Clinton likens herself to ‘Rocky’  —  PHILADELPHIA - Perhaps the analogy was inevitable: Hillary Rodham Clinton as Rocky Balboa, the scrappy underdog boxer from Philadelphia memorably depicted in the 1976 Oscar-winning film.  Even if Rocky did lose his first big fight.

Gallup Daily: Obama 49%, Clinton 45%  —  McCain has slight edge over both Democrats  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows a closer Democratic nomination race than has been the case in recent days, with 49% of Democratic voters nationwide saying they are most likely …

Exclusive Poll: Clinton's Lead Shrinks In Pa.  —  Clinton Leads By 12 Points, Survey Finds  —  If the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania were held Tuesday, April 1, Hillary Clinton would defeat Barack Obama by 12 percentage points, according to a recent SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively …

Why al-Maliki attacked Basra  —  The three reasons the Iraqi prime minister launched his ill-fated assault on the Sadrists of southern Iraq.  —  Mahdi army fighters stand next to a burning Iraq armored police vehicle in Basra, Iraq, March 30, 2008.  —  Why did Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attack …

Flying penguins found by BBC programme  —  The BBC will today screen remarkable footage of penguins flying as part of its new natural history series, Miracles of Evolution.  —  Camera crews discovered a colony of Adélie penguins while filming on King George Island, some 750 miles south of the Falkland Islands.

Cleaver's bluntness  —  In an unusually frank interview on Canadian public radio, CBC, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Kansas City — a Hillary supporter and superdelegate — gives a sense of how tenuous Clinton's hold on many black superdelegates is.  —  “If I had to make a prediction right now …

American political economics in one picture  —  Look at the figure below, and then look at it again, and again, and again.  It is the most telling picture about the U.S. political economy I have ever seen.  —  It comes from Princeton political scientist Larry Bartels' new book, soon to be released.

Elizabeth Edwards Responds: Why Are People Like Me Left Out Of Your Health Care Proposal, Sen. McCain?  —  Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Presidential candidate John Edwards.  —  I freely admit that I am confused about the role of overnight funding in repurchase markets in the collapse of Bear Stearns.

Obama's Oil Spill  —  Obama says he doesn't take money from oil companies.  We say that's a little too slick.  —  In a new ad, Obama says, “I don't take money from oil companies.”  —  Technically, that's true, since a law that has been on the books for more than a century prohibits corporations …

Lights out at MichelleMalkin.com Update (noon): Flipped the switch  —  Update: It's noon and I've flipped the switch back on.  Let there be light!  —  Today I am going dark.  —  We've turned out the lights at MichelleMalkin.com.  Why?  To raise awareness of empty awareness-raising gestures …

Clinton's convention strategy in doubt  —  If the fight over whether to count the results in Florida and Michigan makes it to the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton will not have enough pledged votes on the 169-member Credentials Committee to deliver a majority decision in her favor …

Pentagon balked on gay partner travel  —  Prior to the Easter recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to intervene with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in order to get Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin's domestic partner on a military flight for a congressional fact-finding trip to Europe.

Negotiations May Lead to Mugabe's Exit in Zimbabwe  —  HARARE, Zimbabwe — The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is in talks with advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe, amid signs that some of those close to Mr. Mugabe may encourage him to resign, a Western diplomatic source …

Inside the Black Budget  —  Clockwise from top left: Ghost Squadron.  For search and rescue; National Reconnaissance Office.  Dragon is code for infrared imaging on advanced KH-11 satellites; Desert Prowler.  May represent Groom Lake, Nev., a k a Area 51; Special Projects Office.

Matthews on Obama: “[T]his gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody”  —  On the March 31 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, discussing Sen. Barack Obama's bowling performance at a March 29 campaign stop at Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona, Pennsylvania …