CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Hillary Clinton clobbered Barack Obama in West Virginia Tuesday, clinging to hope that her late win in a small state could slow his march toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton won the overwhelmingly white state in a walk — by a landslide margin of 2-1, according to exit polls — and used the results to argue that Americans shouldn't count her out.

"There are some who have wanted to cut this race short. They say give up, it's too hard, the mountain is too high," Clinton told supporters in Charleston. » read more

WASHINGTON — The "Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act" sounds like the kind of rally-round-the-flag plan that John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton all could embrace.

Instead, it's become one of the starkest dividing lines between McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and his likely Democratic opponent.

The bill, which the House of Representatives is expected to debate as soon as Thursday and the Senate could take up next week, would increase education aid to all military members who've served on active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The House version has 294 co-sponsors; the Senate bill has 58. » read more

MIAMI — Florida Democratic leaders are expecting some mercy from the national party on May 31 when it reconsiders the state's delegates to the nominating convention. But as Barack Obama continues to expand his lead over Hillary Clinton, Florida's delegates matter less and less.

In a sign that Democratic power brokers are getting ready to move past the dispute, state party officials have started talking to key Obama supporters, such as U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler of Boca Raton, about coordinating a general election strategy.

''Everyone wants Florida counted, but at this point, what does it matter?'' said House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, a Florida superdelegate who endorsed Obama last week. ``I don't see how [Clinton] catches up.'' » read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Republican Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell would defeat either of the two Democrats vying to replace him in next week's Kentucky primary, a new polls shows.

But McConell's job approval raiting remains below 50 percent, according to the poll, which was conducted for the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper and WKYT television. That would indicate a rare potential weakness when McConnell faces voters in November.

Bruce Lunsford holds a comfortable lead over Greg Fischer in the Democratic primary race, the poll showed, but McConnell would beat either of them by double digits if the election were held today. » read more

LOUISVILLE — The week before Kentucky’s Democratic presidential primary, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama gave a general election speech that hit at likely GOP nominee John McCain while also laying out policy goals and emphasizing the campaign’s theme of change.

Obama, speaking in Kentucky for the first time since an August rally in Lexington, repeatedly coaxed roars from the 8,000 who flooded into the Kentucky International Convention Center. With his sleeves rolled up, he talked at times as if the first phase of his run for the White House was complete.

“I was betting on you, the American people. I was convinced that people were tired of politics that are all about tearing each other down,” Obama said. “I was convinced that the American people — they didn’t want spin. They wanted straight talk, honesty and truthfulness.” » read more