Obama claims delegate lead  —  In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night.  —  Clinton was portrayed in many news accounts …

The Repudiation of Rove  —  John McCain had a surprising but pleasant evening last night — watching Mitt Romney go down to defeat in nearly every contest and encountering a newly victorious but ultimately unnominatable Mike Huckabee all across the Bible Belt.

Super Tuesday Fallout: Where The Race Goes From Here  —  Hillary Clinton's strength among core Democratic constituencies — women, Latinos and working class whites — pushed her to victory in the mega-state primaries of California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts on Tuesday, slowing …

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.

SUPERDELEGATES.  —  I really, really hope the Democratic primary doesn't come down to superdelegates — the privileged class of delegate that gets to vote however they want, and were created to ensure that party elites didn't lose too much control over the process.

Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi’  —  On the NBC Today Show, liberal radio host Rachel Maddow, conservative pundit Pat Buchanan, and Democratic strategist Paul Begala discussed the importance of “change” in the upcoming election.  Voters want a “clean break from Bush,” argued Maddow.

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 …

Seven Reasons To Support The GOP's Nominee  —  As of this morning, McCain has earned 615 delegates and 4,220,296 votes; Romney 268 delegates and 3,497,341 votes, and Huckabee 169 delegates and 2,232,530 votes.  —  Senator McCain has a clear path to the nomination, Romney a very uphill battle …

After tough Tuesday, Romney forces to meet on next steps  —  Mitt Romney knew John McCain would be a tough competitor on Super Tuesday.  —  What he didn't count on was Mike Huckabee's strong showing, which stopped Romney from staying close to McCain in the delegate chase for the nomination.

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 …

Kumbya Convo  —  Mary Matalin had some creative thinking for John McCain this morning, in conversation with NRO, based on the idea that “McCain still failing to win conservatives anywhere, even where he wins.”  —  A “trust but verify” strategy for McCain might include:

Ted Haggard Quits New Life ‘Restoration Team’  —  Technically, it only took three weeks of intensive “restoration” a full year ago to make Ted Haggard a “complete heterosexual.”  But on Tuesday night, the new pastor of the Colorado Springs megachurch that Haggard founded has announced …

Intelligence Chief Cites Qaeda Threat to U.S.  —  WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda is gaining in strength from its refuge in Pakistan and is steadily improving its ability to recruit, train and position operatives capable of carrying out attacks inside the United States, the director of national intelligence told a Senate panel on Tuesday.