Some say that John McCain is getting a boost from the protracted Democratic nomination. If so, he may need that extra help, because the GOP is hardly in top form for 2008. In many states, the Republican party is facing low registration numbers, diminished funding, and of course, scandal.

In its latest attempt to squirm away from scrutiny, the White House has told a federal court that there is no point in looking for millions of its e-mails, because they destroy old hard drives. Every year, the White House says, they "refresh" one third of the Executive Office workstations, and while some files are transferred, they don't keep all the data.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel spent Sunday talking about why he isn't waiting in line to endorse McCain. The reason? They don't agree on the Iraq War, where Hagel has diverged from his party for a while. He did not slam the door on the possibility of supporting McCain in 2008, but The Hill points out that Hagel was one of McCain's presidential co-chairs in 2000. Is it Hagel or McCain that has changed? Or did the Iraq War just reshape everything?

I think the story that I am most surprised to see continually cropping up this cycle concerns McCain's past considerations of possibly joining the Democratic Party (in 2001) and of joining John Kerry's ticket (in 2004). Don't get me wrong, I think it is very interesting, and provides some insight into what makes McCain tick, I just didn't expect to see so much of it. Today's New York Times article on the subject provides some chronological context, and is worth checking out.

The US military will ask Britain to launch a new "surge" to deal with violence in the city of Basra. Judging from this story, it seems that British officials are unsurprisingly reluctant to increase their military commitment to Iraq. Given the widespread anti-war sentiment in Britain, this latest announcement should go over splendidly.

So get this: on Sunday, JPMorgan was in talks with Bear Sterns about raising the purchase price from $2 to $10 per share, as Bear Sterns stockholders were more or less livid with rage about the selling price being so low. Bear Sterns stock increased once the news got around, but the Fed isn't happy. As a new price must be approved by the Fed, something has to give or the deal might be off.

TDP Chair Boyd Richie discussed the Democratic Party primary and caucus system as well as what the Democratic growth in Texas implies in an editorial at the Dallas Morning News on Friday. The business:

Democrats see our challenge as a tremendous opportunity for our party, the benefits of which will extend far beyond this election year. Texas Republicans would love to have the challenges we face now. They must instead deal with a record of economic failure, millions of Americans without health care, an unpopular war, a generation being priced out of college, and a trail of scandal and cronyism.

James Carville, in yesterday's New York Times, discussing New Mexico Governor and former Clinton administration Mr. Everything Bill Richardson's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama:

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

ExxonMobil officials recently showed production projections to some analysts in New York City. These projections revealing that, despite record profits and a regularly increasing demand, they are going to keep production at the same rate it is now for the next five years. This will, of course, lead to higher prices and increased profits. I hope it will also lead me to invent a way for my car to run on wishes and banana peels.

What's the most effective way to get more animals off of endangered species status? It seems that according to the Bush administration, it's by making it harder to get on in the first place. If you'd think this would lead to more species nearing the brink of extinction or being lost altogether, the article seems to indicate you'd be right.