Hillary says she risked life on White House trips  —  VINTON, Iowa - Ever since Barack Obama suggested Hillary Clinton's eight years as first lady were a glorified tea party a few days back, she's looked for an opening to strike back.  —  On Saturday night in Dubuque she pounced …

Huck's instant classic  —  Mike Huckabee's move to not run ads hitting back at Mitt Romney is a risky move that could rejuvenate his fading campaign — or ensure his defeat on Thursday.  —  >> Check out the press conference slideshow  —  That Huckabee still showed the spot to dozens …

Miss. congressman replacing Sen. Lott  —  JACKSON, Miss, - Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday announced his choice for Trent Lott's replacement in the Senate: Rep. Roger Wicker, a conservative congressman.  —  Barbour said it was important to select a person with Lott's “conservative values” …

Pakistan may not make it  —  The country's future now depends on a power struggle between the army and Bhutto's son  —  With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's survival depends on the outcome of a struggle between the army and Bhutto's Pakistan People's party, now headed by her 19-year-old son Bilawal.

What's the Matter With Iowa?  —  The caucuses are anything but a Norman Rockwell exercise in small-town democracy.  —  The trouble with the Iowa caucuses isn't that there's anything wrong with Iowans.  It's the bizarre rules of the process.  Caucuses are touted as authentic neighborhood meetings …

Looking at America  —  There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country.  Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators …

HOIST BY THEIR OWN PETARD  —  For the past 20 years, the Media Research Center has been compiling its list of notable quotables.  The quotes, from prominent members of the mainstream news media, provide a clear window into the leftist mindset that pervades most of America's large news organizations.

In Iowa, Will Edwards Divide and Conquer?  —  While the Democratic race has often, and quite accurately, been described as a choice between change (Barack Obama and John Edwards) and experience (Hillary Rodham Clinton), it has, in the final days before Iowa, become another kind of choice as well.

The Great Divide  —  Yesterday The Times published a highly informative chart laying out the positions of the presidential candidates on major issues.  It was, I'd argue, a useful reality check for those who believe that the next president can somehow usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation.

Bedbug epidemic attacks New York City  —  A bedbug epidemic has exploded in every corner of New York City - striking even upper East Side luxury apartments owned by Gov. Spitzer's father, the Daily News has learned.  —  The blood-sucking nocturnal creatures have infested a Park Ave. penthouse …

Today in Iowa  —  Coupla thoughts, off the top—I've seen Huckabee and Romney; Obama, Clinton and Edwards in the past 48 hours and it just startling how different the quality is between the Democratic and Republican campaigns this year.  The Republicans are total amateur hour, tiny crowds, half-crazed bickering among the candidates.

Iowans pick up on Clinton's silence  —  Iowa Falls, Ia.  - Iowans have noticied that Democrat Hillary Clinton is not taking public questions from audiences during her final-push campaign rallies.  —  After her 40-minute monologue ended shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, Clinton immediately began …

Source: Edwards Appearance On Morning Shows Brings In Big Fundraising Bucks Today  —  Here's another way that appearing on the morning shows, as John Edwards did this morning, can pay off.  —  A source familiar with the Edwards camp's fundraising numbers tells me that between 11 AM and noon today …