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.

Giuliani presses the flesh in N.H.  —  CONCORD, N.H. — Rudy Giuliani took the bus Saturday, pushing through this first-in-the-nation presidential primary state in a daylong, people-to-people tour.  —  Courting voters face-to-face at diners and holiday parades would normally be all in a day's work …

Hillary Clinton has only herself to blame  —  Way back in 1992, when Hillary and Hubba Bubba first burst onto the national scene, many Americans expressed doubts about their honesty and integrity.  Clintonesque, parsing, the definition of "is" - those and other phrases became polite shorthand ways of accusing a Clinton of lying.

The High Cost of Health Care  —  The relentless, decades-long rise in the cost of health care has left many Americans struggling to pay their medical bills.  Workers complain that they cannot afford high premiums for health insurance.  Patients forgo recommended care rather than pay the out-of-pocket costs.

Why You Can Believe all Those Warnings About The Death of the West  —  I suggest that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams read a little history about the British experience in India before he offers politically-correct but historically laughable sermons like the one he gave to a Muslim "lifestyle" magazine:

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 …

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.

Memo To New York Post: The Bush Administration Was Warned About 9/11  —  New York Post reporter Andy Soltis writes of the latest Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll that finds a great majority of Americans believe the government failed to heed warnings about 9/11.

Ex-coalition leader says Bush failed to have plan  —  Sanchez: It's time to withdraw troops, let Iraq take responsibility  —  Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who led coalition forces through the first critical year of Iraq's insurgency, said Saturday in a nationally broadcast radio address …

Tax for 2 Cents Plain Is Anything but Simple  —  VOTERS in Upper Freehold Township passed a bond question this month that will raise an additional $264,000 annually to preserve farmland in their Monmouth County community.  —  Or did they?  —  It turns out the ballots were misprinted.

In Iowa, Clinton Is Pressed on Murdoch  —  FORT DODGE, Iowa - The curious relationship between Hillary Rodham Clinton, presidential candidate, and Rupert Murdoch, media baron, flashed briefly before the eyes of Iowans on Saturday night during a Clinton campaign event.

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.