How 'What It Takes' Took Me Off Course  —  MORE than any other book, Richard Ben Cramer's "What It Takes," about the 1988 battle for the White House, influenced the way I cover campaigns.  —  I'm not alone.  The book's thesis — that prospective presidents are best evaluated by their ability …

Thompson charges Fox News is biased against his campaign  —  Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that Fox News is biased against his campaign, charging that the network highlights commentators who have been critical of his run for the presidency.

DE PALMA IRAQ FLICK BOMBS  —  November 25, 2007 — IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if  —  Americans won't see their movies.  While the public is staying away in droves from "Rendition," "Lions for Lambs" and "In the Valley of Elah …

First "mission accomplished"; then "surge"; and now Bush wants to win with PR.  And then there's Afghanistan  —  The administration is once again moving the goal posts with respect to Iraq.  Uh... we aren't that concerned about political stability anymore. … What is Bush pressuring the Iraqis for instead?

"Posterizing" the Democrat Party contest: Announcing the finalists  —  Submissions for the michellemalkin.com "posterizing the Democrat Party" photo shop/graphic art contest-parodying the Huffington Post's "posterizing the modern GOP" campaign-have poured in the past few days.

US is'worst' imperialist: archbishop  —  THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.  —  Rowan Williams claimed that America's attempt to intervene overseas by "clearing the decks" with a …

In Iowa and N.H., 2008 election more volatile than most  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Despite what many political experts, campaign officials and media outlets keep insisting, there's no frontrunner in either the Democratic or Republican race for the White House.  —  Huge numbers of voters …

Pro-Patriot Act Giuliani meets anti-act Ron Paulites  —  NASHUA, N.H.—Attempts to cut back on government surveillance and "aggressive questioning" of suspected terrorists are irresponsible and undercut the country's war on terrorism, Republican Rudy Giuliani said this weekend.

Bizarro World  —  If conservatives seized on a mirror image of the journalistic clusterf**kery of Joe Klein it wouldn't stop at Glennzilla beating up on him and the rest of us laughing at him.  Drudge would put up a big siren.  Limbaugh would spend a week turning Joe Klein into public enemy #1 for his dittoheads.

A Travesty Of Justice  —  I do not know exactly who Bilal Hussain and do not know for sure whether the wild claims of the bloggy lynch-mob seeking his imprisonment are in any way merited.  That's why the justice system exists - in both civilian and military contexts.

Hey, Young Americans, Here's a Text for You  —  Is America still America if millions of us no longer know how democracy works?  —  When I speak on college campuses, I find that students are either baffled by democracy's workings or that they don't see any point in engaging in the democratic process.

Al-Qaeda kingpin: I trained 9/11 hijackers -  —  From his Turkish jail, a senior terrorist claims a key role in atrocities around the world  —  Insight: Chris Gourlay and Jonathan Calvert  —  IN a small windowless cell lit by a single light bulb, Louai al-Sakka sits isolated from the world and fellow inmates for 24 hours a day.

"A TONAL SHIFT"....This pisses me off: … A "tonal shift"?  Is this code for "they're saying the same thing as always but there's not much of a story in that"?  —  Look, if Patrick Healy has some actual evidence that Democrats weren't talking about political progress earlier this year but they are now, then fine.

The Real Heroism: Restraint  —  In the 1920s and '30s, the American left was riven by multiple factions furiously representing different flavors of socialism, each accusing the others of revisionism and deviationism.  Leftists comforted themselves with the thought that "you can't split rotten wood."

What Kevin Rudd's Australia Win Means  —  Australia's Shadow Climate Change Minister and former Midnight Oil Singer Peter Garrett  —  Australia's election that has today elevated the Labor Party to majority status and Kevin Rudd to succeed the conservative John Howard may signal a major shift ahead in America's political order.