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.

Road to Nowhere  —  The most impressive thing about Mitt Romney is his clarity of mind.  When he set out to pursue his party's nomination, he studied the contours of the Republican coalition and molded himself to its forms.  —  Earnestly and methodically, he has appealed to each of the major constituency groups.

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm  —  I'd like to wish you a happy New Year, but I'm afraid I have a different sort of prediction.  —  You're in for very bad weather.  In 2008, your television will bring you image after frightening image of natural havoc linked to global warming.

Obama-labor relationship tense in Iowa  —  Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager has spent the final days of the Iowa campaign railing against “big interests” that have poured a “flood of Washington money” into the state in “underhanded” efforts to support his rivals.

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.

Will Huckabee's Stunt Hurt Him?  The Iowa Press Says... Probably Not.  —  The dean emeritus of the national political press corps, Ron Fournier, has spoken. … And it's clear: the national press corps thinks Mike Huckabee's decision to show reporters the negative ad that he wasn't going to run before he didn't run it was a stunt.

Our Boys blitz Taliban bash  —  On patrol ... British soldier in Helmand province  —  BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban - as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhutto's murder.  —  The dawn raid was staged after messages were intercepted …

“Rudy's Got No Heartland”  —  The above New York Post headline is talking about Iowa, where Giuliani's numbers are becoming all but undetectable.  But it gets to the heart of the Rudy problem.  In recent conversations with New Hampshire Republicans, I'm struck by how fierce hostility to the Mayor is.

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.

The Mendacity of Hope  —  John Edwards lied about the cost of his haircuts.  Fred Thompson lied about lobbying for a pro-choice outfit.  John McCain insists that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation."  Mitt Romney concocted the story about how his father marched …