Gallup Daily: Clinton 49%, Obama 45%  —  McCain leads Obama in general election; McCain and Clinton tied  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton has edged ahead of Barack Obama, 49% to 45%, in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.  —  The four percentage point Clinton advantage …

‘D.C. Madam’ dead in Florida  —  Palfrey had been convicted of running $2 million prostitution ring  —  TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - The woman convicted of running a high-end Washington prostitution ring that snagged a senator killed herself Thursday, police said, weeks after she was convicted on charges she vowed not to go to prison for.

What Obama wishes he could say  —  Thrown off his game by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright uproar, Barack Obama's strongest answer to Hillary Rodham Clinton is one he won't give: Senator, do you really want to get in a contest with me over who has more unsavory personal associations?

Poll: Bush most unpopular in modern history  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new poll suggests that George W. Bush is the most unpopular president in modern American history.  —  A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday indicates that 71 percent of the American public disapprove …

McCain fields audience question on whether he called wife an expletive  —  A widespread Internet rumor about Sen. John McCain popped up in an audience question today during the Republican presidential candidate's Iowa forum.  —  A member of the audience at the Polk County Convention Complex asked …

The Lincoln-Douglass Debate: Live On Fox!  —  Two weeks ago, publius tried to imagine what the Lincoln-Douglas Debates would have looked like had they been moderated by ABC.  I thought it was one of the funnier things I'd ever read.  It turns out, however, that in a startling breach with precedent …

MALPRACTICE  —  I really don't get what it is with the Clinton campaign sometimes.  Getting Joe Andrew's super-delegate endorsement is a minor coup for the Obama campaign.  It certainly gives them some help in Indiana.  But he's hardly a household name.  So why is it that when Howard Wolfson gets asked …

Clinton Says Calls to Drop Out Are ‘Just Idle Talk’  —  Clinton on Why She'll Fight to the Finish, and Why Bill Won't Be in the West Wing  —  Hillary Clinton campaigned Wednesday in Indianapolis, on the same day that Indiana superdelegate and former Clinton supporter Joe Andrew announced …

Rep. Fossella Arrested on Charges of Driving While Intoxicated  —  Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) was arrested overnight in Alexandria and charged with driving while intoxicated, court records showed today.  —  Fossella is scheduled to appear in Alexandria General District Court on May 12 for an advisement hearing, the records said.

Sidney Blumenthal Uses Former Right-Wing Foes To Attack Obama  —  Former journalist Sidney Blumenthal has been widely credited with coining the term “vast right-wing conspiracy” used by Hillary Clinton in 1998 to describe the alliance of conservative media, think tanks, and political operatives …

Pelosi Comes Out Against Proposed Gas Tax Holiday  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lent her name to the growing chorus of Democrats opposed to a gasoline tax holiday proposed by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain.  —  Pelosi said this afternoon that Congress will not consider …

The Michelle Obama-patented subject-changer  —  In a pickle with your spouse over laundry you neglected to do or trash you forgot to take out?  —  Looking for an easy way to wriggle out of a tough spot with your boss?  —  Never fear.  Michelle Obama is here with her new patented subject-changer:

North Carolina Papers Cover Rev. Wright  —  For the first time, virtually all the North Carolina papers put Rev. Wright and Obama on their front page yesterday.  Here are two examples: