Just a note to let folks know that today is the final day for the News Blog. We hope you?ll continue to visit our politics section, where you?ll find extensive coverage of Election 2008. -- Tom Regan...

When George Bush ran for president in 2000 and 2004, he and Karl Rove, his political guru, had a very definite election plan that featured getting as many conservatives as possible to the polls. But the Washington Times reports that Sen. John McCain knows that this strategy won?t work for him, so he has taken a completely different route - trying to pick up as many independents and right-wing Democ...

Toby Harnden, the U.S. editor/reporter/blogger for Britain?s The Daily Telegraph has put together a list of the 50 most influential pundits in the United States. This kind of stuff is often inside baseball, and the only people who really care about it are the pundits themselves. (Helps in contract talks.) You might call it an ordering of the usual suspects. The Telegraph described their list this w...

Sen. Hillary Clinton picked up an important endorsement today from the Indianapolis Star, Indiana?s largest newspaper. While the paper?s editorial board praised both Clinton and her rival Sen. Barack Obama, board members felt that Clinton? experience was the deciding factor. Obama offers an attractive vision for the way things could be. He speaks eloquently of hope and change. He connects with vote...

A new daily tracking poll by Zogby International shows that Sen. Barack Obama seems to have regained his footing in North Carolina, and is giving his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton a run for her money in Indiana. The poll, conducted with live operators, of 668 likely Democratic voters in North Carolina showed Obama with a 50% to 34% lead. A similar survey of 680 Indiana voters showed the two candidates...