News
Los Angeles Times: Hillary Clinton’s strategy of last resort
“Unable to revive her presidential campaign at the polls, Hillary Rodham Clinton now envisions a road to the nomination built on disputes over Democratic Party rules and fights over delegate selections. But on Wednesday even that route looked unattainable, with some key party officials warning that they would not cooperate with Clinton’s strategy. The party leaders’ comments came as they digested Tuesday night’s election results from Indiana and North Carolina — results that extended Barack Obama’s lead over Clinton in both the popular vote and nominating delegates and led some to conclude that the New York senator simply could not catch up.”

The New York Times: Support for Clinton Wanes as Obama Sees Finish Line
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton struck a publicly defiant posture on Wednesday about continuing her presidential bid despite waning support from Democratic officials and donors. Some of her advisers acknowledged privately that they remained unsure about the future of her candidacy. With the political world trained on Mrs. Clinton’s financial and electoral viability, Senator Barack Obama moved closer to becoming the first African-American presidential nominee of a major party. Mr. Obama spent the day at home in Chicago, after increasing his delegate lead in Tuesday’s primaries — a result that led David Plouffe, a top Obama aide, to say on Wednesday, “We can see the finish line here.” After a decisive loss in North Carolina and a disappointingly narrow victory in Indiana on Tuesday night, Mrs. Clinton told advisers that she wanted to start campaigning for next Tuesday’s primary in West Virginia, advisers said. At 3 a.m. Wednesday, aides added a noon event there.”

The Washington Times: Once-secret memos question Clinton’s honesty
“A decade before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton admitted fudging the truth during the presidential campaign, federal prosecutors quietly assembled hundreds of pages of evidence suggesting she concealed information and misled a federal grand jury about her work for a failing Arkansas savings and loan at the heart of the Whitewater probe, according to once-secret documents that detail the internal debates over whether she should have faced criminal charges. Ordinarily, such files containing grand jury evidence and prosecutors’ deliberations are never made public. But the estate of Sam Dash, a lifelong Democrat who served as the ethics adviser to Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, donated his documents from the infamous 1990s investigation to the Library of Congress after his 2004 death, unwittingly injecting into the public domain much of the testimony and evidence gathered against Mrs. Clinton from former law partners, White House aides and other witnesses.”

The Washington Post: Did Rush Limbaugh Tilt Result In Indiana?
“Even as Barack Obama’s campaign celebrated Tuesday’s primary results, aides charged yesterday that they would have had an even stronger showing were it not for meddling by an unlikely booster of Hillary Rodham Clinton: the popular conservative radio host and longtime Clinton family nemesis Rush Limbaugh. The impact of Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” emerged as an intriguing point of debate, particularly in Indiana, where registered voters could participate in either party’s primary, and where Clinton won by a mere 14,000 votes. As he had before several recent primaries, Limbaugh encouraged listeners to vote for Clinton to “bloody up Obama politically” and prolong the Democratic fight.”

Opinion
Karl Rove: It’s Obama, Warts and All
Chicago Sun-Times: Face it, Hillary: It’s over
George F. Will: Yankee Fan Go Home
Robert Novak: Tests Ahead for Obama
The Washington Times: McCain’s quest for the Hispanic vote
Nicholas Kristof: The Too-Long Goodbye

News
The Boston Globe: A big rebound for Obama
“Senator Barack Obama won a decisive victory in the North Carolina primary yesterday, righting his presidential bid after the rockiest stretch of his campaign, while Senator Hillary Clinton eked out a narrow win in Indiana to keep her campaign alive. Obama moved closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, adding to his increasingly strong advantage in pledged delegates and in the overall popular vote with just six contests remaining over the next month - and none likely to radically reshape the race. In North Carolina, Obama led Clinton 56 percent to 42 percent last night with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The win, in the largest state left to vote, was the first clear sign Obama has survived his rough few weeks, caused largely by his controversial former pastor, and it dashed Clinton’s hopes of a game-changing sweep.”

