AP - Call them Kool-Aid drinkers. Political romantics. Starry-eyed dreamers.

AP - Barack Obama inched closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, picking up five delegates, including a California congressman who switched his allegiance from Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - New Mexico voters have never seen this many open congressional seats: None of the state's three House members is seeking re-election, nor is longtime Sen. Pete Domenici.

AP - California Rep. Laura Richardson claimed Friday that her Sacramento, Calif., home was sold into foreclosure without her knowledge and contrary to an agreement with her lender.

AP - One of the nation's oldest farm groups said Thursday a proposed foot-and-mouth disease research laboratory on the U.S. mainland, near livestock, could be an inviting target for terrorists. Commercial livestock representatives and the Bush administration insisted it would be safe to move an island lab to sites near animals.

AFP - Republicans in the US Senate on Thursday rebuked President George W. Bush and joined majority Democrats to pass a bill offering a fully-paid college education for Iraq and Afghan war veterans.

AP - The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday subpoenaed President Bush's former chief political adviser, Karl Rove, to testify about whether the White House improperly meddled with the Justice Department.