, star of his own documentary response to what he dubs "Al Gore's sci-fi horror comedy movie" Apocalypse? No!, and Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Years author S. Fred Singer were fairly gushed over, Bast's prediction was easy to believe. At the very least these were people unafraid of intellectual combat. The goodie bags at registration contained a copy of Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, for example, to allow attendees to familiarize themselves with the other side's arguments before viewing the accompanying DVD The Great Global Warming Swindle. Try to imagine Al Gore encouraging the same level of rigorous pro- and con- study at one of his lectures. It's unthinkable.

Forget the red phone for a national-security crisis. Where is the red phone for a political party trying to destroy itself?

And where is the party leader with the respect, stature, wisdom and influence to answer the crisis phone?

Former President Bill Clinton has a slight conflict of interest, not to mention that his wife's campaign now has him sequestered in a secure, undisclosed location until the election is over.

Virtually powerless Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is a screaming castrato still regarded suspiciously by the party establishment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who won her post promising the end the war in Iraq? Still waiting for that to happen.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a political pickle.  ...

That leaves Al Gore as the only person with the experience to answer the red phone and force a peaceful end to this civil war.

The inconvenient truth is that the red phone is now ringing and Al Gore hears it. The only question is whether he has the guts to pick it up.

Was just talking to a Republican strategist who's worried about Hillary winning on "careful what you wish for" grounds. One of his points is that she will be a "different Hillary" than when she started this process, and a much tougher candidate. She will have mounted an extraordinary comeback, overcoming adversity and definitively establishing her political independence from Bill.

If You Can't Do the Math Then Get Out of the Equation...   [Lisa Schiffren]

as Hillary Duff sings...(sorry) I'm with Jim Robbins on this. No numerological nonsense is going to come between Hillary and her goal. Something might stop her — but it won't be mere shortage of a few delegates. And let's be clear — she does not care what the cost to the party in the medium term, if she provokes a rift by demanding that some votes be given more weight than other votes.

Another 3 A.M. Red Phone Twist   [Lisa Schiffren]

Over at the Campaign Spot Jim Geraghty asks whether John McCain is too nice a guy to use Hillary's ad against Obama with one modification: After the voice-over that says "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approved this ad," he wants to add "And I'm John McCain, and I approved the ad too." Brilliant — if Obama is the candidate. But one of my readers had a great idea if Hillary is the candidate. Actually, she thinks a tougher Obama would use it now.... Same ad, but towards the end, when the phone is ringing, a momentary shot of both Bill and Hillary reaching to grab the phone. There are a lot of things the voice-over could say....but I would start with "when that phone rings.... don't you want the person you elected to answer it."

In the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, we heard this from Democrats, constantly: You have to have worn the uniform, in order to qualify as president. Moreover, you have to have gone to war, in order to qualify as president.

Why did the Democrats say this? Because their nominees were Al Gore and John Kerry, both of whom had been to Vietnam, for some months. And the Republican nominee was George W. Bush, who had merely flown fighter jets in the Guard.

We did not hear this line in 1992 or 1996. In those years, the Republican nominees were the first Bush and Bob Dole (war heroes both). And the Democratic nominee was Bill Clinton.

Do you remember the Democratic convention of 2004, in Boston? They practically made it look like a military event, with generals and admirals onstage, and everyone saluting. That’s how Kerry began his big speech: with a salute, and a line about reporting for duty.

Okay, my question: Will we hear the same talk from Democrats in 2008? Will they say that you have to have been to war, in order to qualify as president? The Democratic nominee will be either Obama or Hillary; and the Republican will be McCain.