St. Pete Times Poll: Bye-bye Rudy?  —  It's Mitt Romney vs. John McCain in the final stretch of Florida's crucial Republican primary.  —  A new St. Petersburg Times poll shows the former Massachusetts governor and Arizona senator neck and neck among Florida Republicans, while Rudy Giuliani's Florida-or-bust strategy has been a bust.

Bill Clinton gets upset with CNN reporter  —  (CNN) - Bill Clinton became visibly upset Wednesday over comments by a prominent South Carolina Democrat that compared the former president's actions on the trail to those of infamous Republican strategist Lee Atwater.

Your Harry Reid-led Senate in action  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  Harry Reid — who has (a) done more than any other individual to ensure that Bush's demands for telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping powers will be met in full and (b) allowed the Republicans …

John Gibson Mocks ‘Weirdo’ Heath Ledger's Death: ‘He Found Out How To Quit You’  —  Opening his radio show with funeral music yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson callously mocked the death of actor Heath Ledger, calling him a “weirdo” with a “serious drug problem.”

“Legendary” GOP Strategist Launches Hillary Namecalling Effort  —  A couple of days ago, a group called Citizens United Not Timid filed papers with the IRS as a “527” organization.  Then we saw that Roger Stone had signed on as the group's “assistant treasurer."  Uh oh.

Advertisers Drop Savage Over Hateful Remarks, USO Hints At Suit  —  At least four major firms have pulled advertising from Michael Savage's nationally syndicated radio show following a campaign highlighting his inflammatory rhetoric.  One other company, Geico insurance, is expected to follow suit.

Hunter endorses Huckabee  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former presidential candidate, announced Wednesday he is endorsing Mike Huckabee's White House bid.  —  “I got to know Governor Huckabee well on the campaign trail,” Huckabee said in a statement.

No recession expected this year: Congressional Budget Office  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The slowing U.S. economy is unlikely to sink into an election-year recession and an economic rebound could begin as early as next year as housing and financial market turmoil fades, the Congressional Budget Office forecast on Wednesday.

Gore for same-sex marriage  —  Not sure what prompted this, but Al Gore has quietly released a video with a forceful endorsement of equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians.  It pushes the Democratic establishment that much closer to a position he now shares with Eliot Spitzer and some other leading Dems …

Exclusive: Hamas ‘spent months cutting through Gaza wall in secret operation’  —  James Hider of The Times at the Rafah border crossing  —  As tens of thousands of Palestinians clambered back and forth between the Gaza strip and Egypt today, details emerged of the audacious operation …

ABC News Badly Mischaracterizes Obama's Alleged “Testy Exchange” With Reporter  —  Okay, this is really a bad one.  Late yesterday, ABC News posted a story called: “Is Bill Clinton getting in Obama's head?"  —  The piece reported that Obama had had a “testy exchange” with New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny …