The View from One Prudential Plaza: Why the Obama Campaign Is So Confident About Beating Romney  —  President Obama pauses while speaking at a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, on May 5, 2012  —  Barack Obama's decision to base his re-election campaign outside of Washington seems to be working pretty darn well.

US: CIA thwarts new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned.

WTF?  Democratic Party of Wisconsin Cancels post-primary Unity Rally  —  Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 8th, Wisconsin voters will vote in a special recall election primary.  On the Democratic ballot for governor are four legitimate contenders.  The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Governor Scott Walker on June 5th.

Clinton hopes to see female US president  —  KOLKATA, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday she has no desire to make another run for the White House but hopes to see an American woman president in her lifetime.  —  Politely turning aside questions …

The Washington Post Is In Even Worse Shape Than You Think  —  The Washington Post Co. reported its first-quarter earnings on Friday, and the news coming out of the newspaper division was mostly grim.  The unit lost $22.6 million in the quarter, with revenue down 8% and revenue from print advertising specifically falling 17%.

Blogs: A French lesson for Obama  —  Progressive bloggers on Monday pointed to the election of a Socialist, Francois Hollande, to the presidency of France to suggest that austerity measures in Europe weren't working - or pleasing the electorate there - and that similar policies wouldn't be effective in the United States.

Delta Pulls “Daily Show” Ads After Catholic Complaints  —  Catholic League chief Bill Donohue is still on his campaign against Jon Stewart for a weeks-old “vagina manger” bit.  The next target: Kellogg's.  —  Catholic League president Bill Donohue declared an early victory in his campaign …

Secret U.S. program releases high-level insurgents in exchange for pledges of peace  —  KABUL — The United States has for several years been secretly releasing high-level detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, a bold effort to quell violence …

A Note to Readers  —  When we published Naomi Schaefer Riley's blog posting on Brainstorm last week ("The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies?  Just Read the Dissertations"), several thousand of you spoke out in outrage and disappointment that The Chronicle had published …

Look Who's Pushing Homeowners Off the Foreclosure Cliff  —  One of the more confounding aspects of the U.S. housing crisis has been the reluctance of lenders to do more to assist troubled borrowers.  After all, when homes go into foreclosure, banks lose money.

This 93-Year-Old Grandmother Is Suing Pennsylvania Over Voter ID Laws  —  The first time Viviette Applewhite went to the polls, she cast her vote for John F. Kennedy.  But this year, a strict new voter identification law will likely prevent the now-93-year old woman and many others in Pennsylvania …

INFOGRAPHIC: House GOP's Deficit Reduction Efforts Dwarfed By Cost Of Tax Cuts For The Rich  —  House Republicans will today finalize their deficit reduction plans as required under the Budget Control Act, the deal reached last August to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

Rick Berg, GOP Senate Candidate In North Dakota, Stumped On Minimum Wage (VIDEO) … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Video, North Dakota, North Dakota Democratic Party, Heidi Heitkamp, Minimum Wage, Rick-Berg, Rick-Berg-Campaign-Ad, Politics News  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Rick Berg (R-N.D.) …

New Yorkers open their wallets for Brown  —  US Senator Scott Brown collected more itemized campaign donations from New York City than from any other city in America, including Boston and others in Massachusetts, during the first three months of this year, a Globe analysis of federal campaign records shows.

Why Can't Obama Bring Wall Street to Justice?  —  Despite his populist posturing, the president has failed to pin a single top finance exec on criminal charges since the economic collapse.  Are the banks too big to jail—or is Washington's revolving door at to blame?  Peter J. Boyer and Peter Schweizer investigate: