‘Bush Lied’?  If Only It Were That Simple.  —  Search the Internet for “Bush Lied” products, and you will find sites that offer more than a thousand designs.  The basic “Bush Lied, People Died” bumper sticker is only the beginning.  —  Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) …

John McCain's Ohio disconnect  —  Republican Party machinery in the state helped get President Bush into office, but it's not firing yet on McCain's behalf.  —  CINCINNATI — As the architect of Ohio's ballot measure against gay marriage, Phil Burress helped draw thousands of conservative voters …

GOP Insiders Worry About McCain's Chances  —  For four months John McCain had a clear field while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were at each other's throats.  Given the opportunity, the Arizona Senator failed to define the debate in favorable terms, spending much of the valuable primary …

Judge's ban on the use of the word ‘rape’ at trial reflects trend  —  It's the only way Tory Bowen knows to honestly describe what happened to her.  —  She was raped.  —  But a judge prohibited her from uttering the word “rape” in front of a jury.  The term “sexual assault” also was taboo …

Amateur Campaign Blogger Scoops the Pros  —  Mayhill Fowler says she never planned to ask Bill Clinton the question that unleashed a decidedly unpresidential tirade.  —  But in the crush of the crowd in South Dakota last Monday, when she raised the topic of “that hatchet job” on him in Vanity Fair …

It's a Different Country  —  Fervent supporters of Barack Obama like to say that putting him in the White House would transform America.  With all due respect to the candidate, that gets it backward.  Mr. Obama is an impressive speaker who has run a brilliant campaign — but if he wins in November …

Mr. Right?  —  The rise of the Obamacons.  —  The New Yorker is hardly the optimal vehicle for reaching the conservative intelligentsia.  But, last year, Barack Obama cooperated with a profile for that magazine where he seemed to be speaking directly to the right.

Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average  —  TCHULA, Miss. — Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to motorists across the country.  —  But the pain is not being felt uniformly.

A Campaign We Can Believe In?  —  Hillary Clinton's concession speech Saturday was the story of the weekend.  But the dueling speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama on Tuesday night, after the last primaries, are what voters — and campaign operatives — should be revisiting.

Top Talent Scout for Obama Tied to Subprime Lender  —  Could Become a Political Liability  —  Long-standing ties between a member of Senator Obama's new vice presidential search team and a prominent mortgage executive the senator has pilloried could become a political liability that hampers …

Parents of ill vegan girl may face police  —  A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in Scotland brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman.  —  Doctors are under pressure to report …

McCain's Evangelical Problem  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shortcomings by John McCain's campaign in the art of politics are alienating two organizations of Christian conservatives.  James Dobson's Focus on the Family is estranged following the failure of Dobson and McCain to talk out their differences.

Marijuana Hotbed Retreats on Medicinal Use  —  UKIAH, Calif. — There is probably no marijuana-friendlier place in the country than here in Mendocino County, where plants can grow more than 15 feet high, medical marijuana clubs adopt stretches of highway, and the sticky …

White Male Pundit Power  —  It's still all about the white men.  Hillary Clinton's loss has renewed critiques that American political media is slanted, sexist and dominated by men.  While Clinton and Obama broke barriers in the Democratic primary, swiftly dispatching white male Senators …

His Jewish ‘Problem’: A Myth?  —  Charles Ommanney / Getty Images for Newsweek  —  The candidate sought to reassure the crowd at AIPAC last week  —  Barack Obama received a standing ovation when he proclaimed his unwavering support for Israel to the influential lobbying group AIPAC last week.