Foster takes seat from GOP  —  Democrat to succeed Hastert in Republican stronghold  —  In a stunning upset Saturday that could be a sign of trouble for Republicans this fall, a little-known Democratic physicist won the special election for a far west suburban congressional seat long held by former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

March 9: Ed Rendell, Tom Daschle, political roundtable  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Last night Barack Obama bounces back and wins the Wyoming caucuses after Hillary Clinton's big victories Tuesday in Ohio and Texas.  What now?  For the Obama campaign, the former Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

From the Right, He Looks Too Blue  —  Think real conservatives will vote for John McCain?  Don't count on it.  —  The conservative talk-show community?  Don't mind them — they're irrelevant.  —  This message from John McCain surrogates and other members of the political class is filling the airwaves and op-ed pages.

The Monster Mash  —  I was covered in barbecue sauce, somewhere over Texas, when Barack Obama loped down the aisle of the plane to chat with reporters.  —  I felt guilty, because I had been covering his speeches urging parents to make their kids give up chips and Popeyes.

Ten worst countries for women  —  In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain  —  The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.  —  But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants …

Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War  —  In the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making on Iraq, one of the key architects of the war blasts former secretary of state Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer …

Obama and the Pet Rock  —  In fall 1975 I remember sitting in the Stanford student lounge watching two apparently educated and bright students compare their pet rocks, as the craze spread all over Silicon Valley and then went national.  By summer few would admit they had purchased one.

Clinton campaign drops Celebi  —  The Clinton campaign is no longer taking contributions from a Turkish American who financed a film that depicted an American Jew trading in Iraqi body parts.  —  Mehmet Celebi had been listed on the presidential campaign website of U.S. Sen. Hilalry Rodham Clinton …

PRIMARY COLLARS....UPDATED....A couple of days ago I wondered aloud if we should really be worried about the attacks that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are leveling at each other right now.  Is John McCain really likely to use these attacks in TV ads during the general election?

How government makes things worse  —  WHAT DO ethanol and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common?  Each is a good reminder of that most powerful of unwritten decrees, the Law of Unintended Consequences - and of the all-too-frequent tendency of solutions imposed by the state to exacerbate the harms they were meant to solve.