Midday open thread

• Obama finally strikes back on the "experience" crap.

  Barack Obama raised questions about Hillary Clinton’s candidacy today, arguing that it is time to look at her assertions on experience. "I have not seen any evidence that she is better equipped to handle a crisis," he said. "If the only criteria is longevity in Washington, then she's certainly not going to beat John McCain on that."

  Obama said he is ready to challenge her argument that she has been vetted and tested, hoping to dispel questions about his own experience.

  "One of the things that I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience that she’s claiming? I know she talks about visiting 80 countries," Obama said. "It’s not clear, was she negotiating treaties or agreements or was she handling crises during this period of time? My sense is the answer is no."

• Obama's incredible ground game. Sure, he hasn't won every single contest, but it's made him far more competitive, far quicker, than anyone ever thought possible against the Clinton machine.
• Based on the Obama math, Clinton netted a gain of four delegates Tuesday. My own count based on official sources and projections based on the early TX caucus results peg the number at nine delegates. This cycle, Obama's numbers have been solid (and have matched up with the Clinton numbers), so my count is likely to shrink as the official results catch up with the campaign's projections.

  A four-delegate gain is far less than what the Clinton campaign needed.

• More employers should consider doing stuff like this. Except Bill in Portland Maine. He's got too many bosses to keep happy to be taking "time off".
• The problem with a joint ticket is that no one will want to be number two.

  "Well, that may ... be where this is headed, but of course, we have to decide who's on the top of the ticket," Clinton said on the CBS "Early Show." "And I think that the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me."

• What does this remind me of?

  

  I can't quite put my finger on it...