Clinton losing traction over Obama in Pennsylvania, Indiana  —  Her formerly double-digit lead is now just a five-point margin in Pennsylvania, survey finds.  The reduced margin makes a win for her there less significant.  She trails Obama among Hoosiers.  —  WASHINGTON — With three …

Bill Clinton: Older voters too savvy to fall for Obama  —  QUAKERTOWN, Pa. — Older voters gravitate to Hillary Clinton because they're too wise to be fooled by Barack Obama's rhetoric, former president Bill Clinton told Pennsylvania voters today.  —  Clinton's comments …

Pope Should Start “Spiritual Renewal” with Bisexual God  —  On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI asked the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray that his first visit to the United States as pontiff this week would “be a time of spiritual renewal for all Americans.”

Accommodations  —  McDonald's fails to accommodate employee unable to wash hands  —  In Canada, human rights legislation provides that employers have a duty to accommodate disabled workers unless such accommodation would cause “undue hardship” on the employer.

Senate Democrats Can't Count, And They Think You Smell Funny  —  Thanks to the amazing skill Barack Obama has shown this week of how easily he can stick his foot in his mouth while trying to speak off the cuff, the country continues to focus on who is or is not bitter, and whether guns …

Ex-CIA Analyst Outs Cheney  —  What could have possessed Prime Minister Maliki to rush headlong into a battle he was thoroughly unprepared for?  The Bush Administration has responded with certainty about only one thing: they were not involved in the planning.

MSNBC won't air ‘controversial’ gun ad  —  The cable network MSNBC has refused to air an advertisement from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group created by New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg,on the grounds that the ad is too “controversial.”  —  The ad, below, features each …

Fight Leaves Democrats Questioning Prospects  —  The battle between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over whether Mr. Obama belittled voters in small towns appears to have hardened the views of both candidates' supporters and stirred anxiety among many Democrats about the party's prospects in the fall.

McCain Proposes Special Summer Tax Break for Exxon  —  That is what the headlines on Senator McCain's proposal to remove the gas tax for the summer driving season should have read, since that would be the predicted effect of his plan.  —  According to the oil industry …

Fox anchor son asked “hitting the sauce” question  —  GOP p.r. guy/proud Villanova grad Jonathan Grella has a great catch from Hardball at his alma mater: the kid who asked the smart aleck question I referenced below about Hillary “hitting the sauce” is the son of Fox anchor Steve Doocy.

Return of the pin  —  As a reader noticed, Obama was sporting the much-debated flag pin for his speech to veterans today.  —  UPDATE: The pin was given to Obama by a disabled vet at the event.

J STREET.  —  Late last week, Gershom Gorenberg, an Israeli-based writer, reported that Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas, had stated his willingness to accept “a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 boundaries — that is, alongside Israel, not in place of it.”

Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure.  But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal …

Introducing Barack “Arugula” Obama; Update: CafePress says, “No, you can't”  —  Artfully talented reader Tennyson, inspired by See-Dubya's posts on Obama's arugula gaffe (see here and here) and by Michael Bates's funny 2007 post on “typical liberal arugulance,” has cooked up a new photoshop …

Obama's friends, democracy in Bhutan, etc.  —  There's a story, probably apocryphal, that Warren G. Harding, surveying his presidency, lamented that “in this job I am not worried about my enemies.  It is my friends that keep me awake at night.”  —  THE SCRAPBOOK is reluctant to draw parallels between …