InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Survey: North Carolina Democratic Primary: Hillary Clinton Takes Lead Over Obama  —  A survey of 571 registered likely voters in North Carolina's May 6 Democratic primary shows Sen. Hillary Clinton having moved from a double digit deficit in an InsiderAdvantage poll taken …

DNC chairman under Bill Clinton: Unite behind Obama  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to “heal the rift in our party” and unite behind the Illinois senator.

A Strained Wright-Obama Bond Finally Snaps  —  Late Monday night, in the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, N.C., Barack Obama's long, slow fuse burned to an end.  Earlier that day he had thumbed through his BlackBerry, reading accounts of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.'s latest explosive comments on race and America.

Clinton Gas-Tax Proposal Criticized  —  A growing chorus — including a top congressional Democrat — labeled Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal for suspending the federal gasoline tax ineffective and shortsighted yesterday, even as she continued to paint Sen. Barack Obama as insensitive to drivers' woes for not endorsing the plan.

Veterans to Unfurl Replica ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner at White House  —  Along with Iraq war veterans and concerned citizens, Iraq Campaign 2008 says it will unfurl a 50-foot replica “Mission Accomplished” banner at the White House tomorrow, marking the five-year anniversary of President Bush's now-infamous speech.

Qaeda Chief in Somalia Killed by U.S. Airstike  —  NAIROBI, Kenya — Aden Hashi Ayro, one of Al Qaeda's top operatives in East Africa and the leader of the Islamist comeback in Somalia, was killed Thursday morning by an American airstrike, according to American and Somali officials.

Hell No, No Premonition Coulda Seen This!  —  Seven months of declined U.S. casualties in Iraq are over — as even Bob Gates is acknowledging — with 48 fallen soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors taken from us in April.  McClatchy reports that two soldiers were killed in Anbar last month …

Where Were Obama's Friends?  —  It's tough being Everyman.  —  Way back when, before the angry and antic prophet Jeremiah rose to smite him, Barack Obama appeared before us as an open presidential vessel, into which many poured their political dreams.  —  Foremost were black Americans.

Wright's wrong  —  Barack Obama gave his “More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia on March 18 to tamp down the furor caused by the release of videos excerpts of his pastor's sermons.  Obama himself had proclaimed the importance of his pastor to his life over the past twenty years in books and interviews.

Dude, Where's My Recession?  —  Out: Recession.  In: Expansion.  That's my quick take on today's first-quarter gross domestic product number, which showed that the economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter.  Now that's not a robust number by any means, but it's not so bad given …

Gen Y Speaks  —  This reader is not alone: