Fighting the Obamenon: Not to give you any flashbacks to the SAT's...Or flash-forwards. But which number is bigger: 15-million? Or four. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the hint, is that the fifteen million represents the minimum difference between two remarkable February fund-raising efforts. 35 million for Senator Clinton. "Considerably more" -- several reports peg it at, at least 50 million for Senator Obama. But no... in this world at least, none of those numbers is larger... than four.

Smears for Fears:  It may become one of the classic coinages of modern American politics. Like "Where's The Beef" or "There You Go Again." "The Fear Bomb." Our fourth story on the Countdown, the Republican National Committee formally denounces the tactic...well after its use by various bullies with a microphone... and the Tennessee State GOP.

ODDBALL: Russian Debate Scuffle and a bear napping caught on tape!

The World According to W:  1984 had new-speak. We have Bush-speak. Rhetoric designed to obfuscate reality and to quell dissent. And in our third story on the Countdown, the country was treated to a full forty five minute display of it this morning.

In the Line of Fire: Not perhaps since it kept mum about the scandal of King Edward the 8th and the married American lady, has the British media actually stayed this silent, this long... It's all out tonight... where Prince Harry has been for ten weeks...Leading our brief look at celebrity and entertainment news, Keeping Tabs.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Joshua Christopherson, Bill-O and another FOX News host vie for tonight's top honors.

Political Funnies:  Senators Clinton and Obama have participated in nearly 900 Senate votes. They voted identically... nearly 95 percent of the time. So that isn't what changed this Democratic race from a Clintonian rout...To what could be an Obama wrap-up next Tuesday. No -- in our number one story on the Countdown -- it was how... he danced.

Clinton Defection:  As a practical matter, the Super-Delegates figure to end up meaning nothing to the Democratic nomination. As a mathematical matter, the decision by one of them, to leave Hillary Clinton's column for Barock Obama's, may be utterly insignificant. But in our fifth story on the Countdown: As a symbolic matter -- the day after her last debate -- the day she pleaded with the super-delegates to give her more time -- it may mean everything.

Funding Fight:  "I had confidence that the American people, if they were motivated, would, in fact, finance the campaign." Our Fourth Story on the Countdown, Senator Obama's confidence, once again expressed last night - and once again rewarded this morning by 9.13 Eastern time

ODDBALL: Icy roads and ballet police...weee!!!

War & Remembrance:  If today's first head-to-head clash between Senators McCain and Obama over Iraq is any indicator of an election campaign to come... The Senator from Arizona needs to get himself a seat-belt. Our third story on the Countdown: McCain mis-characterizes what Obama said about Al-Qaeda in last night's debate, and Obama uses it to run rings around the Republican.

William F. Buckley, 1925-2008!:  The country's total vocabulary probably dropped a full percentage point this morning... Our number two story on the Countdown: the erudite Conservative icon William F. Buckley has died -- while writing in his study...

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Senator John McCain,  Jonah Goldberg and Florida state Representative Donald Brown vie for tonight's top honors.

Mound of Trouble:  When baseball's Roger Clemens had his showdown day of testimony with steroid accuser Brian McNamee, Congressional party lines could not have been more distinct, and Clemens' prior massaging of Republican legislators could not have looked smarter. But in our number one story tonight: in bi-partisanship even more startling than usual, not only the Democratic chair of the Committee to which Clemens may have lied, but also the Ranking Republican -- who had openly defended Clemens -- today both asked the Attorney General to investigate whether or not the star pitcher committed perjury. Henry Waxman and Tom Davis writing of Clemens:

Cleveland Rocks:  Just seven weeks ago tonight, after what seemed like a game-changing victory in the New Hampshire Primary... Senator Hillary Clinton announced that, quote, "I found my own voice." Tonight, in the fifth story on our Countdown to the 20th Democratic Debate...As those intervening seven weeks have elapsed, Senator Clinton has seemed to add voice after voice to the sound-track of her campaign... until she seems to have more different ones available to her, than Rich Little. Thus the question -- a week before what could easily be her final tests in Ohio and Texas, 57 minutes before what could easily be the final debate of her campaign: which voice will she speak in, tonight. Or... which voices?

