Huckabee not aware of NIE report on Iran  —  My colleague David Paul Kuhn attended an on-the-record dinner with Mike Huckabee and a group of reporters tonight in Des Moines.  —  The transcript speaks for itself:

Poll Shows Romney With Wide Lead in New Hampshire  —  Mitt Romney holds a sizeable lead in New Hampshire in a new Washington Post-ABC poll, with 37 percent of likely Republican primary voters, compared to 20 percent for John McCain, 16 percent for Rudy Giuliani and 9 percent for Mike Huckabee.

Hill Democrats Explore New Strategy on Iraq  —  Plan Would Link Funding to Political Gains  —  Facing increasing evidence of military progress in Iraq, some Democratic congressional leaders are eyeing a shift in legislative strategy that would abandon a link between $50 billion …

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.

Time to Talk to Iran  —  Regardless of what one thinks about the National Intelligence Estimate's conclusion that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003 — and there is much to question in the report — its practical effects are indisputable.  The Bush administration cannot …

Which Democrat's Health Plan Really, Truly Covers More People?  —  While the leading Democratic presidential candidates agree on most policy issues, a sharp dispute has emerged: Who would do more to provide health coverage for the uninsured?  —  Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama …

Lawn work at Romney's home still done by illegal immigrants  —  Ricardo Saenz, owner of the company that employed illegal immigrants, worked on Romney's lawn recently.  —  By Maria Cramer and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff; and Connie Paige, Globe Correspondent

BBC 'took terrorist trainers paintballing'  —  The BBC funded a paintballing trip for men later accused of Islamic terrorism and failed to pass on information about the 21/7 bombers to police, a court was told yesterday.  —  Mohammed Hamid, who is charged with overseeing a two-year radicalisation programme …

Alexander leaps forward  —  Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) appears to have emerged as the front-runner in the two-way race for a plum Senate Republican leadership position, aides and senators said Tuesday.  —  According to two people tracking the race, more than 25 senators in the 49-member conference …