South Carolina Poll: Mitt, Huck Up, Rudy Cratering, Race Super-Volatile  —  Greetings from Clemson, South Carolina, where John McCain is scheduled to make an appearance this morning before heading to Florida for the YouTube debate.  —  But the big news here is a new Palmetto Poll …

Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself  —  Bloch Used Private Company,  —  Geeks on Call, to Delete Files  —  On His Office Computer  —  WASHINGTON — The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove's White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly …

Bill Clinton Flatly Asserts He Opposed War at Start  —  During a campaign swing for his wife, former President Bill Clinton said flatly yesterday that he opposed the war in Iraq "from the beginning" — a statement that is more absolute than his comments before the invasion in March 2003.

Palestinian Authority TV shows" Palestine" map erasing Israel  —  Just a day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Annapolis peace conference pledged to negotiate a peace treaty by the end of 2008, Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority continues to paint a picture for its people of a world without Israel.

In Iowa, Mormon Issue Is Benefiting Huckabee  —  The religious divide over Mitt Romney's Mormon faith that his supporters had long feared would occur is emerging in Iowa as he is being challenged in state polls by Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who has played up his faith in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

US public opinion shifts on Iraq 'surge'  —  US public opinion on military progress in Iraq has improved sharply since the troops "surge" started in February but a majority of Americans still want soldiers brought home, according to a new poll.  —  Some 48 per cent of Americans now believe …

GOP will demand 'oath' of February primary voters  —  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — If you're planning to vote in Virginia's February Republican presidential primary, be prepared to sign an oath swearing your Republican loyalty.  —  The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request …

Oasis or Mirage?  —  The Middle East is experiencing something we haven't seen in a long, long time: moderates getting their act together a little, taking tentative stands and pushing back on the bad guys.  If all that sounds kind of, sort of, maybe, qualified, well ... it is.

Democrats' health plans echo Nixon's failed GOP proposal  —  WASHINGTON — Even before Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton unveiled her new health-care plan, Republicans attacked it as socialized medicine.  They neglected to mention, however, that her plan bears a striking resemblance …

Rudy and the gays  —  The Empire State Pride Agenda, the main New York gay group, launched a site today with video of Rudy Giuliani's appearances before the group.  —  The best moment — which gives you a feel for who he was as New York's mayor — comes with what his audience took …

Caution: Taliban Crossing  —  IN the early 1900s, a crusty British general, Andrew Skeen, wrote a guide to military operations in the Pashtun tribal belt, in what is now Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province.  His first piece of advice: "When planning a military expedition into Pashtun tribal areas …

BUSTED!!.... ANOTHER BOGUS IRAQI SLAUGHTER STORY!!!  —  LAY THIS BOGUS IRAQI SLAUGHTER STORY TO REST...  Reportedly, on Sunday 11 close family members of Jordanian-based Baathist reporter Dia al-Kawwaz, who runs the online anti-Iraq newspaper Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, were slaughtered in Baghdad.

Social Security: Five Myths and a Slur  —  Social Security isn't a big-deal problem because, absent any change, the system will be able to pay 75 percent of promised benefits in 2041.  Even those reduced benefits would be larger, in real terms, than what current retirees receive.

Is Romney the target of another trick?  —  Watch out South Carolina, Iowa is shaping up to be just as down and dirty this cycle.  —  Hawkeye State Republicans received an e-mail yesterday purportedly from David Overholtzer, co-chair of the Pottawattamie County GOP and a paid Romney-backer there.