Tough week for Barack Obama -- but also a week that might later be viewed as a key to his march to the White House. The candidate began the week with a widely lauded response to the Rev. Wright ruckus, followed by a round of "exclusive" interviews with various talking heads. John McCain had to fire a staffer for pushing an inflammatory video using Wright as a cudgel to call Obama unpatriotic. And three State Department contractors got caught illegally checking out Obama's passport file (and then it turned out the other two candidates also got checked out).

But on the upside, Obama out raised Hillary Clinton in February $55 million to $35 million (McCain drew a paltry $11 million). And on Friday, he picked up the endorsement of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. 

My take on Obama this week is that he needs a sandwich. I know Kenyans have that svelte build, perfect for winning marathons or strutting a catwalk. Yet, I like my world leaders with a bit more, ah, substance. Just a thought.

Perhaps a thought influenced by Mark Silva's take on the Richardson endorsement in the Chicago Tribune's political blog, The Swamp. "...indeed the appearance of an African-American and Hispanic-American in Portland today will present another powerful image in this simplistic, photo-driven political world, a snapshot of ethnic harmony."

Or by a not-surprisingly negative take on Obama's race speech by the Washington Times. Wesley Pruden writes that the candidate's occasional inelegant responses to the race question, plus the whole Wright matter, are costing him white voters. "This is not the message Barack Obama set out with a year ago when he caught magic in a bottle. Now the magic, and maybe his shot at the White House, resembles only a dashed wish written on the wind."

Meanwhile, Clinton has failed to get her delegate counts out of Florida and Michigan. Apparently, she was looking to make an argument that she deserves the nomination because she won [or would have won] the popular vote, if not the lead in delegates.

We'll see what happens in the last big contest in Pennsylvania.