Poll: Obama, McCain lead in Va.  —  Both enjoy sizable leads over rivals as primary approaches Tuesday  —  Barack Obama and John McCain may be cruising toward blowout wins in Virginia's presidential primary Tuesday.  —  Among the Democrats, the poll conducted for the Richmond Times-Dispatch …

A LITTLE WEIRD  —  As you know, John McCain lost two of the three contests yesterday.  He was losing narrowly in Washington state and then pulled ahead by a narrow margin (less than two points) toward the end.  But then with 87% of the returns counted, the Washington state GOP, which runs the caucuses stopped releasing results.

The Rules of the Game  —  Chris Bowers is outraged by the prospect of superdelegates determining the winner of the Democratic primary.  Kevin Drum is blasé.  I'll take a middle ground view — I think Chris is right to think it'd be a pretty bitter pill to swallow if that's how things shake out …

Driving A Wedge  —  The Drudge Report is a right-wing site that is used to drive right-wing propaganda into the large, corporate media outlets.  When a story is featured at the Drudge Report, you always have to ask why, and ask what is the right's intent behind getting this story into circulation.

Accounting 101: The Clintons  —  Where did Hillary Clinton get the money for her $5 million loan to her campaign?  —  Jonathan Torgovnik for Newsweek  —  On Board: Hillary and Bill Clinton on her campaign plane last month  —  Hillary and Bill Clinton are not nearly as wealthy as, say …

Chris Wallace: probing, hard-nosed journalist  —  Chris Wallace interviewed George Bush today on Fox News and, after asking Bush about his views on waterboarding, this was the “question” which Wallace — sitting next to Bush in front of a cozy fireplace (after a borderline-romantic stroll …

Next Up for the Democrats: Civil War  —  WHAT if a presidential candidate held what she billed as “the largest, most interactive town hall in political history” on national television, and no one noticed?  —  The untold story in the run-up to Super Tuesday was Hillary Clinton's elaborate live prime …

The Moran endorsement  —  That's a useful nod in Northern Virginia, but comes with serious baggage, in the form of long-running dislike of Moran in active parts of the Jewish community.  Moran's suggestion that the Israel lobby helped start the Iraq War drew him wide condemnation on Capitol Hill, including from Pelosi.

Conservatives learn to live with McCain  —  Conservatives have already found something to like about John McCain: They think he can win in November.  —  According to interviews with a dozen leading conservatives at the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference …

Obama will be assassinated if he wins: Nobel winner Lessing … If Barack Obama becomes the next US president he will surely be assassinated, British Nobel literature laureate Doris Lessing predicted in a newspaper interview published here Saturday.  —  Obama, who is vying to become …

Ashcroft: Bush is ‘the most respectful’ ever of civil liberties.  —  In a speech to Missouri Republicans yesterday, former attorney general John Ashcroft defended President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program and his record on civil liberties, declaring that Bush is “among the most respectful …