The Double Talk Express:  The public at a John McCain presidential campaign event in Cincinnati this morning... heard Senator Obama's middle name, used as insult... and innuendo... and the possible next president of the United States called a "hack" and a "fraud." Our fourth story on the Countdown: more conveniently for the racism and religious intolerance happily brandished at a McCain event... The candidate himself was not yet in the hall when the words were spoken, thus providing Senator McCain with the opportunity to play "Swiftboat-Plus," also known as "The Captain Renault Ploy" from "Casablanca" -- I'm shocked, shocked to find that slander is going on here.

Worsties:  Glenn Beck... Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jonah Goldberg vie for tonight's top honors.

Barack Attack:  "Sixteen months into this, I'm just angry" -- the words of Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer. "We're on the way to locking this nomination down" -- the words of Clinton campaign advisor Harold Ickies. The real headline, as we continue our Countdown to the Debate with our number two story... both of those remarks occurred... at the same media event.

The Final Countdown:  Cleveland, Ohio. Not just the site of what is probably the final of an epic 20 debates in this Democratic primary campaign... But the home of baseball owner George Steinbrenner, about whom it was once said, "not the kind of person who will sit around doing nothing, when a situation calls for panic. Our number one story on the Countdown: that, perhaps, the synopsis of the Clinton strategy on that stage minutes from now. But what of Barack Obama's strategy? Is he best advised to indeed... just sit around... and do nothing?

Tonight is the 20th and perhaps final Democratic Primary debate and if the past few days have been any indication, it could be a barn burner. Keith will be on at 8pm ET to do a full hour of wall to wall debate preview...and then hand off to Tim Russert (who will join us to preview at 8 o'clock) and Brian Williams who will moderate the big showdown. Afterwards at 10:30 ET, Keith is back with Chris Matthews, and our normal cast of political junkies to digest the evening's events until midnight ET. It promises to be a tremendous night...millions will be watching, we hope you're among them!

*Unless there's another debate, in which case this debate would be the second to last debate.

Ire Straits: With wild-eyed anger in Cincinnati on Saturday...And then condescending and cynical sarcasm in Rhode Island on Sunday...Senator Hillary Clinton may have written her own political obituary. The corollary question: in so doing, did she also hand John McCain some of the paper and ink he'll need to try to write Barack Obama's? Our fifth story on the Countdown: Whatever the Clinton campaign thinks it is writing -- today it might have supplied the accompanying illustration: of Obama in traditional African robes.

Red White & Blue Herring: George Washington never said the Pledge of Allegiance. He wasn't even born in the US.  So... what was he hiding? In our fourth story tonight, measuring a man's patriotism by his allegiance... to symbols.

ODDBALL: A car on the train tracks and zebras gone wild

The Double Talk Express:  Senator John McCain today staked his presidential bid on the success of the war in Iraq...  Then immediately flip-flopped. Absolutes... a problem for the Senator, in our third story on the Countdown. Regarding the New York Times report that McCain had done favors for clients of a Washington lobbyist, Vicki Iseman... McCain's blanket denial... beset by moths. First, there was the McCain deposition contradicting the McCain campaign's denial... that he talked to anyone from Paxson Communications in 1999. Now McCain is also contradicted by Lowell "Bud" Paxson, the t-v mogul himself... who says he personally met with the Senator, and that Ms. Iseman was probably there, too.

Tabby Time: Lohan at the Razzies, Jolie pregnancy.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  WHNT, the CBS station in Huntsville, James Rosen, and Mort Kondracke vie for tonight's top honors.

