On this day in 1861 the first Medal of Honor action is performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, who, as a surgeon serving in the U.S.-Apache war, came to the rescue of U.S. forces under siege. Now to today's top stories:

"Winning Streak Extends To District, Md. and Va." (Dan Balz and Tim Craig, Washington Post) Remember Super Tuesday? Ancient history already compared to the winning streak Barack Obama has put together since Saturday: WA, LA, NE, ME, VA, MD, and DC. With turmoil in the Clinton campaign, and with Obama favored to take Hawaii and Wisconsin next week, it's looking good for the junior senator from Illinois.

"McCain Gets Wins, Not Mandate" (Stephen Dinan, Washington Times) For someone who is mathematically assured of winning the nomination, John McCain's road has been awkwardly rough. Although McCain swept the Potomac Primary, Mike Huckabee still gave him a bit of a race in Virginia, the most conservative of the three primaries last night. Still, McCain is improving among self-identified conservatives. The rest seem content with forcing McCain to earn it.

"Huckabee Says Voters Seek Alternative" (Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press) With the losses mounting, Mike Huckabee has had to redefine his goals in this race: From winning to being an "alternative" and giving voters a "choice." Which is all fine, but Huckabee still trails Mitt Romney in the delegate count.

"Obama Takes on New Aura of Momentum" (Ben Smith and Avi Zenilman and Kenneth Vogel, The Politico) For Clinton to even things up with Obama, the Politico reporters calculate, she would need to win 345 of the 573 delegates up for grabs between March 4, when Ohio and Texas vote, and April 22, when Pennsylvania votes, or 60%. That's looking increasingly unlikely, not to say impossible, with the kind of momentum Obama will take out of February.

"McCain Puts Focus on Democrats" (Jill Zuckman, Chicago Tribune) McCain certainly isn't going to wait around for Huckabee to drop out before he shifts into general-election mode. We saw that last night at McCain's victory celebration where the candidate took direct aim at Obama.

"Obama's Support Broad in VA, MD" (Alan Fram, Associated Press) Defeats are bad enough. But what's worse for Clinton is that Obama dug into her core supporters yesterday, increasing his share of white voters, Hispanics, lower-income voters, and women from previous primaries. So not only is Obama bringing out new voters, he's stealing voters away from Clinton's base.

"Clinton Launches Texas Tour in El Paso" (Ramon Bracamontes, El Paso Times) For Clinton, the last defense will be made in Ohio and Texas. She will kick off her Texas tour in El Paso today, before moving on across the state.

"Huckabee Says He's 'In Sync' with Texas" (Richard Dunham, Houston Chronicle) Let it be noted that Huckabee is not exactly wanted in Texas, at least by the higher ups. Gov. Rick Perry has asked Huckabee to withdraw, but the former governor of neighboring Arkansas, at least last night, says he has no intention of doing so and will campaign hard in Texas.

"In Virginia, Results Signal A State in Play for November" (Bill Turque, Ovetta Wiggins and Nikita Stewart, Washington Post) Democrats haven't won Virginia since 1964, but certain trends lines are letting some hope that 2008 could be the year. Recent elections, like Sen. Jim Webb's victory over George Allen in 2006, combined with Obama and Clinton's overall vote total reveal a state that is, if not blue, at least a dark purple.

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