McCain takes air out of tire pressure debate  —  HUNTINGTON, W. Va - Republican John McCain appeared to back down on Tuesday in his dispute with his opponent Barack Obama over tire pressure.  —  Last week in St. Louis, Obama told an audience that steps such as inflating tires to the correct levels …

Bundler Collects From Unlikely Donors  —  The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727 …

Kansas politician who crusaded against abortion loses big  —  For the second time in two years, voters in Kansas have handed a stinging defeat to Phill Kline, an anti-abortion crusader who's reputation was made attempting to prosecute the state's abortion providers, first as state attorney general …

McCain's Green-Eyed Monster  —  Not since Iago and Othello obsessed on the comely Cassio, not since Richard of Gloucester killed his two nephews, not since Nixon and Johnson glowered at the glittering J.F.K., has there been such an unseemly outpouring of boy envy.

For Bayh, Shot No. 3 at No. 2 Spot  —  Committee Seats, Red-State Support Complement Obama  —  Officially, Barack Obama will deliver an energy-policy speech Wednesday to citizens in Elkhart, Ind. But the focus of the political chattering class will be on the man sitting shotgun at the event …

No Crisis Is Immune From Exploitation Under Bush  —  Tucked away on the Cayman Islands sits Ugland House, an unassuming, nondescript building of modest scale and size.  However, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), this five-story office building is home …

DNC launches 'Exxon-McCain ‘08’  —  Stung by Republican taunts about tire gauges, Democrats are pumping up a stunt of their own.  —  The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday is launching an “Exxon-McCain '08” campaign, complete with a gas-pump logo and garish red buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs.

Obama stalls in public polling  —  In the two months since Barack Obama captured the Democratic nomination, he has hit a ceiling in public opinion, proving unable to make significant gains with any segment of the national electorate.  —  While Obama still leads in most matchups with John McCain …

CBS News Poll: Veep Picks May Matter More This Year  —  A new CBS News poll on the presidential election will be released this evening but we have a few nuggets to share this morning.  While most voters (67 percent) say their vote will be based mostly on the candidate at the top of the ticket …

Tapping Tired Wells  —  There were good ideas in the energy plan Sen. Barack Obama unveiled Monday.  The most important of these is a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases that would auction off 100 percent of emission credits.  The Illinois Democrat also announced a strong commitment …

House Republican leader rips Bush  —  A House Republican leader is lambasting President Bush on his decision not to call Congress back into session to deal with the energy crisis.  —  In a legislative update sent to GOP members and staff on Tuesday, Republican House Policy Committee Chairman …

You Still Can't Write About Muhammad  —  Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad.  Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage.

Silly Season  —  Did Bob Herbert really go on MSNBC to insist that the “celebrity” ad deliberately juxtaposed its shots of Britney and Paris Hilton with gratuitous phallic symbols - per Herbert, the Washington Monument and the Leaning Tower of Pisa; per reality, the Victory Column in Berlin …