The Politics of Funny:  If Ann Coulter makes a reference to Barack Obama's middle name, and throws in a shout-out to Hitler, America cringes. If Jon Stewart does it at the Oscars -- it's... funny? Our number one story on the Countdown: moments at which even the most pro-labor people might have regretted the settlement of the Writers' Strike. Not just at the Kodak Theatre... But on Saturday Night Live, back from forced hiatus, with the premise of a CNN debate in which the moderator admits the entire media is in the tank for Obama.

Tonight at 8pm ET we'll have all the latest on the McCain scandal (though he would disagree with that description) including reaction from his fellow presidential candidates, fallout from the Limbaugh-lead McCain detractors on the right, and much much more.

Plus...tonight at 10 pm, we'll have another special post-debate Countdown follwing the CNN hosted Obama/Clinton debate. As Keith says...watch it there, understand it here. 

We have breaking news regarding the McCain campaign from the New York Times.  We're not exactly sure what to make of all this...but right now, the show is getting juggled so stay tuned.

:  If you had somehow not yet defined the Clinton-Obama campaign as "ugly"... Tonight, on the eve of the Wisconsin primary, pull out your needlepoint and start making the letter "U."  Our fifth story on the Countdown: the word thrown at Senator Obama by Clinton campaign honcho Howard Wolfson is "plaigarism" -- a charge that sank Joe Biden's first presidential bid 20 years ago. But the purported victim of the plaigarism, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, says he and Senator Obama use each other's wordings all the time and he has no complaint. On at least one occasion Senator Obama explicitly credited the source anyway... And the issue of the overlap of language was discussed by both men in a Boston Globe article from April of last year. And oh by the way, the polls in Wisconsin are all over the map.

: Can the man who was robbed of the presidency in the year 2000... ensure that Democrats are not robbed of a nominee... in the year 2008? In our fourth story tonight, word from Al Gore to the deadlocked presidential race... don't make me stop this car and come back there... because I will.

ODDBALL: Human Bagpipes, and TV Zombies...oh boy!

Pilot Era:  It's official, the whole Bush clan hearts John McCain. In our third story tonight, it's not just Jeb, any more...

Tabby Time: Tonight's glimpse of celebrity and entertainment begins with art, about to imitate what passes for life, under George Bush.  Warner brothers finally settling on an actress to play...

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: The Heritage Foundation, Glenn Beck, and President Bush vie for tonight's top honors.

The Oswald "Transcripts"?:  Secrecy breeds conspiracies... and not all conspiracy theoriest are false.  A potent blend that still fuels speculation about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And in our number one story on the Countdown, when a transcript of a purported conversation between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and the man who shot Oswald -- Jack Ruby -- is released... A transcript, pre-dating the Kennedy assassination... in which the two men discuss the assassination... It is bound to churn conspiracy theories anew... Even though the transcript has been deemed by the FBI to be a fake.

Claiming Names: Nine days after Super Tuesday and New Mexico has finally reported. Senator Clinton has won -- by two delegates. Our fifth story on the Countdown: we await official word as to whether or not this stops Senator Obama's winning streak. From whom, I have no idea.

Water Slide: In the Senate chambers last night, a vote on water-boarding sent Senator John McCain's Straight Talk Express hydro-planing sharply, smack into... John McCain. Our fourth story on the Countdown tonight... a McCain milestone: his vote protecting the CIA's ability to torture suspects. At issue... a bill that would make every American interrogator follow the Army Field Manual... which just happens to ban water-boarding.

ODDBALL: Heart Piggie and a love mug...it's good.

Bush Bluff: Democrats in the House of Representatives are closing the shop down tonight, until a week from Monday... leaving President Bush twisting slowly in a wind of his own creation. Our third story on the Countdown: the FISA bill -- and the retroactive immunity for the telecom giants that helped Mr. Bush illegally eavesdrop on Americans -- will thus just sit there, unacted upon, not even a temporary extension which the Republicans and Mr. Bush refused, despite the President's threats that if the bill isn't passed by Saturday, there'd be a breakdown in counter-terrorism surveillance and plagues of locusts and stuff.

Only time for worsties...see below

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Tom Sullivan, Laura Ingraham, and Ann Coulter vie for tonight's top honors.

Richard Lewis Tonight:   We've had Democrats standing up to President Bush... A Special Comment... Worst Persons trying to compare Barack Obama to Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler. Our number one story: Who in the hell could follow that? My friend, the Prince of Pain himself...

The Texas Two Step:  There is no Democratic nominee but there is a front runner and it is not Hillary Clinton. And the state of her campaign perhaps summed up by a brief maintaining of two mutually exclusive positions. The Senator was simultaneously accusing Senator Obama in Wisconsin... of refusing to debate her...while she herself was still threatening to pull out of a debate with Senator Obama... in Ohio. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the position on the Ohio debate has changed, she's officially in. But other changes loom.

Fire & Ice: I'll use this line for a third time and then if I can restrain myself, I'll retire it. If given the chronological opportunity, never let Senator Obama speak before you do. Our fourth story on the Countdown: John McCain ran into it last night to such a degree that when, after several minutes of his standard Red Skelton impression he said, "I promise you, I am fired up and ready to go," he chuckled, in apparent acknowledgment that it was a piece of self-deprecating humor.

ODDBALL: A big fat lobster and a deer calling contest...don't miss it!

Vote or Die:  When even the original Secretary of Homeland Security admitted he didn't know why colleagues inside the Bush Administration often pressured his department to raise the Terror Threat level for what the experts thought were trivial developments, we unfortunately must acknowledge that we live not just in an age of terror, but also in an age in which terror is exploited by politicians who are sworn to protect us from terror. Our third story: we have not had a terrorist incident in this country since 2001...Nor have we had any exploitation of terror... since... this morning.

Worsties, see below...

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Rep. Tom Davis, Antonin Scalia and Senator John McCain vie for tonight's top honors.

Clemens Takes the Hill: Three witnesses, 21 Congressmen, and two attorneys were heard at the House Oversight Committee hearing on baseball steroids today. Not one of them served themselves well... none seemed consistently trustworthy... and -- in our Number One story on the Countdown -- none was as important to the truth, as a ballplayer whose only testimony was in the form of a written affadavit.

Searching for John Edwards:  Senator John Edwards is back in the race for president. Not literally, mind you... But -- in our fifth story on the Countdown -- with both of his former rivals now actively seeking his endorsement... What the North Carolina democrat decides could have a big impact in a primary that has become all about momentum.

The Audacity of Huck:  It was an epic weekend that cheered not just his supporters, but the two political groups in this country who hate each other the most -- the far right, and the far left. But in our fourth story tonight: The math insists that unless he can repeat it tomorrow night in the three Chesapeake Bay primaries... it's a final for Mike Huckabee.

ODDBALL: The Strange Olympics and the french set a record for french kissing...or is it just kissing?

The Gates Keeper: In Iraq today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates rendered President Bush's national, televised, State of the Union address of two weeks ago... premature at best, prevarication at worst. In our third story tonight, Gates says that after the "Surge" troops leave in July... the reduction of American troops... will end... indefinitely... bringing us right back to where we started... 130-thousand Americans in harm's way.

Tabby Time!   We begin tonight's segment on celebrity, tabloid news, Keeping Tabs, with that most tabby of tabloid events... the celebrity divorce.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Dana Klinghoffer, Rusty Hardin, and Karl Rove vie for tonight's top honors.

Striking a Deal:  Amy Winehouse got Five...Kanye West got Four ...Even Barack Obama got One... But in our number one story on the Countdown - it's not the winners who take the headlines, it's the losers. So we begin, not with the Grammy awards, but with a Paris Hilton, movie star. Only this time she's aware of it.

