The Failed Attorney General  —  During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held — President Bush's in-house lawyer — and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer …

The 'Surge' Is Succeeding  —  A front-page story in The Post last week suggested that the Bush administration has no backup plan in case the surge in Iraq doesn't work.  I wonder if The Post and other newspapers have a backup plan in case it does.  —  Leading journalists have been reporting …

Upset Over Canceled Fox Debate, Kondracke Attacks 'Left-Wing Liberals' As 'Junior-Grade Stalinists'  —  On Fox News' Beltway Boys, co-host Mort Kondracke blasted the decision by the Nevada Democratic Party to pull out of a Fox News-sponsored presidential debate.

TRANSCRIPT: FORMER SEN. FRED THOMPSON ON 'FOX NEWS SUNDAY'  —  The following is a partial transcript of the March 11, 2007, edition of "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace":  —  "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST CHRIS WALLACE: Well, chances are you've never heard of U.S. President Charles Ross …

Poll: Character trumps policy for voters  —  WASHINGTON - For all the policy blueprints churned out by presidential campaigns, there is this indisputable fact: People care less about issues than they do about a candidate's character.  —  A new Associated Press-Ipsos poll says 55 percent …

New John Edwards Sells Less Biography, More Liberal Issues  —  When he first ran for president, then-Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) was the fresh face in the Democratic Party, a perpetually buoyant campaigner who built his candidacy around his own biography and whose success in the primaries earned him a place on the 2004 Democratic ticket.

Climate scientist 'duped to deny global warming'  —  A Leading US climate scientist is considering legal action after he says he was duped into appearing in a Channel 4 documentary that claimed man-made global warming is a myth.  Carl Wunsch, professor of physical oceanography …

Defector spied on Iran for years  —  AN Iranian general who defected to the West last month had been spying on Iran since 2003 when he was recruited on an overseas business trip, according to Iranian sources.  —  This weekend Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, 63, the former deputy defence minister …

Iran tells US to set timetable for Iraq exit  —  Iranian officials last night demanded a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq as they attended a rare meeting with American diplomats in Baghdad.  —  The conference was aimed at stopping Iraq being used as a sectarian battleground by Sunni and Shia neighbours.

HILL: I'M THE JFK OF 2008  —  VOWS TO BEAT ODDS  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked the campaign of the nation's lone Catholic president, John Kennedy, last night as she talked about her challenge in becoming the first female commander-in-chief.  —  "He was smart, he was dynamic, he was inspiring and he was Catholic.

Episode at Guantanamo Leaves Family at a Loss  —  MEDINA, Saudi Arabia — Mishal al-Harbi's brain was deprived of oxygen for several minutes on the evening of Jan. 16, 2003, while he was in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  As a result, he cannot stand, his speech is slurred …

Cameron considers tax hikes on air travel  —  Harsh new taxes on air travel, including a strict personal flight "allowance", will be unveiled by the Conservatives tomorrow as part of a plan that would penalise business travellers, holidaymakers and the tourist industry.

Lotto Makes Sense, Even for Losers  —  AT least poker tables have some atmosphere, a jingle of highball glasses, a hint of 1990s menthol smoke in the armchairs, the sweet musk of nearby cash.  The same goes for playing the horses: there are characters, scandals, competition, not to mention real payoffs.