DANGER DAY: HILLARY FACES ‘15-POINT DEFEAT’ IN NC; SEES INDIANA WIN  —  Hillary Clinton's inner circle now fears a stinging defeat is likely in North Carolina.  —  “Look, we worked hard and gave it our best shot, but the demographics, well, they are what they are,” a top campaign source explained …

MICHELLE OBAMA'S GOSPEL OF BITTERNESS  —  This past Friday Michelle Obama gave essentially the same stump speech in Charlotte, North Carolina that she had given the week earlier in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Based on the stump speech, Yuval Levin calls Mrs. Obama “The unhappiest millionaire.”

McCain on Obama: “Too lofty” on judges  —  While we await results in Indiana and North Carolina today, Sen. John McCain appears to expect that Sen. Barack Obama will win the Democratic nomination for president.  —  During a speech today on his judicial philosophy at Wake Forest University …

Combat and Composure  —  Life is short, but campaigns are long.  And during the course of them, each candidate will have impressive and pathetic moments.  But underlying the highs and lows, there are the fundamentals.  The fundamentals of the Obama-Clinton race were on display Sunday morning.

Obama is wrong about the gas tax  —  Think Clinton's plan to suspend the gas tax temporarily is a bad idea?  A similar measure in Illinois — which Obama backed — seems to have helped consumers.  —  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has repeatedly accused rival Hillary Clinton of …

Security guards at Kaiser Oakland, other cities, to strike  —  Security guards are planning to begin a three-day strike Tuesday morning at Bay Area Kaiser Permanente facilities to protest alleged unfair labor practices by the employer.  —  The strike will begin at 8 a.m. affecting Kaiser …

You hippy-crites!  When it comes to saving the planet do celebrities practise what they preach?  —  Is the hot air emitted by celebrities when they spout ecological platitudes a greenhouse gas?  —  If so, then the melting of the polar ice caps just moved a step closer, following calls by Trudie Styler …

John & Elizabeth Edwards: What We Like (and Dislike) About Clinton & Obama  —  Elizabeth Edwards likes Hillary Clinton's plan for universal health insurance.  Husband John Edwards doesn't much care for Clinton's “old politics.”  —  So goes the his-and-her debate in the Edwards household …

Things that don't exist in Harry Reid's world  —  (updated below)  —  Harry Reid was on The Daily Show last night (to promote his book, ironically entitled The Good Fight) and said that Joe Lieberman “supports us on virtually everything except the war.”  This is exactly what Reid …

It's About Nothing  —  Dispatches from the twilight of a presidency:  —  7:13 a.m.: The South Lawn.  President Bush, determined to dispel doubts about his relevance, grants an early-morning interview to Robin Roberts of ABC News's “Good Morning America.”  Joined by the first lady …

Clinton campaign retools delegate math  —  DURHAM, N.C. — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign yesterday tried to redefine the delegate math for securing the Democratic presidential nomination, signaling its willingness to wage a divisive battle with front-runner Sen. Barack Obama through the summer.