We hadn't previously known that David Axelrod founded the epilepsy nonprofit CURE ten years ago, after his daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with the disease. Last night, the organization honored the Axelrods at the Yale Club, in front of a crowd that included Katie Couric and Bob Woodruff. The event was moderated (somewhat ironically) by George Stephanopoulos. We caught up with Obama's right-hand man to ask about how he manages to stay awake (or, even, alive) with all of the madness he's been going through over the past year. "You know, I figure I can sleep in November," he said. "When you are motivated, you will be surprised by how much you can do. Obviously, the work of this foundation is deeply personal to my life, and I will always work to see that it continues, and I also feel very strongly about Senator Obama." The question on everybody's mind, of course, was when Hillary Clinton will drop out. Axelrod said that the New York senator is "very committed to change," and he's not worried that she won't work with them to fight for a Democratic win in the general election. We didn't know they were officially sharing the "change" mantra now. How generous! Would they also share a ticket? "There's no ticket talk yet; it's a little premature for that, I think," Axelrod said. "But I definitely anticipate that we will work closely together." We knew that answer was coming. —Tre Borden

Hillary Clinton didn't just beat Barack Obama last night in West Virginia — she walloped him by a 41-point margin. She won every age group, income level, ideological stripe, and gender. (She probably didn't win black people, but there aren't really any black people in West Virginia, so that doesn't count.) At the same time, those who believe in math have already decided that Clinton can't win the nomination, so last night's victory may not matter beyond boosting Clinton's pride. Obama, though, has still clearly not connected with white, working-class voters, despite drinking many beers. If he really is the nominee, as still seems likely, he may be facing some daunting challenges.

Despite a drunk-driving arrest that led to revelations of a long-running affair that led to revelations of a secret love child, Staten Island congressman Vito Fossella has apparently been telling friends he plans to run again, according to the New York Post. Once upon a time, that might have been unthinkable, but in the wake of Eliot Spitzer's indiscretions and David Paterson's revelations (and Clinton and McGreevey and Craig and Foley before them), there is a certain plausible logic to the idea. As we become inured to politicians' scandals, perhaps we become more accepting: David Paterson, whose marital shenanigans seemed relatively innocent next to those of Spitzer, is living, governing proof of that. And even Spitzer, as Michael Wolff argued recently in Vanity Fair, could have tried to brazen it out by blaming "the Bush Justice Department, the Patriot Act, the entire culture of investigation" that unearthed his high-end prostitute habit. You know, turn your enemies against one another. Remember that bag of tricks? You might know it better by its other name, "The Bill Clinton Strategy." So why shouldn't Fossella be able to get away with it, after an appropriate period of apology and family healing?

Back in March, when the Spitzer scandal was at its glorious peak, we were compelled to invent the Politician's Too Much Information Index in recognition of the fact that, ever since Bill and Monica, we've all been forced to learn much more than we'd like to about the intimate details of politicians' sex lives. Vito Fossella may not be a governor or a president, but his story has clearly reached the lurid point that demands induction into the Index. And so we present this breakdown of what we know so far about Vito's secret life:

Necessary Info: Arrested for drunk driving. Maintained an extramarital affair for years, developing into a secret second family living in Virginia.
Important Info: May have used tax-payer money for a trip with his girlfriend to France.
Useless Info: Was mean to his gay sister.
Titillating Info: Impregnated mistress Laura Fay while his daughter Rowan (by his wife, Mary Pat) was less than 1 year old.
Too Much Info: At the start of their affair, when Fay was an Air Force liaison to Congress, their sexual fling was so mind-blowing that she couldn't function at work and got transferred.
Please, No More Info: Thank God we haven't reached this point, yet. But it's inevitable. This week, probably.

Almost there, Vito! Just one little revelation about Halloween masks and an Eskimo sex slave and you'll make it!

Here's what we know about the Democratic primary race: Barack Obama leads in pledged delegates. He leads in superdelegates. He leads in the popular vote and states won. He leads in offspring and fiery pastors. He leads in a house, he leads with a mouse. So with the race pretty much wrapped up, will today's West Virginia primary, in which Hillary Clinton is expected to cruise to a huge victory, matter at all? Of course it will, because West Virginia does not occur in a vacuum.

