Sources: Top Bush Advisors Approved ‘Enhanced Interrogation’  —  Detailed Discussions Were Held About Techniques to Use on al Qaeda Suspects  —  By JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG, HOWARD L. ROSENBERG and ARIANE de VOGUE  —  In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House …

Poll suggests McCain-Rice ticket could win big  —  (CNN) - Condoleezza Rice has said she has no desire to be John McCain's running mate, but a new poll out Wednesday suggests that duo could beat the Democratic ticket in the bluest of states.  —  In a new poll conducted by Marist College and WNBC …

McCain not yet golden in California  —  Here are four things you need to know about John McCain and California:  —  1. If McCain wins California in November, he almost certainly will become the next president of the United States.  —  The Democratic nominee would find it extremely difficult …

CBS News, Katie Couric Are Likely to Part Ways  —  Barring a Change, Departure Could Follow the Election;  —  A Successor to Larry King?  —  After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the “CBS Evening News” …

EXCLUSIVE: Powell Praises Obama, Fears Afghanistan Growing ‘More Difficult’ Than Iraq  —  General Says Next President Will Face Long Struggle, Troop Strain in Two-Front Battle  —  Retired Gen. Colin Powell insists he hasn't yet decided who he'll back in the 2008 presidential election.

David Brock, Dems plan $40M hit on McCain  —  Wealthy Democrats are preparing a four-month, $40 million media campaign centered on attacks on Senator John McCain.  And it will be led by David Brock, the former investigative reporter who first gained fame in the 1990s as a right-wing, anti-Clinton journalist.

Sophie Masloff to endorse Hillary Clinton  —  Former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff will endorse Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when the New York senator appears this evening for the Allegheny County Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at Heinz Field.  —  “It's been very difficult …

Iraq's Military Seen as Lagging  —  WASHINGTON — The recommendation by the top American commander in Iraq to suspend troop reductions reflects a bleak assessment that Iraqi forces remain unprepared to take over the mission of securing their own nation, senior administration and military officials said Wednesday.

Elton John: ‘To hell with them’  —  There's a real crowd at Radio City, complete with scalpers, and lines around the block for Elton John and the Clintons.  —  Toward the back of one line: Frank Luntz, Lanny Davis, and Doug Schoen.  ("I used to be in business with Mark Penn," Schoen joked.)

Senators scurry from rumors of Byrd coup  —  Senate Democrats keep muttering about their 90-year-old chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, but no one wants to bell the cat.  —  New stories were floated this week of agitation in the party's ranks over whether …

Hey, why bother with a trial?  —  As revealed here a few weeks ago, the investigative unit of the Ontario “Human Rights” Commission recommended to the Commissioners that they not proceed against Maclean's for having the temerity to publish an excerpt from my book.

Gay press frustrated by Obama approach  —  Mark Segal didn't want to wait.  After weeks of requests to interview Barack Obama, the publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News concluded the senator's aides may never make him available.  —  So even as the Obama campaign held out the possibility …

TIME Poll: Clinton 6 Points Up in Pennsylvania  —  Backed by more than half of all white female Democrats, Hillary Clinton holds a six point lead over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, a new statewide poll by TIME reveals.

Pelosi's Bad Faith  —  The Democratic Party's protectionist make-over was completed yesterday, when Nancy Pelosi decided to kill the Colombia free trade agreement.  Her objections had nothing to do with the evidence and everything to do with politics, but this was an act of particular bad faith.

Panprotoexperientialism, Anyone?  —  The rest of Wednesday was a mixed bag.  We had an address from Andy Clark of the University of Edinburgh, who I'd been told was a superstar in the field.  Well, he was good, but not that good.  His big thing — his shtick, if you like — is the “extended mind.”