GOP sees Rev. Wright as pathway to victory  —  For months, Republican party officials have watched with increasing trepidation as Barack Obama has shattered fundraising records, packed arena after arena with shrieking fans and pulled in significant Republican and independent votes.

Obama's lead over Clinton narrows: Reuters poll  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

Can't Grasp Credit Crisis?  Join the Club  —  Raise your hand if you don't quite understand this whole financial crisis.  —  It has been going on for seven months now, and many people probably feel as if they should understand it.  But they don't, not really.  The part about the housing crash seems simple enough.

Lame duck reporters are bored  —  When White House press secretary Dana Perino appeared on “The Daily Show” last week, host Jon Stewart asked how she got the day off: “Did they not need press secretarying today?”  —  These days, with President Bush largely relegated to the sidelines rather …

PATERSON GAL'S TAPE SHOCKER  —  OLYMPICS BABE BARES RECORDING & JOB ‘HE GOT ME’  —  An attractive Olympic gold-medalist says she had a close personal relationship with Gov. Paterson earlier this year - during which time she recorded a series of secret telephone conversations with him.

McCain Missteps on Iraq; Democrats Pounce  —  JERUSALEM — Senator John McCain's trip overseas was supposed to highlight his foreign policy acumen, and his supporters hoped that it would showcase him in a series of statesmanlike meetings with world leaders throughout the Middle East and Europe …

Black, White & Gray  —  In many ways, Barack Obama's speech on race was momentous and edifying.  —  You could tell it was personal, that he had worked hard on it, all weekend and into the wee hours Tuesday.  Overriding aides who objected to putting race center stage, he addressed a painful …

Cheney On Two-Thirds Of The American Public Opposing The Iraq War: ‘So?’  —  This morning, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, ABC's Good Morning America aired an interview with Vice President Cheney on the war.  During the segment, Cheney flatly told White House correspondent Martha Raddatz …

Paul slighted by the ‘neoconservative’ GOP  —  Ron Paul says the legions of newcomers his presidential campaign brought to the Republican Party are getting the cold shoulder from John McCain and from the party.  —  The Texas congressman says neither he nor his supporters have heard …

Obama and the Right  —  Andrew argues that the dismissive reactions to Obama's speech from the right are “palpably fueled by fear and racism.”  That's unfair and unfounded: As I suggested yesterday in detailing my own qualms about the speech, they're palpably fueled by the fact that Obama is a liberal.

Choose, or Lose in November  —  WE Democrats have a problem, but it's one we can fix.  —  We are blessed with two fine candidates, but it's entirely possible that when primary season ends on June 3, we will still lack a clear nominee.  Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could each still believe …

The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat  —  Listen Now  —  · Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message.  These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years.

‘Do-over is dead’  —  The headline from MIRS, Michigan's Hotline: … A Lansing insider IMs to explain the latest development: