Week 2 Stories

1. Top Clinton Aide Leaving His Post Under Pressure
Mark Penn, the pollster who has advised Bill and Hillary Clinton since 1996, stepped down under pressure on Sunday as the chief political strategist for Mrs. Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign after his private business arrangements again clashed with her campaign positions. Mr. Penn sealed his fate last week by meeting with officials from Colombia, which hired him to help secure passage of a bilateral trade treaty with the United States that Mrs. Clinton, a senator from New York, opposes.

2. THE CAUCUS: In Superdelegate Count, Tough Math for Clinton
The hill that Hillary Rodham Clinton must climb to beat Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination will grow a little steeper on Monday, as it has most days lately with the addition of a few more superdelegate endorsements for Senator Obama.

3. CAMPAIGN MEMO: Crossing Paths, Candidates Face the Same Audiences
Because the last few primary states matter much more than anyone could have anticipated when the Democratic presidential race began many months ago, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama spent the weekend chasing each other across the vast northern expanses of the Great Plains and the Rockies.

4. Rice Eyeing Ticket? That's News to McCain
Is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice campaigning to be John McCain's running mate? If so, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said on Sunday that he had not noticed. ''I missed those signals,'' Mr. McCain told reporters on his campaign plane en route to Kansas City.

5. Obama's Young Backers Get Chance to Twist Parents' Arms
As the race for the Democratic presidential nomination continues, youthful volunteers for each candidate have been campaigning with bright-eyed brio, not only door-to-door but also at home. But the young supporters of Mr. Obama, who has captured a majority of under-30 primary voters, seem to be leading in the pestering sweepstakes. They send their parents the latest Obama YouTube videos, blog exhortations and “Tell Your Mama/Vote for Obama!” bumper stickers.

6. Bob Barr's Threat to John McCain
This article in the American Spectator expresses conservatives' worry about the prosepect of a third-party run by former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia. I think the worry is justified. Barr, who lost his seat in 2003 and joined the Libertarian Party in 2006, now says he will seek that party's nomination. It's no sure thing that he'll get it--there are a number of political unknowns vying for it, and also former Democratic Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska.

7. Poll: McCain could win Washington state
In the race for the presidency, Washington State could well be in play, thanks to a nominee who is more in the mold of Washington state Republicans like Attorney General Rob McKenna and former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, both of whom campaigned for Sen. John McCain. According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, McCain would beat Sen. Hillary Clinton, in the state and is within spitting distance of Sen. Barack Obama.Washington, which hasn't gone for a Republican presidential candidate since voting for President Ronald Reagan in 1984, is considered a "blue" state in most people's electoral calculus, but McCain's general election viability here is a continued trend.


8. McCain and Rice could be dream ticket
Many politicians in the republican party feel that a presidential ticket featuring John McCain and Condeleezza Rice would be a dream ticket. They feel that even though she brings even more memories of the last eight Bush years, she would bring an element that could challenge the woman/black buzz that is obviously surrounding the democratic side of the election.

9. Rockefeller Apologizes for McCain Remark
Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller apologized for suggesting Republican Sen. John McCain doesn't care about people because he was a Navy fighter pilot who dropped bombs on Vietnam.

10. McCain Seeks Aid for Some Homeowners
Republican Sen. John McCain called for federal aid for well-meaning homeowners who can't pay their mortgages, an attempt to fend off criticism that he has been indifferent to the housing crisis and the market upheaval it has spawned. The likely GOP presidential nominee sketched out a plan Thursday to help 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners trade burdensome mortgages for manageable loans in a speech in Brooklyn, N.Y. Aides said the plan could cost from $3 billion to $10 billion.