[Obama and Clinton,] running neck-and-neck in Texas, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Thursday, appeared together less than two weeks before the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio in which 389 delegates will ultimately be at stake — a pile that could refuel Clinton’s effort if she wins big or put Obama well on his way to the nomination.

Nearly 2,000 people attended the invitation-only debate, mostly guests of UT and the Democratic Party. The audience included Democratic Texas lawmakers, 400 UT students and 200 registered Texas voters who won tickets in two separate drawings that thousands entered.

… Calli Rudebusch, 18, a UT freshman from Conroe majoring in government, said that seeing Obama in person solidified her support of him (she said she already voted for him). But she was thrilled to get Clinton’s autograph and be there to witness history from her bleacher seat near the Longhorn band. "I really feel that 20, 30 years down the line," she said, "I’m going to look back and go, ‘Wow, I was there.’

From the Austin American Statesman:

The Obama rally in front of the telegenic Texas Capitol, which figures to draw a massive crowd downtown, is likely to be the best-attended political event in Austin since, well, Obama’s outdoor rally almost a year ago, when he drew thousands to Auditorium Shores. Tonight’s event already prompted the closure of a T-shaped piece of Congress and 11th at midnight and will require more nearby streets (and more of Congress and 11th) to be shut down at 6 p.m. today.

… More than 40,000 people sought tickets to last night’s debate between Obama and his main opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, a figure that of course would have included many Clinton supporters.

Then there’s the 15,000-plus who came to see Obama here a year ago, when he was given only an outside shot at the Democratic nomination.

And a good number of young people, a core Obama constituency, would be downtown anyway on a Friday night. … As for what is likely to be a considerable mess Saturday morning, Huffman said volunteers from the Obama campaign and the Downtown Austin Alliance will handle the bulk of the cleanup.

From the Washington Post:

Barack Obama’s winning streak continued Thursday with his 11th straight victory in a primary or caucus.

The American expatriates represented by the group Democrats Abroad went overwhelmingly for their party’s front-runner, who spent part of his childhood as an expat himself, living with his family in Indonesia. Voting in the Democrats Abroad Global Primary took place Feb. 5 to 12.

Obama won 65.6 percent of the expat vote, which numbered more than 20,000, to Hillary Clinton’s 32.7 percent, according to the group. Voters in 30 nations cast ballots at polling stations, while others voted by fax, mail and — for the first time this year — online. Online voters submitted ballots from 164 countries and territories.

At stake were 4.5 pledged delegates. Obama won 2.5 of them, while Clinton won two.

"With the U.S. image so badly damaged by the present Administration, American Democrats living overseas were eager to have their voices heard," Christine Schon Marques, international chairman of Democrats Abroad in Geneva, said in a statement.

From the Providence Journal:

“You don’t get anywhere without big dreams,” Michelle Obama said in an interview yesterday after addressing a women’s audience at the Providence Biltmore. Without big dreams, she said, she’d never have found herself at Princeton and Harvard Law.

Still, she said of her husband, “He doesn’t enter into this naïvely. He’s worked in politics, in some of the toughest politics that you might see in Illinois … He knows that real change requires a lot of hard work and sometimes you don’t win them all. But what he also knows is that if you don’t come in with a unified base of support, and if you’re not willing to look beyond your own partisan situation and build new bridges, that you can’t get anything done.

“And that’s what the hope is about — it’s engaging enough people in the process to hold the system accountable in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Read the full interview with M. Charles Bakst . . .

Hotline – On Call: …Barack Obama wins the night — and the momentum in his direction continues.

Atlantic (Marc Ambinder): … The Debate Belongs To Obama LINK 

TIME (Mark Halperin): Mark Halperin’s Grades:  Obama B+, Clinton B

NBC (Chuck Todd) : …Obama set the tone LINK

CNN (Donna Brazile): …And look, Barack Obama tonight was exceptional- he was presidential, he was poised, he was calm. He had the poetry, but he also had the prose. He put the substance ahead of, you know, perhaps some of the rhetorical flourishes that he’s capable of giving. He was good; so, you can’t deny him that.

CNN (Gloria Borger): …Tonight, you saw Barack Obama as a very credible commander in chief.

Politico (Ben Smith): Obama has come prepared to talk about substance, and offers detailed personal anecdotes, not more abstract oration, for most of his opening statement, before pivoting to the question of who can unify the country to get it done. LINK

CNN (David Gergen): … Barack Obama is dramatically better as a debater than he was a few months ago. I thought he was excellent.

Barack Obama showed tonight why millions of Americans from all parties and regions have cast their vote for change – because they know that our problem is not a lack of good ideas, it’s that Washington is a place where good ideas go to die.  Barack Obama is the one candidate who can change that by taking on the division, the point-scoring, and the lobbyists so we can finally provide struggling families with affordable health care and college, a middle-class tax cut, and an energy plan that creates millions of new green jobs.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram calls Obama a "transformative" candidate and notes that:

Obama is smart and experienced in working directly with low- and middle-class Americans to better their lives, and he brings a message of hope that the country needs in this moment.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times explains:

The Editorial Board endorses Sen. Barack Obama because it believes that he offers the kind of inspirational leadership the country is hungry for… His candidacy is rooted in the notion that politics can be about solutions, not divisions, that elected leaders are elected to lead, not to drive wedges between groups of Americans.

The Houston Chronicle writes:

Obama vows to reach out to independents and Republicans with a message of inclusion and cooperation. He offers a historic opportunity to elevate national political dialogue to a higher ground.

As the Dallas Morning News explains:

Mr. Obama is our choice because of his consistently solid judgment, poise under pressure and ability to campaign effectively without resorting to the divisive politics of the past.

The San Antonio Express-News writes:

America needs a president that tries to create unity out of diversity, marshalling all the forces — red, blue or purple — that make this country great.

Sen. Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate that offers the best chance to reach that lofty objective. 

The Austin American-Statesman says "Yes, Obama Can":

Obama is the best pick Democrats could make.

Resolving the big issues confronting the nation requires a leader who can attract support from independents and Republicans. Of the two front runners, only Obama has shown the ability to bring divergent interests together. He did that as a state senator in Illinois and as a U.S. senator in Washington. And he has staked his presidential campaign on doing that in the White House.

… His optimism, unifying vision and ability to inspire are the kind of healing balm the country needs at this moment in history.

Finally, the February 10th edition of the El Paso Times writes:

The El Paso Times recommends that El Pasoans voting in the March 4 Democratic presidential primary cast their votes for Barack Obama. A weary America, tired of the status quo, fed up with business as usual, is longing for a positive change — and Barack Obama is that change.

In addition, Barack won the endorsement of the influential Texas blog Burnt Orange Report.

If you live in Texas, visit TX.BarackObama.com for more information on events in your area and to learn how you can get involved.

See the full list of over 100 newspapers that have formally endorsed Barack Obama…

Read his detailed plan to boost our economy and reclaim the American dream.