Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008  —  Based on daily polling from Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2008  —  PRINCETON, NJ — John McCain continues to be the primary beneficiary of Rudy Giuliani's recent exit from the Republican race for president.  The percentage of Republican primary voters nationwide favoring McCain …

Bill Clinton Prepares Mea Culpa  —  UPDATE, 4:30 p.m. ET: It looks like former president Bill Clinton will not have to make an apology to the congregations of black churches in South Central Los Angeles after all.  At least not in writing.  —  Our posting on Bill Clinton's “mea culpa” …

Why I'm Backing Obama  —  Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades.  In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term “military-industrial complex,” and he offered advice that is still relevant today.

New Celeb-Filled Music Video for Obama  —  Song from Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am Inspired by Obama Speech  —  Celebrity-filled music videos have been used to support many social movements, from famine relief for Africa, to support for American farmers, to opposition to apartheid in South Africa.

Decline of the Angry Left  —  Last Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary will probably be remembered as the day when the party's emotional dam burst and many of the personal grievances and tensions that have built up over the past generation spilled out into the open …

LET LYNNE STEWART ROT  —  Might terror-coddling attorney Lynne Stewart get her just deserts after all?  It is to be hoped.  —  A three-judge federal appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday from prosecutors seeking a harsher sentence for Stewart, who was given just 28 months in prison in 2006 …

Facing off over Marine Corps  —  3 war opponents chain selves to door of recruiting station, and right-wing blogosphere goes ballistic  —  As the right-wing blogosphere railed and a U.S. senator vowed financial retaliation against the Berkeley City Council for its effort to boot the Marine Corps …

A Different Perspective  —  Three unexpected developments have given Republicans a shot this year at winning — once thought impossible, given the normal desire of the electorate for a fresh party after eight years, and worries about Iraq and the economy.  All can change, but for now they have a real shot.

It's a shame one of them has to win  —  President McCain?  Or Queen Hillary?  Henry Kissinger said about the Iran/Iraq war in the '80s that it's a shame they both can't lose.  Conservatives have a slightly different problem: It's a shame that neither of them will lose - that …

Reagan Challenged His Party from the Right.  McCain Challenges His Party from the Left.  —  I don't think most conservatives are interested in McCain's class ranking at Annapolis or how many planes he was nearly killed in.  There have been a few posts here mentioning it.

Intransigent Huck Voters  —  The Romney campaign's February 5th math is simple: move all the voters from the Huckabee pile onto theirs and claim a majority of conservatives.  Unfortunately, it's just not that simple.  —  In the South — still more delegate-rich per capita than NY, CA, NJ …

Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate  —  When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state's freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.

Lynch: US ‘surge’ tipped scales in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD - Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch has spent years thinking about the war in Iraq, both as a senior strategist in 2005 and now as a division commander.  He has seen strategies, missions and buzzwords come and go, but he now believes U.S. commanders finally have a feel for the battlefield.

Obama Defends Driver's Licenses for Illegals in Interview with ABC News  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told ABC's David Muir Saturday that his support for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants will not block his path to the White House because he and G.O.P …