U.S. Armor Forces Join Offensive In Baghdad Against Sadr Militia  —  Americans Appear To Take the Lead As Iraqi Units Wait  —  U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day.

Obama would have left if Wright stayed  —  WASHINGTON - White House hopeful Barack Obama suggests he would have left his Chicago church had his longtime pastor, whose fiery anti-American comments about U.S. foreign policy and race relations threatened Obama's campaign, not stepped down.

Bob Casey to endorse Obama, join bus tour  —  Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president today in Pittsburgh, sending a message both to the state's primary voters and to undecided superdelegates who might decide the close race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton tells Democrats: Don't vote for McCain  —  FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) - Hillary Clinton pleaded for partisan unity on Thursday, urging Democrats not to abandon their party to vote for John McCain if their preferred candidate fails to secure the nomination.

Transcript: Sen. Christopher Dodd On The Fight For The Democratic Nomination  —  Q: I want to welcome Senator Chris Dodd.  He is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.  He was a presidential candidate this year — very well liked by many — and was in the '90s the general chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Exclusive Photos Show Al-Hanooti's Political Clout  —  Before he was alleged to have become a spy for Saddam Hussein's regime, Muthanna Al-Hanooti's charity work and political activism provided him with access to the highest echelons of government.  —  Newsletters collected by the Investigative Project …

Woman forced to rip out nipple ring  —  A WOMAN in the US says she was forced by airport security guards to remove her nipple rings with a pair of pliers before she could board a flight.  —  Mandi Hamlin, 37, is demanding a civil rights investigation, as well as an apology from federal security agents …

Bill Clinton: Caucuses ‘Killing Us’  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis, Sarah Amos, and Talal Al-Khatib Report: While speaking by phone Thursday to his wife's Texas supporters, former President Bill Clinton downplayed the importance of caucuses and argued that his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. …

Bloomberg and Obama Meet in the Big Apple.  Is the White House Next?  —  NEW YORK, NY—At 9:15 this morning, Barack Obama delivered a “major” economic address at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in downtown Manhattan.  That was Obama's entree du jour …

Loans and Leadership  —  When George W. Bush first ran for the White House, political reporters assured us that he came across as a reasonable, moderate guy.  —  Yet those of us who looked at his policy proposals — big tax cuts for the rich and Social Security privatization — had a very different impression.

The Hillary Deathwatch  —  GAUGING THE ODDS THAT CLINTON WILL WIN THE NOMINATION.  —  Hillary Clinton is as good as dead.  This became the consensus over the past week, when the media awoke en masse to the dual reality that 1) Clinton can't close the pledged-delegate gap and 2) Obama has her beat in the popular vote.

Obama now says he might have left church  —  In appearance taped for airing this morning on “The View,” Senator Obama makes news by saying he might have left Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ if the Rev. Jeremiah Wright had not retired.  —  In a clip posted by ABC, Obama says …

Clinton Details Premium Cap in Health Plan  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview on Wednesday that if elected president she would push for a universal health care plan that would limit what Americans pay for health insurance to no more than 10 percent of their income, a significant reduction for some families.