McCain Hits Romney Hard  —  Mitt Romney has been trying to make quite a bit of political hay out of the compromise immigration bill — he sees it as one of John McCain's key weaknesses as relates to the Republican base and a great way to differentiate himself as the One True Conservative in the race …

Interviews, Going the Way of the Linotype?  —  The humble interview, the linchpin of journalism for centuries, is under assault.  —  It is a transaction that clearly favors the person asking the questions.  A print reporter writes down someone's answers, then picks and chooses how much …

Mitt Romney leads Republicans  —  Mitt Romney has sprinted ahead of presidential competitors John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in a new Iowa Poll of likely Republican caucus participants.  —  The Des Moines Register poll shows Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is the top choice of 30 percent …

Public Divided on "Pro-Choice" vs. "Pro-Life" Abortion Labels  —  Few are single-issue voters  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans hold a complex set of beliefs about the legality of terminating a woman's pregnancy.  The majority want the Supreme Court to uphold its 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which protects abortion rights.

Early primary gives Florida big say  —  State jumps ahead of most others with primary set for Jan. 29, 2008  —  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill Monday moving Florida's 2008 presidential primary up to Jan. 29, leapfrogging several other states in a change …

Pentagon Studies Long-Term Commitment in Iraq  —  · The White House and Pentagon are under increasing pressure from Congress and the public to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq.  But the Pentagon is considering maintaining a core group of forces in Iraq, possibly for decades.

Gay Britons Serve in Military With Little Fuss, as Predicted Discord Does Not Occur  —  The officer, a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force, felt he had no choice.  So he stood up in front of his squad of 30 to 40 people.  —  "I said, 'Right, I've got something to tell you,' " he said.

U.S. policy turnabout may enable Israel to enter talks with Syria  —  Washington has given Israel the green light to accept Syrian President Bashar Assad's call for peace talks, in a change of position accompanied by several preconditions.  —  The Bush administration has given Israel permission …

Getting in Deeper...  Another week reveals more lapses in judgment by the Bush team  —  For months, congressional Democrats have tried to force embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out of his job by using what one congressional source called "conventional weapons"-incriminating E-mails …

Sawyer's Interview Focuses On Media's Obsessions With Gore, Reaffirms Thesis Of His Book  —  In his new book, The Assault on Reason, which will be released tomorrow, Al Gore explains "why logic and reason and the best evidence available and the scientific discoveries do not have more force …

Chronicle to cut 25% of jobs in newsroom  —  To cut costs and try to adapt to a changing media marketplace, The Chronicle will trim 25 percent of its newsroom staff by the end of the summer.  —  "This is one of the biggest one-time hits we've heard about anywhere in the country," …

Analysis: Why might Syria wish to sow chaos in Lebanon now?  —  Thirty eight people lost their lives on Sunday in fierce fighting between the Lebanese military and Sunni jihadist operatives near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, close to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

Online, GOP Is Playing Catch-Up  —  When David All, a former Republican congressional aide, launched a blog recently that he hopes will spur his fellow Republicans to bridge the digital divide, he did his best to sound upbeat.  "Today our Revolution begins," he wrote.  "Tomorrow we fight."

Exclusive: Secret US plot to kill Al-Sadr  —  The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official.