As you may know, there’s been a nominations standoff which has left the FEC essentially shuttered through this election cycle. Most of the controversy has centered around voter suppression guru (he’s for it) Hans Von Spakovsky, a medium level player in the US Attorneys firing scandal. Now President Bush has submitted a new slate of nominees, purportedly to resolve the conflict.

But as you can see in today’s Must Read, Spakovsky actually remains on the list. And the big change is the removal of David Mason.

Who’s that? Mason is the Republican Chair of the FEC who has refused to allow John McCain to break the rules by pulling out of the public financing system after using it to leverage enough money to win the Republican nomination.

Start with some guilt by association, add a dollop of innuendo, mix in a little provocation and a pinch of smears and you’ve got the recipe for Fox’s coverage of Obama, ably demonstrated this morning by Steve Doocy:

[Thanks to TPM Reader LB.]

On a conference call with reporters this morning, the Clinton campaign says there have been “no discussions” of ending the campaign.

But Clinton backer George McGovern says it’s time for her to withdraw.

It was the latest night of the primary season. And after outperforming expectations on big nights in March and April, Hillary Clinton finally came up short. In today’s episode of TPMtv, we look at the results and game out where the campaign goes from here …

High-res version at Veracifier.com.

Clinton camp asserts that having won the white vote in North Carolina she’s further demonstrated her electability in the general election.

A reminder that there is still a drumbeat in some circles for military action against Iran. But it’s not the suspected nuke sites that has former (recess-appointed) U.N. Ambassador John Bolton exercised, it’s the alleged training sites in Iran for Iraqi insurgents. He hits the nukes, too, of course.

Just another example of Bolton’s keen strategic thinking.

From The Hill:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) most prominent Senate supporters, said Wednesday that she will ask the former first lady to detail her plans for the rest of the Democratic primary.

“I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I’m very loyal to her,” Feinstein said. “Having said that, I’d like to talk with her and [get] her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is.” …

“I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party,” Feinstein said. “I think we need to prevent that as much as we can.”

McCain pushes for “League of Nations“.

To meet tomorrow with Haile Selassie.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s official nomination for a Golden Duke in both the sex scandal and local muck categories.

This statement from Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is the kind of statement that signals that Sen. Clinton’s colleagues are telling her to wind this up. That doesn’t mean they are saying she needs to drop out of the race. I’m not even sure at this immediate juncture that it’s in Obama’s or the Democratic party’s interest for her to drop out of the race.

One concrete reason is that among the three contests to come over the next two weeks — West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon — two are among the best for Hillary in the country. So having him become presumptive nominee just before losing the West Virginia primary doesn’t necessarily allow him to hit the ground running. And as Obama’s speech last night signaled, his campaign seems intent on giving Clinton the space to make the decision on her own. The eventual nomination he has in hand; what he’s got to work on is deescalating the tension between himself and Clinton’s supporters. That’s the necessary prelude to building the party unity he needs to win in November.

Both the Obama campaign and the supporters who are now telling her privately that it’s over are probably content with her staying in through this month. But it will have to be a different campaign, one focused on each of the Democratic contenders virtues and the crying folly of electing John McCain President of the United States. I don’t think Sen. Clinton will be hearing from many people who won’t be telling her that it’s time to start working this epic toward an honorable and unifying exit.