Early Exit Poll Data in MD, VA  —  Highlights of preliminary exit poll data in the Maryland and Virginia presidential primaries Tuesday:  —  ___  —  CONSERVATIVES AND EVANGELICALS  —  Nearly seven in 10 voters in Virginia's Republican primary called themselves conservatives.

Clinton's Deputy Campaign Manager Steps Aside  —  Mike Henry, deputy campaign manager for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has resigned, according to a source familiar with the decision.  —  Henry tendered his resignation yesterday morning but worked the last two days on a volunteer basis.

Senate Passes Bill to Expand U.S. Spying Powers  —  WASHINGTON — After more than a year of heated political wrangling, the Senate handed the White House a major victory Tuesday by voting to broaden the government's spy powers after giving legal protection to phone companies that cooperated …

Gov. ‘Blunt Talk’ Rendell (and other topics)  —  So many topics, so little space:  —  Gov. Ed “Don't Call Me ‘Fast Eddie’ ” Rendell met with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week to talk about his latest budget.  But before turning the meeting over to his number-crunchers …

Heere Bigynneth the Tale of the Asse-Hatte.  —  1 Whan in Februar, withe hise global warmynge  —  2 Midst unseasonabyl rain and stormynge  —  4 Englande folke to goon pilgrimages.  —  5 Frome everiches farme and shire  —  6 Frome London Towne and Lancanshire  —  7 The pilgryms toward Canterbury wended

Battle-tested  —  Hillary Clinton fought the Republican attack machine, and emerged stronger  —  With the emergence of Sen. John McCain as the presumptive Republican nominee, the choice for the Democrats in the 2008 presidential election now shifts to who is best positioned to beat him …

William and Mary president resigns in disgrace  —  The head of the College of William and Mary, Gene Nichol, has resigned in disgrace.  Several readers send along his resignation letter.  You'll recall that he roiled the campus with his decision to hide the cross at the famous school chapel to make it “less faith-specific.”

When Kissinger Met the Bloggers  —  It was a bit like the great-grandson throwing a party for the patriarch.  On Monday night, the 6-year-old conservative blog Power Line gathered a group of the movement's luminaries — including  —  Henry A. Kissinger, William Kristol and Paul D. Wolfowitz …

Women ‘falling for Obama’  —  College Park, Maryland - You can see it in their flushed-face smiles and hear it in their screams.  They say the phenomenon is difficult to describe, but once they experience it they tell their friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, and they come back for more if they can.