2 fired over Obama passport file breach  —  Third employee at State disciplined over accessing candidate's records  —  Two contract employees of the State Department were fired and a third person was disciplined for accessing passport records of Sen. Barack Obama “without a need to do so …

Jeremiah Wright was White House guest  —  The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene.

McCain aide circulates Obama/Wright video, is suspended  —  An aide to John McCain was suspended from the campaign today for blasting out an inflammatory video that raises questions about Barack Obama's patriotism.  —  Soren Dayton, who works in McCain's political department …

Geraldine Ferraro resents being lumped in with the Rev. Wright in Obama speech  —  » See and hear the speech  —  Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said today that she objected to the comparison Sen. Barack Obama drew between her and his former pastor in his speech on race relations Tuesday.

A “TYPICAL WHITE PERSON”?!  —  I've expressed admiration for Barack Obama's political skills, but maybe, in a time of stress, his inexperience is beginning to show.  In an interview earlier today, he referred to his grandmother—the one he slandered in his speech on Tuesday—as a “typical white person.”

Guest: Amy Sullivan  —  AS I WAS SAYING....Good lord.  I always forget there's no presumption of good faith (no pun intended) in the blogosphere.  I should know better than to throw up a quick post, but let's all take a deep breath and start over.  —  I believe one of the reasons …

Obama's NCAA Bracket  —  CHARLESTON, W.V. - Even on the campaign trail, it's basketball time.  Yesterday, Senator Barack Obama played a morning round of hoops with soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina.  Today, as he arrived here for a campaign event, he completed his NCAA Final Four bracket.

Obama blew it  —  What the candidate should have said about race.  —  Tim Rutten's column, “Obama's Lincoln moment” and The Times editorial, “Obama on race” both miss the mark.  —  In my considered judgment as a race and civil rights specialist, I would say that Barack Obama's “momentous” …