GOP fears Obama's money machine  —  With Hillary Clinton's campaign coming to an end this weekend, Barack Obama's rise as the Democratic nominee brings serious bad news to a new group — John McCain's finance team.  —  A review of campaign finance data offers not one ounce of good news …

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S WIDER MAP  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** Obama's wider map: About two months ago, we unveiled our early look at the electoral map.  And this being the second official day of the general election, now's as good a time as any to see where we stand in the McCain vs. Obama race.

‘She Could Accept Losing.  She Could Not Accept Quitting.’  —  In a campaign of near-deaths and premature obituaries, the night of May 6 will be remembered inside Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign as the moment it really ended.  —  The staff had settled into the war room at the campaign's Arlington headquarters.

Obama In Heated Conversation With Lieberman  —  Update: Obama and Lieberman had a heated conversation on the floor of the Senate later today.  Details below.  —  Senator Joe Lieberman, serving aptly as John McCain's foreign policy attack dog, jumped on a conference call with reporters …

Overseas, Excitement Over Obama  —  In Presumptive Nominee, Many See Chance for New Direction and New Attitude  —  For much of the world, Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic primaries was a moment to admire the United States at a time when the nation's image abroad has been seriously damaged.

HOW ‘LIBERAL’ CARE WOULD KILL TED  —  IRONICALLY enough, the dangers of the lib eral health-care agenda are being made clear by the care that a liberal icon, Sen. Ted Kennedy, has received since his brain seizure last month.  —  One day after an MRI detected a tumor, Kennedy was quickly diagnosed …

Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control  —  Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors  —  A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely …

Breaking — Obama to change DNC lobbyist policy, will focus on small-group economy chats  —  Good Thursday morning.  —  DRIVING THE DAY: On Day 2 as nominee, Senator Obama wants to show that he will change the nation's politics.  As the presumptive DemoObama already eager to show …

CBS Poll: Obama Leads McCain  —  Obama Ahead By Six Points; But Many Clinton Voters Plan To Back McCain  —  (CBS) Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama holds a six point lead over his Republican counterpart John McCain, a new CBS News poll finds.  Obama leads McCain 48 percent …

PHASE II  —  The Senate intel committee's Phase II report on pre-war intelligence on Iraq is just out.  We'll be bringing you more through the day, but if you're eager to take a look, you can find the reports here:  —  “Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials …

Many Blacks Find Joy in Unexpected Breakthrough  —  Kwabena Sam-Brew, a 38-year-old immigrant from Ghana, doubted that Nana, his 5-year-old American-born daughter, would remember the rally that effectively crowned Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee Tuesday night.

More on De-Globalization: Oil, Transport Costs and Inflation  —  Following up on this post from October 2006, when oil was only $58.88 (WTI,daily average) a barrel, consider this excerpt from today's Thomas Net: … The CIBC report upon which this article is based focuses on ship transport.