Early Exit Poll Data in MD, VA  —  Highlights of preliminary exit poll data in the Maryland and Virginia presidential primaries Tuesday:  —  ___  —  CONSERVATIVES AND EVANGELICALS  —  Nearly seven in 10 voters in Virginia's Republican primary called themselves conservatives.

Clinton's Deputy Campaign Manager Steps Aside  —  Mike Henry, deputy campaign manager for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has resigned, according to a source familiar with the decision.  —  Henry tendered his resignation yesterday morning but worked the last two days on a volunteer basis.

Senate Passes Bill to Expand U.S. Spying Powers  —  WASHINGTON — After more than a year of heated political wrangling, the Senate handed the White House a major victory Tuesday by voting to broaden the government's spy powers after giving legal protection to phone companies that cooperated …

Gov. ‘Blunt Talk’ Rendell (and other topics)  —  So many topics, so little space:  —  Gov. Ed “Don't Call Me ‘Fast Eddie’ ” Rendell met with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week to talk about his latest budget.  But before turning the meeting over to his number-crunchers …

Exit Polls: Evangelicals rallying around Huckabee  —  (CNN) - Evangelicals in Virginia are voting heavily for Mike Huckabee, a key reason the former Arkansas governor remains in a competitive race there with likely GOP nominee John McCain.  —  According to exit polls, evangelical voters …

Obama Unplugged  —  Lost without a Teleprompter.  —  USUALLY WHEN BARACK OBAMA gives a major speech, the overdone hosannas from the liberal commentariat follow as surely as night follows day.  The American Prospect's Ezra Klein wrote of Obama's post-Iowa victory speech, “I've been blessed to hear many great orations.

William and Mary president resigns in disgrace  —  The head of the College of William and Mary, Gene Nichol, has resigned in disgrace.  Several readers send along his resignation letter.  You'll recall that he roiled the campus with his decision to hide the cross at the famous school chapel to make it “less faith-specific.”

Women ‘falling for Obama’  —  College Park, Maryland - You can see it in their flushed-face smiles and hear it in their screams.  They say the phenomenon is difficult to describe, but once they experience it they tell their friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, and they come back for more if they can.

Why the Right is Behind Online  —  From Erick Erickson, Redstate editor and influential Republican. … Now, being a doctor who performs abortions is in fact a job, so one might find conflicting narratives in Erick's quote.  And if the way to use the internet well politically is to up the number …