Obama says McCain would be better than Bush  —  READING, Pa. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday that Republican rival John McCain would be better for the country than President Bush has been over the past eight years.  —  “You have a real choice in this election.

Carter outlines Hamas' terms for peace deal  —  JERUSALEM (CNN) — Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas is prepared to accept peace with Israel if the Palestinians approve any agreement negotiated with Israel.  —  Carter's comments came after controversial meetings Friday …

Newsmax/Zogby Poll: Clinton Edge Continues to Expand in PA  —  UTICA, New York—The final weekend before tomorrow's important primary election in Pennsylvania was good for New York's Hillary Clinton, as she made a definitive move toward victory over rival Illinois' Barack Obama, a fresh Newsmax/Zogby daily telephone tracking poll shows.

But the melody lingers on  —  I've spent the weekend with the Democrats—yesterday with Obama, today with Clinton.  I'll have a lot more to say about the race in my print column this week...but a few quick notes from Pennsylvania:  —  Substance: Both Clinton's and Obama's stump speeches have collapsed into blatant pandering.

Secretary of State Rice Mocks Muslim Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a Coward  —  BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Party Chiefs Plan Push To Avoid Long Fight  —  Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton unveiled new negative television ads and attacked each other personally from the stump this weekend ahead of Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, stoking more worries among Democrats that the party's eventual nominee …

CAIR'S FIRST CONGRESSMAN  —  The Council on American-Islamic Relations holds itself out as a civil rights group and has insinuated itself into programs sponsored by government agencies as a bona fide spokesman for America's Islamic community.  Knowledgeable observers have nevertheless long had their doubts about CAIR.

Relativity and the Prelate  —  A couple of points on relativity / relativism  —  (1) Neither the special nor the general theory of relativity asserted that “everything is relative.”  All they did was to replace a model of physical reality built around … with a different model built around

Exodus Exegesis  —  Every presidential campaign has to produce a stream of appropriate statements for religious holidays, patriotic commemorations, and the like.  Campaigns don't expect to win votes with these messages.  They produce them because there's a risk of giving offense to some group or other if they don't.

Trailing in Pennsylvania, Obama Sharpens Tone  —  READING, Pa. — Senator Barack Obama sharpened his tone against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as the six-week Pennsylvania primary contest raced to a close, with the rivals marshaling extensive resources in a battle for undecided voters …

The Euston moment  —  When the left lost its way, the Euston manifesto offered signposts and its supporters continue to inform the debate  —  Two years ago a 3,000-word political statement, the Euston manifesto, argued that much of the left had suffered a theoretical collapse and a collapse of sensibility.

‘Agent’ of God helps boy meet Benedict  —  Secret Service agent Brad Borst (below) carries Aaron Ruiz, 9, out of St. Patrick's.  Ruiz, who has muscular dystrophy, was blessed by the Pope.  —  When Beverly Ruiz and her wheelchair-bound son arrived outside St. Patrick's Cathedral early Saturday they had no hope of getting inside.

PA on the verge  —  Three polls out: Zogby, ARG, M-D.  —  I won't get into their specific findings, they average out as a Clinton with a 49-42 percent lead with 9 percent undecided.  —  Obama's big problem is that he's ending with an even lower final numbers than he had at the end of Ohio's polling …