The Los Angeles Times: Obama takes North Carolina; Clinton wins Indiana
“Barack Obama handily won North Carolina and Hillary Rodham Clinton eked out a victory in Indiana on Tuesday, keeping the Democratic contest alive and underscoring the chasm between their supporters. Obama had the easier time of it. With 99% of precincts reporting, he was winning North Carolina 56% to 42%. In Indiana, Clinton was winning 51% to 49%, with 99% of the precincts counted. The results left the dynamics of the presidential race essentially unchanged. Obama remains well-positioned to win the nomination when the voting ends June 3, but has not mustered the strength to finish off Clinton.”

The Washington Post: Clinton Aides Doubtful About Future
“After failing to win the decisive sweep in North Carolina and Indiana that could have reshaped the Democratic race, disappointed aides to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded it would be difficult for her to catch Sen. Barack Obama in either delegates or overall votes in the six remaining contests. The outcome caused the candidate and her campaign to intensify their efforts to persuade party leaders to include the results of disqualified contests in Michigan and Florida, both of which she won. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws committee is scheduled to meet on May 31 to consider two challenges pending on whether, and how, to seat delegates from those states. “Absent some sort of miracle on May 31st, it’s going to be tough for us,” said a senior Clinton official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be frank. “We lost this thing in February. We’re doing everything we can now . . . but it’s just an uphill battle.”"

Chicago Sun-Times: Obama widens his lead
“White House hopeful Barack Obama won a decisive victory in North Carolina, and rival Hillary Clinton squeezed out a much narrower win in Indiana. That means Obama continues to pull ahead in the delegate race, but Clinton has her license to keep waging her long-shot fight. “Tonight, we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for President of the United States,” Obama told supporters in Raleigh, N.C. Obama appeared in his speech to reach out to Clinton and her supporters, saying, “Tonight, many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided — that Sen. Clinton’s supporters will not support me, and that my supporters will not support her.”

The Washington Times: Undecided superdelegates now outnumber pledged
“Since both White House hopefuls have failed to translate their moments of front-runner status into a coronation, the fate of the Democratic nomination now rests with superdelegates and their interpretation of electability. Yesterday’s primaries marked a significant turning point in the battle between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — the number of undecided superdelegates, about 270, now outnumbers the pledged delegates, 217, available in the remaining six contests.”

Opinion
Robert Scheer: Who is the biggest hawk?
Andrew Greeley: Why media fix on Wright and ignore Hagee
Howie Carr: Lefties want Hilllary Clinton out swooner than later
The Wall Street Journal: Divided for Obama
Maureen Dowd: Butterflies Aren’t Free

News
The New York Times: For Primaries in Two States, a Variety of Scenarios
“It’s almost over. Well, not quite. But the Democratic presidential primaries taking place on Tuesday in North Carolina and Indiana have more delegates up for grabs than any of the remaining contests. For political, demographic and mathematical reasons, those states have the potential to reshape the competition between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. It will be an opportunity for Mrs. Clinton to make the case that Democratic sentiment is swinging in her favor, and to slice into Mr. Obama’s lead in pledged delegates and in the popular vote (putting aside the disputed contests in Florida and Michigan). For Mr. Obama, it is a chance to tamp down talk that Mrs. Clinton has exposed him as a flawed general election candidate.”

The Washington Post: Who’s More Red, White and Blue-Collar?
“If he weren’t so busy waiting tables at O’Charley’s or scanning Wal-Mart for discount meat to feed his four kids, Scott Winschief thinks he might make a pretty good candidate for president of the United States. For the past six months, he has watched on television in his double-wide mobile home as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have traveled around the country and imitated his lifestyle. Badly. They posed for photos in the same kind of factory where Winschief, 44, pinched a nerve in his back hauling 1,800-pound coils of wire in 140-degree heat. They visited bars and drained pints of the domestic beer that fills Winschief’s fridge. They toured barns occupied by animals like the ones he fed at 4 a.m. every day so he could pay for a few years of college. They reminisced about shooting guns like the ones displayed inside almost every house in his rural neighborhood.”

