THE NOTE: Manhattan Cheers, Bronx Jeers

October 25, 2007 — -- A "zen-like" Hillary Clinton wakes up this morning just one day away from the big 6-0 and tells the New York Daily News that winning an election won't come from wishing on birthday candles.

Red Sox Nation wakes up with a 1-0 lead over the Colorado Rockies in the World Series – and new fan Rudy Giuliani wakes up to second day of headlines and articles (even DiStaso!) questioning his newfound support for the boys from Fenway Park.

And Barack Obama wakes up to a prominent columnist pondering the "trying times" for his campaign's faithful and more backlash against Donnie McClurkin's role in the "Embrace the Change" gospel tour.

The Washington Post's David Broder takes the temperature of the Obama campaign and writes that some wonder if they can pull off the upset over Clinton.

"But the steady drumbeat of polls showing Clinton with more support than all the other Democrats combined -- and twice as much as Obama -- is taking a toll. In their private moments, they wonder whether even Obama, gifted as he is, can pull off this feat."

Broder looks at Oct. 2 as the most painful and typical example of how Team Obama feels they have been "outmaneuvered and outsmarted by Clinton's timing and tactics."

With Obama set to deliver a significant foreign policy speech highlighting his initial opposition to the Iraq war, the Clinton campaign released their boffo third quarter fundraising numbers and completely drowned out Obama's "dumb war" remarks.

The speech "got next to no national press coverage. It was briefly summarized on Page A8 of The Post, Page 11 of the Boston Globe and Page 20 of the New York Times," Broder notes. And what was on page 1? "Clinton, leading all the polls, now leads in campaign finances as well."

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports that the Obama campaign has added an openly gay minister to the lineup at the gospel tour, in response to criticism from the gay community about McClurkin's inclusion.

Rev. Andy Sidden will make an appearance on Sunday in South Carolina, but that may not be enough for gay rights groups.

"The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay-rights organization in the country, says it appreciates the gesture but is still 'disappointed' that the Obama campaign is giving a platform to someone it considers homophobic," the New York Times Katharine Seelye reports.

Joe Solmonese told the New York Times he "appreciated the campaign's invitation to Mr. Sidden," but McClurkin's message "certainly doesn't belong on any presidential candidate's stage."

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times considers Obama's balancing act with McClurkin and the HRC and also notes that his campaign is on the defensive because a Nevada African Americans for Obama event included boxing champ Floyd Mayweather, who has domestic-violence convictions on his record.

Clinton celebrates her birthday tonight with a sold out event at the Beacon Theater in New York City that will raise more than $1 million. Tickets for the event, emceed by Billy Crystal, ranged from $100 (in the nosebleeds) to $2300 for "rock star" seats in the orchestra section.

Partygoers will hear from both Clintons as well as Terry McAuliffe, Patti Solis Doyle, Charlie Rangel, Elliot Spitzer and Chuck Schumer. Dress is casual and so is the fare – hot dogs and beer at the concession stands.

The New York Daily News has an exclusive with the birthday gal, who says she has everything she could hope for (including a Chanel watch) and won't reveal what she will wish for when she blows out the candles.

"Obviously I hope and expect that I will win. But I know it doesn't come from wishing, it comes from hard work. And I am going to do everything between now and then to make that happen,"

Sam Brownback may have dropped out of the presidential race last week but he's keeping his name in the headlines by coyly hinting at an endorsement of Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani is not the most obvious choice to win the support of Brownback, a staunch social conservative. But in an interview with The Hill, the Kansas Senator said he would consider getting behind Giuliani because he believed the New York Mayor had changed his position on abortion issues.

The endorsement could be a significant boost for Giuliani, who has struggled to win over the conservative wing of the Republican Party and was trounced at the Values Voters straw poll in Washington last week.

While he may not see eye-to-eye with conservatives on social issues, Giuliani may be shoring up his national security credentials on the right by consulting a "particularly hawkish group of advisers and neoconservative thinkers" that he may not even agree with on foreign policy.