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New NBC-WSJ poll — From NBC's Chuck Todd — As expected, one of the two major Democratic candidates saw a downturn in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, but it's not the candidate that you think. Hillary Clinton is sporting the lowest personal ratings of the campaign.
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Pastor Flap Hasn't Hurt Obama — WASHINGTON — The racially charged debate over Barack Obama's relationship with his longtime pastor hasn't much changed his close contest against Hillary Clinton, or hurt him against Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Pollster.com, Examining Presidential …, Donklephant, Washington Wire and Poll Dancing

Clinton Insists Dems Race Is a ‘Long Way’ From Over, Looks Toward Convention — The Democratic race is a “long way from being over,” Hillary Clinton told FOX News on Wednesday, and she has no qualms about taking the primary fight all the way to the convention floor.

CLINTON TACTICS TURN OFF SOME SUPERDELEGATES — From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger — At a time when Sen. Hillary Clinton is increasingly relying on superdelegates to vault her to the Democratic Party's nomination, a handful of undecided and pledged superdelegates are coming forward …


GOP Looks to ‘McCain Democrats’ — A new analysis of March polling data suggests that John McCain's cross-party support surpasses that of either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. — According to data provided by the Gallup Organization at Politico's request, in a hypothetical contest between McCain …

US: Saddam Paid for Lawmakers' Iraq Trip — Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. — An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti …
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We don't call him “Baghdad Jim” for nothing; Plus: Another treacherous CAIR official

Finding Political News Online, the Young Pass It On — Senator Barack Obama's videotaped response to President Bush's final State of the Union address — almost five minutes of Mr. Obama talking directly to the camera — elicited little attention from newspaper and television reporters in January.
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Welcome to the age of the sound blast — If 1960 was the year that TV displaced radio as the main platform for political persuasion, then the 2008 primary fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton may go down in history as the moment when the Internet ended the dominance of television.
Discussion:
The Other McCain

Clinton backers warn Pelosi on superdelegate rift — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of prominent Hillary Clinton donors sent a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday asking her to retract her comments on superdelegates and stay out of the Democratic fight over their role in the presidential race.
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Redstate
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In Letter, Top Clinton Donors Chastise Pelosi For Statements About Super-Delegates
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Report Assails Auditor for Work at Failed Home Lender — In a sweeping accusation against one of the country's largest accounting firms, an investigator released a report on Wednesday that said “improper and imprudent practices” by a once high-flying mortgage company were condoned and enabled by its auditors.
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Pentagon says new Iraq fighting arises from surge's success — WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon on Wednesday said an eruption of violence in southern Iraq, where US-backed government forces were battling Shiite militias, was a “by-product of the success of the surge.”
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Outside The Beltway, Donklephant, The Reaction, PoliGazette, Balloon Juice and VetVoice
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IT'S THE BLOOMY-'BAMA SHOW — Mayor Bloomberg made a surprise announcement last night that he will introduce Barack Obama when the Illinois senator makes a campaign speech today at Cooper Union. — The mayor's office took the highly unusual step of releasing information about the event late last night.
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Public Believes Americans Have Right to Own Guns — Nearly three in four say Second Amendment guarantees this right — PRINCETON, NJ — A solid majority of the U.S. public, 73%, believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns.
Discussion:
Convictions

Blackwater Fever — It's new, it's so bad they named it after the hated American mercenaries, because it kills the innocent just like they do. Slamming Blackwater is always fun and really adds some zing to this story suggesting that an Iraqi malaria epidemic is being kept secret.
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Standing By His Man — Why Obama was right in not repudiating his pastor. — The power of the preacher is an unmeasured force in American life. Of course, now that it has become an issue in a political campaign, we are focusing on the one minister and the one candidate whose lives …
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Further Debunking the ‘War Zone’ Myth — The Clinton campaign has cited newspaper accounts, including one in The Washington Post, to bolster the senator's claim that her now-famous March 1996 trip to Bosnia was the first visit to a “war zone” by a first lady since World War II.
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Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans — Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. — But to arm the Afghan forces …

Family Ties — Any serious discussion of race must address out-of-wedlock births. — SAY THIS FOR Barack Obama's big speech: It is still being analyzed this week, and it will be analyzed more in the weeks and months ahead. Senator Obama went beyond the controversy over his former pastor …
Discussion:
RIGHTWINGSPARKLE


MARRIAGE HITS LOWEST RATE SINCE RECORDS BEGAN ALMOST 150 YEARS AGO — The number of Britons tying the knot has collapsed to a record low, it has emerged. — The proportion of men and women getting married is below any level found since figures were first kept nearly 150 years ago.


Colombia says it found uranium linked to FARC — The seizure of up to 66 pounds of low-grade uranium linked to the FARC rebels adds weight to the evidence found in a captured rebel laptop that the guerrillas were interested in buying and selling the material, according to the Colombian Defense Ministry.