Clinton and Obama Trade Victories  —  N.Y. Senator Withstands Push By Surging Rival in Key Battlegrounds  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won victories over Sen. Barack Obama in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York last night, giving her presidential campaign a crucial boost.

Berman's count: 606-534  —  David Plouffe, on a conference call just now, offered the Obama campaign's estimate of where they stand at this moment in terms of delegates.  —  “We are, in terms of delegates, ahead currently: about 606 to 534, in terms of pledged delegates awarded tonight,” he said.

The Morning After  —  I think John O'Sullivan is right.  There was an explicit anti-Romney vote in the South.  A mere month ago, in the wake of Iowa and New Hampshire, I received a ton of e-mails from southern readers saying these pansy northern states weren't the “real” conservative heartland …

McCain piles up delegates while Dems split theirs  —  (CNN) — Sen. John McCain cemented his Republican front-runner status Tuesday, piling up big wins coast to coast, according to CNN projections.  —  Democratic voters remain evenly split on Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen Barack Obama for their party's nomination.

Who Won Super Tuesday?  —  It's hard to say, but if you put a gun in my head, I'd say John McCain and (very slightly) Hillary Clinton, but the elections revealed weaknesses in McCain and in both of the leading Democratic candidates.  McCain blunted Mitt Romney's challenge, but he failed consistently to win over conservative voters.

SUMMING IT UP  —  Before we give way to the night, let me try to pull together some rough thoughts on what happened here tonight.  It's probably best to start with the indisputable facts.  I haven't had a chance to look at the popular vote.  But every estimate I've seen says this was close to an exact tie in delegates.

Top Officer Calls U.S. Forces ‘Stressed’  —  Top Uniformed Officer Says U.S. Forces ‘Significantly Stressed’ by Iraq, War on Terror  —  The military's top uniformed officer says U.S. forces are “significantly stressed” by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan while simultaneously trying to stem the tide of violent extremism elsewhere.

Hill looks back on Giuliani's campaign  —  Following his decisive victories in a number of presidential primaries yesterday, many within the conservative establishment have turned their focus to Arizona Senator John McCain, who appears at this point to have the edge in securing his party's nomination …

NRCC probe scares GOP  —  Top House Republicans were told in recent days that a former employee of their campaign committee may have forged an official audit during the contentious 2006 election cycle and that they should brace for the possibility that an unfolding investigation …

Democrats shatter turnout primary season records  —  (CNN) — Though the fate of the Democratic race to the nomination remains uncertain, one thing is for sure: voters are turning out for the Democratic primaries in number that absolutely shatter previous records — which may be a troubling sign …