Romney: Muslims not needed in Cabinet  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, asked about putting a Muslim in his presidential Cabinet, said that he "cannot see that a Cabinet position would be justified" based on the percentage of Muslims in the U.S., according to an Islamic businessman …

Time Magazine Circles The Wagons Around Joe Klein  —  I've spent all morning on the phone trying to figure out who the editor at Time Magazine was on Joe Klein's FISA column (the one Klein has now written about five times, fully admitting he never read the original bill).

Important: "Reclusive, neurotic, over-the-hill vocalist" endorses Hillary  —  I'm quoting, as you'll shortly see.  Her statement begins, predictably, not with a tribute to Hillary's qualifications but with an identitarian ode to What It Means: … Not unexpected (really not unexpected?) …

Extreme right wing Phil Kline investigated by KCTV5  —  You may know of Phil Kline by his numerous appearances with Bill O'Reilly and his constant attacks on Planned Parenthood.  You'd think he would have won his election against Paul Morrison because of all the free publicity, but he got defeated.

Hillary's Secret Weapon: Colin Powell?  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been talking for some time now about how, if she is elected president, she will ask both Democratic and Republican statesmen to hit the road on her behalf to declare that "bipartisan foreign policy is back" in post-George W. Bush America.

I was with Fred  —  Somewhere over South Carolina (CNN) — I am in a coach middle seat, flying from Washington, D.C. to Tampa, Florida on US Airways Flight 1491, destined for the CNN-YouTube GOP debate in St. Petersburg.  —  The child cooing two aisles in front of me is Samuel Thompson, potentially the nation's future first toddler.

EPIPHANY  —  Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was looking at some polling charts at pollster.com.  And I had what I can only call a computational epiphany.  Those of us who are watching the races at least somewhat closely know that the basic tension in the Republican race is that Rudy Giuliani …

An Edgy Calm in Fallujah  —  FALLUJAH, IRAQ - "You're probably safer here than you are in New York City," said Marine First Lieutenant Barry Edwards when I arrived in Fallujah.  I raised my eyebrows at him skeptically.  "How many people got shot at last night in New York City?" he said.

The permanent Republican majority: Daughter of jailed Democratic governor sees hand of Rove  —  In Part II of the RSI special investigation, The Permanent Republican Majority, the daughter of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman sits down for an exclusive interview about the family's ordeal and her father's case.

Out of Spotlight, Giuliani Embraces Convicted Moneyman  —  Avni Patel and Richard Esposito Report:  —  A Pennsylvania man convicted in a notorious corruption case played host to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a fundraiser last night, despite the Giuliani campaign's public efforts to distance itself from the man.

Follow the Fundamentals  —  Lou Dobbs is winning.  He's not winning personally.  He's not going to start winning presidential awards or elite respect.  But his message is winning.  Month by month the ideas that once prevailed on the angry fringe enter the mainstream and turn into conventional wisdom.

CNN pledges no Dem "gotchas" in Republican YouTube debate — so why did CNN allow partisan "gotchas" in Dem debate?  —  In a November 21 post to The New York Times' political blog, The Caucus, staff writer Ariel Alexovich purported to give a "sneak peek" at how questions for the November 28 …

Most Democratic candidates are ignoring African Americans  —  Can Democrats get the votes they need simply because they're not Republicans?  You might think so in this presidential campaign.  African-American and urban votes are critical to any Democratic victory.