Hillary without tears  —  Why it's time to close the book on the Clintons — and herald the Obamas!  Plus: Iran war hawks, Russian drag queens and the genius of Zeppelin.  —  As her husband has dragged his numerous female play objects before her and has humiliated her on the public stage year after year …

Report: Kerry Endorsing Obama  —  John Kerry will endorse Barack Obama, the Associated Press is reporting, quoting an unnamed source.  —  Late Update: Kerry and Obama will be making an appearance together today in Charleston, South Carolina, MSNBC reports. —gs

The Surge Worked  —  It was exactly one year ago tonight, in a televised address to the nation, that President George W. Bush announced his fateful decision to change course in Iraq, and to send five additional U.S. combat brigades there as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy and under the command of a new general, David Petraeus.

2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions  —  WASHINGTON — The helicopter was hovering over a Baghdad checkpoint into the Green Zone, one typically crowded with cars, Iraqi civilians and United States military personnel.  —  Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas …

Why Hillary Won  —  What would Shakespeare's Jack Cade say after the New Hampshire Democratic primary?  Maybe the demagogue in “Henry VI” would call for the pollsters to be killed first, not the lawyers.  —  The opinion researchers find themselves in a difficult place after most predicted a big Obama sweep.

McLead in SC  —  Rasmussen has McCain jumping ahead of Huckabee for the Jan. 19 South Carolina primary...  Romney is at 16 percent, Thompson at 12, Giuliani at 6, Paul at 5.  If Romney drops out after Michigan, does that suddenly make Thompson viable?  Does it give Huckabee or McCain a boost?

Bloombergunity '08  —  Unity '08 to shut down and reconstitute itself as a “Draft Bloomberg” movement.  Because in the wake of catastrophic conservative governance, America needs two center-left candidates to split the vote and ensure the catastrophe continues!

Romney's Fishy Delegate Claim  —  Why is the former Massachusetts governor telling folks that he leads in delegates?  —  In Boston today, Romney told supporters, “we have more delegates than any other Republican candidate running for president."  —  Here's the ABC News GOP Delegate Estimate:

Chris Matthews: Raw EXIT POLL Data ‘Indicated Significant Victory’ for Obama in NH  — NOTE: This item set to 'Stay-on-Top'.  Scroll down for latest items!  Chris Matthews: Raw EXIT POLL Data ‘Indicated Significant Victory’ for Obama in NH  —  ‘Was Ahead an Average of 8 Points, Even in Our Own Exit Polls’

Rep. Doolittle to retire from Congress  —  WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, plans to announce Thursday that he'll retire from Congress at the end of his current term, according to a Republican official who spoke with Doolittle.

New Estimate of Violent Deaths Among Iraqis Is Lower  —  A new survey estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of the country.  Roughly 9 out of 10 of those deaths were a consequence of U.S. military operations, insurgent attacks and sectarian warfare.

Hillary's Free Pass  —  MANCHESTER, N.H.  —  Whatever your politics, people, you have to admit this is one great presidential race.  What next?  Fred Thompson takes Florida on a sympathy vote from retirees?  (They like a leader who's really, really rested.)  John Edwards finds a new emotion for South Carolina?

Dems push ‘uncommitted’ option  —  Party leaders want Obama and Edwards backers to take a stand on the primary ballot.  —  LANSING — Top Michigan Democrats made another plea Wednesday to coax supporters of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards to vote “uncommitted” …

Getting It Wrong  —  THE failure of the New Hampshire pre-election surveys to mirror the outcome of the Democratic race is one of the most significant miscues in modern polling history.  All the published polls, including those that surveyed through Monday, had Senator Barack Obama comfortably ahead …