Clinton badly needs Virginia victory  —  Tuesday's Chesapeake primary seems likely to continue propelling Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in opposite directions.  —  Obama has hearty leads and distinct demographic advantages in each of the three contests: Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

WE BEEN ROBBED  —  Here's a press release just put out by the Huckabee campaign ...

Clinton v. Obama: The Lawsuit  —  What splendid theater the Democratic Party presidential nominating process is shaping up to be.  And they are just getting started.  The real fun would be a convention deadlock denouement a few months from now, the prospect of which is already quickening …

Hate Springs Eternal  —  In 1956 Adlai Stevenson, running against Dwight Eisenhower, tried to make the political style of his opponent's vice president, a man by the name of Richard Nixon, an issue.  The nation, he warned, was in danger of becoming “a land of slander and scare …

Michelle Obama Solidifies Her Role in the Election  —  On a conference call to prepare for a recent debate, Barack Obama brainstormed with his top advisers on the fine points of his positions.  Michelle Obama had dialed in to listen, but finally couldn't stay silent any longer.

Roy Scheider, Actor in ‘Jaws,’ Dies at 75  —  Roy Scheider, a stage actor with a background in the classics who became one of the leading figures in the American film renaissance of the 1970s, died on Sunday afternoon in Little Rock, Ark. He was 75 and lived in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Obama's Path to Victory  —  Last summer, George W. Bush told The Washington Examiner's Bill Sammon that Hillary Clinton would probably be the 2008 Democratic nominee.  “She's got a national presence and this is becoming a national primary,” he said.  “And therefore the person …

Calif. Rep. Tom Lantos dies  —  WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has died.  He was 80.  —  Spokeswoman Lynne Weil said Lantos died early Monday at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland.

Bush orders security clampdown on flights to US  —  EU officials furious as Washington says it wants extra data on all air passengers  —  The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel …

Wiretap Showdown  —  The Senate takes up wiretapping of foreign terrorists this week, and the stakes couldn't be higher.  Not only for the ability of our spooks to eavesdrop on al Qaeda, but also regarding Congressional and judicial intrusion into Presidential war powers.

Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning  —  WASHINGTON — The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information.  But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret.  —  That is what happened to a detailed study …

CHICKEN NEWS  —  THE folks at Fox News Channel are magnanimous enough to put their rivals from CNN on air, but CNN isn't big enough to return the favor.  Geraldo Rivera - who has a new book coming out, “His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.” - was booked to appear on Nancy Grace's CNN show on Feb. 28.

Pelosi calls Iraq a ‘failure’  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said twice Sunday that Iraq “is a failure,” adding that President Bush's troop surge has “not produced the desired effect.”  —  “The purpose of the surge was to create a secure time for the government of Iraq …

You saw the Obama video, now watch the McCain one  —  Please watch this.  It's from my friend Andy Cobb and his brilliant cast of insane comedians and actors out in Hollywood.  (For anyone who hasn't seen the Obama video, you can watch it here first to get a flavor of the parody.)  I laughed out loud.