by Frank James

Sen. Barack Obama did what you have to do if you say something to a person that many people find offensive, especially if you're running for president: He phoned Peggy Agar, the reporter he referred to as "sweetie" to apologize for calling her that and blowing her off after she asked a question following a Sterling, Michigan campaign appearance yesterday.

WXYZ-TV, the Detroit station Agar works for, has a recording of the voicemail to Agar's phone up with a story about the apology on its site. In the senator says:

"Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.

"Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next."

JERUSALEM - Words are everything.

So what did President Bush have in mind today when he told the Israeli Knesset that some "seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals'' and likened them to an American who once said that talking with Hitler might have averted the invasion of Poland?

Was the Republican president evoking the remarks of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic presidential candidate who has spoken of negotiating with the Iranians, for instance?

The president's remarks were "not specifically pointed to one individual,'' a spokesman here told the Tribune, but rather apply to a "broad group'' of people who advocate negotiations with implacable enemies.

Obama has specifically rejected the notion of talking with Hamas, the group which seized control of Gaza and does not recognize Israel, a group which Obama, like the Bush administration, calls a "terrorist organization.'' Obama previously has said: "We should not talk to them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence and are willing to abide by previous accords.''

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,'' Bush said in an address to the Knesset today which drew repeated standing ovations for his commitment to stand by Israel against all enemies.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.''

The "American senator" whom Bush quoted was William Borah, Republican of Idaho.

Obama this morning called Bush's remarks "a false political attack."

"It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel," Obama said in a written statement. "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power - including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.

"George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists," Obama said, "and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

George W. Bush is not much for "the Internets.''

So the Yahoo.com interview with the "Googler-in-chief'' this week made for some good fun.

Bush offered his own pinky-biting "Dr. Evil'' impression in this interview conducted by Mike Allen of Politico.com.

And asked who is the better impressionist - Will Farrell doing George Bush, or Dana Carvey doing Dad - Bush picked Carvey.

He also acknowledged that he gave up golf because of the war.

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,'' the president says.

The president does not do e-mail on what he has called "the Internets,'' but he acknowledged that he occasionally does use "the Google:''

"Occasionally,'' the president allows, "one of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps.''

JERUSALEM - Every journey has its tourist value.

But Masada could be among the most sobering of all sites.

President Bush flew by helicopter this morning to Masada, the fortress atop a 1,500-foot-high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea valley built by Herod as a winter palace and hideout. A century later, when the Jewish rebellion against Rome broke out, Zealots took over the then-abandoned fortress, and Masada became the last rebel stronghold in Judea - and a site of massive sacrifice.

In 73 or 74, the Romans laid siege to Masada with 8,000 troops. After a few months, the Romans succeeded in building a ramp to the fortress wall and brought forward a battering ram. The rebels had constructed a wooden inner wall, but the Romans burned it.

With Masada's hopes diminishing, the rebel leader, Eleazar Ben Yair, "gave two speeches in which he convinced the leaders of the 960 members of the community that it would be better to take their own lives and the lives of their families than to live in shame and humiliation as Roman slaves," according to a Masada brochure.

They picked ten people by lot to kill the rest, cutting their throats. Those ten then cast lots again to decide who would dispatch them.

They said the first was an outlier. The second, a fluke. But after losing their third seat this year in a special election, House Republicans faced the possibility on Wednesday that if they don't repair their image with voters, they could be in for another rough November.

A Democratic pick-up streak that started with Rep. Bill Foster's upset victory in the March election to replace former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) crested Tuesday night, when Democrat Travis Childers won a solidly Republican open seat in Mississippi.

The GOP spent one-fifth of its available national party cash for House races on the Mississippi seat. Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned there. President George W. Bush and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain pitched in with automated phone calls. Their candidate lost anyway. Meanwhile, reeling House Republicans unveiled a new slogan this week--"Change you deserve" --only to watch Democrats gleefully note that it is already used to market an antidepressant.

Several House Republicans say the losses reveal a voter disconnect with their party, rooted in dissatisfaction with Bush, which GOP candidates will have to repair district-by-district this fall. Some, including McCain and several members of the Illinois congressional delegation, appear to believe that to "re-brand" the Republican Party, they must first distance themselves from it.

Read the full story in today's Chicago Tribune.

JERUSALEM - President Bush, addressing the Israeli parliament at a time celebrated by Israelis and mourned by Palestinians, today will remind Israelis that Americans rose first to the recognition of the new independent state of Israel 60 years ago and now remain "Israel's closest ally and best friend in the world.''

Bush also will denounce the aims of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, as well as Hezbollah, which Israel has battled within Lebanon - both groups backed by Iran and Syria. The delineation between the tenets of democracy in Israel and the practice of terrorism by its enemies, he will say, frame the debate of the times in the Middle East, a struggle between freedom and tyranny.

"We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace,'' Bush will say. "So we applaud the courageous choices Israel's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.''

The president, while holding out hope that Palestinians and Israelis will live side-by-side in peace 60 years from now, will avert any talk about the details of talks under way now between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

"He's focused on the long-term goal, what the region will look like 60 years from now,'' says Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council. "It's not about the nitty gritty.''

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, May 15.

President Bush is addressing the Israeli Knesset.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) is holding a briefing on "Hate in the Information Age."

The Cato Institute is hosting a discussion on "Whatever Happened to Medicare Reform?"

