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.

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.

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.

Class Warfare  —  Here's a chart based on Paul Krugman's writeup of data from the CBO's new "Historical Effective Federal Tax Rates" report.  Naturally, the only solution is tax cuts.

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.

The Case for Gore  —  Michael Hirsch says Al Gore should run for president.  I think it's really too late for that, and clear enough that he doesn't want to do it that there's really no point in urging him.  A successful presidential candidate, after all, has to really want to win.

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.

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 …

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 …

After the Money's Gone  —  On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced plans to lend $40 billion to banks.  By my count, it's the fourth high-profile attempt to rescue the financial system since things started falling apart about five months ago.  Maybe this one will do the trick, but I wouldn't count on it.

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 …