Super Delegates To Determine Nominee  —  It can no longer be avoided: super delegates will determine the Democratic Presidential nominee this year.  Here is the current situation:  — With Michigan and Florida removed from the equation, 2,025 delegates are required to win the nomination, and there are 3,253 pledged delegates.

Limbaugh Defends Clinton and Obama on Iraq  —  Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is so exasperated about Senator McCain's surge in the Republican presidential contest that he is coming to the defense of Senators Clinton and Obama.  —  On Mr. Limbaugh's program today, he said people should not be rushing …

Actor Jack Nicholson Endorses Hillary for President  —  In a surprise announcement on this morning's Rick Dees show, Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.  —  “Mrs. Clinton has been involved in issues, everything from health care, which we know and prison reform …

The Cooper Concerns  —  I'm not a Hillary-hater.  She's been an outstanding senator.  She hung tough on Iraq through the dark days of 2005.  In this campaign, she has soldiered on bravely even though she has most of the elected Democrats, news media and the educated class rooting against her.

As 24 States Vote, a Grab for Delegates, and an Edge  —  Brace yourself.  —  Forty-three presidential nominating contests in 24 states.  Channel upon channel of the commentators talking about exit polls.  The biggest prize of the night — California — being decided well after most viewers have headed for bed.

Dems set for fight on Bush budget  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush set the stage Monday for an election-year battle over spending priorities by proposing a $3.1 trillion budget that cuts spending and taxes while more than doubling the federal deficit.  —  Bush sent his 2009 budget to Congress …

Time Runs Out for an Afghan Held by the U.S.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Abdul Razzaq Hekmati was regarded here as a war hero, famous for his resistance to the Russian occupation in the 1980s and later for a daring prison break he organized for three opponents of the Taliban government in 1999.

Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go  —  For more than half a century, Americans have proved staggeringly resourceful at finding new ways to spend money.  —  In the 1950s and '60s, as credit cards grew in popularity, many began dining out when the mood struck or buying …

What's Really in the U.S. Military Budget?  —  MUCH MORE THAN THE OFT-CITED $515.4 BILLION.  —  It's time for our annual game: How much is really in the U.S. military budget?  —  As usual, it's about $200 billion more than most news stories are reporting.

Bizarre Bedfellows for Barack  —  On the eve of Super Tuesday, the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama race resembles the closing minutes of a football game: Team Clinton has a small lead, but Team Obama has the ball—and the momentum.  Some of that momentum derives from an extraordinary, if unspoken …

Dissonance on Iraq  —  Cartoonish views of the war.  —  CONVENTIONAL WISDOM HAS it that, unlike in Vietnam, there is bipartisan support for “the troops” in Iraq despite the many arguments over the conduct of the war and whether U.S. forces should remain in Mesopotamia.

On McCain's Voting Coalition  —  An argument being proffered by Romney supporters is that McCain's victories in the early states have been due to the conservative vote being split among many candidates.  By this thinking, McCain would have lost South Carolina and maybe Florida if conservatives …

Obama the choice of Democrats in Indonesia  —  (CNN) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the first battle of the Super Tuesday showdown when Democratic Party voters in Indonesia — where Obama spent four years of his childhood — picked him over Sen. Hillary Clinton.