S.C. poll: Huckabee bolts to top of GOP; Obama cuts into Clinton lead  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee surged to the top among Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, while Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead over Sen. Barack Obama among Democrats narrowed since July in that state, according to a new poll.

Plan B For Pelosi And Reid  —  Congressional Democrats need a Plan B.  —  Republicans chortle as they block Democratic initiatives — and accuse the majority of being unable to govern.  Rank-and-filers are furious that their leaders can't end the Iraq war.  President Bush sits back and vetoes at will.

Bush boom bah  —  You know you're a serious wonk when you wait eagerly each year for the arrival of the CBO's "Historical Effective Federal Tax Rates."  But it's much more than a tax report — it's the single best estimate we have of trends in income and income inequality.  The tables (Excel file) are here.

Huckacide  —  Editor's note: This column is available exclusively through King Features Syndicate.  For permission to reprint or excerpt this copyrighted material, please contact: kfsreprint@hearstsc.com, or phone 800-708-7311, ext 246).  —  The ghost of Howard Dean haunts the pundit class.

Veteran GOP strategist signs on with Huckabee  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A veteran Republican strategist considered by many the architect of Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide election victory is set to take the helm of Mike Huckabee's surging presidential bid, CNN has learned.

Al Qaeda Releases New Recording  —  From The Blotter:  —  A new al Qaeda communique featuring Al-Qaeda's number-two man was released on the internet Friday morning.  —  References to last month's peace conference in Annapolis indicate the recording is recent.

Apologies From the Heart (of Darkness?)  —  It must be the season of apologies in presidential politics.  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized personally to Senator Barack Obama on Thursday for a top adviser's public suggestion that Republicans would go after Mr. Obama for his youthful drug use.

New York SEIU locals to endorse Clinton  —  Hillary Clinton will pick up the backing of two giant regional SEIU locals based in New York, the health-care workers' union 1199 and a big building-service workers union, Local 32BJ, a labor source says.  —  Their backing wasn't automatic …

Why Isn't Gore Running?  —  The White House is the place to battle global warming.  —  There he was again on the world stage—in Oslo this time—celebrating his Nobel Peace Prize with singer Melissa Etheridge and actress Uma Thurman, the Hollywood hottie who called him "adorable" …

Rove, Bolten Found in Contempt of Congress  —  Senate Committee Cites Top Bush Advisers in Probe of U.S. Attorney Firings  —  A Senate panel found former presidential adviser Karl Rove and current White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten in contempt of Congress yesterday for refusing …

Code Huckabee  —  Is the thought of Mike Huckabee as president just vaguely scary?  Or have we learned enough about the man that we should be hair-on-fire alarmed at the prospect, still pretty remote, that he could actually win?  —  True, none of his opponents for the Republican nomination inspires much confidence.

Voting Chief Tanner Resigns  —  Today, John Tanner resigned from his position effective immediately as chief of the Civil Rights Division's voting section.  His resignation email, with the subject line "Moving On" was sent out at approximately 11 AM to voting section staff.  It's reproduced below.

Omar the Actor  —  In conservative circles, I take a lot of ribbing for the fact that I used to work for The New York Times.  But during the years I was at the paper, my editors held us to a very high standard.  Apparently, things have changed.  —  The most recent example is the Times quoting …

Exclusive: Eyewitness Account of Huge Taliban Defeat  —  Afghanistan's government flag was raised Wednesday on what had been one of the biggest strongholds of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and a leading world center of heroin production.  —  The town of about 45,000 people was secured …