ON DEADLINE: Mitt Won, Authenticity Lost  —  WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney's victory in Michigan was a defeat for authenticity in politics.  —  The former Massachusetts governor pandered to voters, distorted his opponents' record and continued to show why he's the most malleable — and least credible — major presidential candidate.

Obama best choice for Democrats  —  Or do they prefer a re-run of 'It came from Little Rock'?  —  As state Democrats prepare to hold their Saturday caucuses, cynical Republicans might well encourage them to choose Sen. Hillary Clinton, figuring her high “negatives” — the unusual number …

“The Diebold Effect”: Hillary's Votes Higher From Diebold Machines Even Controlling for Demographics (education, income, population, etc)  —  In contrast to exit pre-election polls, the final vote tally from the NH democratic primary shows a surprise victory for Hillary Clinton.

Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters?  —  Libertarian movement veterans, and a Paul campaign staffer, say it was “paleolibertarian” strategist Lew Rockwell  —  Ron Paul doesn't seem to know much about his own newsletters.  The libertarian-leaning presidential candidate says he was unaware …

White House reused e-mail tapes  —  WASHINGTON - The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever.

CNN's John King responds  —  Over the weekend, I wrote about an adulating interview which CNN's John King conducted with John McCain while riding on the storied Straight Talk Express bus.  The interview was broadcast on “Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer.  In that post, I printed all of the …

Iraqi Spending to Rebuild Has Slowed, Report Says  —  Highly promising figures that the administration cited to demonstrate economic progress in Iraq last fall, when Congress was considering whether to continue financing the war, cannot be substantiated by official Iraqi budget records …

FRIED SQUIRREL: I'M LOVING IT!  —  Mike Huckabee explains how he'll appeal to SC voters by explaining how he and his crew ate fried squirrel made in a popcorn popper in college ...

The Democratic Debate in Las Vegas  —  The following is a transcript of the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, as provided by the Federal News Service.  —  DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE PARTICIPANTS:  —  FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL)  —  MODERATORS:

Robert Fisk: Bloody reality bears no relation to the delusions of this President  —  As a bomb explodes in Beirut and Israel kills 19 in Gaza raids, Bush takes his Middle East peace mission to Saudi Arabia (and signs off $20bn weapons deal with repressive regime)

CLINTON HATRED.  —  of last night's debate.  Edwards never even makes an appearance.  Obama, who Andrew is deeply committed to, hardly even qualifies as a walk-on character.  Instead, it's Clinton.  It's Clinton and Clinton and Clinton and Clinton.  At 9:30 we learn that “Just like Bush, she cannot talk about her own weakness.”

Ex-Congressman, U.N. Delegate Indicted as Part of Terrorist Fundraising Ring  —  WASHINGTON — A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an Al Qaeda and Taliban supporter …

High-Profile Officer Nagl to Leave Army, Join Think Tank  —  One of the Army's most prominent younger officers, whose writings have influenced the conduct of the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, said he has decided to leave the service to study strategic issues full time at a new Washington think tank.