New Lee poll: Edwards moves into 3-way tie  —  A new Iowa caucus poll from Lee Enterprises newspapers shows the Democratic race is a virtual three-way tie, with John Edwards rising to tie Barack Obama for the lead and Hillary Clinton rising to just one point behind.

Dems protest Bush's veto of defense bill  —  At the behest of the Iraqi government, President Bush has vetoed the annual defense authorization bill, saying an obscure provision in the legislation could make Iraqi assets held in U.S. banks vulnerable to lawsuits.

News flash for Osama bin Laden  —  Here's a news flash for Osama bin Laden, who earlier today released a call " to guerrilla forces in Mesopotamia. “  —  I have directly observed how more and more Iraqis have grown to hate al Qaeda as much as Americans do.

Giuliani Campaign Official: Rudy Is The Only Candidate Who Can Chase “The Muslims"..."Back Into Their Caves"  —  From the Guardian UK via TPM: (h/t SteveAudio)  —  Winning hearts and minds the world over...  John Deady, Co-Chair for New Hampshire's Veterans for Rudy:

A SNEAK PREVIEW OF JOHN MCCAIN'S SECRET ANTI-ROMNEY AD.  —  On Thursday, Mitt Romney put up a television ad knocking John McCain for not supporting tax cuts and offering amnesty to illegal aliens.  The ad asks “John McCain, an honorable man.  But is he the right Republican for the future?”

Huckabee Sees Pakistan as Reason for Border Fence  —  DES MOINES — Mike Huckabee used the volatile situation in Pakistan Friday to make an argument for building a fence on the American border with Mexico and found himself trying to explain a series of remarks about Pakistanis and their nation.

THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMED TO BE  —  FOR the next several days, you're going to read and hear a great deal of pious nonsense in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.  —  Her country's better off without her.

Bolton denies he is a Huckabee adviser  —  In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team.  On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.”

Be Reasonable  —  As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I.  —  By next week politically active Iowans will have met and tallied their votes.  Their decision this year will have a huge impact on the 2008 election, and a decisive impact on various candidacies.  Some will be done in.  Some will be made.

Bush claims Senate's pro forma sessions don't count  —  That veto George W. Bush threatened of the Defense authorization bill?  The one with the troops' pay raise in it?  —  He hasn't even got the stones to put his signature to it: … That's right, civics fans: Bush is claiming this is a …

Text of alleged al-Qa'eda phone call  —  Pakistan has blamed al-Qa'eda for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.  —  Here is a translation of the transcript of the alleged telephone conversation from senior al-Qa'eda leader Baitullah Mehsud to another militant said to have been intercepted after the assassination.