Obama Envisions New Iran Approach  —  Senator Barack Obama says he would "engage in aggressive personal diplomacy" with Iran if elected president and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek "regime change" if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.

Undecided Schumer May Be Key to Mukasey's Chances  —  Judiciary Chairman Endorsed Justice Nominee but Says He, Like Other Democrats, Is Concerned About Torture Question  —  As Democratic opposition builds over attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey, no Democratic lawmaker has found himself …

Victory at University of Delaware  —  University Dumps Thought Reform Program  —  Late Thursday, University of Delaware President Patrick Harker released on the school's website a Message to the University of Delaware Community terminating the university's ideological reeducation program …

The most influential US conservatives: 1-20  —  As the US prepares for what is arguably the most open presidential election since 1928, the last time there was no incumbent president or vice-president on the ballot, the Daily Telegraph's Washington correspondents compile a list of the 100 …

The Real Hill-Bill Problem  —  WASHINGTON — Americans don't normally take much notice of Argentine elections.  But they did notice when Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, wife of President Nestor Kirchner, was elected to succeed him last Sunday, ensuring not just a co-presidency …

Democrats Get Off Hillary's Back She's All Ours  —  Listen Barack Obama, John Edwards and all you other soon-to-be also-rans, lay off Hillary.  She's well on her way to winning the nomination and we don't want anything to stand in her way, especially attacks on her character and integrity …

Refighting the Pacific War?  —  Gen. Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, has died.  He "had requested that there be no funeral or headstone, fearing it would give his detractors a place to protest."  Detractors?  Protest?

I WASN'T GOING TO RESPOND when Andrew Sullivan — deliberately, or in unforgivable cluelessness — transformed my statement about leaving the Libertarian Party into something about not being a libertarian at all.  Andrew says a lot of silly things about me these days, and life is too short to pay attention to them.

Lieberman Calls On Senate To Confirm Mukasey  —  Joe Lieberman, on the Senate floor just moments ago:  —  "To reject the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey because he refuses to say what some members want him to say on this question, and he refuses as a matter of sincerely held legal belief …

Do the poor prefer bad schools?  —  I MUST respectfully disagree with my esteemed colleague's last post, wherein he writes: … Let us leave aside for now the merit of regulatory agencies.  Because preferences are sovereign and, in any case, economists aren't in the business of literary criticism …

Gates Says Iran Gave Assurances on Explosives  —  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates indicated Thursday that Iran had told the Baghdad government that it would work to stem the flow of high-powered explosives into Iraq, though he also questioned the credibility of the pledge.

The war in Iraq has been won  —  THERE is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue.  —  Here it is: The battle is actually over.  Iraq has been won.  —  I know this will seem to many of you an insane claim.  Ridiculous!  —  After all, haven't you read countless stories that Iraq is a …

Interview With Barack Obama  —  The following is a transcript of an interview by Michael Gordon and Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times with Senator Barack Obama, conducted on Wednesday afternoon at his campaign headquarters in Chicago.  Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity, and extraneous material omitted.

Feds Probing Dem Sen. Relationship to Former Aide  —  As the feds are bearing down hard on Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), raiding his Alaska home and convening a grand jury in Washington, D.C., another investigation into a sitting senator has been proceeding quietly up in New Jersey.