Sen. Barack Obama has told critics to "lay off my wife," Michelle Obama.

Conservatives view the presumptive Democratic nominee's wife as a target of opportunity.

But one Republican consultant said attacks on candidates' wives often backfire.

"Considering there are so many issues -- legitimate issues -- that you can use on Barack Obama, to attack his wife to me is sheer utter stupidy of the highest level," Stephen Marks, a Republican strategist, said. "Mr. Obama is going to come to his wife's defense and it's going to humanize both of them."

Michelle Obama was widely criticized on conservative blogs when she said "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country" at an appearance on behalf of her husband in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in February.

The Obama campaign said Michelle Obama's comment reflected her excitement about the grassroots support her husband is receiving, but conservatives said the statement raised questions about her patriotism.

Cindy McCain, the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, also took a shot at Michelle Obama, saying: "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I am very proud of my country."

In May, the Tennessee Republican Party used video of Michelle Obama's comments in a TV ad that aired during one of her husband's campaign stops in the state.

The ad features Tennesseans saying why they are proud of America while repeatedly cutting to Michelle Obama's comments.

The Obama campaign called the ad "shameful," and it was condemned by the state's two Republican U.S. senators.

After his wife's comments were criticized, Barack Obama said Michelle did not mean what she said.

"Statements like this are made and people try to take it out of context and make a great big deal out of it, and that isn't at all what she meant," he told San Antonio radio station WOAI in February.

"What she meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America," he said. "Because she's pretty cynical about the political process, and with good reason, and she's not alone. But she has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she's encouraged."

Republican strategists say the wife of the Democratic presidential nominee is fair game.

"There is less information about him to temper her comments against, so what she says represents something a lot more important than perhaps other candidates in the past who have had a longer track record," Rachel Marsden, a Republican strategist, said.

The issue of Michelle Obama as a potential liability made simultaneous headlines on both coasts, with articles in both The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

The newspapers pointed to relentless online rumor mills, criticism on conservative blogs and articles in conservative magazines, like the National Review, critical of Michelle Obama. Watch how the Obama campaign is fighting Internet rumors »

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the backlash against Michelle Obama, who is black, was a "good preview of how Republicans will attack Michelle, suggesting that she does not share American values, mining a subtext of race."

The potential first lady appears to be bracing for what may lie ahead.

"We're trusting that the American voters are ready to talk about the issues and not talking about things that have nothing to do with making people's lives better," Michelle Obama told ABC News during a joint interview in May.

But Barack Obama quickly added: "I also think these folks should lay off my wife."

It's advice the opposition might want to heed, Marks said.

You only have to look back to 1992 when then-Gov. Bill Clinton stood up to critics of his wife to see how an attack on a politician's spouse can quickly boomerang, Marks said.

Clinton later went on to win the Democratic nomination that year -- and the presidency

Terry McAuliffe rejected as "100 percent" incorrect an Associated Press report that Clinton is preparing to acknowledge that Obama has the delegates to win the nomination Tuesday night as the five-month Democratic primary process comes to a close.

Obama "doesn't have the numbers today, and until someone has the numbers the race goes on," McAuliffe told CNN.

Clinton continues to fight Obama in the Democratic primary season. Some 61 contests over five months will end Tuesday as Montana and South Dakota hold primaries. Watch McAuliffe say the 'race goes on' »

Only 31 pledged delegates are at stake in those two contests.

Obama on Tuesday had 2,083 delegates, just 35 delegates shy of the 2,118 needed to clinch the nomination, after a number of superdelegates announced their support for the senator from Illinois.

There are 193 superdelegates who have not backed a candidate.

Rep. James Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and the highest ranking African-American in Congress, was among those superdelegates. Watch Clyburn endorse Obama

"I came to that decision because I do believe that he has elevated this campaign," Clyburn said. "He has energized our constituents. He is redrawing an electoral map for Democrats."

There are not enough pledged delegates at stake in Montana and South Dakota to put Obama over the top, but a rush of endorsements by the remaining undeclared "superdelegates" could allow him to claim victory when he takes the stage in Minnesota Tuesday evening.

Superdelegates are the approximate 825 Democratic governors, members of Congress, and party officials who each get to vote in the delegate nominating process. Around 200 of them have yet to endorse either Obama or Clinton.

In a bit of symbolism, Obama will spend Tuesday night at a rally at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the same arena which will house the 2008 Republican National Convention in September. Clinton will spend the night at an campaign event in New York City. What she will say is the question of the night. iReport.com: See what cartoonists think of the interminable race

Obama is looking more and more toward a likely general election matchup with John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. And while not taking anything for granted, it appears he's starting to look at Clinton as less of a rival and more as an important ally who can help him win in November.

"We're getting very close to the number that will, that will give us the nomination and if we've hit that number on Tuesday night, then we will. We will announce that and I think even if we don't, this is the end of the primary season, and I think it's very important for us to focus on the clear contrast that's going to exist between Democrats and Republicans in this election," Obama said this weekend while campaigning in South Dakota.

