Confederate Flag Takes Center Stage Once Again  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Republican presidential candidates on Thursday moved to appeal to different types of conservative voters before the South Carolina primary, with Mike Huckabee using colorful language to declare the Confederate flag …

Ad: ‘Hillary Clinton is shameless’  —  The radio ad aired by one of Obama's labor allies re-injects ethnicity into the Democratic primary contest in sharp terms.  —  “Hillary Clinton does not respect our people,” the ad says in Spanish (original and Clinton campaign translation after the jump) …

Bill Clinton, Stumping and Simmering  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton may be the spouse running for office, but it is more Bill Clinton who appears to be feeling the heat.  —  After weeks of complaining publicly about Barack Obama's record, the news media's coverage of the Democratic presidential race …

Huge New Diebold Disparities Found in Manchester, Ward 5 During NH Hand Counts  —  Scores of Votes Mistallied for Every Democratic Candidate...  As mentioned last night, in this disturbing article, the early results of the hand counts of one Diebold precinct in Dennis Kucinich's election contest …

Happy Birthday, Monicagate!  —  AN ANNIVERSARY WE'D ALL RATHER FORGET.  —  The press loves anniversaries of big public events because they're predictable, a quality seldom found in the news.  Coverage can be planned in advance.  Stories can be written, laid out, and put to bed without …

Election 2008: California Democratic Presidential Primary  —  California: Clinton 38% Obama 33%  —  The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of California's Democratic Presidential Primary shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by five percentage points.  It's Clinton 38% Obama 33% and John Edwards at 12%.

Chris Matthews Backs Off ‘Nasty’ Remark on Clinton  —  Under pressure from feminist groups and his own bosses at MSNBC, Chris Matthews apologized yesterday for remarks about Hillary Clinton that he now admits sounded “nasty."  —  For 10 days, the “Hardball” host had doggedly insisted …

Joke leaves 'em gasping  —  Obama quip stuns Citizen of the West banquet crowd  —  A Greeley businessman apologized Wednesday after a joke about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama fell flat during the National Western Stock Show's annual Citizen of the West banquet.

New Column: Answering Fred's Call  —  Commentators are citing the unpredictability of the Republican primary contests as proof that Reagan conservatism is dead when precisely the opposite conclusion is warranted.  —  The main reason the conventional wisdom is being shattered in the primaries …

Obama embodies party's vision  —  Nevada Democrats should caucus for Barack Obama, the freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, to represent them as the party's nominee to run for president of the United States.  He has the personal characteristics and political instincts expected of the person who leads this nation.

Thank God the AP is ready for the biggest story of our lifetime  —  At the risk of sounding like Billy Joel's “We Didn't Start the Fire,” since the start of this decade/century/millennium, America and the world have seen a disputed presidential election that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court …

Gen. Tommy Franks Paid $100,000 To Endorse ‘F’ Veterans Charity  —  Congressional Investigators Say Only 25 Percent of Charity's Raised Funds Went to Vets  —  Retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, was paid $100,000 to endorse a veterans charity …

Ailing GIs deployed to war zones  —  Ft. Carson sent ailing GIs to meet deployment goals, notes say  —  Master Sgt. Denny Nelson, standing on crutches outside Fort Carson next to a tank on display, is a 19-year Army vet.  (Glenn Asakawa, The Denver Post)  —  COLORADO SPRINGS …

No Ifs, Ands or Butts: Hitchens Calls It Quits  —  That bit of hell frozen over?  Courtesy of raffish provocateur Christopher Hitchens, who's given up his beloved cigarettes — cold turkey.  —  In an interview with the Financial Times published last week, Hitchens casually announced he'd quit smoking …

Edwards takes aim at media  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — John Edwards' campaign is launching a full-on assault on the media for what they claim is inadequate and unfair press coverage of the former North Carolina senator's presidential bid.  —  “For the better part of a year the media has focused …

Google's Earth  —  This is a very quick alert on Google's announcement this morning of $25 million in investments and grants from its moneymaking and philanthropic branches, all aimed at tackling challenges it sees as vital to fostering progress, particularly in the developing world …