Oh, Ohio. Tonight’s Democratic debate (9 p.m. E.T., MSNBC) will be the last face off between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama before the state’s bellwether primary one week from today — and with none scheduled for the future, it could be the last one, period.

Mrs. Clinton is hanging on to her edge in the early polls in the Buckeye State despite recent gains made by her rival, who’s looking to extend his primary winning streak to Texas and Ohio on March 4. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland supports Mrs. Clinton, but on Monday Mr. Obama picked up the endorsement of another Buckeye superdelegate, Mark Mallory, mayor of Cincinnati.

In other endorsements today, Senator Chris Dodd, former Democratic presidential candidate, is expected to endorse Mr. Obama. Don’t forget that Mr. Dodd had received the backing of the powerful firefighters union, yet another labor group that could swing to the Obama camp.

Mr. Dodd is expected to make the announcement in Cleveland, a place that the Associated Press reminds us housed the 1980 debate during which Ronald Reagan uttered his oft-quoted line “There you go again” to President Jimmy Carter, just a few days before the election and Mr. Reagan’s victory.

In its debate primer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggests watching out for “whether Clinton continues the tone she displayed Saturday in Ohio. Upset by a flier depicting her health care and trade policies distributed by Obama, she accused her fellow U.S. senator of using Republican-style smear tactics. Obama says the facts are on his side.”

U.S. Rep. Dennis Eckart of Cleveland told the Columbus Dispatch that “the stakes are much higher here than any other debate. Obama can close it out on March 4 (or) Clinton can live to fight another day on March 4.”

Bill Carrick, a Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant who worked for former President Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns, said the Cleveland debate “is probably the last opportunity that Sen. Clinton is going to have to make the case both for herself and against Sen. Obama that will be unfiltered.” Carrick said Obama, who has defined himself as a candidate of hope and unity, “would like to avoid a food fight” but almost certainly will press Clinton on the contentious issue of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Obama has criticized Clinton for supporting the trade agreement that he says has cost Ohio jobs. Clinton has accused Obama of distorting her position on NAFTA.

Mrs. Clinton, who is losing ground nationally according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, is letting loose a five-point, “kitchen sink” attack on Mr. Obama, report Patrick Healy and Julie Bosman of The Times.

After denouncing Mr. Obama over the weekend for an anti-Clinton flier about the Nafta trade treaty, and then sarcastically portraying his message of hope Sunday as naïve, Mrs. Clinton delivered a blistering speech on Monday that compared Mr. Obama’s lack of foreign policy experience to that of the candidate George W. Bush. “We’ve seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security,” Mrs. Clinton said in a speech on foreign policy at George Washington University. “We can’t let that happen again.”

Amy Chozick of The Wall Street Journal notes that the Clinton campaign “has grappled for nearly a year with how negative it should go against Sen. Obama as it has tried to portray Sen. Clinton as both a strong commander in chief and a genuine and likable candidate,” and tensions mounted yesterday when a photo of Mr. Obama dressed in Somali garb appeared on the Drudge Report.

The political Web site reported that the photo had been circulated by a Clinton campaign aide, prompting an angry response from the Obama campaign. In an email to reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe referred to an incident in Iowa when two Clinton volunteers resigned after it was revealed they had circulated an email claiming that the Illinois senator, a Christian, is a Muslim. “This is part of a disturbing pattern,” Mr. Plouffe wrote. Clinton campaign officials say that as far as they know, the photo didn’t come from anyone inside the campaign.

John McCain, who has the luxury of not being trapped in a heated nomination contest anymore, spoke about the general election on Monday. The Iraq War needs to be viewed as a success if he is to win, Michael Luo of The Times writes.

Senator John McCain said Monday that he needed to convince the American people that the troop escalation in Iraq was working and that American casualties there would continue to decline. If he did not, he said, “I lose” the election. “Is there any doubt?” Mr. McCain said to reporters on his campaign bus. But then he pulled back from his blunt assessment. “Let me not put it that stark,” he said, explaining that he believed people would judge his candidacy on his ability to handle the economy, which has emerged as a pre-eminent voter concern, as well as on national security.

The Washington Post says the Democratic governors of some swing states are concerned that Mr. McCain’s place on the general election ballot will make it hard for them deliver their states to their party.

“To quote President Bush, McCain is never to be misunderestimated,” said Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, McCain’s home state. “He’s a tough campaigner.” “In some ways,” said Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, a state that is considered a must-win for any Democratic nominee, “he’s the ideal [Republican] candidate for Pennsylvania.”

With the debate tonight, the media focus is on Ohio, but the vast, varied Texas battleground still looms for Democrats.

The Los Angeles Times considers the Senate styles of Mr. Obama (renegade Washington outsider) and Mrs. Clinton (smart, effective Beltway insider).

Regarding Ralph Nader’s just-announced presidential candidacy, USA Today notes that Chris Lehane, Al Gore’s press secretary during the 2000 campaign, considers himself a “Nader hater”: “His being on the ticket in 2000 has caused the nation to go backward on each of those issues. It just comes down to a guy who’s a megalomaniac.”



Campaign trail roundup:

Tonight, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama debate at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, 9 to 10:30 p.m. E.T., MSNBC.

* Before the debate, Mrs. Clinton hosts a town hall meeting in Lorain, Ohio. Bill Clinton holds early vote events in Dallas, Grapevine and Fort Worth, Tex.

* Mike Huckabee is in Ohio. He holds a media availability in Cleveland and attends rallies in Columbus and Mason.

* John McCain attends a rally in Cincinnati and a town hall meeting in West Chester, Ohio.

* Mr. Obama meets with the media in Cleveland before participating in the Democratic debate.