On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has picked up an endorsement from
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd. Dodd becomes the first former candidate in the 2008 presidential field to endorse one of the two remaining candidates. Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton meet tonight for a televised debate, the last before next week’s key primaries in Ohio and Texas. Obama spent Monday campaigning in Ohio.

Sen. Barack Obama: “Number one, your healthcare is something that you shouldn’t have to be worried about, and one of the things that I’ve proposed is making sure that everybody can get access to a healthcare plan as good as the healthcare I have as a member of Congress, and that we subsidize your premiums if you lose your job or other circumstances create a tough situation. That would give you more of a safety net in terms of healthcare.”

Clinton, meanwhile, was in Washington, where she touted her record on national security.

Sen. Hillary Clinton: “Electing a president should not be an either-or proposition when it comes to national security. We need a president who knows how to deploy both the olive branch and the arrows, who will be ready to act swiftly and decisively in a crisis, who will pursue strategic demands of hard diplomacy to re-establish our moral authority and our leadership.”