NEW PA. POLL HAS CLINTON HOLDING LEAD  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  A new MSNBC/McClatchy/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poll of Pennsylvania indicates things are staying fairly competitive in the Pennsylvania Dem primary.  —  The poll of 625 likely Dem primary voters was conducted Thursday …

McCain: A Question of Temperament  —  John McCain cupped a fist and began pumping it, up and down, along the side of his body.  It was a gesture familiar to a participant in the closed-door meeting of the Senate committee who hoped that it merely signaled, as it sometimes had in the past …

Notice Anything?  John McCain doesn't wear an American flag pin on THIS WEEK  —  Let's call Nash McCabe.  I don't see a single lapel pin between them, do you?  —  Spotlight  —  No Trackbacks To “Notice Anything?  John McCain doesn't wear an American flag pin on THIS WEEK”

Gallup Daily: Obama Holds Slight 47% to 45% Advantage  —  First time in days that Obama's Democratic bid has gained supporters  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The peeling away of national Democratic support for Barack Obama seen this past week may have run its course.

Obama, Clinton And Capitalism: It's Okay For Them, But Nobody Else  —  Remember Chico Escuela?  —  He was a character created by Actor Garrett Morris on the “Saturday Night Live” TV show, back in the 1970's.  Morris became famous for uttering these simple words in broken-English …

Fear and Loathing at the Los Angeles Times  —  With the Iraqi Army defeating Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Basra, the L.A. Times has moved on to tell its readers how terrible things might get in Najaf.  Buried in the middle of the piece, however, is a bit about the battle for Basra:

In Pennsylvania's Democrat primary for president: Vote for Clinton  —  For decades, the two major parties have chosen their presidential candidates long before Pennsylvania holds its primary.  —  Not this year.  —  Ron Paul's maverick candidacy aside, Republicans have settled on John McCain, whom we previously endorsed.

Rove Watch Clock: It's Been 75 Days Since Fox Has Failed To Identify Rove As A McCain Adviser  —  Today on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace brought on Karl Rove to analyze the 2008 election.  Peddling Rove as an source of independent analysis, Wallace introduced him as …

Major revelation: U.S. media deceitfully disseminates government propaganda  —  (updated below)  —  This morning's “blockbuster” New York Times article by David Barstow, documenting the Pentagon and U.S. media's joint use of pre-programmed “military analysts” who posed as objective experts …

Brush It Off  —  It had to be the first time in history that a presidential candidate had a hip-hop moment.  —  Barack Obama, who says he listens to Jay-Z along with his “old school guy” favorites like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Temptations, alluded to the rapper's 2003 hit “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” …

Republicans outlawed the Ku Klux Klan  —  For decades after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party.  Klansmen murdered hundreds of Republican activists and office-holders, including U.S. Representative James Hinds (R-Arkansas).

RIDING THE RAILS WITH SEN. OBAMA IN PENNSYLVANIA.  —  DOWNINGTON, Pa.— At the next train stop, I'm going to stand behind Senator Obama when he speaks.  When he's decrying the trivial distractions in politics, I think he may be crossing his fingers behind his back.