FRED THOMPSON'S CALL TO ARMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA  —  Fred Thompson talked to bloggers today.  Thompson made it clear that he's “drawing a line in South Carolina” — in other words, staking his candidacy on winning the primary there.  He hopes to accomplish this by advancing his claim …

And Cuomo Too  —  I suppose there could be lots of tea leaf reading in this one, but now its AG Andrew Cuomo on Talk 1300, minutes after the governor came on.  Cuomo, to be fair, has been on the radio show a few times, if memory serves me, but his take on Hillary's win in NH …

Ned Lamont Endorses Obama  —  On the same day that Barack Obama scored the endorsement of John Kerry, he's set to get the support of a decidedly non-establishment Democrat: Ned Lamont.  —  Lamont has revealed on his Web site that he'll be backing the Illiniois Senator.

Edmund Hillary, first atop Everest, dies  —  WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday.  He was 88.

U.S.: Voices on Recording May Not Have Been From Iranian Speedboats  —  Chilling Threat Could Have Come From the Shore or Another Ship, Navy Says  —  Just two days after the U.S. Navy released the eerie video of Iranian speedboats swarming around American warships, which featured a chilling threat …

Ron Paul literature ranted against blacks, gays  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A series of newsletters in the name of GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul contain several racist remarks — including one that says order was restored to Los Angeles after the 1992 riots when blacks went “to pick up their welfare checks.”

Chris Matthews To New England: “Hello, Bigots!”  —  Hey, New Hampshire—why did you make the mainstream media look so bad blowing the Clinton/Obama race?  Why didn't you give Sen. Obama the big victory you were supposed to?  —  Chris Matthews knows:  —  You're bigots, that's why.

The Politico's Loud Mea Culpa  —  Credit where credit's due: The Politico's top two editors have published a lengthy and comprehensive piece cataloging the multiple failures that have been marring the nation's political coverage — and they didn't spare themselves, either.

Pelosi for Obama?  —  An interesting endorsement for Obama today.  Pelosi's BFF George Miller, a fellow Californian who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, announced today he's endorsing Obama .  —  Pelosi has so far stayed out of the race.  But when her top advisor who also happens …

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO  —  The dream is dead!  Well, dormant anyway.  Unity08

Judges: Anti-Clinton Film Is Advertising … WASHINGTON (AP) - The early reviews are in, and three federal judges appeared in agreement Wednesday that a movie lambasting Hillary Clinton seemed an awful lot like a 90-minute campaign advertisement.  —  Citizens United, a conservative advocacy group …

With Kerry Under the Spanish Oaks  —  CHARLESTON, S.C. — One could detect, at first, the slightest bit of confusion and letdown in the huge crowd gathered on a glorious sunny day under the Spanish oaks: they had been waiting in very long lines for more than an hour to see the biggest …

Debate Highlights: Fred takes Huck to the woodshed; Update: Fred on “virgins"; Update: Stalking horse?  —  Who wants some piping hot Fred?  Here he is taking Mike Huckabee to task for his campaign manager suggesting that the Reagan coalition is dead.  Fred then goes on to hammer Huckabee's liberal tendencies.

Campaign Thoughts  —  1. “He has to win....  (fill in the state)."  —  That tired convention has become meaningless—a pundit toss-away line that means nothing this early in a multi- primary campaign, when ebb and flow affects everyone.  No one at this very early point “has to win” any given state at any given time.