Top Items:
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Obama's Lead in Delegates Shifts Focus of Campaign — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama emerged from Tuesday's primaries leading Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by more than 100 delegates, a small but significant advantage that Democrats said would be difficult for Mrs. Clinton …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Brilliant at Breakfast and New York Daily News Blogs
RELATED:
New York Times:
Knocked Off Balance, Clinton Campaign Tries to Regain Its Stride — SAN ANTONIO — The Texas and Ohio presidential primaries, on March 4, have become must-win contests for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, her advisers say. So why is she just opening campaign field offices across those states?
Satyam / Think Progress:
Maverick Fails The Test: McCain Votes Against Waterboarding Ban — Today, the Senate brought the Intelligence Authorization Bill to the floor, which contained a provision from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) establishing one interrogation standard across the government.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Balkinization, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Impolitic, The Gate, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Monthly, Publius Pundit, The Seminal, Buck Naked Politics, michellemalkin.com, Democrats.senate.gov, DownWithTyranny!, The Reaction, Liberal Values, Human Rights First Blog, JammieWearingFool, Comments from Left Field, Gateway Pundit, The Newshoggers, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Hold Fast, Eschaton, Slog, Matthew Yglesias and AMERICAblog
RELATED:
Talal Al-Khatib / Political Radar:
McCain Adviser Won't Fight Obama — ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: On Wednesday, a top adviser to John McCain said more definitively than he has in the past that he will step down from the Arizona senator's presidential campaign if the presumed GOP nominee faces Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the general election.
Discussion:
The Fix, Jules Crittenden, The RBC, NPR, Outside The Beltway, Comments from Left Field, The Swamp, PoliPundit.com and Truthdig
RELATED:
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
CLINTON TO FIGHT FOR EVERY DELEGATE — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro — The Clinton campaign is not about to give up anything without a fight. — Strategists said in a conference call with reporters the campaign will go after delegates wherever they can be found — including in Michigan and Florida.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Political Machine, Brendan Nyhan, Oliver Willis, MyDD, The Democratic Daily, Digg and Left in the West
RELATED:
Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Clinton counts on superdelegates — WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton will take the Democratic nomination even if she does not win the popular vote, but persuades enough superdelegates to vote for her at the convention, her campaign advisers say. — The New York senator …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Hardbrawl — Last fall, as network executives, members of Congress and other hotshots gathered beneath a massive tent at Washington's Decatur House to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Hardball,” Chris Matthews began to address the crowd.
New York Times:
Making (Some) Progress in Iraq — Good news is rare in Iraq. But after months of bitter feuding, Iraq's Parliament has finally approved a budget, outlined the scope of provincial powers, set an Oct. 1 date for provincial elections and voted a general amnesty for detainees.
Angela K. Brown / Associated Press:
Texas Ban on Sex Toy Sales Is Overturned — FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned a statute outlawing sex toy sales in Texas, one of the last states — all in the South — to retain such a ban. — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas law making …
RELATED:
Steven Kreytak / Austin American-Statesman:
Court strikes down Texas ban on sex toys
Court strikes down Texas ban on sex toys
Discussion:
PoliBlog (TM), Obsidian Wings, PoliGazette, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Feministe, The Reaction, TBogg and Pandagon
Sara Robinson / Orcinus:
The Cult of Obama — Every political news outlet, from the networks to the blogs, is abuzz today with the question: Is the Obama phenomenon a cult? — People — particularly Hillary partisans — are eagerly putting this idea out there. I want to make it very clear before I get started …
Wall Street Journal:
Clinton Team Seeks to Calm Turmoil — MCALLEN, Texas — With Spanish music blaring, Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned across South Texas yesterday with a more populist message, as her new campaign manager sought to reshape a campaign that has lost eight straight primaries in a week.
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Candidates' Earmarks Worth Millions — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure more than $340 million worth of home-state projects in last year's spending bills, placing her among the top 10 Senate recipients of what are commonly known as earmarks, according to a new study by a nonpartisan budget watchdog group.
Eliot Spitzer / Washington Post:
Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime — How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers — Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders.
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
When We Torture — The most famous journalist you may never have heard of is Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera cameraman who is on a hunger strike to protest abuse during more than six years in a Kafkaesque prison system. — Mr. Hajj's fortitude has turned him into a household name in the Arab world …
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
Be My Political Valentine — Are you in love with a staffer on Capitol Hill, someone who works at a think tank, or just a plain, old political wonk? Well, then today's your lucky day because you can show them that you really do understand their weird obsession with monetary policy …
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Ethics Panel Admonishes Craig for Conduct in Sex Sting — Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) was rebuked yesterday by the Senate ethics committee over his conviction for disorderly conduct in an airport men's restroom, with the panel concluding that he committed the offense and citing him for actions …
RELATED: