Edwards takes lead in InsiderAdvantage Iowa poll  —  John Edwards has leapfrogged over his rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and leads the Democratic field in Iowa, according to the latest InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion poll.  In the Republican caucus race, Mike Huckabee continues to hold a narrow lead over Mitt Romney.

NATIONAL ENQUIRER WORLD EXCLUSIVE: JOHN EDWARDS LOVE CHILD SCANDAL!  —  The woman linked to Presidential candidate John Edwards in a cheating scandal is more than six months pregnant and telling a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her unborn child, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

Reid: The American people are losing  —  If this is what winning looks like, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants no part of it.  —  Tired of Republican crowing about winning on Iraq funding, the budget battle and the energy bill, Reid (D-Nev.) shot back on Tuesday afternoon.

Huckabee Adviser Clarifies Remark About Homosexuality And Necrophilia: They're Both “Aberrant Behavior,” But They're At “Opposite Ends Of The Spectrum"  —  By Greg Sargent - December 18, 2007, 4:57PM  —  Oh, man.  One of Mike Huckabee's chief advisers has just attempted to clarify …

Senate OKs $70B for Iraq, Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate gave President Bush a big win on Iraq Tuesday night as it passed a massive $555 billion spending bill combining funding for 14 Cabinet departments with $70 billion for U.S. military operations there and in Afghanistan.

Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes  —  WASHINGTON — At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda …

New York Times in Iraq: “Blackwater shot our dog”  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards — this time of the New York Times's dog.  —  Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau …

Huckabee admaker calls cross imagery “absolutely accidental;” Paul says “fascism' will be ‘carrying a cross’  —  Asked about Republican rival Mike Huckabee's Christmas-themed ad, which we wrote about yesterday and has attracted attention in part because of the image of a cross that many see hovering …

Countdown: Senator Chris Dodd On The FISA Victory  —  Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Chris Dodd, appeared on Tuesday's Countdown to discuss his victory on the Senate floor yesterday, by forcing an amendment to the FISA legislation that would have given retroactive immunity …

THE ENQUIRER DROPS ANOTHER EDWARDS SCANDAL BOMB.  —  What to expect when you're expecting: Drudge teases the National Enquirer ... Update: The Enquirer posts the gist..... One initial point: There's no reason to conclude this story was planted by one campaign or another.

Elder Bush nixes Clinton trip idea  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former President George H.W. Bush has shot down his successor Bill Clinton's idea of a diplomatic mission under a Hillary Clinton presidency that would send him and other notables abroad to assure other nations that “America is open for business and cooperation again.”

POLL: EDWARDS LEADS IN IOWA  —  From NBC's Domenico Montanaro  —  In an InsiderAdvantage poll in Iowa, Edwards leads among (977) likely voters 30-26-24 over Clinton and Obama.  Edwards is also the clear second choice winner, 42-29-28 over Clinton and Obama.

A Brutalist Bargain  —  How many dollars does it take to change a light bulb?  Well, if the defunct bulb you're replacing has been illuminating the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in downtown Washington, you could be looking at a bill of up to $8,000.  That's because unscrewing a blown bulb …

Huck = Harriett Miers?  —  Huck = Harriett Miers?  —  A conservative counter-revolution is breaking out in the talk radio universe and on prominent conservative blogs.  —  The same forces that joined to force the White House to withdraw Harriett Miers' Supreme Court nomination …

New Fred Thompson Video: Kill.  Protect.  Punch.  —  If Fred wants to win the election, all he has to do is put this in constant rotation in Iowa and his victory would be guaranteed...or he would actually drop into last place.  One or the other.