Former White House press secretary Tony Snow died today at the age of 53 after a second fight with cancer:

Snow, who had been undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a recurrence of the disease, left his White House job September 14, 2007, and joined CNN in April as a conservative commentator. […]

In 2007, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten had told senior White House staffers that unless they could commit to staying until Bush leaves office in January 2009, they should leave by Labor Day 2007, so Snow resigned.

In parting comments to reporters at his final White House news conference, Snow said, “I feel great.”

He also called the job “the most fun I’ve ever had.”

Snow said he was leaving the White House position to make more money for his family. His White House salary was $168,000, and he said he had taken out a loan so he could take the job. Snow said he was leaving because the loan money ran out.

As conservative a guy as anyone I’ve ever seen, Snow had a genuineness to him that shown through, even as he repeated the Bush Administration version of the world at press conferences and even as he reported for Fox News Channel.

Its a quality rare in the political world.

Snow always seemed to bring a sense of humor to even the most serious things and he seemed to be liked by most people, regardless of their political persuasion.

I remember watching his press conferences and being entertained by his oratory prowess. While I knew not to believe what he was parroting from the White House, I couldn’t help but appreciate the give-and-take process with the press corp and I couldn’t help but notice his commitment to doing his job to the best of his ability.

Plus, he generally came across as a happy and likeable guy.

Tony Snow was really a lesson in loving what you do. And doing it with a smile. And if you suddenly don’t love it, doing something else that you will love doing.

He was a breath of fresh air in the ordinarily bland and musty political landscape and he will be missed.

Barack Obama narrowed Hillary Clinton’s superdelegate lead, which was previously 200-something, to just 1, virtually locking him into the Democratic nomination. Too bad no one’s told Hillary yet:

Obama closed to within one superdelegate of Clinton, picking up the support of four party leaders after a flurry of new endorsements over the past two days. Clinton, meanwhile, picked up the votes of two superdelegates but lost one to Obama.

That brings Clinton’s superdelegate total to 273 and Obama’s to 272. At the beginning of the year, Clinton led the superdelegate race by more than 100. […]

Obama holds a commanding lead in the number of pledged delegates awarded from primaries and caucuses: 1,592 to Clinton’s 1,424.

Its been an interesting nomination process that has been drawn out way too long. But enough is enough. Its time to take on McCain and take back the White House.

Saturday Night Live had it right in their opening sketch featuring Amy Pohler as Hillary Clinton. Clinton is holding on when no other candidate would have. She’s a sore loser and her time is over. Drop out, Hillary, drop out!

#31 Jeff Burton won the Food City 500 at the always crazy Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday, after a late wreck by #20 Tony Stewart in the last two laps:

When Hamlin’s fuel pickup burped in Turn 4 of the next-to-last lap, it set up a 1-2-3 finish for Richard Childress Racing teammates Burton, Harvick and Bowyer on the .533-mile concrete short track that was resurfaced before the August race last year.

The Childress drivers also benefited when Harvick took out the race’s dominant car, Tony Stewart’s No. 20 Toyota, on Lap 498 to set up the two-lap run to the finish. After a restart on Lap 496, Hamlin passed Stewart for the lead. A lap later, in Turn 1, Harvick nosed inside Stewart, slid up into the No. 20 and sent Stewart spinning into the Turn 2 wall.

Stewart had led 267 laps to that point but had to settle for a 14th-place finish. It was the third consecutive spring race at Bristol where Stewart led the most laps, yet failed to win.

SMOKE UPDATE: Tony Stewart led 267 laps at Bristol, but was forced into a 14th-place finish due to the careless driving of #29 Kevin Harvick. Stewart and Harvick may be friends off the track, but as a #20 fan, I can admit I let out more than one expletive as I saw Smoke turned around with 2 laps left. Can’t Home Depot Racing catch a break this season?

Next up, the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway a week from Easter Sunday.