Confederate Flag Takes Center Stage Once Again  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Republican presidential candidates on Thursday moved to appeal to different types of conservative voters before the South Carolina primary, with Mike Huckabee using colorful language to declare the Confederate flag …

THE NEVADA CAUCUS: Poll: Nevada going to Clinton, Romney  —  Obama picks up no ground; Giuliani fades  —  Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney have comfortable leads in Nevada going into Saturday's presidential campaign caucuses, according to a new Review-Journal poll.

Bill Clinton, Stumping and Simmering  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton may be the spouse running for office, but it is more Bill Clinton who appears to be feeling the heat.  —  After weeks of complaining publicly about Barack Obama's record, the news media's coverage of the Democratic presidential race …

Judicial Watch Releases Records Re: Hillary's Health Care Reform Plan  —  Internal Memos Detail Creation of Government “Interest Group Database” to Collect Personal Data on Health Care Debate Activists  —  (Washington, DC) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates …

Chris Matthews Backs Off ‘Nasty’ Remark on Clinton  —  Under pressure from feminist groups and his own bosses at MSNBC, Chris Matthews apologized yesterday for remarks about Hillary Clinton that he now admits sounded “nasty."  —  For 10 days, the “Hardball” host had doggedly insisted …

McCain hit by Hammer on the Hill  —  Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) lambasted Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Thursday for “betraying” the conservative movement.  —  During a private luncheon with Republican chiefs of staff on Capitol Hill, DeLay — who has criticized McCain for years …

THE NEW ‘LEPERS’  —  THE TIMES' TROUBLE WITH VETS  —  I'VE had a huge response to Tuesday's column about The New York Times' obscene bid to smear veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as mad killers.  Countless readers seem to be wondering: Why did the paper do it?

How Voters Think  —  People in my line of work try to answer certain questions.  Why did Hillary surge after misting up in New Hampshire?  Why have primary victories produced no momentum for the victors?  Why did John McCain win among Republicans who oppose the Iraq war in both New Hampshire and Michigan …

Are We In a Recession?  —  Brad DeLong tries to assess the situation.  One thing that doesn't get talked about enough is that people in Washington are pretty out of touch with the basic economic picture in the United States.  Not in the usual, pat, pseudo-populist “oh you're out of touch” …

White House Study Found 473 Days of E-Mail Gone  —  The White House possesses no archived e-mail messages for many of its component offices, including the Executive Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President, for hundreds of days between 2003 and 2005, according to the summary …

Military: 75% of Baghdad areas now secure  —  About 75% of Baghdad's neighborhoods are now secure, a dramatic increase from 8% a year ago when President Bush ordered more troops to the capital, U.S. military figures show.  —  The military classifies 356 of Baghdad's 474 neighborhoods in the …

Reagan Advisers See A Bit Of Their Former Boss In Obama  —  Barack Obama found himself under fire on Thursday for having compared his candidacy to Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential run.  —  “I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure,” he told the Reno Journal Gazette editorial board earlier this week.

HE'S A NEW JEW  —  CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, has a way to go before marrying his co-worker and sweetheart, congressional correspondent Dana Bash.  The Irish Catholic is converting to Judaism before their May wedding, which will help mollify Bash's father.  “Yes, it is true,” he told Page Six.

Lawmaker Tells Court FBI Agents Bullied Him  —  Jefferson Testifies About 2005 Raid On His La. Home  —  Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) testified yesterday that an FBI agent cursed at him and told him that “this is going to be the worst day of your life,” just before agents searched …