At the end of the day

Tonight's GOP debate from CA -- Liveblogged by Josh Marshall here and here.

Debate headline: McCain and Romney spar bitterly in GOP debate

Edwards has left the building -- Good-bye, John, and good luck! Here's to hoping someone is smart enough bring you on board somehow, some way... if that's what you want. Best wishes to Elizabeth, too.

Ed Kilgore offered some thoughts on " Why Edwards Lost" vs. Jonathan Cohn on " Why John Edwards Won."

Speculation over who will benefit from presidential candidate drop-outs.

Polls for 13 Super Tuesday states: The Democratic frontrunners -- Clinton ahead in AL, AZ, CA, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OK, and TN. Obama ahead in IL and by a nose in GA. Clinton and Obama are neck and neck in CO, CT. Click the link for GOP results and caveats. New state polls to come in 24 hours at Pollster Blog. With John Edwards having withdrawn, polls can change dramatically. So beware. There are still a lot of "undecideds." Wheeeee-oooooo! It's a horse race!

He's better than AbuGonzales but -- AG Mukasey dodged and weaved again on whether waterboarding is torture and he "got a harsh reception on Wednesday from senators of both parties, who used his appearance on Capitol Hill to accuse the Bush administration yet again of contempt for the rule of law and American values." NYT

Krugman on today's GDP report and "three reasons" to withhold conclusions on "whether a recession or recession-like period has started."

Rove & Zelikow -- Emptywheel: "By this point, it should surprise no one that Karl Rove does a lot of dirty business using his phone and blackberry. Apparently, that extends to softening the reports of the 9/11 Commission.... ...Rove carried on back-channel discussions with Philip Zelikow, the Commission's Executive Director."

Conservatives and fascism by David Neiwert at Orcinus.

Bipartisanship -- What does it mean in D.C.? Greenwald explained it's "already rampant in Washington" and it happens when "enough Democrats join with all of the Republicans to endorse and enact into law Republican policies, with which most Democratic voters disagree." See Glenn's list of "bipartisan" lawmaking.

Another Repub says no -- Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) will not seek reelection. "There are now 28 House GOPers vacating their seats." (h/t Logan)

Speaking of the GOP exodus -- " 'The open-seat situation is so lopsided as to deny Republicans any chance of taking back the House in 2008,' said David Wasserman, who analyzes House races for The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan publication." Furthermore, "Republicans face a worrisome financial gap in comparison to House Democrats" fundraising. Ending 2007: Democrats -- $35 million cash, $1.3 million debt. Repubs -- $5 million cash, $2 million debt.

Predatory mortgage lenders -- The FBI is investigating 14 "companies, including some of the world’s largest banks..." John Amato provided commentary and video.

Suicidal soldiers -- "Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980, according to a draft internal study... Last year, 121 soldiers took their own lives, nearly 20 percent more than in 2006.... At the same time, the number of attempted suicides or self-inflicted injuries in the Army has jumped sixfold since the Iraq war began." Thursday WaPo

Outposts in Iraq -- In an effort to firm up security, "Maj. Gen. Jeffery W. Hammond said he would increase the number of garrisons in [Baghdad] from 75 to 99 by June... ...[M]eanwhile, the remains of 19 people -- 10 heads and nine intact corpses -- were discovered in the town of Muqdadiyah in Diyala province, northeast of the capital, police said. Elsewhere, officials said a suicide car bomber in the northern city of Mosul injured at least 15 people."

Dowd and Brooks -- Echidne unveiled the NYT columnists' codewords about "gender stereotypes" and Clinton Derangement Syndrome.

Fickle Tweety competed with Bloody Bill for the title, Wrongest Wingnut of All. His past praise of Rudy and what a diff a day makes at TP.

[That's all...no more after the jump.]