THIS JUST IN THIS MORNING: Democrat John Edwards to drop out of presidential race, The Associated Press has learned.

MCCAIN, CLINTON WIN IN FLORIDA PRIMARY
RUDY HINTS AT QUITTING RACE
SAVE PUBLIC ACCESS TV

THIS JUST IN FROM FLORIDUH: SAYONARA RUDY—IT’S MCCAIN IN FLORIDA

WP:Sen. John McCain Wins Florida Republican Primary

GOP candidate wins a crucial victory over Mitt Romney as Rudy Giuliani runs a distant third; Hillary Clinton wins largely ceremonial race. See Politico.com for full results.

REUTERS: Giuliani hints at ending his 2008 presidential bid

AP: Rudy Expected Quit Running, Endorse McCain

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — A number of prominent Texas Republicans, including Gov. Rick Perry, gambled substantial political capital and financial support on the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani.

Now with Giuliani’s disappointing showing in Florida’s Republican primary Tuesday night and the possibility that he could quit the race, the Texans are faced with a choice: either stick with Giuilani or look for a better bet.

On Tuesday, two Giuliani supporters — Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and Stephen Payne, a Houston fundraiser for George W. Bush’s campaigns — said they would throw their support to Arizona Sen. John McCain if the former New York mayor drops out of the campaign.

Others, such as Perry, took more of a wait-and-see attitude.

SPLIT IN KENNEDY KLAN

More Kennedys for Hill: Robert Kennedy Jr., Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Kerry Kennedy have endorsed Hillary Clinton.

STIMULATE THIS—Pt 2:

AP: House Passes $146 Billion Economic Aid Package

The House voted to approve the fiscal stimulus package, hoping to quickly seal a fast-paced deal with the Bush administration. But Senate Democrats forged ahead with their own, more expensive plan.

COMMENT BY BOB BOROSAGE (VIA JAYNE STAHL

Barbara Ehrenreich memorably called the talk about the stimulus “clitoral economics.” And that was before we got screwed.

The stimulus deal just announced is being praised more for its existence than its content. Much lamented partisan bickering was overcome; bipartisan cooperation that got it done. With Wall Street bankers in panic, better something than nothing. So the parties came together and split the difference and created an agreement (which still has to survive the minefield called the U.S. Senate).

It’s worth taking a look under the hood. Despite approval ratings rivaling those of Idi Amin, President Bush set the terms: Tax cuts only. No spending on public works (that is, nothing for stuff we need that actually puts people to work). No increase in food stamps. No strengthening of our tattered unemployment system. (That is, no money to those who we know will spend it on basic needs). Must include a big package of business tax breaks (tax write-offs for investments that would be made anyway, according to any reputable economic study). No mney for states that are about to be forced to cut billions to balance their budgets, largely by cutting education and Medicaid spending and deferring basic infrastructure spending. (Remember the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis or the sewage valve that shut down lower Manhattan?)…

AND DID YOU KNOW, AS DAVID SWANSON WRITES:

On the day of the State of the Union, apparently hoping nobody would notice, President George W. Bush posted a statement on the White House website announcing his intention to violate major sections of the Defense Authorization bill that he just signed into law.

For their part, the Democrats in Congress have chosen not to push for a just and decent economic stimulus plan, because they want to work amicably with Bush. They’ve chosen not to vote on contempt citations for Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten in order to work more amicably on the economic stimulus package. They’ve scratched impeachment out of the Constitution, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich even backed down on his plans to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday. And of course, Congress is committed to throwing every possible dime down the blackhole of the Iraq occupation. What has been the president’s response to all this bipartisan cooperation?

He’s decided to close the office that handles Freedom of Information requests from Congress. He’s left Blackwater free but jailed citizens who reenact its crimes. He’s rewritten government reports on global warming. He’s blocked his Justice Departments investigation of political hirings and firings, while the former governor of Alabama begins his eighth month as a political prisoner. He’s delivered a State of the Union address packed with the same contemptuous lies as last year’s, and announced the seizure of new powers (which Congress greeted with applause). And then there’s the latest signing statement.

This statement in Bushevikese.

UNDERNEWS SAYS OBAMA IS STRONGEST CANIDATE

Obama is the strongest candidate among the Democrats according to our rolling average and Edwards is in second place except against McCain. Here’s how Obama leads the other candidates:

Against McCain: 1 better than Clinton and 10 better than Edwards
Against Huckabee: 8 better than Clinton and 3 better than Edwards
Against Giuliani: 6 better than Clinton and tied with Edwards
Against Romney: 5 better than Clinton and 2 better than Edwards

All the Democrats would beat all the Republicans except for McCain, to whom Edwards would lose but Clinton and Obama would tie. The Democrats have picked up an average of 6 points over the last ten polls.

FROM POLITICS VS FAIRY TALES BY Sam Smith

Bill Clinton was right for a change. He used the phrase “fairy tale” to describe something Barack Obama had said. He should know. The Clinton story was one of the great fairy tales of our time, created by a pair of the most cynical politicians in American history assisted by a gullible press.

Clinton even tried the JF Kennedy shtick. Remember the photos of Clinton shaking Kennedy’s hand at the White House as a kid at Boy’s Nation? It didn’t work and perhaps part of Clinton’s resentment against Obama is that the latter has made the shtick stick.

In fact, contrary to the fable, during the Clinton years life got worse for many blacks and women, a stunning number of Democratic offices were lost at the state and national level, the country’s social welfare program began being dismantled and a social democratic tradition of the Democratic Party going back to FDR was tossed aside for a GOP Lite philosophy that still dominates the party’s thinking.

Of course, Kennedy was a fairy tale, too…

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BRATTLEBORO VT IN THE HEAT OF THE STORM

The local newspaper reports: Proposed indictment elicits wrath across U.S.

BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro must be full of uneducated dilettantes, ignorant liberal morons, inbred hicks, liberal appeaser wimps, the lunatic fringe, Neanderthals, limp-wristed sissies, radical leftists, hippies, losers, scumbags, nut jobs, snooty northerners, liberal hate mongers and traitorous bastards.

Those are just a handful of adjectives that have been used to describe town residents after the Brattleboro Selectboard voted 3-2 to send a petition requesting the indictment of President George Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney to town voters for their approval or disapproval.

Since the board made its decision on Jan. 25, town offices have been inundated by e-mails, faxes and phone calls deriding the decision, the town and its Selectboard. Several staffers told the Reformer they have hung up on callers that have cursed at them because of the board’s decision.

THOSE VOTING MACHINES IN FLORIDA—AGAIN

Mark Crispin Miller circulates this from the Sunshine State:

This morning Volusia Co SOE Ann McFall announced that they were going to recanvas all ballots that had been counted during early voting because there were four more voters who voted than ballots counted. The media reported that this was due to an advisory that had been sent out by Diebold.