Iraq and Its Costs  —  When Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress tomorrow, he will step into an American political landscape dramatically different from the one he faced when he last spoke on Capitol Hill seven months ago.  —  This time Gen. Petraeus returns to Washington having led …

Obama May Not Have Fully Contained Damage From Ex-Pastor  —  Sen. Barack Obama's Philadelphia speech on race relations last month seemed to put the controversial remarks of his former pastor behind him.  But three weeks later, there is evidence of lingering damage.

No Really, You Should Go  —  Wretched rationalizations for Hillary Clinton's kamikaze campaign.  —  Last week, Senator Pat Leahy suggested that Hillary Clinton ought to quit the presidential race.  How insensitive!  How boorish!  Pundits gasped, Clinton took umbrage …

Penn: Never Out, Still In  —  Demoted Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn may no longer have the coveted title of chief strategist, but he remains a key member of the campaign's senior staff.  —  Mr. Penn took part on the campaign's morning message call this morning, as usual.

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 9-point Lead Over Clinton  —  McCain, Obama remain tied in general election trial heat  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has gained support in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report for April 4-6, and now leads Hillary Clinton by a statistically significant margin, 52% to 43%.

Ex-Clinton Insider Launches Unity Ticket Drive  —  Hillary/Obama '08 becomes official today.  In a way.  —  A Clinton insider who served as ex campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle's executive assistant for several years has set up a new website, http://www.voteboth.com/ and plans to register with the Federal Election Commission today.

Olympic torch extinguished during Paris leg  —  (CNN) — The Olympic torch relay was disrupted Monday by protesters in Paris demonstrating against the Chinese government, causing authorities to extinguish the flame three times and put the torch on a bus, according to The Associated Press.

McCain's Speech On Progress In Iraq Interrupted By News Of Mortars Hitting The Green Zone  —  Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, making the case for the “unmistakable progress” in Iraq.  —  A telling moment in his remarks came when he was arguing why President Bush's surge …

MAYHILL FOWLER  —  BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Similar Bloggers  —  Last night at a fundraiser in San Francisco, Barack Obama took a question on what he's looking for in a running mate.  “I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not as expert on,” he said, and then he was off and running.

Cokie Roberts speaks out on the war on behalf of the American people  —  The single most dishonest and propagandistic tactic of establishment journalists is to take their own opinion and assert as a fact that “most Americans” agree with them, even when that assertion is indisputably false.

Grains Gone Wild  —  These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis.  But there's another world crisis under way — and it's hurting a lot more people.  —  I'm talking about the food crisis.  Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs …

Worst President Ever  —  In a History News Network poll, 61 percent of historians say that George W. Bush has been the worst president ever.  It's very hard to know what to make of these kind of questions.  How can you possibly try to evaluate someone like, say, Andrew Jackson in contemporary terms?