Weighting our final NC Poll  —  Our final North Carolina poll will be released within the next few hours.  A big decision for pollsters on this one is how to weight for race.  28% of the Democratic primary electorate in 2000 was black, and in 2004 it was 32%.  But over 40% of early voters were.

Cryor, Dugas Glover to endorse Obama  —  State Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor and Vice Chairwoman Lauren Dugas Glover, both superdelegates, are endorsing Illinois Senator Barack Obama this afternoon, sources tell PolitickerMD.com.  —  Those close to Cryor have said he has been an Obama supporter …

McCain-Jindal?  —  Barack Obama said Friday, “We've had a rough couple of weeks.”  Actually, he's had a rough couple of months.  He's lost three big primaries to Hillary Clinton.  And, should he hold on to win the nomination, he can no longer be considered a clear favorite over John McCain in the general election.

Gallup Daily: Democrats Tied for Record 12th Day  —  Obama's 5-point lead, 50% to 45%, is within poll's margin of error  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has a five percentage point edge over Hillary Clinton for the nomination among national Democrats, 50% to 45%, in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from May 2-4.

Bill Ayers stepping on a US flag in 2001  —  My good friend Anne Leary of Backyard Conservative, a fabulous North Shore blogger, tipped me off to this picture, which I've heard rumors about, of Bill Ayers stepping on a US flag in 2001.  —  I believe it's from Chicago Magazine …

In Iraq, a storm before the calm  —  April saw 49 U.S. casualties in Iraq, the highest total in seven months.  Does this mean, as some insist, that the enormous progress we have made since the start of the military surge is being lost?  —  As one who has spent nearly two years …

Obama Says Teamsters Need Less Oversight  —  Campaign Talks On Issue Preceded Union's Backing  —  Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption …

Outback Strikes Back  —  Ezra Klein's right to bemoan the sneering condescension in this NYT piece on suburban chain restaurants.  For me, this is made all the worse by the knowledge that the attitude of contempt is almost certainly fake.  I was actually born and raised in Manhattan …

About That Crush on Obama  —  If Barack is out of touch with America, then the media must be too.  —  People with the slightest interest in politics, especially journalists, spent 2006 and 2007 smacking their lips and rubbing their hands in anticipation of 2008, relishing the prospect …

Culture Clash  —  I'm with Spencer Ackerman on this.  It's really bizarre how, in the context of war, totally normal attributes of human behavior become transformed into into mysterious cultural quirks of the elusive Arab.  I recall having read in the past that because Arabs are horrified of shame …

Obama at issue in Mississippi  —  In perhaps the toughest negative spot yet in a Mississippi congressional race where Barack Obama has become a central issue, Greg Davis accuses Travis Childers of falsely distancing himself from Obama.  —  The downside to Obama for these ads …

The Glenn and Helen Show: Fred Thompson on John McCain and Judges  —  With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama still slugging it out in the Democratic primaries, John McCain has already cleared the way to the Republican nomination.  He's spending his time laying out his positions for the general election …

LOSING HIS RELIGION  —  TPM Reader H- sees what's been a recurrent pattern that makes more sense of the Indiana polls ...