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 …

What McCain's Speech Isn't About  —  Journalists who pressed for details about “the abortion speech” or the “gay marriage speech” were told, repeatedly, that the speech was not about those issues at all, really, and would focus exclusively on McCain's longstanding convictions about judicial nominations …

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.

Who Stopped the Talks?  —  Dr. iRack took note of some big news today: the Iranians have decided to halt talks with the United States over the security situation in Iraq until American forces stop their assault on Sadr City.  According to the New York Times:

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 …

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.”

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 …

Middletown, Teetering On the Divide  —  An Indiana City With an Average Past Anxiously Faces an Uncertain Future  —  In the 1920s, two amateur sociologists went searching for a city that was singularly unexceptional.  They wound up here.  —  They made a study of Muncie …

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 …

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.

The Fempest [Dan Collins; UPDATE]  —  Thor notifies me of more delectable fallout from Amandaquiddick: namely, she's been accused of stealing ideas from women-of-color feminist bloggers and peddling it as her own.  This leads us to the general victimology premise:

Bible Theme Park Backer Photographed Women For Adult Magazines  —  One of the backers of the proposed Bible Theme Park USA in Murfreesboro is a very successful businessman but was once more known for his photographs of cover girls and “Pets of the Month” for Penthouse Magazine.