Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated  —  Tea party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, tend to be Republican, white, male, and married, and their strong opposition to the Obama administration is more rooted in political ideology …

Obama Speech Signals a U.S. Shift on Middle East  —  WASHINGTON — It was just a phrase at the end of President Obama's news conference on Tuesday, but it was a stark reminder of a far-reaching shift in how the United States views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how aggressively it might push for a peace agreement.

Obama dares GOP to fight Wall St. bill  —  For weeks, the White House strategy on financial regulatory reform remained an open question: Would President Barack Obama water down his bill just to get something passed — the way he did on health care?  —  A Palinesque “Hell no!” …

The Great Tea-Bait  —  Heath Shuler did not hear the “N-word” on March 20.  —  It may be the most celebrated missing recording since Watergate: the nonexistent or unaccounted-for video of the tea-party protesters at the Capitol who three black congressmen claim yelled racial slurs at them on March 20, the eve of ObamaCare's enactment.

Rubio Tops Crist By 23 Points In Florida GOP Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist As Independent Has Slight Edge In 3-Way Race  —  Marco Rubio has opened up an elephant-sized 56 - 33 percent lead over Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida's U.S. Senate Republican primary …

Mitt Romney-Sarah Palin in 2012?  You betcha!  —  Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama.

How Tweet It Is!:  Library Acquires Entire Twitter Archive  —  Have you ever sent out a “tweet” on the popular Twitter social media service?  Congratulations: Your 140 characters or less will now be housed in the Library of Congress.  —  That's right.  Every public tweet, ever …

General Election 2010: Conservatives lead in 100 key seats, Telegraph poll shows  —  The Conservatives are on course for a convincing election victory after a new poll for The Daily Telegraph showed the party is leading Labour by 12 points in crucial marginal constituencies.

AP-GfK Poll: Obama slips, other Dems slide, too  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's national standing has slipped to a new low after his victory on the historic health care overhaul, even in the face of growing signs of economic revival, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll.

Early Bumps in Blumenthal's Senate Run in Connecticut  —  HARTFORD — Richard Blumenthal's campaign for the Senate was supposed to be a glide.  Nothing and no one could stop him.  —  As the Connecticut attorney general, Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat, had been sticking up for consumers …

Sen. Lincoln forges ahead on financial derivatives reform  —  An influential senator is advocating new regulations that would force the nation's largest banks to stop trading nearly all kinds of exotic financial instruments known as financial derivatives — a move that would dramatically …

UNDERFUNDED TEACHER PENSION PLANS:  —  It's Worse Than You Think  —  Josh Barro, Walter B. Wriston Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research  —  Stuart Buck, Distinguished Doctoral Fellow, Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas  —  Executive Summary

Sink the Murtha  —  The Navy can do better than honoring this hack  —  The late Rep. John Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, has achieved his highest undeserved honor.  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has decided to name the Navy's newest San Antonio Class amphibious transport-dock LPD 26 the USS John P. Murtha.

Volcanic ash disrupts N European flights  —  Cloud of smoke and ash coming from volcano in Iceland on 14 April  —  Airline passengers are facing massive disruption across the UK after an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland grounded planes.  —  The Air Traffic Control Service …

Elena Kagan's Stints in Court May Hint at a Style On It  —  WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a leading contender for appointment to the Supreme Court, presented her sixth argument there.  She bantered easily with the justices, and she seemed to have a special rapport …

Vatican ‘clarifies’ abuse claim  —  The Vatican has sought to “clarify” remarks made by a senior cardinal, who linked homosexuality with paedophilia in the abuse scandal facing the Church.  —  A spokesman provided “data” to support the claim, but also said Church leaders were not trying …

TALK BUSINESS POLL: U.S. SENATE RACE - DEMOCRATS  —  The race for the U.S. Senate is on.  —  Our latest Talk Business Poll of 1,167 statewide voters shows that incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln leads challenger Bill Halter 38% to 31% in the Democratic primary.