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CNN Political Ticker:
Down to the wire in Iowa: Dems in a dead heat — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses and it — appears to be a dead heat in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination in the Hawkeye State, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Thursday morning.
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Taegan Goddard's …
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John Harwood / Wall Street Journal:
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.
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Heather Hollingsworth / Associated Press:
Giuliani Admitted to St. Louis Hospital … KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Republican Rudy Giuliani was admitted to a hospital Wednesday night for flu-like symptoms, his campaign said. — The former New York City mayor felt the symptoms while campaining for the Republican presidential nomination in Missouri …
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Bob Kerrey Apologizes To Obama Over Raising Muslim “Issue” — I didn't mean to do it. — That's the gist of former Nebraska Senator and Hillary Clinton supporter Bob Kerrey's written apology to Democratic Senator Barack Obama for raising the issue of Obama's Muslim background …
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Associated Press
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Post / Washington Post:
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 …
Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
Clinton toeing the line of campaign negativity
Clinton toeing the line of campaign negativity
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Blue Crab Boulevard
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Taking a Turn for the Weird — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maybe it's the rush of pre-Christmas preparations. Or maybe it's the effects of too many holiday parties. But life has suddenly become very confusing on the way to the 2008 presidential election. — A bit over a week ago, almost everything seemed normal.
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TPMCafe blogs
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David S. Bernstein / The Phoenix:
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 …
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Firedoglake, Comments from Left Field, The Carpetbagger Report, Wonkette and The Daily Dish
Anne C. Mulkern / Denver Post:
Tancredo set to quit race — Immigration-reform champion failed to gain traction in presidential bid — WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom Tancredo plans to withdraw from the GOP presidential field today, ending a campaign in which he failed to gain much attention or traction as rivals largely adopted his long-held immigration positions.
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Tucson Citizen:
Crackdown has illegal immigrants leaving Arizona — NOGALES, Sonora - It's a common scene this time of year: streams of overloaded cars, pickups and vans with U.S. license plates crossing into Mexico for the holidays. — Most are filled with Hispanic families from Arizona and other states …
Reuters:
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 …
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Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Senior Qaeda Theologian Urges His Followers To End Their Jihad — WASHINGTON — One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a “catastrophe for all Muslims." — In a serialized manifesto written …
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The Endless Campaign — The Iowa caucuses are 14 days away, with the New Hampshire primary five days later. And what follows from there won't be pretty. The way Americans are selecting our presidential candidates in 2008 is, frankly, a mess. — The first problem is the overall length of the campaign.
Micah Zenko / Washington Post:
A Nuclear Site Is Breached — South African Attack Should Sound Alarms — An underreported attack on a South African nuclear facility last month demonstrates the high risk of theft of nuclear materials by terrorists or criminals. Such a crime could have grave national security implications …
Greg Gordon / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
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.
Gay Patriot:
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.
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Tammy Bruce
John Koblin / New York Observer:
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.