Penn: Never Out, Still In  —  Demoted Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn may no longer have the coveted title of chief strategist, but he remains a key member of the campaign's senior staff.  —  Mr. Penn took part on the campaign's morning message call this morning, as usual.

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 9-point Lead Over Clinton  —  McCain, Obama remain tied in general election trial heat  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has gained support in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report for April 4-6, and now leads Hillary Clinton by a statistically significant margin, 52% to 43%.

Iraq and Its Costs  —  When Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress tomorrow, he will step into an American political landscape dramatically different from the one he faced when he last spoke on Capitol Hill seven months ago.  —  This time Gen. Petraeus returns to Washington having led …

If the system made sense, Clinton would be far ahead  —  Under a winner-take-all primary system, Hillary Clinton would have a wide lead over Barack Obama — and enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination by June.  —  Hillary Clinton celebrates with supporters …

On Tim Russert , Hitchens said to Sullivan: “Oh, well don't be such a lesbian.  Get on with it”  —  On the April 5 edition of MSNBC's Tim Russert, Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens debated the significance for Sen. Barack Obama of comments made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright …

The Worst President Ever?  —  An unscientific survey of 109 professional historians, conducted by the doubtless-unbiased author of Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion In America, reports that sixty-one percent of its sample considers George W. Bush's Presidency the “worst ever.”

McCain Raises $15M In March  —  Sen. John McCain's fundraising is picking up, relatively speaking.  —  In March, officials said he raised about $15M, his best month since early 2007 and well above his $2M-per-month pace in late 2007.  The final number is still being tallied.

Grains Gone Wild  —  These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis.  But there's another world crisis under way — and it's hurting a lot more people.  —  I'm talking about the food crisis.  Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs …

McCain's Speech On Progress In Iraq Interrupted By News Of Mortars Hitting The Green Zone  —  Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, making the case for the “unmistakable progress” in Iraq.  —  A telling moment in his remarks came when he was arguing why President Bush's surge …

The non-political elite view of McCain  —  A GOP fundraiser who hasn't, to put it mildly, been the biggest McCain booster in the world makes a smart point to me in explaining his success so far in raising coin for the GOP nominee from money types outside the Washington crowd.

MAYHILL FOWLER  —  BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Similar Bloggers  —  Last night at a fundraiser in San Francisco, Barack Obama took a question on what he's looking for in a running mate.  “I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not as expert on,” he said, and then he was off and running.

2 Suburban Philadelphia Counties Flip to Democratic Party  —  History is being made in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  —  The four suburban counties have long been Republican strongholds, with more Republican voters than Democratic ones.  The last time there were more Democrats than Republicans seems lost in the mist of time.

Representative tries to put the fear of God in atheist  —  Did you hear about the state legislator who last week blasted a Lutheran minister during a committee hearing for spewing dangerous religious superstitions, and then attempted to order the minister out of the witness chair on the grounds …

Household Betrayal  —  Harassment in the workplace, sexual or otherwise, is something I take very seriously.  In my home and on the set, I have been surrounded for years by hardworking women (and men) whom I respect and whose rights are to be protected.  But when people make false claims …