Fla. Senator Mel Martinez to Chair RNC  —  Sen. Mel Martinez, the first-term lawmaker who previously served in President Bush's Cabinet, will assume the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, GOP officials said Monday.  —  Martinez, 60, will replace current chairman Ken Mehlman …

The Honeymoon Is Over  —  After five days of giddiness, Democrats express dismay that their new House leader has thrown herself into the fight to become her Number 2, creating a potentially lose-lose situation where she could either be defeated in her first public contest since the election, or brand herself as a dove.

RWN's Mark Steyn Interview #3  —  John Hawkins: Give people who haven't read your book yet a quick description of what you think Europe is going to look like in, let's say, 20 years because of declining birth rates, the enormous social benefits they pay out, and the enormous number …

California man arrested for mail threats to celebs  —Text+WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California man suspected of mailing threatening letters containing a suspicious white powder to celebrities and U.S. politicians has been arrested and could face federal charges on Monday, the FBI said.

Is America too Racist for Barack?  Too Sexist for Hillary?  —  The 2006 elections were for the technocrats and the operatives, pitting the Democratic tacticians against the Karl Rove machine.  But the next election is already beginning to look quite different: 2008 may be one for the novelists.

Bush's post-election approval hovers near lowest of presidency  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush's job approval ratings have slumped in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup poll, with the president's rating hovering near the lowest of his tenure.  —  In the poll, taken Thursday through Sunday …

GOP Fliers Apparently Were Part Of Strategy  —  The six Trailways motorcoaches draped in Ehrlich and Steele campaign banners rumbled down Interstate 95 just before dawn on Election Day.  —  On board, 300 mostly poor African Americans from Philadelphia ate doughnuts, sipped coffee and prepared to spend the day at the Maryland polls.

Why Intellectuals Love Defeat  —  James Carroll, recently writing in the Boston Globe, wondered if America could finally accept defeat in Iraq, and be the better for it, comparing it to Vietnam:  —  "But what about the moral question?  For all of the anguish felt over the loss of American lives …

AP: Giuliani takes step toward '08 bid  —  WASHINGTON - Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a moderate Republican best known for his stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has taken the first step in a 2008 presidential bid, GOP officials said Monday.

Borat spanked by angry Yank  —  BORAT star Sacha Baron Cohen was beaten up by a passer-by after he tried to play a prank as his alter ego.  —  He approached the man and said: "I like your clothings.  Are nice!  Please may I buying?  I want have sex with it."  —  But the bystander didn't see the joke.

Olbermann taps a well of discontent as the anti-O'Reilly  —  Keith Olbermann just needed to find his voice.  He'd been a droll sportscaster, a serious news anchor and a bickering critic of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly.  But none of those personas really clicked.  —  Then he found one.

Clinton Outlines Legislative Priorities  —  Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday outlined an ambitious agenda of legislative priorities while continuing to deflect questions about her presumed presidential ambitions.  —  "I will look at the possibilities, but I …

Democrats: Identify pork sponsors  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats aim to open the next Congress in January with a new rule that identifies lawmakers who use legislative "earmarks" to help special interests — a change Republicans promised but didn't implement.  —  House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi …

Out of the Gloom, A Silver Lining  —  Bush must now admit that America is not Dittohead Nation.  —  The Category 4 political hurricane of 2006 was more than a referendum on an unpopular war and president: it signals the end of the conservative tide that began rising 40 years ago …

The Case for Primaries  —  Mark Schmitt notes a few instances of districts featuring vulnerable Republicans where the "wrong" Democratic candidate prevailed in the primaries against an establishment-backed moderate, only to have the establishment write the seat off (at least temporarily), and then the Democrats won the seat anyway.