Death Knell May Be Near for Public Election Funds  —  The public financing system for presidential campaigns, a post-Watergate initiative hailed for decades as the best way to rid politics of the corrupting influence of money, may have quietly died over the weekend.

Headmaster Disputes Claim That Obama Attended Islamic School  —  Fresh doubt was cast yesterday on a magazine's allegation that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) attended a madrassah, or religious school that teaches a fundamentalist version of Islam.  —  Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster …

Key Republican Senator Offers Bipartisan Call to Reject Bush Plan for More Troops in Iraq  —  Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, one of Congress's leading authorities on the military, presented a bipartisan proposal on Monday that soundly rejected President Bush's plan to send more American troops …

Retreat Isn't an Option  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton declared this weekend, " I'm in to win."  Anyone who has watched her remarkable trajectory can have no doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to win the presidency.  I wish she felt the same way about the war.

Poll: Bush Approval Rating At New Low  —  On Eve Of State Of Union, President's Approval Rating Falls To 28%, A New Low  —  (CBS) President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night to a nation that's strongly opposed to his plan for increasing troops in Iraq …

Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed  —  Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional Black Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a white lawmaker was not welcome.  —  "I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen …

1 dead, 10 hurt as opposition moves to topple Lebanon gov't  —  At least 11 men were wounded Tuesday in clashes during the first hours of a Lebanese general strike called by the Hezbollah-led opposition to try to topple Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's Western-backed government.

Bush, at Low Point in Polls, Will Push Domestic Agenda  —  Carrying some of the worst public approval ratings of any president in a generation, President Bush is heading into his State of the Union address on Tuesday night seeking to revitalize his domestic agenda but facing stiff resistance …

Bush Poll Ratings Before Speech Fall to Nixon's Level (Update2)  —  Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush's approval ratings are now the lowest for any president the day before a State of the Union speech since Richard Nixon in 1974, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT: If you take Second Amendment issues into account when deciding whom to support, or if you simply are interested how the candidates will likely fare with an important bloc of voters, here's a preliminary assessment of some of the people who have been listed as likely or definite candidates.

MP says Iran bars 38 atomic inspectors: agency  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has barred 38 inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from entering the country, an Iranian lawmaker was quoted by Iran's ISNA news agency on Monday as saying.

Nearly two-thirds in U.S. have given up on Iraq  —  NBC/WSJ poll: Bush 'really in the cellar of public opinion'  —  WASHINGTON - When President Bush delivers his next-to-last State of the Union address Tuesday night, he will confront this reality, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll …

Lawmakers have loved ones in combat zone  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., lost his nephew, Philip, in Iraq.  Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says his son, Alan, had two close calls: one from an improvised explosive device, the other from a sniper.  —  Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. …

Press Briefing by Tony Snow  —  White House Conference Center Briefing Room  —  MR. SNOW: Good morning, hope you all had a good weekend.  Here is a quick run-through on the President's schedule.  He is at Camp David right now; he's had normal briefings through the morning.

Can I Be President?  —  "No person except a natural born citizen ... shall be eligible to the Office of President."  —  Forget Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Obama, and Clinton.  There is only one candidate that every American envisions in the White House: oneself.

PREZ-MINDED RUDY TO SHED FINANCE BIZ  —  Rudy Giuliani, a 2008 GOP White House front-runner, is moving to sell the Wall Street wing of his multi-pronged business - the strongest sign yet that he's making a serious play for the presidency, The Post has learned.