The Washington Times: McCain courts Hispanic voters
“Sen. John McCain said yesterday that Republicans have shed support among Hispanic voters because of the party’s get-tough approach to illegal immigration, but he predicted that his enforcement-then- legalization approach will rebuild those bridges. Using a Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo, as a launching point, Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign announced a Spanish-language Web site (www.johnmccain.com/ espanol), and said the senator from Arizona will speak to this year’s National Council of La Raza convention in San Diego in July to try to court Hispanic voters. “I believe the majority of the Hispanics share our view that the border must be secured, and the border must be secured first. But they also want us to have an attitude, which I think most Americans do, that these are God’s children, and they must be taken care of, and the issue must be addressed in a humane and compassionate fashion,” Mr. McCain told reporters at an Arizona news conference yesterday.”

The Boston Herald: Hillary Clinton climbs Barack into race
“Barack Obama, weakened from a racially charged controversy involving his pastor, battles today to stop a surging Hillary Clinton from derailing his historic presidential bid as the Democrats face crucial contests in Indiana and North Carolina. Shuttling between the two states yesterday, Obama told factory workers in Durham, N.C., “I want your vote. I want it badly.” Polls leading up to today’s voting showed Clinton ahead in Indiana and closing the gap in North Carolina, where Obama enjoyed a strong lead before new controversial statements forced the Illinois senator to repudiate the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.”

Los Angeles Times: Indiana may feel coattail effect in fall
“When Baron P. Hill, the local congressman, endorsed Barack Obama last week, his surprise announcement was greeted with a roof-raising cheer from more than 12,000 people crowded into the basketball arena at Indiana University. “Can we work together to change the tenor and tone of politics in Washington?” Hill hollered, and the crowd of Obama supporters joined in: “Yes, we can!” But Donald Bobbitt was puzzled by Hill’s decision. The 70-year-old retiree likes Hill and helped elect the Democrat to one of the most competitive congressional seats in the country. Obama, however, is “too much Islamic,” Bobbitt said a day after the announcement, as he manned the amateur radio exhibit at the annual Dogwood Festival in Orleans, about 40 miles south of the Bloomington campus. “We don’t need that in this country.” (Obama actually is a practicing Christian.) Voters in Indiana and North Carolina go the polls today in the biggest day of balloting left on the waning presidential primary campaign calendar. Most have little at risk.”

The Chicago Sun-Times: Even if Hillary wins today, math in Obama’s favor
“”It’s sort of like Ground Hog Day,” said Kevin Griffis, an Obama campaign spokesman who Tuesday will celebrate his fifth election day since January in this long march toward the Democratic presidential nomination, having served in South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi and now Indiana. We’re talking in an old school converted to an office building, the Indiana headquarters for Obama, on Monday, the day before elections in the Hoosier State and North Carolina that could help clinch the Democratic presidential nomination for Sen. Barack Obama and/or reduce the rationale for Sen. Hillary Clinton for staying in the contest. Today, Clinton needs a game changer and Obama needs a closer.”

Opinion
David Brooks: Combat and Composure
Jonah Goldberg: Give voters a clue
Richard Cohen: Pins and Panders
Gary Andres: Voters up for grabs
The Indianapolis Star: With world watching, state could make the call
Derrick Jackson: High oil prices for Obama and Clinton
Fred Barnes: In Praise of the ‘Long’ Campaign

News
The Washington Post: Dueling Appeals On Taxes From Obama, Clinton
“Two days before critical primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) scolded both Sen. Barack Obama (D) and “elite opinion” Sunday for opposing her proposals to fix the ailing economy, while the senator from Illinois accused her of political pandering. “There’s a big difference between us, and the question is: Who understands what you’re going through, and who do you count on being on your side?” Clinton said to several hundred supporters in Fort Wayne. “I believe I have what it takes to stand up and fight for you when you need a president on your side.” Obama appeared to acknowledge that Clinton’s populist economic message is finding a receptive audience in Indiana when he called for a second round of government tax rebates. “Let me tell you something, people are really hurting,” Obama said during his own appearance in Fort Wayne. “I am here to tell you, you’re not on your own. We’re in this together.”"

