Bush's approval rating is down to 48%, its lowest in 3 years, according to a new Newsweek poll. Even better, 50% of those polled don't want Bush to be re-elected.

Dick Gephardt has given his support to John Kerry. Kerry is leading in Michigan.

John Edwards has pledged to stay in the race through Wisconsin, even if he loses Tennessee and Virginia next Tuesday. Edwards raised $200k over the internet in the 24 hours after his South Carolina win.

Say hello to Media for Democracy:

Media For Democracy 2004 is a non-partisan citizens' initiative to monitor mainstream news coverage of the 2004 elections and advocate fair, democratic and issue-oriented standards of reporting. The project links voters with more than 100 independent media reform groups in a targeted campaign to prevent the types of media mistakes -- such as early, erroneous and politically biased projections -- that plagued the 2000 election.

Here's a heads-up on tomorrow's article, Campaign Roadkill: Pay-To-Play
Formula Steamrolls Underdogs, accessible now:

The murky relationship of money, media and politics becomes crystal clear when it comes to advertising. If a candidate can't deliver cash to buy political spots from local broadcasters, his or her run for office is dead on arrival.

Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean says he will quit the race if he does not win Wisconsin:

``We must win Wisconsin,'' the former Vermont governor said in a memo to supporters. ``A win there will carry us to the big states on March 2 -- and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything else will put us out of the race.''

Can he win Wisconsin?

Hesiod at Counterspin reports that President Bush will be interviewed Sunday on Meet the Press by Tim Russert. Check out Hesiod's sample questions he wants Russert to ask-- and send an email to Russert at MTP@NBC.com demanding he ask tough questions.

Eric Boehlert writes in Salon of Bush's lost year in 1972 when he dropped out of the National Guard and "later lied about it." Boehlert asks, "With the media finally paying attention, will he now come clean?"

In 1972, George W. Bush simply walked away from his pilot duties in the Texas Air National Guard. He skipped required weekend drill sessions for many months, probably for more than a year, and did not take a mandatory annual physical exam, which resulted in his being grounded. Nonetheless, Bush, the son of a well-connected Texas congressman, received an honorable discharge.

If an Air National guardsman today vanished for a year, military attorneys say that guardsman would be transferred to active duty or, more likely, kicked out of the service, probably with a less-than-honorable discharge. They suggest the penalty would be especially swift if the absent-without-leave guardsman were a fully trained pilot, as Bush was.

It seems like the story is finally going to get some legs. Of course, bloggers like Skippy have been on top of it for more than a year. David Neiwert of Orcinus and Daily Howler, too.

Preisdential hopeful John Edwards will give the Top 10 List on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight --CBS.

CNN reports that with 100% of the votes counted, Wesley Clark leads Edwards by less than 1200 votes. They haven't called him the winner yet though. Looks to us like both Clark and Edwards are still in the race. We think it will come down to Kerry and Edwards. Is Dean on his last gasp? Here's his strategy according to one reporter.

Here's why we're going to keep going and going and going and going and going just like the Energizer Bunny," Dean told supporters in Washington state, which votes Saturday. "We're going to pick up some delegates tonight and this is all about who gets the most delegates in Boston in July and it's going to be us."

Dean's White House bid hangs on a last-chance strategy: keep plugging along despite more impending losses while other underdog candidates spend themselves out of the race. Then engage front-runner John Kerry directly.

Praise for Joe Lieberman who did the right thing tonight and withdrew from the Democratic race for President:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, unable to inspire Democratic voters who embraced his 2000 vice presidential campaign, ended his presidential bid Tuesday night after a string of disappointing defeats. He said he believed his "mainstream voice" was the right message for his party, but acknowledged that voters disagreed.

"The judgment of the voters is now clear," Lieberman told about 150 longtime supporters who gathered in northern Virginia. "For me, it is now time to make a difficult but realistic decision. I have decided tonight to end my quest for the presidency of the United States of America. Am I disappointed? Naturally. But am I proud of what we stood for in this campaign? You bet I am."

A classy exit.

Voters in seven states pick presidential candidates today. Who will it be? Who, if anyone, is toast if he loses? Here's an open thread to discuss all aspects of the primaries. Our prediction: Kerry takes all but Oklahoma (Clark) and South Carolina (Edwards.)

First, Colorado Congressman Mark Udall said he didn't want to run against Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Then Gary Hart. Now recently departed Denver Mayor Wellington Webb declines the honor. All three of them would be a valuable addition to Colorado's congressional delegation. We're sorry they all said no. We wish Congressman Udall would re-think his decision.

Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, John Arguilla, a professor of defense analysis at the United States Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, makes the case that Osama bin Laden can determinethe outcome of the 2004 election.

It's been mentioned by a few, including us, that if Bush pulls Osama out of a hat shortly before election day, it could be a problem for the Dems. Arguilla looks at it from the other side -- what if there's another big attack before election day? Using several examples from Abe Lincoln to LBJ, Arguilla says:

If, by the November election, the al Qaeda mastermind is able to mount another large terrorist attack inside the United States, bin Laden will show that Iraq has been a fatal distraction from the more pressing business of ripping apart his network. And George Bush will lose his job. Such are the electoral fortunes of war.

...The main point is, if bin Laden has the capability to launch an attack on America this year, he will. It must be an irresistible temptation to know that, from his remote cave, he could possibly exert a decisive influence on the political succession in the United States.