This week's spotlight on race (as well as gender and religion) and politics focused on the Democratic primary race in Tennessee's 9th Congressional District. Incumbent Steve Cohen was challenged by Nikki Tinker for the seat.

From my email inbox, dated 10:39:48 PM PDT Wednesday Dear Lisa, I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

As the 2008 primary season ends, the news media has come in from plenty of criticism for its perceived biases and lapses in coverage of the candidates. According to some observers at BlogHer and elsewhere, the coverage of Sen. Hillary Clinton has been consistently sexist and unprofessional, while coverage of Sen. Barack Obama has been fawning and dishonest. Meanwhile, other press critics complain that Sen. John McCain has had a free ride.However, a recently-published content analysis by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Character and the Primaries of 2008, offers what appears to be some contradictory findings.

HILLARY WILL CONCEDE! SHE'LL BE VP! HILLARY WON'T CONCEDE! NO WAY, JOSE! OBAMA HAS CLINCHED THE NOMINATION! WAIT, NO HE HASN'T!

It all comes down to South Dakota and Montana, the last two states to hold Democratic presidential contests. Will this end the nomination battle between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama?

Puerto Rico holds its Democratic primary today. There are 55 delegates at stake and Hillary Clinton leads in polls heading into today's vote. According to a survey conducted for the newspaper El Vocero and Univision, Clinton is leading Barack Obama there 51 percent to 38 percent among all adults in the primary.

What do you get when you cross an 80-year-old nun with a primary election that some in the GOP are trying to control? I know that sounds like a bad joke. But it's no joke and the punch line can only increase the voting angst so many already have. The presidential primaries are almost over, but that doesn't mean we can stop thinking about voters and the voting process. After all, what if a group of radical, senior-citizen nuns stormed a polling place and demanded to vote with expired ID's?

Idaho votes today in their Republican primary, with the state sending a total of 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention in September. Local news reports indicate a "slow morning" turnout.

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) started taking applicationsfor blogger credentials to attend the National Convention in December. The amount of bloggers the DNCC granted credentials to have expanded from other cycles and more importantly, there was an addition of selecting one blogger from each state and territory to ensure that blogs that covered local politics would be adequately represented. In addition there is the selection of the general bloggers pool, which consists of video and ‘niche’ bloggers – those who do not specifically write about politics. But as soon as the list of selected bloggers was released, the problems started.

With today's primaries in Oregon and Kentucky, many pundits and media outlets are highlighting the possibility Senator Barack Obama may end the day with the majority of pledged Democratic delegates. CNN reports there are 3,253 pledged delegates, and Obama, even with a poor showing today, should easily top the 1,627 delegates needed to gain a majority.

With a reported 40-point lead for Senator Hillary Clinton, West Virginia voters head to the polls. Once again the word being buzzed by blogs and pundits: "margin"- as Senator Clinton looks to woo Superdelegates and Senator Barack Obama again faces questions about his "ability to draw the support of white, blue-collar voters." A Clinton memo released today says, "Given the attempts by our opponent and some in the media to declare this race over, any significant increase in voter turnout, coupled with a decisive Clinton victory, would send a strong message that Democrats remain excited and energized by Hillary's candidacy..."