Los Angeles Times: Democratic and Republican healthcare plans offer clear choices
“If John McCain becomes president, Americans would be steered toward buying individual health insurance policies, and job-related coverage eventually could decline. If Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton wins, more people would get their insurance from the government — with many workers offered the equivalent of Medicare and employers facing new coverage mandates. In the past, voters sometimes have complained that there was little difference between Republicans and Democrats. That’s far from true in the 2008 campaign, at least where healthcare is concerned. On this issue, which many voters rank near the top of their concerns, the two parties offer clear choices.”

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Says Teamsters Need Less Oversight
“Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign. It’s an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union. Sen. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, has declined to take a stance on Teamsters oversight.”

The New York Times: In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test
“A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made the suspension of the gas tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days. In the survey, taken in the days leading up to the primaries on Tuesday in Indiana and North Carolina, Americans were divided over the merits of the gasoline-tax suspension, which has also been backed by the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, and condemned by Mr. Obama as political gimmickry.”

Newsweek: Something Wasn’t Wright
“For any spiritually minded, up-wardly mobile African-American living in Chicago in the mid-1980s, the Trinity United Church of Christ was—and still is—the place to be. That’s what drew Oprah Winfrey, a recent Chicago transplant, to the church in 1984. She was eager to bond with the movers and shakers in her new hometown’s black community. But she also admired Trinity United’s ambitious outreach work with the poor, and she took pride in upholding her Southern grandmother’s legacy of involvement with traditional African-American houses of worship. Winfrey was a member of Trinity United from 1984 to 1986, and she continued to attend off and on into the early to the mid-1990s. But then she stopped.”

The Boston Globe: Catholics reflect schism in Democratic base
“Taking a break from studying for final exams, three dozen Catholic students gathered for a barbecue on a grassy area of an apartment complex near the University of Notre Dame, their cellphones dialed in to a conference call with Victoria Reggie Kennedy, wife of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. She urged them to help turn out the vote in the Indiana Democratic presidential primary tomorrow for Senator Barack Obama, saying the candidate embodies the “Catholic social justice tradition” she was raised to believe in. For about two months, pundits and analysts have been culling exit poll data from recent primaries to contend that Obama has a problem winning support from Catholic voters in his bruising struggle with Senator Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination.”

The Washington Times: ‘Tough’ Obama wins seen
“Sen. Barack Obama will win the Indiana and North Carolina primaries tomorrow, a top supporter and former Hillary Rodham Clinton backer declared yesterday, prompting the former first lady’s campaign to crow that if he doesn’t, she deserves to be the nominee. Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew of Indiana, who switched his support in the Democratic presidential race from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Obama last week, said on “Fox News Sunday” that his candidate faces “tough races,” but will win. “You’re going to see him coming back,” Mr. Andrew said. “I think he’s going to win both because of this energy, this excitement, and because of the fact that people realize that he’s got some real plans here, not just political pandering.” Clinton aides seized on the remark within minutes and sent reporters a YouTube clip.”

Opinion
Sebastian Mallaby: Wright And Ridiculous
Scott Gottlieb: Obama’s Health Care Record
Laura Washington: Wright’s ego blocking path to black president
Gregory Rodriguez: Dialogue isn’t the last word
Rhodes Cook: Popular Mechanics
The Boston Globe: Dr. McCain’s snake oil
William Kristol: McCain-Jindal?

