Pelosi Puts Weight Behind Murtha in Leader Bid  —  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in line to become Speaker in January, is throwing her support to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) in the race for Majority Leader, a move that will be an early test of her influence and will weigh heavily on Murtha's contest …

Democrats Push for Troop Cuts Within Months  —  Democratic leaders in the Senate vowed on Sunday to use their new Congressional majority to press for troop reductions in Iraq within a matter of months, stepping up pressure on the administration just as President Bush is to be interviewed …

China sub secretly stalked U.S. fleet  —  A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned.  —  The surprise encounter highlights …

Lieberman a Wild Card in Iraq Policy  —  Senator Says Bipartisan Effort Is Needed for a Successful End  —  Voters seemed to be speaking loudly and clearly about Iraq last week when they elected war critics such as Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and James Webb of Virginia to the Senate.

Knox Co. commissioner stands up to gunman's robbery attempt  —  POWELL (WATE) — A Knox County commissioner did not let a gunman rob his business.  Instead he pulled out his own gun.  —  The tense moments took place Saturday inside Greg "Lumpy" Lambert's car dealership, Advantage Auto Sales on Clinton Highway.

Iran TV broadcasts 'US ship spy plane footage'  —  Iran's Arabic language television station broadcast footage it claimed showed a US aircraft carrier cruising in Gulf waters it said was taken by an unmanned Iranian drone.  —  The brief minute-long film, which was shown …

Bush approval drops, Democrats' goals backed -poll  —  Source: Reuters  —  Just days after Democrats took over Congress, Americans embraced their top goals and President George W. Bush's job approval rating slid to 31 percent, according to a Newsweek poll issued on Saturday.

Fresh Off the Farm in Montana, a Senator-to-Be  —  "He's a small farmer from the homestead,'' a friend says of Jon Tester. "  That's absolutely who he is.  When he joins the United States Senate in January, big Jon Tester — who is just under 300 pounds in his boots …

Baghdad's morgues so full, bodies being turned away  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Baghdad's morgues are full.  —  With no space to store bodies, some victims of the sectarian slaughter are not being kept for relatives to claim, but photographed, numbered and quickly interred in government cemeteries.

True Blue Populists  —  Senator George Allen of Virginia is understandably shocked and despondent.  Just a year ago, a National Review cover story declared that his "down-home persona" made him "quite possibly the next president of the United States."  Instead, his political career seems over.

Democrats and Republicans both need to be careful with this Potemkin Iraq Study Group  —  Regarding this Iraq Study Group, the Washington Post writes the following: … This is a trap.  Democrats cannot - can not - own the administration's current course in Iraq.

The realists take charge in Washington  —  Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magazine cover story.  —  (Time.com ) — This was a big deal.  Certainly, it was the end of George W. Bush's radical experiment in partisan governance.

The Donald Rumsfeld I Know  —  Much of what you know about Donald Rumsfeld is wrong.  —  I worked intimately with Rumsfeld for four years, from the summer of 2001 until I left the Pentagon in August 2005.  Through countless meetings and private conversations, I came to learn his traits …

For Conservatives, It's Back to Basics  —  THE morning after the Republican drubbing in the midterm elections, Ken Mehlman, chairman of the party, headed to the weekly coalition meeting where limited government conservatives, Christian traditionalists and gun-rights groups gathered to plot strategy.

The Prodigal Returns  —  Supporting Cast: Bush 41's national-security team, in 1991.  From far left, Scowcroft, Gates, Cheney, Quayle, Baker, Bush and Powell.  —  George Herbert Walker Bush is a proud father; tears easily come to his eyes when he thinks of his children, all of them …