Good news for Obama and more Hillary foreign travel scrutiny

First, Barack Obama just scored a timely endorsement from Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey. As the story notes, it could especially help Obama among Catholics and working-class white voters in the Keystone State.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s attempts to be Rick Steves continue to blow up in her face, this time with more flack over trips to Belfast:

Her critics point to an empty, wind-swept Belfast park — which Clinton a decade ago proclaimed would become Northern Ireland's first Catholic-Protestant playground — as evidence that her contribution as peacemaker was more symbolic than substantive.

“She was in charge of christening this wee corner (of the park) as some kind of peace playground. It never made any sense then, and there’s nothing there today,” said Brian Feeney, a Belfast political analyst, author and teacher. “Everything she did was for the optics.”

Critics say the playground-that-never-was illustrates the wider lack of accomplishment from Clinton’s half-dozen visits to Northern Ireland — that they emphasized speechmaking, chiefly to women's groups, leaving no lasting mark.

And, you know, Pennsylvania’s Irish vote, perhaps including Catholics with last names like Casey, isn’t insignificant, either.