The Long Run-Up  —  Behind the Bombshell in ‘The New York Times.’  —  RELATED CONTENT  —  'Charlie's Horse,' by S.V. Date (2/6/08)  —  Last night, around dinnertime, The New York Times posted on its website a 3,000-word investigation detailing Senator John McCain's connections to a telecommunications lobbyist named Vicki Iseman.

POLL: Clinton Up in Ohio, Dead Heat in Texas  —  Obama Leads in Electability in Primaries Critical to Democratic Race  —  Trailing in perceived electability, Hillary Clinton is running in a dead heat with Barack Obama in the Texas Democratic primary and holds a single-digit lead in Ohio …

Police concerned about order to stop screening  —  DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

Clinton, Obama throw few punches  —  AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama said while he and Sen. Hillary Clinton share a lot of policy positions, “there's a fundamental difference between us in terms of how change comes about.”  —  The Democratic presidential candidates are facing off …

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008  —  Based on polling conducted Feb. 18-20, 2008  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are now tied in national Democratic presidential preferences, based on Feb. 18-20 Gallup Poll Daily tracking.  —  The latest three-day average finds Clinton favored …

An Actual Debate!  —  Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.  —  Just when it looked like the debate between Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton would go quietly, the issue of plagiarism brought the two candidates out of their slumber.

Utah students hide guns, head to class  —  CNNU campus correspondent Joshua Molina is a senior at Brigham Young University.  CNNU is a feature that provides student perspectives on news and trends from colleges across the United States.  The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of CNN …

First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) Last Moment Belongs To Hillary  —  Talk about a final answer. … Almost wistful ... acknowledging reality... but forcefully asserting her humanity ... extremely, seemingly, genuine.  —  And at the right time... at the end …

When backing Barack feels like joining a cult  —  I'm an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night.  —  Suddenly, the impossible is real.  —  Suddenly, I'm nervous.  Very nervous, actually.  —  I'm nervous because an otherwise normal grownup told …

Obama lawyer warns of “reckoning” for Clinton 527 donors and staff  —  Obama lawyer Bob Bauer reiterated the charges made in a memo yesterday (after the jump) that the new pro-Clinton 527, the American Leadership, is breaking the law and warned that donors and aides to the group …

Liveblogging the debate  —  8:08 Hillary is looking chipper and trim; she's clearly one of those people who thrives on soul-crushing defeat.  Her speech, however, sets my teeth on edge.  She compares being uninsured to being racially discriminated against.