Tension in Hillaryland Grows as Plan Goes Awry: Albert R. Hunt  —  Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — To appreciate Hillary Clinton's fundamental political problem, consider the 11 Democrats from Philadelphia who gathered last week to discuss the U.S. presidential race, almost all of whom would vote for her in a general election.

Libby to drop appeal in CIA leak case  —  WASHINGTON - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is no longer appealing his conviction in the CIA leak case, a tacit recognition that continuing his legal fight might only make things worse.  —  Libby, the former chief of staff …

Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR  —  KBR Told Victim She Could Lose Her Job If She Sought Help After Being Raped, She Says  —  A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.

Iran 'hoodwinked' CIA over nuclear plans  —  British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.  —  The timing of the CIA report has also provoked fury …

New NYTimes/CBS Poll: Explain, Don't Attack  —  The latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds voters give the presidential candidates positive marks on at least one score at this stage in their campaigns: They credit them with spending more time explaining what they would do as president rather than attacking their opponents.

Mike McConnell Is Flat Wrong  —  Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, has written a misleading op-ed in today's New York Times.  Mr. McConnell's piece is a plea for Congress to renew the Protect America Act.  I and other Democrats in Congress have been working to correct problems …

MoveOn calls for spending filibuster  —  Democratic congressional leaders could have a tough time convincing some anti-war Democrats to back a $522 billion year-end spending bill that includes money for the military, should that money be used for the war in Iraq.

Rudy Self-Destructs on Russert  —  I have been watching Meet The Press since, I don't know, Estes Kefauver days and, I'm sad to say, Rudy Giuliani provided the worst performance I've ever seen by a major Presidential candidate.  —  Okay, I am not sad to say.  I am delighted.

Cynthia McKinney '08  —  "The time for confrontation has come for me," Cynthia McKinney told about 60 supporters on December 4.  Launching her quest for the Green Party Presidential nomination, McKinney compared her "revolution" to Haiti, Venezuela, and war-torn Cote d'Ivoire.

Bush Knows Well the Hazards of the Trail  —  P resident Bush has forsworn any more commentary on the election to succeed him, at least until the nominations are settled.  But he seems more than a little wistful as all these senators and governors travel the campaign trail without him.

EXCLUSIVE IPT INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS HLF JURY ROOM BULLYING  —  DALLAS - She felt the men were guilty and tried to explain why to the 11 other jurors.  When she finished, one juror spoke up in an angry tone.  —  "If you're going by the evidence in this room," she recalls him snapping, "then you need to go home."

After the Battle of Al-Fajr  —  FALLUJAH, IRAQ - Fallujah is known as the City of Mosques.  It is also a city of walls, and of war.  —  It was a quieter city than most after the initial invasion in 2003.  There was less looting than in Baghdad, and the mayor was pro-American.

Giuliani on Top  —  His polls may have dropped, but I think he's in better shape to win the nomination than he was when the polls were better for him.  The best chance to beat him was for one other candidate to win a bunch of early states before the Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 primaries, where he is doing very well.

Court eases cocaine sentencing  —  The Supreme Court on Monday gave federal judges new authority to set sentences for crack cocaine crimes below the range of punishment set by federal guidelines — a major restoration of flexibility for trial judges in drug cases.

AK-Sen, AL: Republican incumbents in serious danger  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 12/3-6.  Likely voters.  MoE 4% (No trend lines)  —  If 2008 election for Congress were held today, for whom would you vote for if the choices were between Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat, and Don Young, the Republican?