West Virginia could spell trouble for Obama  —  Scant support among white working-class Democrats, especially men, could dog him into November.  —  MOOREFIELD, W.VA. — In Hardy County, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1.  But there is little enthusiasm for Barack …

Seeds of Destruction  —  The Clintons have never understood how to exit the stage gracefully.  —  Their repertoire has always been deficient in grace and class.  So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by “hard-working Americans …

In big concession, militia agrees to let Iraqi troops into Sadr City  —  BAGHDAD — Followers of rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr agreed late Friday to allow Iraqi security forces to enter all of Baghdad's Sadr City and to arrest anyone found with heavy weapons in a surprising capitulation …

Hezbollah's Beirut Blitz  —  Hezbollah has waged its expected blitzkrieg against the democratically elected Government of Lebanon.  Within 24 hours, the pro-Iranian militia blocked Beirut International Airport, established an exclusive security zone in south Beirut and deployed its forces …

Kick Burma Out of the U.N.  —  The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief.  The human catastrophe produced by Burma's refusal to permit aid …

McCain paints Obama's portrait  —  WASHINGTON — Three months ago, Sen. John McCain made a calculated decision to begin painting a not-so-pretty picture of Sen. Barack Obama.  —  Although Sen. Hillary Clinton was — and still is — battling Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination …

Quitters Never Win  —  When I was growing up in the 1960s, I wanted to play basketball.  In those days, the rules said girls could dribble only three steps and then had to pass the ball.  To make sure we didn't overexert ourselves, we weren't allowed to cross the half-court line.

Michelle Vetoes Hillary  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama.  —  The Democratic front-runner's wife …

Wow, We Nominated The Black Guy  —  Wow, it is really happening: Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.  Only eighteen months after the Democratic Party elected Nancy Pelosi the first female Speaker of the House, we are now the first major party to nominate an African-American for President.

Patriotic Barack Obama lapel pins unveiled honoring all 57 states  —  Yesterday The Ticket broke the stunning news of America's acquisition of seven, maybe eight, new states, according to future president Barack Obama.  —  He was speaking at the start of a two-day swoop through Oregon, which is already a state.

On GI Bill, McCain really is ‘full of it’  —  A couple of weeks ago, John McCain talked about the importance of increasing the size of the U.S. military.  To entice more volunteers, he said, the government should focus on incentives: “[O]ne of the things we ought to do is provide [the troops with] …

For First Time, More Superdelegates Favor Obama  —  The trump card Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton held in her faltering bid for president — her support among the superdelegates who can control the fate of the Democratic nomination — began slipping from her grasp on Friday as Senator Barack …

How the military analyst program controlled news coverage: in the Pentagon's own words  —  On the question of whether the Pentagon maintained an illegal covert domestic propaganda program — and on the broader question of whether the American media's political coverage is largely shaped …

E-Mail Shows Racial Jokes by Secret Service Supervisors  —  WASHINGTON — Secret Service supervisors shared crude sexual jokes and engaged in racially derogatory banter about blacks, and passed around an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, according …

THE DIVINE RIGHT OF PUNDITS!  Krugman has some decent ideas.  Robinson has a sense of entitlement:  —  YOU MAY HAVE BEEN WITH STUPID: Yesterday, an e-mailer said that our choice for commissar has done previous posts which explain who he was talking about.  His example went back some days.

Election 2008: Oregon Presidential Election  —  Oregon: Obama Builds Double Digit Lead Over McCain  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone poll in Oregon shows Barack Obama leading John McCain 52% to 38%.  That's a significant improvement for Obama compared to a month ago when he led …

Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit  —  DENVER — With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.  —  Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by.