Campaign call reveals Clinton debate concern  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) top advisers, doing damage control after the candidate's debate performance Tuesday, told supporters on a conference call Wednesday that the campaign needed more money to fight back.

A Dark Unseen Scandal Star?  —  Mickey Kaus writes: … I'm placing my money on the lesbian-Hillary angle.  —  If you examine the candidates connected by the gossip columnists to current sex scandals, Hillary leads the way with her Huma connection.  —  Here's a picture of Hillary's personal assistant Huma Abedin.

Finalists Announced  —  Here is a partial list of the finalists for The 2007 Weblog Awards.  Finalists badges (hosted by Imageshack) will be available Thursday.  Voting is scheduled to begin Thursday evening (late), but at this point we can't pinpoint the exact time polls will open.

Nominee's Stand May Avoid Tangle of Torture Cases  —  In adamantly refusing to declare waterboarding illegal, Michael B. Mukasey, the nominee for attorney general, is steering clear of a potential legal quagmire for the Bush administration: criminal prosecution or lawsuits …

THE RETURN OF PRICE CONTROLS.  —  Price controls are so last century.  The notion of central planners telling private entities how much they should charge for goods and services seems about as dated as that "Government and Politics of the Soviet Union" course I took in 1987.

'Criminal' Botnet Stumps for Ron Paul, Researchers Allege  —  If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam, according to computer-security researchers who've analyzed …

Iraqi Islamic Party says, "Al Qaeda is Defeated."  —  O1 November 2007  —  Iraqi Islamic Party: "Al Qaeda is Defeated"  —  "Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated," according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe.

The angry voter: Bad news for Dems  —  Congressional Democrats certainly know the power of a throw-the-bums-out message.  It vaulted them to power a year ago this week.  Little wonder anxiety is boiling over inside the new majority as lawmakers ponder a succession of polls and reach …

Code Pink Learns from Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week's Slanderers  —  Code Pink learned something from the far-Left college students who smeared Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week at George Washington University this month: the liberal establishment is a most effective and willing accomplice …

A year before voting, a nation of discontent  —  Call us the Unhappy States of America.  —  One year before Election Day 2008, most Americans are dismayed by the country's direction, pessimistic about the Iraq war and anxious about the economy.  Two of three disapprove of the job President Bush is doing.

The Gender Gap  —  Gender has long played a role in presidential elections, and the gender gap is again looming large in a possible Clinton-Giuliani matchup.  Currently, Hillary Clinton runs 13 points better among female voters (57%) than among male voters (44%).

Atlanta Urinals, Fountain Run Dry as UPS, Coke Fight Drought  —  Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) — Urinals without water.  Fountains without water.  A waterfall without water.  —  Dry is the goal as United Parcel Service Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and other companies in the Atlanta area rally to cut water use …

The Longest Morning  —  THE DAY OF AUGUST 26, 2007, began like any other for the soldiers of Charlie Company, 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (from the 82nd Airborne Division) — with a mission in the city.  Over a year into its deployment to Samarra, Iraq, and now working …