State poll shows huge gains by Obama, McCain  —  A startling surge of support for Barack Obama has catapulted the Illinois senator into a virtual tie with Hillary Rodham Clinton in California's Democratic presidential primary, a Field Poll released Saturday shows.

Crackup?  Not So Fast.  —  Calm down.  The GOP's demise isn't as imminent as some would have it.  —  “We are at the end of the Reagan era.”  Or, at least, that is the claim of voices as diverse as Newt Gingrich and Ed Rollins on the right and Sen. Chuck Schumer and pollster Stanley Greenberg on the left.

Blogroll Amnesty Day Anniversary  —  About a year ago, the Gated Community Blogs began a delinking policy that commenced under the odious name of “Blogroll Amnesty Day.”  Within the space of a few days, it was plainly apparent that A-listers such as Daily Kos and Atrios/Eschaton had tossed …

STAY SANE THROUGHOUT 2008: SUBSCRIBE TO NR (50% OFF!)  HERE.  —  I get more mail each day along these lines: … This problem is entirely of Romney's making.  He needed a Mister-Moderator-I'm-paying-for-this- microphone moment, and every time McCain offered him one, with some contemptuous snarl …

The Glenn and Helen Show: Mitt Romney Talks Super Tuesday  —  We've already done our big get-to-know-you interview with Mitt Romney, but with Super Tuesday coming up in a couple of days and the race tight, we thought we'd catch up with him again.  We asked him about gun control …

There Will Be Blood  —  Suddenly, everyone was in the mood for love.  Would the scream team turn into the dream team?  —  After Thursday's Democratic debate, CNN's Carol Costello said there were “heart palpitations” and “ripples of joy” in the glittery Kodak Theater audience at the idea …

Evangelicals a Liberal Can Love  —  At a New York or Los Angeles cocktail party, few would dare make a pejorative comment about Barack Obama's race or Hillary Clinton's sex.  Yet it would be easy to get away with deriding Mike Huckabee's religious faith.  —  Liberals believe deeply …

Fall back, men, Afghanistan is a nasty war we can never win  —  Britain's commanders ignored every warning that the Taliban were the toughest fighters on earth  —  The American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, flies to Britain this week to meet a crisis entirely of London and Washington's creation.

The Wrong Experience  —  Clinton has immense experience and is an attractive candidate.  But she is terrified to act on her beliefs.  —  The Democratic Party's two remaining candidates have become so cordial toward one another that you could easily believe there are few substantive differences between them.

Getting Past the '60s?  It's Not Going to Happen.  —  Getting Past the '60s?  It's Not Going to Happen.  —  O ne of the most fascinating notions raised by the current presidential campaign is the idea that the United States can and must finally overcome the divisions of the 1960s.

State Secret Abuses Come to a Boil  —  Imagine members of a Mission Impossible team listening to their assignment.  They get the usual warning about the government disowning them if they're caught.  Then the voice on the tape casually adds, “If we screw up, don't even think of complaining, much less suing.”

Berkeley's Marine Corps Recruiting Center Controversy  —  Protest by World Can't Wait and Code Pink  —  As noted in an earlier zombietime report, the radical group Code Pink has since September of 2007 been staging protests in front of a U.S. Marine Corps' “Officer Selection Office” …

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags  —  DUBLIN — There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape.  There are taxis and buses.  There are hip bars and pollution.  Every other person is talking into a cellphone.  But there are no plastic shopping bags, the ubiquitous symbol of urban life.

Bush Against Romney  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — While President George W. Bush has maintained neutrality among contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, he privately expresses to friends his exasperation with Mitt Romney's hard-line stance on immigration.