Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause  —  Danielle Ross was alone in an empty room at the Obama campaign headquarters in Kokomo, Ind., a cellphone in one hand, a voter call list in the other.  She was stretched out on the carpeted floor wearing laceless sky-blue Converses, stories from the trail on her mind.

Carville: Obama likely to win nomination  —  (CNN) — James Carville has been one of Hillary Clinton's most energetic defenders, but on Monday he all but declared Barack Obama will become the Democratic nominee for president.  —  Speaking to students at Furman University in Greenville …

Poll: Obama trouncing Clinton in Oregon  —  Illinois senator leading former first lady 55-35  —  A bit more than a week away from Oregon's May 20 primary, Barack Obama has amassed a nearly insurmountable lead in the Democratic presidential race, according to statewide polling conducted by Portland's Davis …

Reach Out and Touch Faith  —  Andrew Sullivan is bothered by this illustration accompanying an endorsement of Barack Obama in an Oregon weekly paper.  —  But that's not really all that unusual, if you've been checking the alternatively hilarious and disturbing blog, “Is Barack Obama The Messiah?”.

Missile Is Fired at Copter Over Baghdad, U.S. Says  —  BAGHDAD — A surface-to-air missile was fired on Saturday at an American Apache helicopter flying over the Sadr City section of Baghdad, American military officials said on Monday.  The attack, which had not been disclosed previously …

Senate rebukes Bush on energy policy  —  The Senate issued a strong, bipartisan rebuke to President Bush on energy policy Tuesday, voting 97-1 for a measure to suspend oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  —  “We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it …

The Neural Buddhists  —  In 1996, Tom Wolfe wrote a brilliant essay called “Sorry, but Your Soul Just Died,” in which he captured the militant materialism of some modern scientists.  —  To these self-confident researchers, the idea that the spirit might exist apart from the body is just ridiculous.

Senators say whether they'd agree to be vice president  —  The Hill asked all 97 senators who are not running for president the same question: “If you were asked, would you accept an offer to be the VP nominee?”  —  Some senators laughed, but others took the question seriously.

The Obama Rules  —  If Barack Obama gets his way, the Oxford English Dictionary will have updated its definition of “distraction” by the end of the campaign: “Diversion of the mind, attention, etc., from any object or course that tends to advance the political interests of Barack Obama.”

MS-01 Watch  —  The most important election taking place today is not in West Virginia.  It's in Mississippi, for the first congressional district, a seat held since the Republican revolution of 1994 by Republican Roger Wicker.  Wicker's moving up to take Trent Lott's seat …

McCain Backer John Hagee Apologizes to Catholics  —  Elizabeth Holmes reports on the presidential race.  —  John Hagee, the controversial evangelical pastor who endorsed John McCain, will issue a letter of apology to Catholics today for inflammatory remarks he has made …

Why Cablevision Bought Newsday  —  Wall Street is baffled by Cablevision's apparent purchase of Newsday, beating out two passionate newspaper proprietors, both of whom lusted for the Long island newspaper.  Mort Zuckerman of the New York Daily News and Rupert Murdoch of the New York Post …

A Spoiler, by Way of the Dairy Case  —  In his career in public service, Bob Barr has performed many important roles.  —  As a Republican candidate for the House in 1994, he rose to national attention when reports alleged that he had licked whipped cream off the breasts of two women at a charity event.