Democrats and Our Enemies  —  How did the Democratic Party get here?  How did the party of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy drift so far from the foreign policy and national security principles and policies that were at the core of its identity and its purpose?

Linda Douglass Joins The Obama Campaign  —  Linda Douglass, an award-winning television and print journalist who currently serves as a contributing editor to National Journal, will join Barack Obama's presidential campaign as a senior strategist and as a senior campaign spokesperson on the roadshow, a newly created position.

Money shocker!  Hillary Clinton's campaign debt soars  —  (*UPDATE: Due to a mathematical error, Hillary Clinton's loans to herself were added twice in the calculation of this item.  Her total debts are about $21 million, not $31 million.  A corrected item covering the first five paragraphs of this one has been published here.)

Obama's Evolving Take on Meeting With Iran  —  Democratic Contender Under Fire From McCain on Foreign Policy  —  Barack Obama's original answer seemed crystal clear: last July, asked whether he would meet with the “leaders” of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea “without precondition …

McCain adviser: Sometimes it's ‘accurate’ to describe a woman as a ‘bitch.’  —  During yesterday's Democratic primary coverage, CNN senior analyst Jeff Toobin criticized a New York Times column that published a joke about Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) being a “white bitch.”

Report: U.S. Soldiers Did ‘Dirty Work’ for Chinese Interrogators  —  Alleges Guantanamo Personnel Softened Up Detainees at Request of Chinese Intelligence  —  U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come …

Chalabi's Lobbyist  —  USA Today reports on the lobbying career of John McCain's top foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann, noting that Schuenemann “lobbied the Arizona senator's staff on behalf of the republic of Georgia while he was working for the campaign”:

Michael Savage plays Dead Kennedys song “in some respect for” Sen. Kennedy  —  Following the announcement that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage opened his May 20 show by interspersing audio of Kennedy singing …

Reuters/Zogby Poll: Obama Opens Double-digit Lead Over McCain in National Test  —  Third-party candidates Nader and Barr show signs of strength in key demographic groups  —  UTICA, New York - Democrat Barack Obama has sprinted out to a 10-point lead over Republican John McCain in a four …

OBAMA'S MOMENT.  —  Matt wonders whether Obama is a new Jimmy Carter or a new Ronald Reagan.  I think that's actually the wrong comparison to fear: The question is whether he's a new first term Bill Clinton.  Like Clinton, Obama has fairly little Washington experience, and is running as a charismatic …

Clintonista Warns: McCain Isn't Bush III  —  Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and strategist for Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign, went “off message” (his words) today with a warning to his party: Don't run against GOP nominee John McCain …

David Gergen and CNN pundits challenge Hillary Clinton to denounce the racist vote [UPDATED 2]  —  [ Editorial Note: Now we have the important part of the transcript. ]  —  This is one of those historic TV moments that people will be talking about for a long time.  And let me tell you, I lost it as it was happening.

Oregon Exit Polls: Obama Handily Beat Hillary Among Whites, No-College, Less-Than-$50,000 Voters  —  The Oregon exit polls lend a bit more weight to the theory that Barack Obama's real problem is more with Appalachia than it is with working class whites in general, as the Hillary campaign has repeatedly suggested.

Lobbyists: This is our thanks?  —  More than a few Republican lobbyists in Washington are scratching their heads these days, asking: So this is the thanks we get?  —  It was a small band of loyal lobbyists who stood by presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain last August …