Top Items:
New York Times:
81% in Poll Say Nation Is Headed on the Wrong Track — Americans are more dissatisfied with the country's direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll. — In the poll, 81 percent of respondents …
RELATED:
Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:
Clinton Camp Feels Spent, and Outspent — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spent a second straight day holding fundraisers in California yesterday as part of an all-out effort to keep pace with the record amounts of money raised by Sen. Barack Obama, whose campaign announced that it pulled …
Shailagh Murray / The Trail:
A Flush Obama Campaign Pulls Out All the Stops — What does $40 million a month buy a presidential candidate? A whole lot of airtime and office space. — Sen. Barack Obama's copious cash flow means he can compete as aggressively in the final Democratic contests as he did in the early days of the primary campaign.
Ed Ronco / South Bend Tribune:
Poll: Clinton, Obama neck and neck in Hoosier state — Obama is choice for 81 percent of black Democratic primary voters. — Sen. Barack Obama has a huge lead among younger voters in Indiana, Sen. Hillary Clinton holds the same lead with voters older than 60, and both candidates …
Charles Krauthammer / Real Clear Politics:
The Fabulist Vs. the Saint — WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton met her Waterloo at Tuzla. She'd been regaling audiences with tales of a dangerous landing under sniper fire in Tuzla 12 years ago and then running for cover. None of this occurred. When CBS provided the tape, she was forced to admit to “a misstatement.”
Discussion:
Soccer Dad
Associated Press:
Poll shows tight state primary race between Clinton, Obama — SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are running about even in their race to win Indiana's May 6 primary, according to a new statewide poll released Thursday. — The poll commissioned by WSBT-TV in South Bend …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
New York Times:
More Than 1,000 in Iraq's Forces Quit Basra Fight — BAGHDAD — More than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen either refused to fight or simply abandoned their posts during the inconclusive assault against Shiite militias in Basra last week, a senior Iraqi government official said Thursday.
Discussion:
rubber hose, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Impolitic, Informed Comment, Washington Monthly, Truthdig and MSNBC
RELATED:
Pamela Hess / Associated Press:
Report: Security in Iraq is improving — WASHINGTON - A new classified intelligence assessment on Iraq says there has been significant progress in security since the last assessment was delivered in August, a senior military official said. — In most ways the new National Intelligence Estimate hews closely …
Discussion:
Buck Naked Politics
Michael Cooper / New York Times:
McCain Sees King Speech as Chance to Mend Ties — MEMPHIS — Senator John McCain, who says he will court the African-American vote this year and campaign in places Republicans often shun, plans to speak here on Friday to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Discussion:
Spin Cycle
RELATED:
Michael Wines / New York Times:
New Signs of Mugabe Crackdown in Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe's government staged separate police raids on Thursday against the main opposition party, foreign journalists and at least one democracy advocate, raising the specter of a broad crackdown aimed at keeping the country's imperiled leaders in power.
RELATED:
Boston Globe:
McCain returns $3m in checks as he considers public funding — In another sign that John McCain is moving toward accepting public financing this fall, the Republican's campaign is returning about $3 million in checks to contributors who have given money for his general election campaign …
Michelle Malkin:
Absolut arrogance and the advertising agency behind the reconquista ad — You know what has been heartening the past two days as reaction to the Absolut Reconquista ad continues to pour in? The fact that so many of you still take our sovereignty seriously and are willing to give voice to your concerns without apologizing for it.
Nature:
Dangerous assumptions — Roger Pielke, Jr1, Tom Wigley2 & Christopher Green3 — Roger Pielke Jr is in the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0488, USA. — Christopher Green is in the Department of Economics, McGill University, Montreal H3A 2T7, Canada.
RELATED:
John Baer / Philly.com:
Obama could actually win this thing (the Pa. primary) — BARACK OBAMA had a pretty good week in Pennsylvania. — In a state that pollsters and analysts call tailor-made for Hillary Clinton, Obama is seriously challenging the fit. — So much so, some wonder if an unraveling's in the offing.
Virginia Postrel / The Atlantic Online:
The Peril of Obama — Barack Obama has brought glamour back to American politics—not the faux glamour-by-association of campaigning with movie stars or sailing with the Kennedys, but the real thing. The candidate himself is glamorous. Audiences project onto him the personal qualities …
Discussion:
Dynamist Blog
Senior Data Journalist, NY — 
Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — 
Oil Reporter, Singapore — 
Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — 
Business Reporter, SC — 
State Government Reporter, WA — 
Climate Crisis Columnist — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Community Engagement Mgr., DC — 
Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — 
Staff Writer - Business, NY — 
Team Editor - Opinion, ON — 
Assistant Correspondent, DC — 
Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — 
Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — 
Lead Business Reporter, TN — 
Managing Editor, WA — 
Private Credit Reporter, NY — 
Trending News Reporter, TX — 
City Correspondent, London — 
Legislative Reporter, CA — 
Reporter, PA — 
Visual Editor, Remote — 
Staff Writer, MI — 
Senior Political Reporter, DC — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — 
Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — 
Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — 
Coordinating Editor, OR — 
Editor, Remote US — 
Business Reporter, WA — 
Editor-in-Chief, AZ — 
