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 …

Zogby Poll: Obama Holds Big Lead Over Clinton in NC; Pair tied in Indiana  —  UTICA, New York—Five days before the important Democratic presidential primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, Barack Obama of Illinois enjoys a substantial lead in one state and remains tied with Hillary Clinton …

D.C. Madam: Suicide Before Prison  —  Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the “D.C. Madam,” once implied that suicide was cowardice but, in the end, she seems to have chosen that same path herself.  “She wasn't going to jail, she told me that very clearly.  She told me she would commit suicide …

Obama's Image Slips, His Lead Over Clinton Disappears  —  Public Support for Free Trade Declines  —  Summary of Findings  —  Democratic voters are not as positive about Barack Obama as they were a month ago.  Somewhat smaller percentages of Democrats describe Obama in favorable terms …

Washington Post Editorial Board Attempts To Erase Its Pre-War Rush To Invasion  —  Today marks the fifth anniversary of President Bush's “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.  To commemorate the occasion, the Washington Post has trotted out its editorial from May 4, 2003.

As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Are Flocking to Small Cars  —  DETROIT — Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.  —  In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact …

Democrats Scramble for Indiana  —  In Open Primary,Republican Voters  —  Could Decide Victor  —  INDIANAPOLIS — Determining the victor in Tuesday's presidential nominating contest in Indiana could very well be left to that most elusive of Democratic primary voter: the Republican.

Bloomberg: Clinton-McCain Gas Tax Break Is the ‘Dumbest Thing’  —  Michael Bloomberg said giving drivers a break from the gas tax is “the dumbest thing I've heard in an awful long time.”  —  I asked him about it right after he delivered his executive budget at City Hall just now.

Fox trumps Netroots; bloggers rebel  —  The nation's top Democrats are suddenly rushing to appear on the Fox News Channel, which they once had shunned as enemy territory as the nemesis of liberal bloggers.  —  The detente with Fox has provoked a backlash from progressive bloggers …

What The Old Farts Don't Get  —  A reader writes:

Barbara Walters reveals past affair with US senator  —  NEW YORK (AP) - entertainmentminute After three decades of keeping mum, Barbara Walters is disclosing a past affair with married U.S. Senator Edward Brooke, whom she remembers as “exciting” and “brilliant.”

EXCLUSIVE: MYSTERIOUS CRIMES PLAGUE US ATTORNEY TARGETS  —  The Permanent Republican Majority Part VI  —  MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA - In two states where US attorneys are already under fire for serious allegations of political prosecutions, seven people associated with three federal cases …

On the brink  —  Some of America's most venerable newspapers face extinction, unless they evolve  —  THE New York Times once epitomised all that was great about American newspapers; now it symbolises its industry's deep malaise.  The Grey Lady's circulation is tumbling …

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 …

Barack Obama is the choice of free-agent donors  —  Obama has received twice as much money as Hillary Clinton has from donors who supported other candidates in the Democratic race.  —  Campaign donors who previously backed also-ran Democratic candidates have adopted Sen. Barack Obama as their second choice …

The Return of the Paranoid Style  —  Less than two weeks before the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, in March of 2003, Sony Pictures released a war movie called Tears of the Sun.  The director was Antoine Fuqua, fresh off the success of 2001's Training Day; the star was Bruce Willis …