Weekend Warriors:  If Democratic Party officials in Michigan had not decided to play a game of chicken with the DNC...They would be holding tomorrow's premier event on the primary calendar -- 156 delegates in one key contest between Super Tuesday and the upcoming Chesapeake Tuesday. In our fifth story: Instead? Well, the Detroit Red Wings are home, Sunday. And -- while Michigan mulls over the idea of a primary do-over, and Florida laughs at it -- Senators Clinton and Obama are vying this weekend for more delegates, than they did in all of January. Florida's guffaw, in a moment.

You Say Dubai, I say Hello:  At the Conservative Political Action Conference, C-PAC, in Washington early this morning, President Bush repeated one of his favorite canards about presidential historians. He said, "if they're still analyzing Number One (George Washington), 43 doesn't have to worry about it." Our fourth story on the Countdown: it's Number 44 everybody else is interested in -- to such a degree that even Mr. Bush himself has finally noticed there is a presidential election in November. The question is: why he chose this very moment -- as the analysis of his presidency makes dis-approval ratings history -- to chime in on Campaign 2008?

ODDBALL: there's nothing on mars and a little hanky panky down at the station

Bushed!:  Remember how we just did our "Bushed" segment 12 minutes ago? Yeah, well, it's time for another one... not that we've had three new scandals since then... (the new-scandal rate is estimated at only one per every 20 minutes or so). No, in our third story tonight, due to the abundance of election coverage, to compensate for the shortfall in our usual watchdogging, we now offer an extra serving of... Bussssshhed! Number three: Not-investigating- waterboarding-gate gate!
 
The Rockets Wife Juiced?  First the athletes, now their spouses. Any way you look at it.. the latest bizarre twist in baseball's steroid scandal is the opener in tonight's celebrity and entertainment news.  Late today, the New York Daily News reporting its sources claim

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Roger Ailes, Tom Delay, and the webmasters at Bill O'Reilly.com vie for tonight's top honors.

Plays of January:  You're Oddball compilation for January...enjoy. 

Scare Mitt-less:  If you think the roiling waters will simply smooth out over the wreck of the SS Romney, permitting the new Republican Candidate-Presumptive John McCain to sail without issue towards November... Listen carefully to the sound of the booing at the Conservative Conference, this week in Washington -- twice as tell-tale as usual. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Politico.Com reporting that a registrar at CPAC admitted quote "we've been instructed to tell participants not to boo McCain... we want to seem above Democrats." Even after Mitt Romney dropped out... Even after he called for party unity... Even after the conference-goers had already joined in forced, artificial cheering for McCain... Even after people who live to be told what and what not to do, were told what and what not to do... They booed John McCain anyway.

Tie Fighters: The scenario: a virtual delegate tie between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton... running through and past the final Democratic primaries on June 3rd... With neither candidate having reached the threshold needed for the nomination. A scenario predicted by the Obama campaign... in a document... released to the media, by accident. Well, maybe. Our fourth story on the Countdown: the duel, and dueling expectations, between the two Democratic frontrunners.

ODDBALL: A faceless mask and ditch surfing in Texas.

A Delegate Balance: He might be a stiff, or he might be their 21st Century Ronald Reagan without the hair dye, or... anything in between. But there is one thing all Democrats are recognizing about John McCain tonight. Barring some sort of heretofore unknown mandatory retirement age rule -- he can start campaigning as the Republican nominee, tonight... While the Democrats bash each other, he can simply nod and agree. Thus in our third story on the Countdown: the politics of Democratic decision. The sudden element of "hurry-up" introduced to the equation even prompting a suggestion that Florida and Michigan, forget their de-certified primaries of last month, and hold new, official ones, soon.

Tabby Time: Angelina in Iraq, and the most disturbing mugshot you may ever see. 

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Lou Dobbs, Lamar Smith and Fox Noise vie for tonight's top honors.

