Giuliani Loses Lead In Republican Race  —  Ex-Mayor Is Tied With Romney In National Poll of Republicans  —  WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani has lost his national lead in the Republican presidential race, creating the party's most competitive nomination fight in decades just two weeks before voting starts.

TOM TANCREDO TO DROP OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE  —  Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo plans to drop out of the race during an announcement Thursday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa, GOP sources close to the campaign have told FOX News.  —  Tancredo, who has aggressively pushed …

WAS IT ALL A DREAM?  —  EXCLUSIVE: Mitt Romney claims that his father marched with MLK, but the record says otherwise  —  In the most-watched speech of his political career, speaking on “Faith in America” at College Station, Texas, earlier this month, Mitt Romney evoked the strongest …

Powerful Iraq cleric may extend freeze on militia  —  NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is considering extending a freeze on the activities of his powerful Mehdi Army militia, his official spokesman said.  —  “Yes, there is a chance that the freeze on the Mehdi Army …

Official: Justice Dept. slowed probe into phone jamming  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department delayed prosecuting a key Republican official for jamming the phones of New Hampshire Democrats until after the 2004 election, protecting top GOP officials from the scandal until the voting was over.

Congress Averts Higher Tax Bill for Middle Class  —  WASHINGTON — Congress on Wednesday gave final approval to a plan that will spare millions of middle-class taxpayers higher taxes in the coming months.  The White House welcomed the development and said President Bush would sign the bill.

Fire Breaks Out on White House Grounds  —  WASHINGTON — A two-alarm fire broke out on the White House grounds Wednesday morning, sending 1,000 federal workers scurrying for safety and damaging Vice President Dick Cheney's ceremonial suite in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street from the West Wing.

Kristol, Krauthammer Are Out of Time  —  Bill Kristol.  —  Two conservative Time magazine columnists are on their way out the door: Neither William Kristol nor longtime contributor Charles Krauthammer will be on contract with the magazine starting next month.

Sondra K-Grande Conservative Blogress Diva 2008  —  When we launched the Grande Conservative Blogress Diva contest this year, we expected to have a number of blogresses nominated and seconded as we did.  So, we assumed a run-off would be necessary.  —  What we did not anticipate was the number of glitches in this year's competition.

Curious Huck  —  Mike Huckabee is now becoming a very divisive figure in the Republican party.  It's not his faith or his Merry Christmas commercial that many conservatives question (I certainly don't), but it's his record as governor and his stated positions on the war, foreign policy generally, taxes, spending, and illegal aliens.

EPA Chief Denies Calif. Limit on Auto Emissions  —  Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson yesterday denied California's petition to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, overruling the unanimous recommendation of the agency's legal and technical staffs.

Clinton Advisers Say Edwards Is a Threat  —  2-WAY RACE?  DO I HEAR 3?  —  Clinton Advisers Say Edwards Is a Threat  —  INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — Advisers to Hillary Clinton have been pushing the notion that John Edwards poses a growing threat in the Iowa caucuses, suggesting …