Compiled by Jonathan Helman
CNN Washington Bureau

CNN: House Debates Surveillance Bill In Secret Session
The House of Representatives met in secret session Thursday night to debate revisions to federal surveillance laws, closing off the chamber for the first time since 1983 at the request of its Republican minority.

NY Times: Architect of Florida Mail-In Vote Says Its Chances Are Poor
The chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party promoted her plan Thursday for a new, mail-in presidential primary for the state’s 4.2 million registered Democrats, but conceded that the embattled proposal had little chance of survival.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/politics/14delegates.html

WSJ: McCain Touts Earmark Opposition on Hill
Sen. John McCain returned to Capitol Hill to cast a vote against pork-barrel spending, a centerpiece of the presumptive Republican nominee's economic agenda and part of his broader campaign on government reform.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120546129184035671.html

Washington Times: Obama's Budget Vote Could Come Back To Bite Him
Republicans yesterday forced Sen. Barack Obama to vote against what they labeled his own $1.4 trillion spending plan, cobbled together from his presidential campaign promises — one of a series of budget votes that will provide political fodder for the rest of the election year.
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/NATION/382087024/1001

Boston Globe: Clinton Role In Health Program Disputed
Hillary Clinton, who has frequently described herself on the campaign trail as playing a pivotal role in forging a children's health insurance plan, had little to do with crafting the landmark legislation or ushering it through Congress, according to several lawmakers, staffers, and healthcare advocates involved in the issue.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/14/clinton_role_in_health_program_disputed/

Washington Post: Race Tangled in the Race
The debate about racial preference vs. equal opportunity has coursed through society for decades, and not smoothly. We've argued passionately about who gets admitted to college and why, who gets a job promotion and why, which company gets awarded a contract and why. But affirmative action in pursuit of the presidency? Now, that's a new one.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031304270.html

USA Today: Dem Fight Conflicts Some Women, Blacks
The passion fueling the Democrats' history-making presidential campaign is putting two of the party's most important constituencies — women and African-Americans — on what could be a collision course.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-03-13-InsideDems_N.htm

Washington Post: Clinton Opens Her Home to Woo Unaligned Lawmakers
Having mastered the art of town-hall meetings on the campaign trail, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is now holding them in a more comfortable setting: her living room.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303648.html

Washington Post: Obama Lists Requests for Pet-Project Funding
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) disclosed yesterday the more than half a billion dollars' worth of pet projects, or earmarks, he sought to fund during his first two years in the Senate, and he immediately called on rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to do the same.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303826.html

AP: Obama Tries to Allay Jewish Concerns
Barack Obama has a solid Senate record in support of Israel. He sings the praises, too, of Jewish civil rights workers who fought for blacks' rights in the U.S. And he says he wants to patch up "a historically powerful bond between the African-American and Jewish communities." Yet there is unease among some Jewish voters about the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential contender.
http://wtop.com/?nid=213&sid=1364983

AP: Obama, Clinton to Debate in Philadelphia
Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to debate in Philadelphia next month before Pennsylvania's primary, their presidential campaigns said Thursday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303065.html

Washington Post: Florida Democrats Urge A 2nd Primary, in June
Florida Democrats, seeking a solution to the dispute over their delegates to the party's national nominating convention, yesterday proposed a do-over primary in June that would be conducted largely by mail, although even the idea's sponsors expressed pessimism that the plan will ever be implemented.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031302255.html