I was just reading this on CNN:

In a preview of the political onslaught Michelle Obama may face in the fall, the Tennessee Republican Party unveiled a Web video Thursday highlighting her comment that she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life."

Michelle Obama is the target of a video by the Tennessee Republican Party ahead of her visit there...

It features several Tennesseans saying why they are proud of American while repeatedly cutting to Michelle Obama's comments.

Well, how to retort?

Barack Obama clearly intends to stay on the high road, as he quickly shuttled David Brock's attempt to do some below the belt McCain softening on his behalf.

Now, the RNC chair said they "reject" that kind of tactic, but clearly they lack the discipline (or more likely, the desire) to keep their foot soldiers in line the way that Obama is doing.  So the work of the Tennessee Republican Party would appear to open the door to candidates' spouses being fair game in this contest.

And while that almost certainly isn't a place where the Obama campaign really wants to go, there is a real issue on the table that's being overlooked by the media regarding Cindy McCain's refusal to release her tax returns in spite of, at the very least, providing the use of her private jet for John McCain's campaign travels.

And isn't that very refusal "elitist"?  

Isn't it precisely the type of "I'm above you" sneering down at the masses type thinking that both McCain and Hillary have constantly accused Obama of?

And isn't it almost anti-democratic of Cindy McCain to prevent the public from having full disclosure about the campaign financing of the presumptive Republican nominee, kind of like saying "We're above the process"?

So, I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking too low here.

But we can be sure that Michelle Obama will address the Tennessee Republican Party's video when she speaks there.  And we can be sure that she'll defend her love of her country and her patriotism in the process.

And I'm not a campaign strategist, so I don't know if this would be the best strategic idea or not.

But I know I'd really enjoy watching Michelle say something along the lines of, "They can try all they want to define me with an endlessly looped sound byte and pretend there's some hidden secret there.  But the truth is I do love this country and I have nothing to hide.  It's all out in the open.  In fact, in the interest of an open democratic process, I even released my tax returns so that the American public can know the true financial status of Barack and I, and the Obama campaign."

It was reported in Election Central that a pledged delegated in Maryland who was elected for Hillary has "defected" and will now vote for Obama instead.

Not long after reading that, I noticed that CNN lists Edwards as having 19 pledged delegates.  It got me wondering as to what (if anything in particular) would or should guide their decision-making from here on out.

Will they vote for Edwards at the convention despite the fact he's out of the running?  Or have they become, in effect, a new mini-pool of super delegates who are free to throw their weight behind either of the two remaining candidates?  And if it's the latter, are they expected to vote for whoever was runner up in the districts they represent, or are they just supposed to go with whoever they happen to feel is the stronger candidate?