New Iowa Poll: Obama widens lead over Clinton  —  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has widened his lead in Iowa over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards heading into Thursday's nominating caucuses, according to The Des Moines Register's final Iowa Poll before the 2008 nominating contests.

Huckabee's Remarkable Play  —  DES MOINES — Talk about political jujitsu!  —  Mike Huckabee is holding a press conference right now in which he was supposed to unveil a new negative ad against arch rival Mitt Romney.  —  But Mr. Huckabee came to the press conference and announced …

Nader throws support to Edwards  —  MUSCATINE, Iowa — Ralph Nader unleashed on Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday - criticizing her for being soft on defense spending and a chum of big business - and expressed his strong support for John Edwards.  —  In an 11th hour effort to encourage liberal Iowans to …

Bhutto report: Musharraf planned to fix elections  —  NAUDERO, Pakistan — The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.

Protesters block Huckabee  —  DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) ­ - Anti-war protestors and Ron Paul supporters both kept Mike Huckabee from entering his Iowa campaign headquarters through the front door Monday.  —  Three people who managed to break inside — holding a sign that said “What Would Jesus Bomb?”

In a safer Baghdad, Iraqis party for 2008  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - On New Year's Eve Ridaa al-Azzawi squeezed into his pointy snakeskin boots, his tight black sweater and his snazzy corduroy flared jeans, hustled down to a Baghdad hotel ballroom and partied for peace.

Defaults on Insured Mortgages Rise 35% to Record  —  Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose 35 percent in November to a record, an industry report today showed, adding to evidence the U.S. housing slump is deepening.  —  The number of insured borrowers falling …

UA law student, beauty queen faces kidnapping and robbery charges  —  A University of Arizona law school student and beauty queen has been indicted on charges that say she and three others held her former boyfriend captive for 10 hours while torturing and robbing him.

Muslim Minority Marches Against German Crime Show  —  The popular German TV series “Tatort” has provoked an uproar within a segment of its Turkish community.  Alevi Muslims, who practice a tolerant offshoot of Shiism, say the show has revived a centuries-old incest libel and may inflame immigrant tensions in Germany.

Predictions  —  Continuing my informal series of blog posts beginning with “P”, here are a few predictions for the coming year:  —  1. Domestic politics:  —  i. Not because I really expect it but because I think it's plausible, I predict that the 2008 Presidential Election will be: McCain-Huckabee versus Obama-Webb.