As noted already here and elsewhere, the slogan unveiled this week by House Republicans - "Change you deserve" - is already a trademark used by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to market its antidepressant Effexor XR.

In his weekly meeting with reporters today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer projected a list of the drug's side effects, and highlighted a few: nausea, headaches and drowsiness.

"Democrats, not drugs, is what the people need," Hoyer said.

Republican spokesman Michael Steel dismissed the bit as "foolishness."

"This sort of silly stunt is another reminder that House Democrats have no, nada, zero agenda that would actually help the American people," he said. "Rather than wasting time on campaign-style hijinks, they should be working with Republicans to solve the problems facing our country."

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, issued a terse statement in the wake of the news that John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and erstwhile presidential candidate, was endorsing Sen. Barack Obama.

"We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

We suspect there might've been some stronger views expressed within the Clinton camp when they leaned of Edwards' decision which, coming a day after Clinton's big win in West Virginia, tends to dull the impact of her Tuesday night accomplishment, such as it was.

Congressional Republicans are agonizing over their third consecutive special election loss, Minority Whip Roy Blunt sees a silver lining to the victories this month of conservative Democrats Don Cazayoux and Travis Childers.

"The one thing that - if you looked at both of these elections, in Mississippi and Louisiana, you saw - the candidates - both candidates ran on what Republicans are for," the Missouri Republican told reporters today. "So we know now that the message works."

Cazayoux in Louisiana and Childers in Mississippi overcame Republican attempts to link them with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, presidential contender Barack Obama and other national Democrats to win seats long held by the GOP.

To Blunt, the Democrats' message sounded familiar.

"Yesterday, you had the winning candidate saying repeatedly that he didn't know Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama," he said. "You had him talking about cutting taxes, having less spending, being pro-gun and pro-life. That's the guy that won.

"Actually," he added, "the guy that lost was also for all that stuff."

Andrew Zajac

It didn't take long. Five weeks from the first report of sexual harassment in Marc Dann's office to his resignation in Columbus late this afternoon.

Democrats are hoping this calms the political waters in the run-up to the November election, but don't count on it.

The state inspector general, acting under special authority granted yesterday by the General Assembly, raided Dann's office earlier today and removed computers and files.

That virtually guarantees the scandal will have legs long after Dann's departure.

A lingering inquiry could have implications for the presidential race. Revelations of criminal behavior or even just more sleaze would make selling Barack Obama, in particular, more difficult for Ohio Democrats.

by Christi Parsons

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama tonight at a campaign event in Grand Rapids.

The endorsement comes more than three months after Edwards dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination, asking the two remaining candidates to make poverty a central issue of the general election.

As the race between Obama and rival Hillary Clinton has dragged on, Edwards in recent days had said publicly that he wasn't sure if he'd endorse or that it would matter if he did.

But last week, David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager, came out in support of Obama.

And now, as Obama prepares to court voters in Michigan, Edwards joined him to announce his endorsement.

Before he dropped out of the race, Edwards won 19 pledged delegates. He has the power to release his delegates and encourage them to vote for Obama, which could widen the Illinois senator's lead by a sizable chunk.

HIllary Clinton doesn't intend to be "pushed out," she tells Brian Williams in an interview airing tonight on NBC Nightly News.

That's because "until it's over, it's not over," she tells FOX News Channel's Major Garrett.

It's a media-blitz day for Clinton, who is telling just about every new show that will listen that she is in this thing until the last primary voter has voted.

"(F)or me, it's a privilege and a joy to travel around our country to make my case to people from one coast to the other and to continue to, you know, work as hard as I can to win this nomination," Clinton tells Williams, according to a rush transcript of the interview. "And that's what I intend to do. And, you know, we'll get to June the 4th after the last votes are cast on June the 3rd. And I think we'll have a better idea about where we stand."

Barack Obama thinks he has a pretty good idea where things stand, but Clinton challenges the notion in both interviews, according to advance highlights:

Why did Sen. Barack Obama refer to a reporter during a Michigan campaign stop as "sweetie?"

Was it an attempt by the Democratic presidential candidate to show his affinity for blue-collar folks by attempting to sound like a waitress at a diner?

In the same vein, was he trying for a little machismo in front of the male workers at a Sterling, Michigan auto manufacturing plant he visited today?

Needless to say, a lot of women and even some men aren't going to like it. Some will interpret it as Obama being dismissive to the point of being somewhat sexist.

I'm not saying that's the correct interpretation, just that that's what some people will read into his term of endearment.

I expect an e-mail from the Clinton campaign in 10,9,8,7,6...

Earlier today, the pro-choice group NARAL endorsed Barack Obama for president, a surprising development given that longtime abortion-rights advocate HIllary Clinton is still in the race.

Now fires back Ellen R. Malcom, president of EMILY's List, which tries to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

"I think it is tremendously disrespectful to Sen. Clinton . . . to not give her the courtesy to finish the final three weeks of the primary process," Malcom says. "It certainly must be disconcerting for elected leaders who stand up for reproductive rights and expect the choice community will stand with them."

Clinton, she writes, "held up the nomination of a FDA commissioner in order to force approval of Plan B," and also "spoke so eloquently during the Supreme Court nomination about the importance of protecting Roe vs. Wade."

NARAL president Nancy Keenan said earlier today that her group is going with the candidate they think "will secure the Democratic nomination and advance to the general election."

"That candidate is Sen. Obama," she said.