Romney Leads in Ill Will Among G.O.P. Candidates  —  TAMPA, Fla. — At the end of the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire this month, when the Democrats joined the candidates on stage, Mitt Romney found himself momentarily alone as his counterparts mingled, looking around a bit stiffly for a companion.

Some in Party Bristle At Clintons' Attacks  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign aired a new radio ad here Wednesday that repeated a discredited charge against Sen. Barack Obama, in what some Democrats said is part of an increasing pattern of hardball politics by her and former president Bill Clinton.

Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments  —  (updated below)  —  As the Senate takes up “debate” today over granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, the individual who joined forces with Dick Cheney to get this ball rolling …

Business as Usual GOP  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — When House Republicans convene behind closed doors today (Thursday) at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., they have a chance to make two bold moves to restore their reputation for fiscal responsibility.

Source at Fund-Raiser: Edwards Calls McCain ‘Crazy’ and Says Hillary Thinks There's More on Rezko  —  Before John Edwards let David Letterman mess up his hair on the Late Show last night, the former Senator was at a private fund-raiser in midtown Manhattan, also attended by Kevin Bacon …

The Fifth Columnist  —  How Bill Kristol landed that ‘Times’ gig.  —  This fall, New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. launched a search for a new conservative columnist.  It had been nearly three years since William Safire had retired from his weekly column in 2005 …

Franken didn't exactly leave 'em laughing in Northfield  —  Franken apparently had more fun than senior history major Peter Fritz.  —  Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Al Franken didn't exactly leave 'em laughing in Northfield.  —  Earlier this month Franken was at Carleton College …

The Truth About Talk Radio  —  It just provides a dial tone.  —  IT WAS ROUGHLY SEVEN months ago that the McCain/Kennedy immigration bill went down to ignominious defeat.  At the time, many pundits blamed or credited talk radio for the bill's demise.  While guest-hosting …

Anti-Bush campaign planned  —  WASHINGTON - A liberal advocacy group plans to spend $8.5 million in a drive to make sure President Bush's public approval doesn't improve as his days in the White House come to an end.  —  Americans United for Change plans to undertake a yearlong campaign …

The Law of Unintended Consequences  —  Dubner and Levitt have an article in the NYTimes with three examples of the law of unintended consequences, the Americans with Disabilities Act made it more costly to hire people with disabilities and reduced their employment, ancient Jewish sabbatical law intended …

STUDY ON BUSH'S IRAQ DECEPTION AND LIES: FULL OF DECEPTION AND LIES  —  The headline-grabbing report released by two non-profits, Iraq: The War Card—Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War charged that the Bush administration issued “hundreds of false statements” on Iraq.