Democratic 2008 presidential race tightens: Reuters poll  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 2008 Democratic presidential race has tightened, with Barack Obama gaining on front-runner Hillary Clinton six weeks before the first contest, according to a national Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

Krugman vs. Krugman  —  In liberal Democratic circles, the debate over Social Security has taken a dangerous "don't worry, be happy" turn.  —  The argument has two equally dishonest components.  The first is to deny that Social Security faces a daunting financing problem …

Bush More Emphatic In Backing Musharraf  —  President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."

A Scientific Advance, a Political Question Mark  —  The discovery that it is possible to create equivalents to embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos has the potential to reshape — and perhaps defuse — the acrimonious political debate that has raged ever since human embryonic stem cells were discovered in 1998.

Road From Damascus  —  Iraqis are voting with their feet by returning home after exile  —  The figures are hard to estimate precisely but the process could involve hundreds of thousands of people.  The numbers are certainly large enough, as we report today, for a mass convoy to be planned next week …

LAWYERS, GUNS & WASHINGTON  —  DC GUN BAN A TOUGH TEST FOR COURT  —  BY deciding yesterday to hear the District of Columbia's appeal of the federal court ruling that overturned DC's gun ban, the Supreme Court has ensured that gun control and gun rights will play a major role in the coming election …

G.O.P. Rivals Trade Charges on Illegal Immigration  —  The back and forth between Mitt Romney's and Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaigns over illegal immigration continued yesterday, with each side impugning the other's record on the issue.  —  Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts …

Joe Klein: Both factually false and stuck in the 1980s  —  For the sake of its own credibility, Time Magazine needs immediately to prohibit Joe Klein from uttering another word about the eavesdropping and FISA controversy.  He simply doesn't know what he's talking about and he publishes demonstrably false statements.

Democrats Move to Block Bush Appointments  —  Who says the Senate cannot act quickly?  It conducted a full day's business in less than 30 seconds on Tuesday.  —  Of course, there was no real business to conduct.  But fearing that President Bush would again use a Congressional recess …

Huckabee Makes Crucial Gains Among GOP Base  —  GOP Underdog Says Caucus Momentum Will Propel Campaign to Party Nomination  —  Propelled by little more than his message and political skills, Republican presidential contender former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has vaulted into a statistical dead heat …

CAIR seeks removal of label in terrorism case  —  The Council on American-Islamic Relations is seeking help from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. to pressure the Justice Department to change the group's status as a co-conspirator in a terrorism case.

The Tragedy of the Commons  —  Every year around this time, schoolchildren are taught about that wonderful day when Pilgrims and Native Americans shared the fruits of the harvest.  "Isn't sharing wonderful?" say the teachers.  —  They miss the point.  —  Because of sharing, the first Thanksgiving in 1623 almost didn't happen.

Imams' suit wins a round in court  —  A judge rejected the defendants' arguments to dismiss the suit filed by six imams removed from a U.S. Airways flight.  —  Six Muslim imams arrested on a U.S. Airways jet in Minneapolis last November after a passenger raised suspicions about their pre-flight prayers …