Despite a big Hillary Clinton win in the West Virginia primary, John Edwards and George Bush helped make Barack Obama the lead campaign newsmaker last week. And they helped reinforce the idea that the Democratic primary fight was just about over.

The two Democratic contenders went at it last week, battling over Barack Obama’s “bitter” remarks at a California fundraiser and over the ABC debate that some said had too much “gotcha.” Trailing in the race for attention, John McCain saw the media examine everything from his economic policy to his temper last week.

The key media narrative last week involved growing pressure on Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the primary fight. Meanwhile, Barack Obama tried his hand at hands-on campaigning while John McCain hoped to grab the media’s attention with a tour of some old stomping grounds.

With wins in Ohio and Texas, Hillary Clinton was the top campaign newsmaker last week. The media’s first verdict was that her aggressive attacks succeeded in stopping Barack Obama’s momentum. Their next question was whether Obama was capable of responding in kind.

Barack Obama generated more campaign coverage than Hillary Clinton in a week in which Democrats completely dominated the media narrative. But Clinton’s complaints about a journalistic tilt toward her opponent seemed to strike a responsive chord.

Obama’s big win in Wisconsin shaped the Democrats’ media narrative last week and had some pundits wondering whether Clinton was contemplating her own defeat. And why a New York Times expose about the presumptive GOP nominee may prove to be manna for McCain.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dominated coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign last week, but in very different ways. While Obama got a big bounce from primary wins, the Clinton campaign was besieged by bad news. Meanwhile, John McCain inched closer to inevitability.

The three candidates with the best shot at next occupying the White House all got extensive coverage in the biggest week yet for campaign news. But none of them generated the headlines he or she really wanted. And, once again, Huckabee proved that the reports of his political demise were premature.

The two leading Democrats once again attracted more coverage than any of their GOP rivals in the race for media exposure last week. But the GOP overall tipped the scales in what became a big boost for Mitt Romney, both in Michigan and in the media.