If a politician with foibles has managed to last in public office for a few years without getting busted, it's amazing the kinds of shady doings they can rack up. It makes it especially fun when they get caught, and everything comes out at once (plus the nasty repercussions). Today, for example, the tabloid press uncovers even more bad news for Vito Fossella — as if the whole "secret second family uncovered by a drunk-driving arrest" thing wasn't trouble enough. Here's what's new:

• He took a shady trip to France that may have been a publicly financed love romp! [NYDN]
• Nobody will pay for him to run again! [NYDN]
• Neither of his families wanted him around for Mother's Day! [NYP]
• He was never nice to his gay sister because of his "family values" stance! [NYDN]
• He could have maybe survived the second family thing (it's been done before), but not after the drunk-driving thing! [Newsday]
• And just about everyone is calling for him to resign. Today! [SI Advance]

We can almost imagine, somewhere out there, Eliot Spitzer is saying to himself, "Man, at least I'm not that guy."

On second thought, nah.

When it was first described as a “Dream Ticket” lo those many months ago, supporters of the pairing of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton thought the two would be an unstoppable force in the general election, steamrolling across the country and leaving only a barren wasteland in their wake (in a good way). Now the “Dream Ticket” is usually referred to as the “Unity Ticket,” and it’s main justification is appeasing Clinton’s legions of followers, some of whom have told pollsters they’re willing to vote Republican in November. Many experts believe, though, that Clinton is up for the teaming but Obama is not, so things could get awkward. John McCain is also in the process of selecting a vice-president (without any help, his campaign claims), and given his age, many morbid people are quick to point out the importance of his selection.

What little difference a year makes. This week's Time magazine cover shows a smiling Obama, with the cover line: "And the Winner* is…" And, almost exactly a year ago, New York ran a similarly chipper Obama with the cover line "Winner*." Now the contexts for both stories were completely different — ours was about taking the lead in the fund-raising race, and Time's is, well, actually about Obama's being the winner of the primary. Still, looking back at our story, some themes look the same:

Alongside the aura of invincibility, the Clinton team projected something else [to fund-raisers]: a tacit message that it was time for big-dollar Democrats to choose between Obama and Hillary. On the bus or off the bus. No hedging allowed. And apostates would pay a price. For some in the party, the tactic struck a nerve. “It’s almost like a shakedown—you’re with us or you’re not,” Jim Neal, a North Carolina investment banker who was on an early conference call with McAuliffe, told the Times. “I find the squeeze, this early, to be quite vulgar … It’s a bullying tactic.”

Replace "fund-raisers" with "superdelegates" and you could have had that exact paragraph in a story last month. It's almost impossible to believe that we've been rethinking the same story lines for over a year now. In his Time piece, Klein rejoices that it's almost over: "A general-election campaign between John McCain and Barack Obama doesn't need any hype," he says. "It won't be boring." It's funny, we have no idea what boring is anymore.

Klein on Obama [Time]
Money Chooses Sides [NYM]

Senator Obama will declare victory in the Democratic primary on May 20, after the polls close in Kentucky and Oregon, according to reports yesterday. Those two states' delegates plus West Virginia's — 86 in all — would not be enough to get him to the magic number (as of today he needs 167), even if he were to win them all. But he'll have won the majority of pledged delegates, and he's expecting to have amassed the commitment of enough superdelegates by then, adding up to 2025th by the night of the 20th. So who will be number 2,025? The one who puts him over the top will have symbolic value, and we have to wonder who he wants it to be. Possibilities for the all-important last superdelegate:

• Jimmy Carter: In some ways he's the obvious choice. The last Democratic president save one, a respected party elder. But his recent meeting with Hamas coupled with today's gasoline prices, evoking the misery of 1979, make this unlikely.
• Nancy Pelosi and/or Harry Reid: They've stayed studiously neutral throughout the race, a few hints from Pelosi that she's a closet Obamaphile aside, but both said they are anxious to get the nominee race settled well before the convention. They have a new Congress to get elected, and all this focus on the presidential race is limiting their ability to do that.

Three days have elapsed since Barack Obama became the "kinda-sorta-well-pretty-much" nominee, and his campaign is already throwing elbows with John McCain. After McCain claimed that Hamas wants Obama to become president (a unique interpretation of "straight talk" indeed), Obama hit back, saying that, in what was a possibly disguised reference to his opponent's advanced years, McCain was "losing his bearings." We've only sort of begun this general election, but, so far, it looks pretty much like any other political battle, respectful debate be damned. Looking forward, what are some of the weaknesses and obstacles that the candidates will have to overcome, besides the endorsement of terrorist groups and possible senility?