Texas Democratic Presidential Primary  —  Texas: Clinton 54% Obama 38%  —  When Election 2008 began, long before the first votes were cast, Senator Hillary Clinton led in the national polls but trailed Barack Obama in the key state of Iowa.  Many remarked upon the difference between those national and state numbers.

Let's Revote in Michigan and Florida  —  Democrats are headed for a trainwreck in campaign '08 that threatens to produce a tainted Democratic presidential nominee and, worse, a divisive and delegitimized presidential contest.  —  Recall that when Michigan and Florida moved up their primaries …

Matthews Calls Clinton Press Shop “Lousy”, “Kneecappers”  —  Chris Matthews fired a salvo at the Clinton campaign this morning after both he and his MSNBC colleague were privately and publicly rebuked for recent comments deemed misogynistic or inappropriate.

The Problems with Obama  —  Under pressure to produce some facts and specifics, the Obama team is beginning to release a little on the economy, taxes, and new entitlements.  But the problem is that Obama himself seems not familiar with the details, and still prefers talking only about hope and change.

The Clintons' Beef With the Media  —  Are the news media being beastly to Hillary Clinton?  Are political reporters and commentators — as Bill Clinton suggested but didn't quite come out and say in a radio interview Tuesday — basically in the tank for Barack Obama?

Mao offered U.S. 10 million women  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese leader Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.

Parsing Support for Campaign Finance Reform  —  The AP reports that McCain scolds Obama on campaign funds  —  “If Senator Obama goes back on his commitment to the American people, then obviously we'd have to rethink our position,” McCain said.  “Our whole agreement was that we would take public financing …

WHITE MEN WITH OBAMA SINCE THE BEGINNING  —  Much was made this week of Obama's performance among white men in Virginia.  Indeed, his support with white men was seen as both the key to Obama's Potomac Primary victories, as well as a sign of broadening support to include those formerly in Clinton's base.

Waxman Regrets Hearing Was Held  —  WASHINGTON — A day after a dramatic, nationally televised hearing that pitted Roger Clemens against his former personal trainer and Democrats against Republicans, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Thursday …

BAE: papers reveal Saudi threats  —  Spectre of ‘another 7/7’ led Tony Blair to block bribes inquiry, high court told  —  Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Jihadis throw a wild bash over the Protect America Act  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  What can one even say about this quote, included in Carl Hulse's NYT article on the Democrats' refusal yesterday to pass the Senate's FISA bill before expiration of the Protect America Act:

Experts Scoff at Sat Shoot-Down Rationale (Updated)  —  The Pentagon says it has to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite because of the threat of a toxic gas cloud.  Space security experts are calling the rationale highly unlikely.  “Having the US government spend millions of dollars …

‘Porkbusters’ boot GOP leadership rep from list  —  Angered by the decision of Republican leaders to not give earmark foe Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, a coalition of fiscal conservative groups is kicking the GOP leadership's representative off its mailing list.

Obama Imitates Olmert  —  Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has one of the lowest approval ratings in his country's history thanks to his disastrous prosecution of the July 2006 war in Lebanon against Hezbollah.  —  Nevertheless, and contrary to Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's delusional …

Rep. Lewis: Report of delegate switch to Obama ‘not accurate’  —  A story in Friday New York Times that said U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was going to back Barack Obama for president is inaccurate, a spokeswoman for the former civil rights leader told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning.

MI/FL: The DNC Changed The Rules  —  This horse has long been beaten to death, but this thoughtful diary about the MI/FL fiasco ignores the fact that, as commenter dhonig points out, it was the DNC that changed the rules of what the punishment would be for moving up the Mi and FL primaries.