Hillary Campaign Acknowledges That County Chair Backing Hillary Passed Along Obama Muslim Smear Email  —  A day after the Hillary campaign hit the Obama camp for bullying voters in nasty phone calls, the Hillary crew has just acknowledged that an Iowa county chair volunteering …

Zogby Latest:Zogby Latest: Iowa: Dead Heats; New Hampshire: Clinton suffers shrinkage; Romney recovers strong lead after autumnal fade; The Angry Electorate: Four of five Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans say they are angry at the U.S. political system  —  Utica, New York …

Documents Expose Huckabee's Role In Serial Rapist's Release  —  Little Rock, Ark — As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee aggressively pushed for the early release of a convicted rapist despite being warned by numerous women that the convict had sexually assaulted them or their family members, and would likely strike again.

Gunman Kills Eight, Then Kills Himself, at Omaha Shopping Mall  —  OMAHA, Neb. — BREAKING NEWS: A man with a rifle opened fire at a busy Omaha shopping mall Wednesday, killing eight people before taking his own life, police said.  Five others were wounded, two critically.

MORE NIE STUFF....In the Washington Post today, David Ignatius passes along what his sources are telling him about how the new Iran NIE was put together: … Ignatius also notes that the new attitude toward analysis the produced the NIE was largely the work of Deputy Director of National Intelligence Thomas Fingar.

The Inside Story Of The SwiftBoaters Finally Told  —  This is the most important book you'll buy this year: To Set The Record Straight, How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs and the New Media Defeated John Kerry, by Scott Swett and Tim Ziegler, with Forward by John O'Neill.

More than 10,000 jet into Bali for global warming conference  —  U.N. official rejects notion attendees adding to problem  —  BALI, Indonesia — Never before have so many people converged to try to save the planet from global warming, with more than 10,000 jetting into this Indonesian resort island …

Thompson: Don't let the government tell you what to eat  —  SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (CNN) — Fred Thompson wants the government to keep its hands off your dinner plate.  —  That's what he told a questioner Tuesday in South Carolina, anyway.  —  Standing about 15 feet away …

Cheney: Iraq to be self-governing by 2009  —  Vice President Cheney today predicted Iraq will be a self-governing democracy by the time he leaves office, calling the current U.S. surge strategy "a remarkable success story" that will be studied for years to come.

Three simple points about Iran/NIE  —  These don't qualify as news, given no doubt voluminous discussion overnight (my time) in the U.S. Still, for my own personal record:  —  1) The report is unambiguously good news, of the sort we're not accustomed to receiving in recent years from that part of the world.

The System Is Working  —  Maybe this isn't acknowledged enough, but it seems to me that the Founders would for the first time be pleased with how the United States has been adjusting policy and personnel in wartime this past year.  I think when historians look back, they will note a few things.

Oprah rally moved to football stadium  —  COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) - Relax, University of South Carolina football fans.  Your season may be over, but Williams-Brice Stadium won't be empty for long.  —  Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced Wednesday afternoon …

A RARE MOMENT OF CANDOR  —  Dan Bartlett, on the White House's use of right wing blogs:

Libertarian Enemy Number One: Ron Paul  —  As the 2008 Presidential campaign unfolds, various storylines are appearing.  The supposed inevitability of Hillary, the evolution of Obama, and the musical chairs of the Republican candidates.  None of them however are as intriguing to me as the story of Ron Paul.

THE PARTY'S OVER  —  medinar@phillynews.com 215-854-5985 Staff writer Gloria Campisi contributed to this report  —  JOCELYN SARAH Kirsch had planned to throw a 25th birthday party tonight at an upscale Rittenhouse Square eatery for her live-in love, Edward Kyle Anderton.