“If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention… I forestall the launch of a national campaign, and frankly I would be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win... Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

John McCain won big in last night's Republican primaries, winning nine states and pushing his delegate count up to 559--not enough to win the nomination, but big enough to secure his standing as the front runner. Mike Huckabee got a boost last night as well, winning a string of upsets in the Southern states, enough to justify his continued candidacy. Mitt Romney, however, has bigger problems, winning only a handful of states, and with Huckabee still in, he won't get the one-on-one race he so desperately wanted. more ›

Obama wins Illinois; Clinton takes Arkansas, Tennesee and Kansas. McCain took Illinois, Romney Massachusettes. [Trib, Trib] more ›

Today's the big day. Along with 24 other states, we're voting in Super Duper Tuesday. Up for grabs are 1688 pledged Democratic delegates, and 900 Republican delegates. Delegate-heavy states such as California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Georgia could play a deciding role in the outcome of both races. But with polling showing a tight Democratic race, and Obama working overtime to split votes in odd-numbered districts, tonight's results won't produce a nominee for the Democrats. more ›

While John McCain spent Super Bowl Sunday in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney made his pitch to the most reliably conservative county in Illinois. At a packed rally of several hundred people at the College of DuPage yesterday, he tried to convince voters here that he is the true conservative standard bearer. Romney vowed that as president he would "stand up for the principles of the Republican Party and to live in the house that Ronald Reagan built." more ›

With lots of delegates and potential momentum going into Super-Duper Tuesday, Nevada's primary has been both contentious and significant this year. Earlier this week a federal judge settled a lawsuit brought by the Nevada Teachers Union that should have helped Obama. Instead, with more than half of the precincts reporting, CBS, CNN and other major news outlets are projecting Clinton the winner today. Mitt Romney was the big winner in the GOP caucuses, taking his third primary win, and some serious momentum heading into Florida. more ›

Now that the Michigan primary is safely behind us, all eyes are focused on Nevada and South Carolina. For Democrats, who need at least 2,025 delegates to win the presidential nomination, Nevada's caucuses this Saturday offer 33 delegates. Not only is the nation looking at the Silver State, where early voting is a new experience for a mix of Latino, rural and urban voters, but so are the federal courts. Hillary Clinton has been polling well there, but Barack Obama has been endorsed by the state's largest union, the Culinary Workers. This endorsement is significant not only because it is the largest union in the state, but also because the state's Democratic party has opted to hold nine "at-large" caucuses, open to anyone within 2.5 miles of the Las Vegas strip, where the bulk of CWU members work. Intended to make voting easier for shift-workers in Nevada's casino industry, the move prompted a lawsuit by the Nevada Teachers Union. The lawsuit claimed that those voting in at-large precincts being held on the Strip would have too much weight compared with those voting at their polling places, infringes on the right to equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and violate state statute in the way they were drawn. more ›

Michigan defied the conventional wisdom yesterday, giving Mitt Romney 30 delegates to the national convention and his second primary win. more ›

For Michigan Democrats, the choices in today's primary are pretty stark. Late last year, Michigan Senator Carl Levin supported moving Michigan's primary up to January 15 in an attempt to make the state more relevant in this year's race. That move backfired, however, when the Democratic National Committee punished the state party by stripping it of all its delegates at the convention. Party rules mandate that Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina hold the first primaries. more ›

So the Sun-Times is laying off reporters, but it still has the money to run a moronic article about presidential candidates' sexiness? John Edwards is "not exactly wet-T-shirt sexy, but it still sets a few hearts aflutter," Rudy Giuliani is "now rather frigid," John McCain is "a far cry from a sexy man in uniform," Hillary Clinton has "stripped herself of the trappings of sexuality and femininity," Mike Huckabee "Preacher. Moving right along...," Mitt Romney's "tendency to flip-flop on certain issues belies his discomfort with sexuality," and Barack Obama "exudes the most sex appeal of the bunch." [S-T] more ›

In what could quite possibly be the nail biter of the season, Hillary Clinton pulled it out last night, winning the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a two to three point lead over Iowa front-runner Barack Obama. While most of the media was writing Hillary's political obituary, she was winning New Hampshire. With the Nevada caucuses next, and the black vote potentially split between the Clintons and Barack Obama, South Carolina may be back in play. In fact, Clinton's win last night showed one of Obama's key weaknesses: his reliance on independent and new voters. Female and older voters seemed to gravitate towards Clinton last night, with 45 percent of female Democratic voters chose Clinton. Voters over the age of 40 also picked Clinton, with nearly 70 percent going for Hillary over Obama. more ›

The big news from the campaign trail yesterday evening was an emotional moment with Hillary Clinton and a group of sympathetic, yet undecided, New Hampshire voters. When asked "how do you do it? How do you keep up ... and who does your hair?", Hillary Clinton choked up as she responded, tears welling up in her eyes. Less widely reported, however, was an incident of two men who heckled her in Salem, NH, holding signs that read "Iron My Shirt", and chanting the same slogan. As the hecklers were removed, Clinton responded "ah, the remnants of sexism" to cheers from the crowd. “I’m also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling,” she told the audience. more ›

All the American Gladiators used take steroids, do drugs and make out with each other. Oh, Nitro, how could you? The revamped American Gladiators airs another new episode tonight, but we're going to be too busy playing the old-school Nintendo version to watch. God, we still can't beat The Wall. more ›

Mayor Daley might not do irony well, but Mitt Romney knows how to do momentum. more ›

This is currently the image on the Sun-Times website. Ah! Huckabee looks like he's shitfaced and has one giant, pointy tooth in the front; Obama looks like he crawled out of hell and is tipping the scales at a cool 76 pounds; Clinton looks like she was hit with Homer Simpson's make-up gun; and is that Romney's mug shot? We know newspapers don't have to pick flattering or attractive photos of people, but this graphic looks like a medical text book. Jaysus. And why is everyone's mouth open? [Link] more ›

Last night marked the official beginning of the 2008 presidential season. The close of the Iowa Democratic caucuses saw Barack Obama with 37 percent, John Edwards with 30 percent, and Hillary Clinton in third place with 29 percent of the votes, with 99 percent of Iowa precincts reporting. On the Republican side Mike Huckabee was the big winner. more ›

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,... more ›

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take... more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the... more ›

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they... more ›

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA... more ›

Yesterday we gave you a preview of who might be running for president in the Democratic camp. Today we turn our focus to the right, looking at the Republican side of the primaries. Since Dick Cheney isn't going to seek the presidency this time around, the field is wide open for any Republican to join the fray, hoping that his agenda is the one that will resonate most with conservative voters. And not unlike the... more ›

On Sunday Attorney General Lisa Madigan gave birth to Rebecca Grace Byrnes, a 7 pounds, 3 ounces, 20 inch baby girl. Babies are a great thing, and Chicagoist is glad to see Illinois political women keep their jobs while they start families. Madigan's printed statement on Saturday refers to a "brief maternity leave." We can't imagine that any top elected official really gets to take vacation, but how long she takes off work will be an interesting precedent. more ›