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.

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 Limits of Huckabee  —  Rich Lowry's column is tough on him but largely fair, I think.  Despite his populist (or pseudo-populist, as Rod Dreher puts it) flourishes, Huckabee has conspicuously failed to break out of his evangelical base, and while I think Rich slightly underestimates …

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 …

Stimulation-palooza!  —  Too many people have been borrowing money and spending beyond their means-charging their credit cards up the wazoo, buying more house than they can afford, etc., etc., etc.  So what's Washington's solution?  Give 'em “tax rebates” so we can spend, spend, spend our way out of recession.

Misjudging McCain  —  He was right about the nuclear option.  —  JOHN MCCAIN HAS COME UNDER HEAVY FIRE from conservatives critical of his alleged apostasies.  To be sure, several of his stances—on tax cuts, illegal immigration, campaign-finance reform—stand at odds with the current mainstream of American conservatism.

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 …

Mauling survivor said he yelled at tiger  —  (01-17) 18:05 PST SAN FRANCISCO — One of the two survivors of the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack that left a 17-year-old dead told the victim's father that the three had yelled and waved at the animal while standing atop the railing of the tiger's exhibit …

Campaigning for His Wife, Shadowed by Past Battles  —  The question was about a campaign polling memo in 2008, but somehow the answer drifted back to the political wars of 1998.  Bill Clinton was holding forth to a group of college students in New Hampshire too young to remember …

Callous Conservative  —  After watching Fred Thompson debate his Republican rivals, I have often wondered why he is not in the top tier of candidates.  He seems to have John McCain's honesty, without his razor-sharp edges, and Mitt Romney's conservatism, without his jaw-dropping inconsistencies.

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 …

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 …

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?

CIA Places Blame for Bhutto Assassination  —  Hayden Cites Al-Qaeda, Pakistani Fighters  —  The CIA has concluded that members of al-Qaeda and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for last month's assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto …

Chess master Bobby Fischer dies at 64  —  REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius who became a Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and later renounced his American citizenship, has died.  He was 64.  —  Fisher died in a Reykjavik hospital on Thursday …