AP NewsBreak: Richardson Ends Bid  —  MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.

Women's Support for Clinton Rises in Wake of Perceived Sexism  —  If the race wasn't about gender already, it certainly is now.  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been running for president for nearly a year.  But in the past week, women in Iowa mostly rejected her, a few days before women in New Hampshire embraced her.

New Estimate of Violent Deaths Among Iraqis Is Lower  —  A new survey estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of the country.  Roughly 9 out of 10 of those deaths were a consequence of U.S. military operations, insurgent attacks and sectarian warfare.

It's a Fake  —  The Pentagon's version of the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday morning, involving U.S. Navy warships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats is, at the very least highly suspicious.  On Tuesday, the Navy released video footage and an audiotape to back its claims …

Voter cited by opponents of Indiana's ID law registered in two states  —  WASHINGTON - On the eve of a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana Voter ID law has become a story with a twist: One of the individuals used by opponents to the law as an example of how the law hurts older Hoosiers is registered to vote in two states.

Up and down Huckabee's y-axis  —  Plotting his presidential candidacy along the y-axis, Mike Huckabee, ever the vertical politician, claims he wants to “change the Republican Party."  What exactly does he mean?  Does he want to do for the national party what he did for the Arkansas party?

Clinton On Her Win, Rivals' “Buddy System”  —  Hours After Her N.H. Win, Comeback Clinton Raps Her Opponents … CLINTON: On Tuesday morning when I got up before the sun was up, and was out helping to deliver coffee to everybody who was working for me, I felt really good by the time I came in around early afternoon.

Were N.H. Polls a Repeat of 1948 Failure . . . or Not?  —  What if the polls were right, and the dynamics changed dramatically on Election Day?  —  Democratic pollster Peter Hart has a contrarian view on the latest polling kerfuffle.  Hart, one-half of the polling team behind …

AT&T and Other ISPs May Be Getting Ready to Filter  —  For the past fifteen years, Internet service providers have acted - to use an old cliche - as wide-open information super-highways, letting data flow uninterrupted and unimpeded between users and the Internet.  —  But ISPs may be about to embrace a new metaphor: traffic cop.

Goldman Sachs sees recession in 2008  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said it expects the U.S. economy to drop into recession this year, prompting the Federal Reserve to slash benchmark lending rates to 2.5 percent by the third quarter.  —  In a note to clients …

The Libertarian Turnip Truck, Cont'd  —  In response to my post below about Ron Paul, reader Bill Sullivan writes: … Bill makes a good point.  Someone should have told him.  There are plenty of people who get paid to do that sort of thing.  I did not mean to criticize …

Johnson backs Obama  —  MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is endorsing a colleague for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  Johnson says he's backing Barack Obama because he's bi-partisan and wants to bridge differences between the two parties.