UPDATE: Obama campaign statement on California Supreme Court decision: "Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as President. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage.”

And here's Berman's comment, released by Obama's campaign: “Barack Obama has laid out a foreign policy vision driven by principle and conviction, and he understands that our moral authority and our safety as a nation go hand in hand. I spoke with him about a number of foreign policy issues that most concern me. He assured me that he shares my views. The moment President Obama takes office, we’ll send a powerful message to the world that America is back and ready to lead again—that we haven’t abandoned the values that made us the light of the world, and neither should anyone else.”

For John McCain, Barack Obama doesn't own hope.

In a news-rich speech this morning in the key swing state of Ohio, the nominee-to-be of the Republican Party outlined his image of his own future presidency, including the prediction that - by January 2013 – the Iraq War will have been won and "most" of the troops in the region will have returned home. McCain also described a future administration marked by transparency, bipartisanship, selfless solutions and measured debate.

Call it a much-needed rebranding of a Republican Party at its stomping saddest. After losing its third special election Tuesday – and likely facing a Democratic party steered by the candidate whose word-associations are all about change and hope – the GOP's need for a pick-me up is no secret. (McCain acknowledged as much yesterday. "I have a lot of work to do," he told reporters when asked about the party's loss in Mississippi this week. "I have no delusions that this campaign will be a very difficult challenge.")

Today, McCain's promises for the future were sunny. Acknowledging that he "cannot guarantee" achievement of each goal, he went on to lay out a series of hopeful proposals for foreign and domestic policies.
Within four years of his inauguration, he said, a new flatter tax will save Americans billions of dollars. The genocide in Darfur will be ending, the border will be secure, and Osama bin Laden will be dead or captured. There will be more jobs and less obese kids. Commander-in-Chief McCain will be holding weekly press conferences, and Democrats will be a part of his administration. (No word on how the polar bears are doing or whether Dancing with the Stars is still on the air.)

The vision outlined this morning provided a marked - if not explicit - contrast to the status quo. (Note his promise, for example, that he will not "subvert the purpose of legislation I have signed by making statements that indicate I will enforce only the parts of it I like.")

McCain's wording on Iraq, in particular, has prompted a flurry of debate over whether the 2013 date implies a timetable for withdrawal. (Campaign aides say that Democratic timetables are not contingent on success in the war, whereas McCain's calendar provides a hopeful target but not an unconditional end date.)

But during his remarks at the Greater Columbus Convention Center this morning, the greatest applause might have come during McCain's clarion call to cease and desist with partisan bickering. "This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end," he declared.

(NBC/NJ's CARRIE DANN)

Text of McCain's full speech available after the jump.

And here's the RNC react: “Big union endorsements are no substitute for Obama’s serious lack of experience and understanding of economic policy. Obama’s poor judgment on economic matters would result in higher taxes on rank-and-file union members and hurt job creation. Americans looking for strong economic leadership won’t find it in Obama’s tax-and-spend agenda.” – Alex Conant, RNC Spokesman

In comments apparently directed at the likely Democratic nominee, President Bush jumped full force into the presidential contest today, telling the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem that any U.S. foreign policy allowing negotiations with terrorists should be unequivocally discounted as detrimental to stability in the region and the security of Israel.

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush told the Israeli lawmakers. "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."

Though White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters after the speech that Bush was not referencing Obama's campaign trail suggestion that he would meet with the Iranians, the Illinois senator promptly issued a stern statement chiding Bush for politicizing Israel's anniversary and noting that does not intend to negotiate with terrorists.

“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in a statement released by his campaign. "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. 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, 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.”

Bush's remarks will drown out expected day-after discussion about the impact of John Edwards' endorsement of the Illinois senator in Grand Rapids last night. Instead, the wisdom and underlying political intention of the president's comments will be debated for days to come.

Even Sen. Joe Lieberman -- 2008's Zell Miller apparently -- issued a statement endorsing the president's comments: “President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and that holds that—if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers—they would cease to threaten us. It is critical to our national security that our commander-in-chief is able to distinguish between America’s friends and America’s enemies, and not confuse the two.”

NBC's Todd, asked if Obama gets Edwards' delegates: "He's likely to. ... These pledged delegates to Edwards are basically kind of like superdelegates. ... We've learned all of these delegates could change their mind at any moment. You know, they're not legally bound to anybody. But the assumption is, of course, that if you have a pledged delegate that they are rabidly for you. ... You would assume most of them, if pressured, would gravitate over to Obama" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 5/14).

CNN's Borger: "I think it's got to be a great disappointment for Hillary Clinton. Both she and Barack Obama were really courting John Edwards, keeping in touch with him, talking about his poverty agenda. She really reached out to him quite often. And I think she would have appreciated an endorsement from him at any time, but particularly early on. So this has got to be a real problem for her" ("Situation Room," 5/14).

FNC's Barnes: "It helps this way: Obama suffered a 41-point defeat in the presidential primary in West Virginia yesterday -- 41 points. And the big story today is not that, it's John Edwards with his meaningless endorsement of Barack Obama" ("Special Report," 5/14).

Air America's Maddow: "The fact that this came on the same day that NARAL the abortion rights group also endorsed Obama, that is a stinging double whammy for Clinton" ("Race for the WH," MSNBC, 5/14).

After the jump, more Edwards and HRC makes the TV rounds (KATHERINE LEHR).

Obama needs women to emerge from the bruising primaries as enthusiastic about him as they are about Clinton; in several state contests, after all, female voters have comprised about six of 10 Dems voting (59% in OH, 58% in PA, 57% in NH).

The bottom line, in case anyone doubted, is that Elizabeth Edwards matters. She matters to voters who view her as a strong advocate for reforming America's health care system, and she matters to the working moms who see themselves in her.

Elizabeth Edwards' absence from the rally this eve should also dampen buzz about a joint Obama/JRE ticket. The visual would've been all the more effective had Elizabeth and Michelle Obama stood with their husbands as the two men embraced.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

John McCain, in the midst of a green-focused campaign swing, opened his brief press conference today by commenting on the official recognition of polar bears as "threatened" under the endangered species act.

The follow up questions were not about cute animals.

Instead, they prompted similar responses to two tough lines of questioning for the Arizona senator: We took care of that.

McCain, whose wife has come under fire for refusing to disclose her tax return documents, fielded tough questions about her investment in a mutual fund that deals in Sudan, as well as about the resignation of two McCain aides over their involvement in lobbying deals with the Myanmar junta.

The Arizona senator said that he was not aware of his wife's investment in two mutual funds that include holdings in Oil & Natural Gas Corp., which in turn does business in the genocide-ridden African nation.

Tonight in Grand Rapids. Campaign confirming ... John Edwards, if you'll remember, won 19 delegates before pulling out of the race.

So the strategy ...

1. To make it look like McCain is playing early in Dem-leaning states.

2. To piggyback, as best he can, on the Dem primary contest and the voter interest its generated.

3. To make appeals based on moderate matters, such as the environment, as he did in OR -- an effort to remind voters of his maverick, moderate reputation, even as Barack Obama is promising that McCain would provide a third term of George Bush's policies.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

“Senator Obama embodies the character of a leader that I believe all Oklahomans and all Americans want—principled and strong and ready to change the way business is done in Washington," Morgan said in a statement released by Obama's team. "He understands bringing people together and giving everyone a seat at the table will move our state and our country forward, and I deeply admire that about Senator Obama.”