New poll shows Clinton trails top 2008 Republicans  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton trails five top Republican presidential contenders in general election match-ups, a drop in support from this summer, according to a poll released on Monday.

Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer  —  BAGHDAD - Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.

Trent Lott announces his resignation  —  Minority whip says he will leave Senate before end of the year  —  Pascagoula, Mississippi - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate by end of year.

Gore meets Bush, declares it 'cordial... substantive'  —  Al Gore slipped out the side door of the West Wing.  —  In his private Oval Office meeting with President Bush, the former vice president insisted that they had spoken about global warming "the whole time.'' It wasn't clear if the winner …

Official: Bride, groom stopped in Iraq actually terror suspects  —  BAGHDAD (CNN) — Soldiers manning a checkpoint near Baghdad stopped a wedding convoy to find that the purported bride and groom were wanted terror suspects, an Iraqi Defense Ministry official said Monday.

Obama PAC Is Active In Key Election States  —  When Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) launched his presidential campaign in January, he stopped raising money for his Hopefund, the political action committee he used to raise millions for fellow Democrats in previous campaigns.

Hastert Resigns Today  —  I am told that former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is faxing his resignation letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich this afternoon.  —  Once the resignation is official, the governor has five days to set the special election within 120 days of the resignation.

Ron Paul Has Won  —  He won't win the nomination.  He won't win any primaries.  But for Ron Paul's quixotic bid for the White House, it's "Mission Accomplished."  —  Take a look at this from Sunday's Washington Post.  Not just the article but the killer packaging:

A MUSLIM BELONGS IN THE CABINET  —  Muslims are uniquely qualified to help deter Islamist threats. … Mitt Romney tells good jokes.  I had the chance to hear a few of them this month at a political fundraiser in Las Vegas, where the Republican presidential contender gave his audience a few …

DON'T GO THERE: BRIT PAPER STARTS 'UGLIEST MONTH'  —  The TIMES of London starts 'The Ugliest Month' with a full page photo takeout on Hillary Clinton and her beautiful personal assistant.  —  "Hillary Clinton has been accused of having an affair with Huma Abedin," reads the caption.

Taking Marriage Private  —  WHY do people — gay or straight — need the state's permission to marry?  For most of Western history, they didn't, because marriage was a private contract between two families.  The parents' agreement to the match, not the approval of church or state, was what confirmed its validity.

Islamists target Arizona base  —  Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility.  —  Fort officials changed security measures …

In search of an across the board "leave me the heck alone" conservative  —  You can take or leave this post, but I figured I'd lay out my present thinking on this race, looking at just the top candidates: Rudy, Mitt, Fred, John, and Mike.  —  Of the five candidates, all, I think we can say, are conservative in some way.