Kucinich Tells Supporters to Caucus for Obama  —  SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Representative Dennis Kucinich urged his Iowa followers today to select Senator Barack Obama as their second choice at the caucuses on Thursday if his support is not strong enough to be viable in the 1,781 precincts across the state.

Democrats: More Than Health Care  —  Perhaps you have heard that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have come up with different health care plans.  Hers would require every American to own health insurance.  His would not.  —  That difference is the only one between the two candidates …

EDWARDS CALLS FOR PULLOUT OF TROOPS TRAINING IRAQIS  —  John Edwards is advocating a more rapid and complete troop withdrawal from Iraq than his principal rivals.  — Text of Interview |  Times Topics: John Edwards  —  MORE IN POLITICS  — Leonhardt: Democrats Are More Than Health Care

Deign or Reign?  —  Edith Wessel, an 80-year-old white-haired retired nurse, moved slowly up the aisle with her walker after listening to Hillary make her pitch.  —  She told one of the Hillary volunteers that she had “great admiration” for the senator, but also great doubts about whether …

Romney says Bush mismanaged Iraq war  —  JOHNSTON, Iowa (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Tuesday the Bush administration mismanaged the Iraq war, distancing himself from his party's unpopular president two days before Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential contest.

World's Top Surveillance Societies — Updated with link  —  Privacy International, a UK privacy group, and the U.S.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center have put together a world map of surveillance societies, rating various nations for their civil liberties records.

Caucuses Give Iowa Influence, but Leave Out Some  —  DES MOINES — Jason Huffman has lived in Iowa his whole life.  Lately he has been watching presidential debates on the Internet, discussing what he sees with friends and relatives.  But when fellow Iowans choose among presidential candidates …

Pak Govt makes U-turn on cause of Bhutto's death  —  In a dramatic U-turn, Pakistan government has “apologised” for claiming that former premier Benazir Bhutto died of a skull fracture after hitting the sunroof of her car during a suicide attack.  —  Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan …

Partisan Trends  —  Number of Republicans in U.S. Increases in December to Two-Year High  —  The number of Americans who consider themselves to be Republicans jumped nearly two percentage points in December to 34.2%.  That's the largest market share for the Republican brand in nearly two years …

New Huckabee ad appeals to Christian conservatives  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - For the second time in the past two weeks, presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has aired a commercial in which a Christian symbol appears in the background.  —  In the campaign ad, Huckabee is addressing members …

Mob Sets Kenya Church on Fire, Killing Dozens  —  NAIROBI, Kenya — Dozens of people seeking refuge in a church in Kenya were burned to death by a mob on Tuesday in an explosion of ethnic violence that is threatening to engulf this country, which until last week was one of the most stable in Africa.

Americans frustrated by influence wielded by Iowa, New Hampshire  —  CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — All eyes may be on Iowa and New Hampshire, but many of them are rolling.  —  Despite efforts to evict the two states from the front of the presidential calendar, both managed to hang on for another election cycle …

‘Hikers’ killers were from Fatah'  —  The terrorists who gunned down two off-duty soldiers hiking near Hebron on Friday are both Palestinian Authority workers, and one of them is even a member of the official PA security forces, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) revealed Tuesday night.

Biden hits rivals on Pakistan policy  —  DES MOINES — Misstatements about the crisis in Pakistan by Mike Huckabee, the leader in polls of Republicans heading into Thursday's Iowa caucuses, have been a major focus in the GOP race during the past week.  Today Senator Joe Biden of Delaware tried …