Who Won & Who Lost — First Take  —  THE GUY WHO WASN'T THERE AND ADVANTAGE MCCAIN  —  John McCain won.  Let's not dance around this.  Mitt Romney shined, he stood out, he did well.  Rudy Giuliani imploded.  Rudy totally and utterly self-destructed tonight.

BUSH TO VETO EXPANDED HATE-CRIMES LAW: The bill passed the House today, 237-180.  It goes on to the Senate.  A statement released by the administration says that Bush's senior advisors will recommend a veto.  That's not quite the same as saying he will veto it, but it's pretty close.

Who Doesn't Believe in Evolution?  —  A show of hands please... Let me remind you this is the only top vote-getting question asked.  —  Download (5080) |  Play (8255) Download (2440) |  Play (6257)  —  (That's Brownback, Tancredo and Huckabee with their hands up.)

Obama placed under Secret Service protection … (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, has been placed under the protection of the Secret Service, the agency said Thursday.  —  The government is not aware of any specific, credible threat against Obama …

McKay made firing list in March '05; was Wales killing a factor?  —  Former U.S. Attorney John McKay's name was on a list of federal prosecutors to be fired in March 2005, 18 months earlier than previously reported, according to a document released by the House Judiciary Committee today.

From the Senate: Hillary Statement on Deauthorizing the War  —  Washington, DC — In remarks on the Senate floor, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that she and Senator Robert Byrd will introduce legislation to end authority for the war in Iraq.  The legislation will propose October 11 …

MSNBC: Republican Debate from Ronald Reagan Library  —  I'm sure we're all looking forward to another night of "Olbermann Unscripted" which is sure to be anotherevening chock full of uproarious Olbermann gaffes and zinger after zinger from Chris Matthews.  —  To kick of tonight's open thread …

The Times Names Public Editor  —  The New York Times today named its next public editor, Clark Hoyt, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and editor who oversaw the Knight Ridder newspaper chain's coverage that questioned the Bush administration's case for the Iraq war.

Anti-Escalation Group Buzzes GOP Debate  —  Those small planes circling over the Reagan library were rented by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq  —  They're bearing two banners: "Republicans, Mission Accomplished?" and "McCain, Mission Accomplished?"  —  Unless the folks …

Sympathy for the Spy-Masters: MI-5's Mission Impossible  —  Since the revelation that MI-5 had encountered Mohammed Siddique Khan, the leader of the cell that carried out the July 7, 2005 London subway bombings, but had not continued to track him, Britain's domestic intelligence agency has been subject to fierce criticism.