Democratic country keeps its distance from Obama  —  Like most people in Mingo County, West Virginia, Leonard Simpson is a lifelong Democrat.  But given a choice between Barack Obama and John McCain in November, the 67-year-old retired coalminer would vote Republican.

Sit Back, Relax, Get Ready to Rumble  —  He's taken everything in stride, it seems.  How Obama and his team will battle the GOP onslaught.  —  How do you know if Barack Obama is unhappy with what you're saying— or not saying?  At meetings of his closest advisers, he likes to lean back, put his feet on the table and close his eyes.

This Week: Campaign Surrogate Carly Fiorina Doesn't Believe In Economists  —  First thing, was anyone else get surprised by the uncharacteristically accurate title given to Carly Fiorina in this segment of This Week with George Stephanopoulos?  Normally, aren't these surrogates usually called “advisors”?

Emanuel to Kennedy: That's Not Nice  —  On a day when it seemed that everybody was beating up on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton — even “Saturday Night Live” had run a skit making fun of her — one person came to her defense on Sunday: Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, a top Democrat in the House.

The Race's Real Winner  —  In 1968, Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic nomination for president without entering, let alone winning, a single primary.  This time around, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will have entered 16 caucuses and 37 primaries (39 if you include Michigan and Florida) …

Young, evangelical ... for Obama?  —  Michael Dudley is the son of a preacher man.  —  He's a born-again Christian with two family members in the military.  He grew up in the Bible Belt, where almost everyone he knew was Republican.  But this fall, he's breaking a handful of stereotypes: He plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

The Pundit Analyzing Obama?  Some TV Upstart Named Rove  —  WASHINGTON — Late Thursday night, Karl Rove, the architect of the last two Republican presidential victories, was on his new television perch at Fox News, offering free advice to Senator Barack Obama as he closed in on the Democratic nomination.

A Second McCain Aide Resigns  —  Doug Davenport, the regional campaign manager for the mid-Atlantic states, founded the DCI Group's lobbying practice and oversaw the contract with Myanmar in 2002.  —  “Doug has tendered his resignation and we have accepted it,” Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director, wrote in a e-mail.

Voter ID Battle Shifts to Proof of Citizenship  —  The battle over voting rights will expand this week as lawmakers in Missouri are expected to support a proposed constitutional amendment to enable election officials to require proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote.

Operations continue in Sadr City  —  Map of the disposition of Iraqi and US forces in and around Sadr City and the progress on the barrier.  The red portion has yet to be completed.  Map courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq.  —  US and Iraqi forces continue to strike at the Mahdi Army …

Obama's new Kentucky ad focuses on coal  —  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama launched a new TV ad this weekend featuring an Illinois miner praising the the him for work on coal issues.  —  “Washington, D.C., is not listening to us,” said Randy Henry, who is identified as a miner for 31 years.

Poisoning The Racial Wells  —  My Sunday Times column is on the Clintons and race: … (Photo: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty.)

At least they didn't try to burn him at the stake  —  Long-time readers know that I take a certain amount of pleasure in mocking Florida, where I was born and raised.  There's just something ... unique about it.  —  Take, for example, a Tampa-area school firing a substitute teacher for doing a magic trick for his students.