Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Bill Clinton have set the tone in this 2008 campaign by attacking her chief rival Sen. Barack Obama personally, questioning his voting record, challenging his position on the war and twisting his words in acknowledging President Ronald Reagan's record.

Last weekend, Mr. Obama took time out of the Nevada primary week to travel to neighboring California, but Mrs. Clinton this week is taking a page from Mr. Obama's playbook, going to California today, 3,000 miles away.

Mrs. Clinton's move, however could give the appearance that she is abandoning the black vote in South Carolina -- especially after her dismal performance with black voters in Nevada: 84 percent voted for Mr. Obama.

It looks as if she is trying to build on her strong performance with Hispanic voters in Nevada.

It will be interesting to see how this plays with her black supporters as the week goes on.

-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times

This just in: Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Judiciary Committee endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Mr. Leahy said he was not courted by any of the campaigns — "I think they all knew this was a decision I would make on my own" — but talked with his family about it before making his decision.

"I knew it would be very easy to not make a decision until after the Vermont Primary but by then we would probably already know who the nominee would be. That is not who I am. That is not how I respond," Mr. Leahy said.

"I knew who I wanted and the only honest thing to do was to make my choice known."

He said Mr. Obama is the best person to reintroduce the United States to the rest of the world and to reintroduce the United States to itself. He said Mr. Obama was the best person to lead out of the candidates but added that his endorsement was not a rejection of them.

He is the fourth Senator to back Mr. Obama in recent weeks. And as the contest moves forward many in the Democratic establishment are supporting Mr. Obama.

Just yesterday Rep. Albert R. Wynn un-endorsed former Sen. John Edwards and endorsed Mr. Obama.

-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times

Rev. Al Sharpton is pumping up South Carolina as the ultimate referendum now that Sens. Obama and Clinton are even after her win New Hampshire. Here is some of what he said. Notice his insistence in at the bottom that African-Americans not throw away their vote. Exactly which candidate isn't worth voting for?

"Given the significant number of black voters in South Carolina, that primary should be a referendum on 21st century civil rights issues such as racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the rise of hate crimes across this nation, the racial gap in health care and educational opportunities, and the still present income gap between blacks and whites in this country.

As Iowans rightly made the candidates deal with ethanol and oil and the people of New Hampshire made them address the economy and immigration, The African-American community should force real debate on our particular American issues.

Many undecided African-American voters like me can ill afford to throw our vote away at this historic moment, we must seize the time."

That could be the most cowardly endorsement ever given.

-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times

Obama is still outperforming his rivals on the trail, at least in the area of showmanship.

Getting votes in the election business is all about getting to as many people as you can.

If the crowds tell the tale, Obama is leading by leaps and bounds.

More than 1,000 turned out for him in Concord, compared to the 300 who turned out for Hillary in Nashua Friday.

A day after the national debate here at the local High School in Exeter today, more than 5,000 turned out — and that is a conservative estimate.

A quarter-mile line of cars greeted me on the way in, and the 3,000-seat gym filled up in 10 minutes, about 10 minutes before the overflow room in the 2,000-seat cafeteria filled up, after which extra accommodations were made before many others were ultimately turned away.

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.:

The campaign officially put the crowd at 3,000. Not including those turned away of course.

— Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times