Obama's Farrakhan Test  —  Barack Obama is a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.  Its minister, and Obama's spiritual adviser, is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor.

Major Clinton supporter calls Obama remark ‘absolutely stupid’  —  (CNN) — As both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tried to lower the tension after days of charged rhetoric over race, a congressional supporter of Clinton's presidential bid called the Illinois senator's remarks attacking …

A Very Serious Blog Post  —  It seems that nothing gets conservatives off nearly so much as writing obviously unserious books with patently offensive titles, designed in every way to not be taken seriously, and then get huffy when people make fun of them without having given their precious works the deep consideration they deserve.

Driving Mr. Romney  —  I FIRST met Mitt Romney at a Lincoln Day dinner in 1994, during the earliest days of his failed Senate race against Ted Kennedy.  The next weekend, I was helping him to collect the signatures he needed to get on the ballot for the Republican primary.

Hispanic state legislator goes Obama  —  Assemblyman Mo Denis, one of only two Hispanic legislators in Nevada, endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama this morning, adding to Obama's hope that he can cross old racial barriers and win Latino support.  —  Denis had been supporting New Mexico …

Mike Huckabee Really Is a Piece of Work  —  From Michigan: … Governor, I didn't have silver spoons or boarding schools or a verb summer, but I know enough to thank God for the job creators, the natural economic stimulators, capitalism.  Is this the Republican primary of a John Edwards rally?

Finally: Fred hits McCain; Update: Fred hits McCain again  —  Not with an uppercut but a good straight jab.  It would have been more effective if he'd gone after him individually instead of lumping him in with Huck but the race being what it is in South Carolina, he doesn't have much choice.

Richard Baker to leave Congress Feb. 7  —  By Bill Walsh  —  WASHINGTON - The dean of Louisiana's congressional delegation, Rep. Richard Baker, has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years to take a job in the private sector representing investors he has spent a career regulating.

Court limits securities fraud lawsuits  —  The Supreme Court, in one of the most important securities law rulings in years, decided Tuesday that fraud claims are not allowed against third parties that did not directly mislead investors but were business partners with those who did.

Little to no waiting at polls across metro Detroit  —  FREE PRESS STAFF REPORTS  —  It's Michigan's turn today to choose the presidential candidates.  Here's a sampling of scenes at polling places, as voters pick their favorites.  —  Utica's Precinct 1 tallys 40 votes so far

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain, Romney Nose-to-Nose in Michigan  —  Utica, New York - Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were in a statistical dead heat on the eve of the Republican primary election in Michigan, a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows.

Pelosi pushes gourmet menu  —  The processed cheese has been replaced with brie.  The Jell-O has made way for raspberry kiwi tarts and mini-lemon blueberry trifles.  Meatloaf has moved over for mahi mahi and buns have been shunted aside in favor of baguettes.

The Kucinich court decision and “judicial activism”  —  (updated below)  —  MSNBC is televising a debate tonight between the Democratic presidential candidates in Nevada.  It originally invited Dennis Kucinich to participate because Kucinich met the objective criteria the network created for inclusion.

Hillary Clinton likens White House to prison  —  Not that it's going to diminish her ambition to live there again, but Hillary Clinton says she views the White House as something of a prison.  —  She also thinks that when she gets there, she'll have to have some kind of national contest …

POLL: A New Low in Approval Starts Bush's Final Year  —  Just two in 10 say they are getting ahead financially  —  Beset by growing economic concerns on top of the long unpopular war in Iraq, President Bush starts the last year of his presidency with the worst approval rating of his career.

HUCK, THE CONSTITUTION AND 'GOD'S STANDARDS'  —  From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy  —  WARREN, Mich. — Huckabee's closing argument to voters here this evening featured a few new stories and two prolonged sections on illegal immigration and Christian values.

Politics and Misogyny  —  With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's win in New Hampshire, gender issues are suddenly in the news.  Where has everybody been?  —  If there was ever a story that deserved more coverage by the news media, it's the dark persistence of misogyny in America.