Is Obama Ready for Prime Time?  —  After being pummeled 55% to 45% in the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama was at a loss for explanations.  The best he could do was to compliment his supporters in an email saying, “you helped close the gap to a slimmer margin than most thought possible.”

Obama's Real Bill Ayers Problem  —  Barack Obama complains that he's been unfairly attacked for a casual political and social relationship with his neighbor, former Weatherman Bill Ayers.  Obama has a point.  In the ultraliberal Hyde Park community where the presidential candidate first earned …

N. Koreans Taped At Syrian Reactor  —  A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal …

Longtime Republicans are getting in on the action  —  Anthony Wolfe says he has always voted as a Republican, but at a Barack Obama rally in Columbus this month, he stood up to declare he had switched his allegiance.  —  “I heard you talk about how people whisper that they are Republicans supporting you …

Hillary's Political Purgatory  —  CLINTON HAS SPENT WEEKS IN A HORRIBLE SITUATION.  EVEN IN VICTORY, SHE ISN'T GETTING ANY CLOSER TO WINNING THE NOMINATION.  —  Sat.  —  The good news for Hillary Rodham Clinton is that she's winning a lot of battles.  The bad news is that the war is pretty much lost.

Showing the Obama-Clinton Divide in Decision Tree Infographic  —  Amanda Cox, of The New York Times, made another excellent graphic (and I wouldn't expect anything less).  We see an entire story between Obama and Clinton - positions taken, counties won, and counties lost.  Go ahead and take a look.

Gap opens between Al Qaeda and allies  —  A backlash builds over the network's tactics, including suicide attacks.  Its leaders try to defuse the anger.  —  WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda increasingly faces sharp criticism from once-loyal sympathizers who openly question its ideology and tactics …

Obama, Clinton Split Over McCain Plan For Gas-Tax Holiday  —  In a new policy split in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama opposed a federal gas-tax holiday supported by John McCain, the likely Republican nominee.  Hillary Clinton said she would be open to the tax break.

Better Roses Than Cocaine  —  For seven years, Democrats have rightfully complained that President Bush has gratuitously antagonized the world, exasperating our allies and eroding America's standing and influence.  —  But now the Democrats are doing the same thing on trade.

CIA Foresaw Interrogation Issues  —  Agency Considered Investigations ‘Virtually Inevitable’  —  The CIA concluded that criminal, administrative or civil investigations stemming from harsh interrogation tactics were “virtually inevitable,” leading the agency to seek legal support …

Dems hedge on healthcare  —  Congressional Democrats are backing away from healthcare reform promises made by their two presidential candidates, saying that even if their party controls the White House and Congress, sweeping change will be difficult.  —  It is still seven months before Election Day …

Experts say sex abstinence program doesn't work  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins, health groups told Congress on Wednesday.

From '68 agitator to staunch supporter of George W Bush's Iraq war—what explains Hitchens's political journey?  I spent three days with him in Washington trying to find out  —  For most of his 40-year career, Christopher Hitchens's notoriety has been confined to highbrow journalistic, literary and political circles.