CNN N.H. Poll: Obama, Clinton tied; Romney remains strong  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Barack Obama has chipped away at Hillary Clinton's lead in New Hampshire, and the two Democratic presidential hopefuls are now locked in a statistical tie less than one month before the first-in-the-nation primary, a CNN/WMUR Poll released Wednesday shows.

The Huckabee Factor  —  Mike Huckabee walked into the lobby of the Des Moines Marriott at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 3, deposited an armful of dirty laundry at the desk and checked to make sure he was being credited with Marriott Rewards points toward his next stay.  Then, accompanied by his wife …

ENTER ALAN KEYES  —  From NBC's Mark Murray  —  JOHNSTON, IA — There is one additional Republican presidential candidate who will be on the stage here at the GOP Des Moines Register/Iowa Public Television debate this afternoon: Alan Keyes.  —  This will be the first major debate …

The Dream Is Dead  —  The man crowned by Tommy Franks as "the dumbest [expletive] guy on the planet" just made the dumbest [expletive] speech on the planet.  —  Doug Feith, the former Rummy gofer who drove the neocon plan to get us into Iraq, and then dawdled without a plan as Iraq crashed into chaos …

Bush: 'I Doubt I'd Be Standing Here If I Hadn't Quit Drinking Whiskey'  —  President Bush Opens Up About Past Alcohol Addiction During Exclusive Interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz  —  In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Bush spoke more candidly than ever before about his past alcohol addiction.

WHAT HAPPENED TO JAMIE LEIGH JONES IN BAGHDAD?  —  Bob Owens takes a close look at the allegations of a gang rape in Iraq's Green Zone in 2005 by employees of KBR, and finds some omissions and inconsistencies in the ABC News scoop.  —  Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers

Worst Headline of the Day Award  —  The thinly veiled sexism oozing out of today's Examiner column by veteran local politics observer Harry Jaffe is hard enough to take, but to whomever thought up this gem of a headline, be they copy editor or author, DCist salutes your willingness to go boldly …

Hugo's Crude Politics  —  Politics: Joe Kennedy's back, playing Santa Chavez with a new sleigh full of Venezuelan heating oil for "the poor."  The tropical dictator's politicized "gift," however, comes with strings.  We see Joe dancing on them.  —  Energy

Sen. Kit Bond: Waterboarding Is Like 'Swimming'  —  Yesterday on PBS's Newshour, host Gwen Ifill asked Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) whether waterboarding constitutes torture.  Bond replied that the technique is actually more like "swimming": … Watch it:  —  Conservatives have repeatedly tried …

The Roots of the Mortgage Crisis  —  Bubbles cannot be safely defused by monetary policy before the speculative fever breaks on its own.  —  On Aug. 9, 2007, and the days immediately following, financial markets in much of the world seized up.  Virtually overnight the seemingly insatiable desire …