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.

Clinton camp splits on message  —  A strategist who favors emphasizing strength and experience prevails over advisors who think she should show warmth and empathy.  —  WASHINGTON — Before the Iowa caucuses, senior aides to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton fell into a heated argument during …

Obama Wins Democrats Abroad Primary  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama won the Democrats Abroad global primary in results announced Thursday, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living …

Obama's New Vulnerability  —  In campaigns, there are sometimes moments when candidates shift ground, causing the race to change dramatically.  Tuesday night was one of those moments.  —  Hammered for the 10th contest in a row, Hillary Clinton toughened her attacks on Barack Obama …

HOW WE LIVE NOW.  —  a great essay on the need to think about the impacts of driving far beyond the simple fact of tailpipe exhaust.  I was particularly struck by this: … And denser areas are also more livable.  They're more walkable, which is shown to make people healthier, and more social, which is shown to make them happier.

Video of Spy Satellite Getting Shot Down  —  Watch as General Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and apparently Jack Bauer's older brother) shows how the Aegis missile launches and successfully destroys the rogue spy satellite.  This is a huge success for the Pentagon …

“Associates” = “Lobbyists”?  —  Here is the most explosive graph from the Times story: … “Associates” — that's an umbrella term for friends, family members, aides and the like.  But if the Times really had former paid campaign staffers — aides — making these allegations, it would have attributed them to “aides.”

Biggest brain drain from UK in 50 years  —  Britain is experiencing the worst “brain drain” of any country as highly qualified professionals settle abroad, an authoritative international study showed yesterday.  —  Record numbers of Britons are leaving - many of them doctors …

‘What Is There To Debate?’  —  Every time we suggested dropping Ron Paul from the national debates, his supporters would go nuts.  They claimed in the one instance where he did get dropped, the January 3rd debate just before Iowa, that a grand conspiracy existed to keep his message from the people and to stop the 4% revolution.

Even blowing his nose, Obama gets applause  —  DALLAS - It's probably safe to say that you have arrived as a politician when your audience applauds when you blow your nose.  —  Yes, just a day before a debate in Texas, Sen. Barack Obama has a head cold.  —  And about a half-hour into a speech here …

Playing the ‘Fair’ Card  —  Judging from complaints by her minions, Hillary Clinton considers it unfair that Barack Obama has been wafted close to the pinnacle of politics by an updraft from the continent-wide swoon of millions of Democrats and much of the media brought on by his Delphic utterances such as “we are the change.”