"Sen. Clinton is an outstanding public servant, she has worked tirelessly on this campaign, she has been a great senator for the state of New York and she is going to be a great asset when we go into November to make sure that we defeat the Republicans," Obama said on the campaign trail Sunday in South Dakota, adding Monday in Michigan that "she and I will be working together." Watch Obama vow the party will come together after the primary »

Clinton's road to capturing the nomination is much longer and more difficult. She trails Obama by 166 delegates and is 201 delegates shy of capturing the nomination. Her main shot at winning now appears to depend on a mass wave of superdelegate support, which seems unlikely. See what's next for Clinton »

Clinton's been making the case for weeks now that she's ahead in the popular vote in the primaries and caucuses to date. Much of this argument hinges on how Michigan's disputed primary is counted. If Obama is awarded no votes, since his name wasn't on the ballot, Clinton leads by 194,000 in the popular vote count. If Obama is awarded the 40 percent who voted uncommitted in the primary, he's ahead of Clinton by 45,000 votes in the overall count. Watch Clinton outline her optimism »

"The Clinton campaign is making every effort to convince superdelegates she is the best qualified and most electable Democrat to take on John McCain in November. The problem for Clinton is that it seems a little bit too late for her argument to stick even if these superdelegates did embrace her assertion that she is the leader in the popular vote," said Mark Preston, CNN political editor.

CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley reported that "only a handful of people at the inner core of the Clinton campaign knows what she's thinking about doing when Tuesday's dust settles, adding that "those who have been with her since nearly the beginning are saying she will not push this into the convention. As one close Clinton supporter put it, she's acutely aware of her place in the party. She will not ruin the party."

Clinton scored a large victory Sunday in Puerto Rico's primary. It could be a different story in Montana, where Obama is ahead in the most recent polls. Obama campaigned in the state late last week, before stumping over the weekend in South Dakota. Clinton spent Monday in South Dakota. A new poll out Monday in that state puts Clinton up by double digits. But regardless of the results, Tuesday night is much more about the big picture than about who won which primary.

Republicans said the session was purely theatrical and was delaying passage of the $649 billion defense authorization bill.

Some Democrats left the session temporarily to attend a candlelight antiwar rally across from the Capitol

Majority Leader Harry Reid said the unusual session was necessary because Republicans refused to agree to a simple majority to pass the bill and were intent on filibustering an amendment that called for pulling most troops out of Iraq by April 30.

"If Republicans insist on blocking change of course in Iraq, we have no alternative but to keep them in session to have them explain their obstruction," the Nevada Democrat said. "Republicans will need to choose whether they want to protect the president or protect our troops."

Republican leaders called the Democrats' argument insincere. They said the 60-vote threshold is standard on major issues and repeatedly offered to vote on the measure yesterday. Congress has approved military funding through September, Republicans said, and should wait until Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, presents a progress report in September before it reconsiders the war policy.

"There is progress being made, and the evidence is all over Iraq," said Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican. "Will it be difficult, will it be a long, hard struggle? Yes. But to deny and say that the war is lost, I think, is really not being fair to the American people."

The measure is expected to fall in a procedural filibuster when the Senate votes this morning on ending debate. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill as well as a similar measure passed last week in the House. Supporters do not have enough votes to override a veto.

WASHINGTON — 

Sources tell FOX News that the former Tennessee senator will wait until after Independence Day to announce in hopes of finding a more interested public, and the announcement could come as soon as July 5. Although plans have not yet been solidified.

And The Politico reported Wednesday that Thompson told a group of financial backers on Tuesday that he is going to run and had already raised millions of dollars. Thompson is encouraging more support as he readies his campaign in the crowded field of Republican candidates.

• Click here to read the report in The Politico.

The Politico also reports that a number of staffers to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush are expected to join Thompson's campaign.

Polls show that Republicans have not been satisfied with the current field of candidates. And even as an unofficial candidate, Thompson has pulled closely with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is neck-and-neck with Arizona Sen. John McCain. For now, they are trailing former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Thompson is posturing himself as the more conservative alternative to would-be opponents Giuliani and McCain, and more steadfast than Romney, who is facing criticism for recently switching views on some conservative issues.

Thompson also is expected in early June to form a "testing the waters" committee, which is one type of precursor organization to an official campaign. While foregoing an exploratory committee, the filing still would allow Thompson to raise money in June in order to launch his candidacy in July.

Thompson does not expect to have the millions needed to compete aggressively in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll in August, but does hope to raise enough in June — including more than $1 million from a one-day telemarketing kick-off. Romney held a similar fundraiser in January pulling in $6 million.

FOX News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.

A handful of political reporters were invited to observe the group behind a wall. The participants knew they were being observed and knew they were being filmed by C-SPAN. (Sometime later this week or weekend, C-SPAN will air the focus group in its entirety including a post-game chat between focus group moderator, veteran Democratic pollster Peter Hart, and the observing reporters.)

While a snapshot of just 12 voters is dangerous to draw conclusions from, the focus group provided me an insight on some things about this race that I had been pondering, but hadn’t written down.

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The White House and Congress failed to strike a deal Friday after exchanging competing offers on an Iraq war spending bill that Democrats said should set a date for U.S. troops to leave.

"Timelines for withdrawal are just not the right way to go, and that cannot be the basis for funding our troops," said Joshua Bolten, White House chief of staff, after a nearly 90-minute meeting on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said they offered to grant Bush the authority to waive the deadlines. They said they also suggested they would drop billions of dollars in proposed domestic spending that Bush opposed, in exchange for his acceptance of identifying a withdrawal date.

The offer marked the Democrats' first major concessions in a weekslong battle with the White House on war funding.