The Rocket and the Bombshell:   Somewhere, hanging still from a wall doubtless trembling with embarrassment... is one of George Brett's old jock straps. Bronzed. There is a Tom Seaver game-used... toothpick. Later this year there will be auctioned, an original copy of an 1897 warning, hand-delivered to players because it was then illegal to send such things through the mails, describing in the most graphic terms possible, the language players were not permitted to shout at fans. But in our number one story on the Countdown: this may be the all time lu-lu of bizarre baseball memorabilia, and it could conceivably convict a seven-time Cy Young Award-Winning Pitcher, of Perjury. What is alleged to be, a Roger Clemens steroid-used syringe, complete with Clemensian blood on it.

The white haired guy on the right.  Of course, Mike Huckabee is still in the race, so we may be jumping the gun a little bit, but today Mitt Romney dropped out.  Who will Rush vote for now?  What does it mean for the Democrats?  And what portions of the Obama/Clinton bashing Romney did in his fairwell speech are based in reality?  Big night of politics tonight...plus, we're all over this new report that Roger Clemens' trainer says he has the physical evidence to take the Rocket down (even though the Rocket says he told Congress under oath he didn't use steroids). 

What Happened Wednesday:  The last time we heard such startling news about a Presidential campaign, it was about Rudy Giuliani, and to many it forecast his "Check, Please," moment. Not only has Hillary Clinton today confirmed that she loaned her own treasury five million of her dollars... But tonight -- certain members of Senator Clinton's campaign staff confirming to NBC News that they have voluntarily chosen to work without pay this month. Work, for a campaign facing a cash crunch -- at least when compared to the giant Obama ATM, which raised another three mill on the internet, today, alone. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the good news for Senator Clinton? Super Tuesday was pretty much a tie. And New Mexico is still too early to call.

Tuesdays with Story:  The hard work... the shout-outs... the pointed references... It all finally paid off for Senator Hillary Clinton last night with a massive victory.... In American Samoa. She won two of their three delegates. And in our fourth story on the Countdown, given just how tight the race is, that extra delegate might wind up owning the Democratic convention in Denver.

ODDBALL: A kickass science experiment and a bat attacks a Michigan commission meeting.

Rush Limbaugh Shocker:  A shocking expose about Senator John McCain today... that had been simmering in the right-wing fringe... exploding into the mainstream now with his big wins last night. In our third story tonight, it turns out that Senator McCain is actually... Senator Hillary Clinton.

Accidental Overdose:  The how -- the doctors think they've answered that. The how did he get them -- Federal Drug Agents want to know. Our brief look at celebrity and entertainment news begins with an official cause of death for Heath Ledger... And possibly an official investigation. Our correspondent is Jonathan Deenst from our New York station, WNBC.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Tony Fratto, Billo and Mary Matlin vie for tonight's top honors.

Killer Tornado Fallout: From a small college campus in Jackson, Tennessee, where students were trapped... but escaped with no life-threatening injuries... to an entire family killed in Atkins, Arkansas...  The random and vicious devastation of thunderstorms and tornadoes -- atypical to winter -- Our number one story on the Countdown.

Here we go, folks...coverage all day long on MSNBC, and then at 6PM ET the big guns come out.  Keith will host the coverage with Chris Matthews for the duration of the night, and until all the votes are counted.  We have a metric ton of political firepower for analysis and commentary...including in no particular order Lester Holt, Norah ODonnell, Chuck Todd, Howard Fineman, Tim Russert, David Gregory, Brian williams, Tom Brokaw, Joe Scarborough, Pat  Buchanan, Rachel Maddow, and Eugene Robinson.

We also have some new toys...we'll have surrogates for all the campaigns...and maybe a few surprises too.  It's going to be a historic evening and we hope you join us.  (also...if you want to catch live coverage online, here's a link...here's an interactive real time delegate count)

'Til Tuesday:  20 years ago not a single state had cast a single vote in a presidential primary by the 5th of February. And no Super Bowl had ever been played later than January 31st. Yet tomorrow... is Super Bowl Parade Day, Super Tuesday, and -- just for good measure -- Fat Tuesday. Our fifth story on the Countdown: an epic Democratic race across 22 states apparently tightening up so quickly that the camps of both candidates are tonight, tamping down expectations.

