Why the Press Is Ignoring the Edwards “Love Child” Story  —  A DOUBLE STANDARD IS AT WORK.  —  Everybody had a good laugh last August when Roll Call broke the story about Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, getting arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for playing footsies in a toilet stall.

McCain broadens definition of surge  —  From CNN's Alexander Marquardt, CNN's Tasha Diakides  —  BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania (CNN) - John McCain defended comments he made in an interview on Tuesday when he incorrectly argued that the surge in Iraq gave way to the so-called “Anbar Awakening” …

Source: Novak's Victim Worse Than First Thought  —  The pedestrian who was struck by prominent Washington columnist and commentator Robert Novak is in worse shape than first thought, a hospital source tells ABC 7 News.  —  The victim, a 66-year-old man, appeared somewhat incoherent, said the source who had seen the victim.

Voter Unease With Obama Lingers Despite His Lead  —  Poll Finds Background, Experience Are Advantages for McCain  —  WASHINGTON — Midway through the election year, the presidential campaign looks less like a race between two candidates than a referendum on one of them — Sen. Barack Obama.

Huge Housing Bill Set to Become Law  —  The House yesterday easily approved legislation that seeks to slow the steepest slide in house prices in a generation, rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and reassure global markets that mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not be allowed to fail.

Olympic Deal Sealed: Obama Makes $5 Million Buy  —  Candidate's Package Includes National Network, Cable  —  WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — It's official.  Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage.  In the first significant network-TV buy …

Barack Obama heckled as he visits Western Wall  —  Read Barack Obama's comments in the Yad Vashem visitors' book  —  Barack Obama completed his trip to the Middle East with a pre-dawn visit to the holiest place in Judaism where he received a mixed reaction from Orthodox Jews.

Schwarzenegger plans to cut state worker pay to cope with late budget  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to cut pay for more than 200,000 state workers to save money during the budget standoff, according to a draft copy of the order obtained by The Bee.  —  Brian Baer / bbaer@sacbee.com

Ohio -2  —  Pennsylvania -1 South Carolina +1  —  Texas +4  —  Utah +1  —  TOTAL +8 TOTAL -8  —  Which is to say that, under the new electoral vote distribution, Bush's 286-to-252 electoral vote margin in 2004 becomes 294-to-244.  Bush would have lost in 2004 if Ohio had not gone his way …

Putting Money Where Mouths Are: Media Donations Favor Dems 100-1  —  The New York Times' refusal to publish John McCain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen.  But true proof of widespread media bias requires …

McCain denies he misstated timing of Iraq surge  —  BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Republican John McCain pushed back on Wednesday against Democratic criticism that he misstated when the troop buildup ordered by President Bush began, saying elements were put in place before Bush announced the strategy in early 2007.

Obama and German leader discuss war and economics  —  BERLIN - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as climate and energy issues at Germany's chancellery Thursday, part of a tour aimed at lifting …

Democrats Against Drilling  —  Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other liberal leaders on Capitol Hill are gripped by cold-sweat terror.  If they permit a vote on offshore drilling, they know they will lose when Blue Dogs and oil-patch Democrats defect to the GOP position of increasing domestic energy production.

GOP losing the new-media war  —  Republicans have no lack of would-be George F. Wills.  —  But what they really need are some more Robert D. Novaks.  —  The distinction between the two prominent conservative journalists isn't always obvious, but it's nevertheless important to understand …