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.

Senate passes energy bill without oil tax increase  —  Senate Democrats yesterday bowed to Republicans and stripped a proposed tax increase for oil companies from a broad energy bill, clearing the way for passage of the measure that includes the first increase in vehicle gas-mileage standards in 32 years.

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.

Election 2008: Florida Republican Primary  —  Florida: Huckabee 27% Romney 23% Giuliani 19%  —  Mitt Romney's strategy for winning the Republican nomination was to win the early states and build momentum.  Rudy Giuliani's plan was to accept defeats in the early states and come back strong …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Unfettered 'citizen journalism' too risky  —  You're beginning to get a lot more news ... from you.  —  It ranges from the CNN YouTube debates to political blogs to cellphone video of that sniper who opened fire at an Omaha Mall.  These are all examples of so called "citizen journalism," …

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 …

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.

Vuitton-clad Venezuela minister spouts socialism  —  CARACAS (Reuters) - A video of a Gucci- and Louis Vuitton-clad politician attacking capitalism then struggling to explain how his luxurious clothes square with his socialist beliefs has become an instant YouTube hit in Venezuela.