News Desk

Brokerage giant Merrill Lynch is cutting 4,000 jobs after announcing a new round of write-downs totaling $6 billion. "This was about as difficult a quarter as I've seen in my 30 years on Wall Street," Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain said. "We are planning for a slower and more difficult next couple of months and probably next couple of quarters but are also hopeful for our full-year 2008 results."

A Texas court will hear arguments today over whether children removed from a ranch operated by a polygamous sect should be returned or kept in state custody and assigned to foster-care families. More than 400 children were removed from the Eldorado, Texas, ranch nearly two weeks ago after a 16-year-old girl called an abuse hotline and reported that her husband, a middle-aged sect member, had raped and beaten her.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debated last night in Philadelphia in advance of next Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary. Obama spent much of the night on the defensive, having to explain his recent "bitter" remarks and some questionable associates. On the other hand, Clinton was asked to explain her recent misstatements over sniper fire in Bosnia. Each candidate said, though, that the other would be able to beat John McCain in November, with Clinton saying "Yes, yes, yes."

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Here's a sure sign that at least some voters are paying attention to the furor over Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" small-town folks: At least two presidential campaigns are using the fuss to raise money.

Strangely enough, one of them is Obama's Democratic team, even though he has been the one under strong criticism for having precipitated the controversy when he said some people cling to religion and guns to relieve their frustrations during hard times. His critics said that remark was condescending.

But David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, is trying to turn the tables and rally Obama's troops. In an E-mailed fundraising appeal being sent out this week (entitled "Who's out of touch?"), Plouffe says: "The attacks from the [Hillary] Clinton campaign—on Barack Obama himself, and on supporters like you—can be expected to increase as her chances of winning dwindle further. A few weeks ago, one of her top aides tried to diminish our success by referring to the places we've won as 'boutique' states and to our supporters as the 'latte-sipping crowd.' That means 30 states and territories—twice as many as Senator Clinton has won—qualify as 'boutique.'...It's clear that Senator Clinton will continue to say or do anything as her campaign gets more and more negative."

Plouffe also criticized Republican candidate John McCain for "peddling fake outrage."

Meanwhile, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sent out a "Dear Friends" E-mail of his own, requesting contributions and arguing that Obama is displaying "out-of-touch beliefs" about small-town America.

Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser, says the Clinton campaign has no plans to use the issue to raise money, as of now, but didn't rule it out.

The two Democratic hopefuls have also squared off over religious beliefs in advance of the crucial Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

—Kenneth T. Walsh

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The Supreme Court today upheld the use of a three-drug cocktail for execution by lethal injection, ending a de facto moratorium on the practice in place since September. By a 7-to-2 vote, the justices rejected a challenge to the state of Kentucky's use of three chemicals to execute criminals. The two death row inmates in the case had not asked the court to spare them execution but rather that the state use a different type of drug to conduct the execution. For past coverage, see "The Court Puts Death on Hold."

—Alex Kingsbury

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Hillary Clinton won't quit hammering Barack Obama over his controversial comments about "bitterness" among rural voters, though Obama's campaign aides contend the issue is fading.

Clinton strategist Howard Wolfson said this morning that Obama's remarks were "condescending" toward working-class voters in many areas, including Pennsylvania, which holds a key primary next Tuesday. Wolfson told reporters on a conference call: "It is something that we will continue to talk about.... This is an important issue" that many Pennsylvanians are concerned about.

Phil Singer, another Clinton strategist, added: "Senator Obama seems to be somewhat detached" from the realities of life in Pennsylvania. Singer said Obama's comments struck many as "elitist"—a theme the Clinton campaign has been emphasizing for the past few days. Wolfson said Obama's remarks have "struck a nerve with many people" partly because Obama seemed to "talk down to voters about their values and beliefs." Obama ignited a firestorm when he told a fundraiser in San Francisco that Pennsylvania voters are suffering from economic hardship and added: "It's not surprising that they get bitter. They cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment." He has since said he regretted his choice of words.

But Obama's senior advisers say the furor over the "bitterness" controversy is fading as voters, despite all the chatter on cable news networks, start to lose interest in the story. A top Obama strategist told U.S. News that the big "x factor" in the Pennsylvania primary—mainly overlooked by the media so far—will be the turnout of new voters, who have been registering in large numbers and are thought to be dominated by Obama supporters. Internal Obama polls, he said, show the candidate is within striking distance of winning Pennsylvania.

—Kenneth T. Walsh

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