The pressure on Barack Obama to ditch gospel singer Donnie McClurkin got a little heavier yesterday when the nation's largest gay-rights group, Human Rights Campaign, joined the fray. In a call with the candidate, the president of HRC (no relation) demanded Obama dump McClurkin from Sunday's event on account of the singer's perceived anti-gay bias. Obama has tried to quell the rage from the left with statements saying he strongly disagreed with McClurkin's views and by inviting an openly gay minister to speak at the event also. (Katherine Seeyle, New York Times)

In a bit of good news for Obama, he's managed to bring a few old Clintonites over to his campaign. (Marcella Bombardieri, Boston Globe)

Norman Podhoretz, Michael Rubin, Daniel Pipes -- a list of Rudy Giuliani's foreign-policy advisers reads like a neoconservative all-star team, and is giving liberals heart palpitations. (Michael Cooper and Marc Santora, New York Times)

Back in the 1980s, the mafia debated whacking Giuliani. What could be a better endorsement? (Scott Shifrel and Helen Kennedy, New York Daily News)

"Macho" men are flocking to Hillary. (No, not the Village People, but unions.) (Chicago Sun-Times)

For Democratic candidates, is Iran the new Iraq? (Dan Balz, Washington Post)

"The old Middle Eastern order is gone." John McCain talks Iraq, Iran and the war on terror. (Tom Witosky, Des Moines Register)

"I'd vote for him now." Rudy is changing hearts in Iowa. (Thomas Geyer, Quad-City Times) And he could be bringing Sam Brownback on board. (Alexander Bolton, The Hill)

What, Fred worry? Staff departures don't seem to bother Fred Thompson. (Jim Davenport, Associated Press)

"I think hunters are also concerned about hunting," said John Edwards, who proposed a hunter's and fisherman's "bill of rights." (Abby Simons, Des Moines Register)

Bill Richardson says he's the guy who can turn Latin America back from its growing anti-Americanism, a trend he blamed on President Bush (Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times)

Get these and today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.

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