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.

Mississippi special election date causes uncertainty  —  The timing of Sen. Trent Lott's (R-Miss.) resignation has opened legal questions about the date of the special election, which state officials were still trying to clarify Monday afternoon.  —  Gov. Haley Barbour (R) …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Ron Paul endorsed by Nevada brothel owner  —  Political contribution boxes to be left outside Carson City's BunnyRanch  —  RENO, Nev. - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, an underdog Texas congressman with a libertarian streak, has picked up an endorsement from a Nevada brothel owner.

Mitt Romney: No Muslims in my Cabinet  —  It's amazing we tolerate this from our presidential candidates, especially one who has been the target of bigotry himself and who should know better.  Will there be an uproar over Mitt Romney's anti-Muslim comments?  No, probably not, unfortunately.

More Massive Bellyflops From The Republican Netroots  —  Five weeks ago, the NRCC launched a project to get supporters to create their own campaign videos attacking Democrats.  If successful, this project would defy a pattern where Republican grassroots activists never take action into their own hands:

DPRK On The Verge Of Collapse?  —  Intelligence sources and other observers both here in the capital of the PRC and elsewhere in Asia are stating that they project a possible collapse of the North Korean regime within six months time.  —  Although there have been similar dire predictions made in the past …

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.

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.

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.