wasn’t even close. DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen is, to put it mildly, very happy:

“Congratulations to Travis Childers on his stunning victory. His victory has sent a political thunderbolt across America tonight. It is yet another rejection of the House Republican agenda, the Bush Administration’s misguided policies, and John

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It’s true HILLARY CLINTON HAS WON WEST VIRGINIA. Total game-changer, people. And here’s some snippets from the Obama team’s push-back:

And for perspective, while 28 pledged delegates are up for grabs this evening, Obama has won the support of 27 superdelegates in the course of just the last week putting him less than 150 total delegates

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As reporters seek to make sense of — and create new narratives about — this election cycle, I imagine there will be more stories like this one: “Young, evangelical … for Obama?”

The thing is, that question mark is well-deserved. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, researchers say that the crack-up of the Christian Right does not mean …

That there are still racists in America is an ugly truth, and it shouldn’t be ignored, but the timing, tone, and taking-off point of this front page piece in the Washington Post seem to emphasize one of the absolutely least newsworthy aspects of Obama’s campaign: Some people won’t vote for a black person — just because he’s black. Hey, …

Kudos to The Hill for getting all 97 senators to answer the question, “If you were asked, would you accept an offer to be the VP nominee?”

The answers exhibit inverse proportions of humor to actual willingness to consider the job, with age as a factor in both regards (older=funnier, less interested; rural states also seem to generate …

It’s a short “cc” list:

To: Interested Parties

From: Clinton Campaign

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Re: Why West Virginia Matters

With a record turnout expected in today’s primary, West Virginia Democrats will make clear who they believe is the strongest candidate to take on Sen. McCain in the Fall.

The Mountain State

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Pawlenty, Schmalenty: “Are you more or less willing to vote for John McCain if his running mate is a wife?”

Carly Fiorina made her Sunday show surrogate debut over the weekend; veepstakes handicappers should consider her performance an audition. Her strengths on paper are obvious: her private sector success* fills in some of McCain’s …

Former Texas Congressman Martin Frost, who now runs America Votes, suggests organized labor could be one potential solution to Barack Obama’s much-talked-about problem winning over working class white voters. Writing today in Politico.com, Frost notes:

Labor has always played a significant role in Democratic politics, but rarely has it

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For journalists covering Congress, one of the best things about game-changing elections like the 2006 mid-terms is that they create a trove of new story lines. David Herszenhorn exploits the opportunity well in a smart piece about Barney Frank in this morning’s New York Times. Frank, 68, was elected to the House from Massachusetts the …

There are all kinds of arguments being made as to why Barack Obama might want to help Hillary Clinton pay off her campaign debt–party unity, goodwill, etc. But there’s no small amount of urgency on Clinton’s part, thanks to a little-noticed provision of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. As just about everyone now knows, the …

From WCCO.com:

[Minnesota] Gov. Tim Pawlenty landed a 17-inch walleye Saturday during the Governor’s 60th Annual Fishing Opener at Breezy Point on Pelican Lake, but Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau reeled in a 19-inch walleye about two-and-a-half hours earlier. . . .

“I have a wife who genuinely loves to fish. I mean, she will take the lead and

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The Clinton campaign continues to try to get Barack Obama to engage in West Virginia and Kentucky, states where Hillary Clinton is likely to win:

“Why can’t Senator Obama beat Senator Clinton in West Virginia? Voters there have heard that he’s the presumptive nominee,” Wolfson said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They’ve seen the great press

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