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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 …
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Zogby Poll: Obama Expands Lead in NC; Dems Still Biting Nails in Indiana! — Obama enjoys a strong final day of polling before the elections — UTICA, New York—On the strength of good polling numbers on the final day before the primary elections in Indiana and North Carolina …
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FIRST THOUGHTS: BEGINNING OF THE END? — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** The beginning of the end? Is today the last day on the campaign trail? Sure, there are six more contests beyond these two in Indiana and North Carolina.

ZOGBY DOUBLES DOWN — According to Zogby, Obama is expanding his lead …
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The Hill's Blog Briefing Room


Eight Questions About Today's Primaries
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Time, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Pajamas Media, MSNBC, The Caucus, American Power, AMERICAblog, protein wisdom, New York Times, The Page, marbury and ipsos-na.com


FBI Agents Raid Work, Home Of Special Counsel's Bloch — WASHINGTON — Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff. — More than a dozen FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas shortly …
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FBI Searches Office of Special Counsel Building — Listen: Ari Shapiro Discusses the Raid on ‘Day to Day’ — · FBI agents on Tuesday raided the offices of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who oversees protection for federal whistleblowers. The agents seized computers and shut …

FBI raids the Office of Special Counsel — It's been weeks since a corruption scandal humiliated the Bush administration, so I suppose we were overdue for news like this. … This story has taken a few twists and turns, but it's actually really interesting, and more than a little comical.

‘Hardcore’ Republicans voting Democrat — 10:51 AM — ‘Hardcore’ Republicans voting Democrat — The two precincts at Broad Ripple Family Center selected Republican Jon Elrod over Democrat Andre Carson in March's special election for U.S. Congress. But by 9 a.m., just 21 voters …
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Charlotte Observer, On Deadline, TalkLeft, The Page, Hot Air, TPM Election Central, PSoTD and New York Observer
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Limbaugh issues orders for Indiana — Today's Indiana Democratic primary is not only a big test for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. — It's also a test for talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, the self-proclaimed commander in chief of “Operation Chaos.” — Indiana's primary is open …

Two GOP Losses That Validate a National Pattern — These two special elections validate a national polling pattern that is bad news for Republicans. According to a New York Times/CBS Poll, Americans disapprove of the President's job performance by 63 to 28 (and he has been below 40% job …
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The Moderate Voice, DCCC, DownWithTyranny!, The Washington Independent and Booman Tribune
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Gingrich warns GOP of ‘real disaster’ this fall — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is calling on Republicans to seek “real change to avoid a real disaster” in the wake of another Democratic victory in a special election on Saturday. — In a letter to House Republicans posted on www.newt.org …
Discussion:
Daily Pundit

Fred Thompson makes debut appearance with McCain — WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (CNN) — Fred Thompson made his first public appearance since dropping out of the presidential race Tuesday, using his conservative credentials to backstop a major speech Tuesday from presumptive Republican nominee John McCain on judicial appointments.
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The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
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Gas tax hysterics — OK, this has gone overboard. — Hillary Clinton's proposed gas tax holiday is not, in my view, a good idea. But the furor over what is, when all is said and done, a small and temporary policy proposal is entirely disproportionate. What's going on?
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Calling It: Obama Wins N.C. — I just got off the phone with Mike Ash, Director of the Durham County Board of Elections in Durham, NC. He doesn't have any numbers as far as percentages of eligible voters making it to the polls at this point, but said several polling locations have already hit record numbers.


Excerpt: ‘The Assault on Reason’ — Television's quasi-hypnotic effect is one reason that the political economy supported by the television industry is as different from the vibrant politics of America's first century as those politics were different from the feudalism that thrived …
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Political Radar
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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.

Clinton's new math — Asked at the Indianapolis Speedway this morning, Hillary confirms that she views the threshold for delegate victory as the count that includes Michigan and Florida. — “I think it's 2,209,” she said. — It's the logical extension of her demand that the states be seated …
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Most Democrats Not Eager for Either Candidate to Drop Out — Seven in 10 want superdelegates to commit before the August convention — PRINCETON, NJ — Heading into Tuesday's important North Carolina and Indiana presidential primaries, 6 in 10 Democrats say Hillary Clinton and Barack …

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 …
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The New Republic, The Corner, The Mahablog, The Poor Man Institute and Dependable Renegade

Matthews: MSNBC's support of Obama is ‘not official’ — Chris Matthews spoke last night at the Institute of Politics, and the Harvard Crimson (a Politico campus partner) was on hand. … And later.