Kerry won't run for president in '08  —  WASHINGTON —Senator John F. Kerry plans to announce today that he will not run in the 2008 presidential race, and will instead remain in Congress and seek reelection to his Senate seat next year, according to senior Democratic officials.

Transcript: CNN Interview with Cheney  —  We've just received the transcript for Vice President Cheney's interview with Wolf Blitzer this morning.  It's posted in full below the fold.  —  Q And joining us now, the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney.  Mr. Vice President, thanks very much for doing this.

Senators eye rejection of Bush war plan  —  WASHINGTON - Democrats took the first step toward a wartime repudiation of President Bush on Wednesday, convening a Senate committee to endorse legislation declaring that the deployment of additional troops to Iraq is "not in the national interest."

The Knee-Jerk Opposition  —  If George W. Bush proposes something, it must be bad.  Such is the knee-jerk state of partisan suspiciousness that when the president actually endorses a tax increase — a tax increase that would primarily hit the well-off, no less — Democrats still howl.

Senate Republicans Block Minimum Wage Increase  —  Despite a united front from Senate Democrats for passing the same stand-alone minimum wage increase approved by the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the Republican minority voted against cloture on the bill today …

MN congresswoman can't keep her hand off President  —  Newly-elected Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann got quite a bit of face time with President Bush after his State of the Union Speech Tuesday night.  —  While the President was signing autographs for members of Congress after the speech …

Nifong Faces More Serious Ethics Charges  —  RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Bar Wednesday filed new and more serious ethics charges against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and misrepresenting the truth to the judge in the Duke lacrosse case.

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE NEW YORK MONEY PEOPLE:  —  I've admired Wes Clark for a long time.  But his comments to Ariana Huffington about wealthy Jews pushing the country toward war with Iran strike me as nutty and disturbing.  Either I seriously misjudged the man, or his comments were misquoted or taken wildly out of context.

President's Portrayal of 'The Enemy' Often Flawed  —  In his State of the Union address last night, President Bush presented an arguably misleading and often flawed description of "the enemy" that the United States faces overseas, lumping together disparate groups with opposing ideologies …

Exceeding Expectations  —  Bush's former speechwriter on what the president did right—and on Jim Webb's wobbly wordcraft.  —  All the commentary leading up to the State of the Union noted the president's historically low poll ratings and unpopular Iraq strategy.

Why Democrats can stop the war  —  Pundits say if the party gets too tough with Bush, it will be blamed for "losing" Iraq.  But the real political risk is going too easy on Bush, and losing the trust of war-weary voters.  —  Clockwise from top left: Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush, a Vietnam War protest and Richard Nixon

The new Newt thing  —  Draft me!  Draft me!  Newt Gingrich has a big idea and thinks you'll like it so much he'll just have to run for president, says Fortune's Nina Easton.  —  (Fortune Magazine) — Inside a modest hotel meeting room in Tempe, Ariz., a dozen health-care thinkers kill …

SOTU: MCCAIN — LACK OF SELF-CONTROL?  AN EXPRESSION OF CONTEMPT?  EMBARRASSING IN ANY CASE.  —  By Tucker Carlson  —  "We advance our own interests by helping reformers and advocates for democracy"?  That was Bush's position on the Middle East immediately after 9-11 and, remarkably, it remains his position.