Your Super Math Lesson:  Math... hard. Winner-take-all... easy. General Election... easy. Democratic Primaries with delegates awarded proportionately by district... that's Trigonometry. Our fourth story on the Countdown: Super Tuesday, requires us to give you a super walk-through about all this -- the one promise: there will not be a quiz.

ODDBALL: The worst evasion of a reporter in the history of evading reporters, and the orange throwing festival is upon us.

The McCain Presidency:  The most shrill voice defending President Bush is now telling his listeners they must not vote for John McCain tomorrow on Super Tuesday. Our third story tonight -- what does he do if McCain wins anyway? What do those shrill elected Republican voices do? Right now, like teenagers buying a ticket for "Friday the 13th," they are simply imagining the possibility... of President John Sidney McCain the Third.

Worsties...see below

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, and Chris Wallace of FOX News vie for tonight's honors.

Super Fallout: As the candidates try to cash in on the Super Bowl excitement... and Dana Milbank joins us in a moment to cash in on them cashing in... Our number one story: Wow -- what a game Nobody could have predicted that -- right? Oh, yeah, who was that guy, on that football show six weeks ago?

Primary Colors: As an American cliche, it is one of the oldest, dating back to the real Civil War which really did pit family member against family member. Our fifth story on the Countdown: it was the gravel-voiced New York Congressman Charles Rangel, who, just as the first Obama-Clinton "truce" went into effect, told a New York interviewer that Senator Obama was quote "absolutely dumb to infer that Doctor King, alone, passed the legislation and signed it into law." That was sixteen days ago. Today Mr. Rangel's wife endorsed... Barack Obama. Thus, the Democratic candidates re-joined the battle...House by house...And... spouse by spouse.

Dem Dream Ticket?:  They are "friends" They generate "enthusiasm" and "intensity". They are working together to stop President Bush in Iraq. And that's just what Senators Clinton and Obama said about each other. Our fourth story on the Countdown, against all logic, and all the fervor of their respective supporters... are they ultimately... a ticket?

ODDBALL: A dog eats some super bowl tickets, a bear predicts the outcome of the super bowl and a polar bear gets to know himself in the mirror.

The 9/11 Book:  Just four days ago, in his final State of the Union speech, President Bush began his remarks by claiming, again, that, quote, "our country has been tested in ways none of us could have imagined." "None of us could have imagined"... as if no one warned him. That is what he told the 9/11 Commission, the creation of which he opposed, whose members he appointed, whose questions he avoided as long as politically possible. Now, in the third story on our Countdown, a book coming out next week raises new questions about ties between the man who served as executive director of the commission... and the White House itself. The Commission has long withstood criticism that its desire to appear non-political cost it-- and us-- any definitive apportionment of blame. This new book, however, raises the prospect that the commission avoided blaming people...for political reasons. As our Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reports, the new book also claims the commission missed out on a massive source of intel.

Tabby Time:  The fragile condition of Britney Spears begins tonight's brief look at celebrity and entertainment news...And reports that after "day two" of hospital observation, Spears is now classified as "Gravely Disabled" and has been placed under "temporary conservator-ship" through at least Monday...

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: An online Woolworth's in Britain, Bill-O and Rush Limbaugh vie for tonight's top honors.

See the Stars:  After a substantive Democratic debate with no petty rancor... what was the Republican National Committee to do... but attack the Democrats for having celebrities in the audience. Our number one story on the Countdown: stars watching the Dems, and star envy from the GOP.  Although... debate organizers really shouldn't have made Congresswoman Jane Harmon sit in the upper deck.... while so many celebrities got the primo seats...