VIDEO HERE

News
The Wall Street Journal: Support for Republicans Falls, But Race for President Is Tight
“Only 27% of voters have positive views of the Republican Party, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the lowest level for either party in the survey’s nearly two-decade history. Yet the party’s probable presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, continues to run nearly even with Democratic rivals Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. His standing so far makes for a more competitive race for the White House than would be expected for Republicans, who face an electorate that overwhelmingly believes the country is headed in the wrong direction under President Bush. “The nearly unprecedented negative mood of the country is presenting significant challenges this year for other Republican candidates,” said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducted the poll with Democrat Peter Hart. President Bush reached new lows in his eighth and final year, with 27% approving of his overall job performance, and 21% his handling of the weakened economy. An unprecedented 73% of voters believe the country is on the wrong track; only 15% say it is going in the right direction.”

The Washington Times: Clinton sheds tough image
“Meet the softer side of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gone is the tough and all-business presidential candidate who regularly blared at rival Sen. Barack Obama, who lately is instead battling self-inflicted wounds. In her place is what most people who know her well say was there all along — a warm and engaging woman willing to laugh at herself. “I’m riding shotgun!” Mrs. Clinton exclaimed to local radio jocks while joining an Indiana commuter for his trek to work yesterday, explaining that because of her security she rarely gets to ride up front.”

The New York Times: A Strained Wright-Obama Bond Finally Snaps
“Late Monday night, in the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, N.C., Barack Obama’s long, slow fuse burned to an end. Earlier that day he had thumbed through his BlackBerry, reading accounts of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s latest explosive comments on race and America. But his remarks to the press this day had amounted to a shrug of frustration. Only in this hotel room, confronted with the televised replay of the combustible pastor, did the candidate realize the full import of the remarks, his aides say. At the same time, aides fielded phone calls and e-mail from uncommitted superdelegates, several demanding that the candidate speak out more forcefully. As Mr. Obama told close friends after watching the replay, he felt dumbfounded, even betrayed, particularly by Mr. Wright’s implication that Mr. Obama was being hypocritical. He could not tolerate that.”

The Washington Post: Clinton Gas-Tax Proposal Criticized
“A growing chorus — including a top congressional Democrat — labeled Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s proposal for suspending the federal gasoline tax ineffective and shortsighted yesterday, even as she continued to paint Sen. Barack Obama as insensitive to drivers’ woes for not endorsing the plan. The Democrats’ clash on the issue has emerged as a flash point in the week before the presidential primaries in Indiana and North Carolina and is emblematic of the broader contrast that the candidates have presented: Clinton says she would make immediate bread-and-butter fixes for struggling Americans, while Obama portrays himself as a truth-teller who would bring a new kind of politics to Washington and produce more lasting change. Backing up Obama’s position against Clinton’s proposal to suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon tax for the summer is a slew of economists who argue that the proposal, first offered by Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, would be counterproductive.”

Chicago Sun-Times: Obama, Clinton woo Hoosiers
“The violent video game “Grand Theft Auto” is raising our kids because parents are not spending the time they need parenting, White House hopeful Barack Obama said Wednesday as he tried to move the campaign conversation away from the bombastic words of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “These video games are raising our kids,” he said. “Middle class, upper class, working class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of time not on their studies but on entertainment.” While rival primary Hillary Clinton tried to make an issue of her proposed gas tax holiday elsewhere in the state, Obama chose a gentle setting in a park with flowering trees and chirping birds to have a conversation with 40 hand-picked families. But even here, he could not escape the Wright issue.”

Opinion
David S. Broder: A Pastor’s Influence
Robert Novak: Obama’s Misplay
Gail Collins: How Will It Play in Apex?
Boston Globe: Rev. Wright, the sequel
Daniel Henninger: Where Were Obama’s Friends?
Rosa Brooks: Rev. Wright deserves some attention
Mark Brown: Obama column outrage began at 4:59 a.m.