Let's Hear Some Straight Talk  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: A new California poll taken just after Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Republican primary shows Mitt Romney as leading big over McCain in California when it comes to which candidate best represents the Republican Party.

Who Said Freddy's Dead?  —  The Republican race is coming into focus.  Well, sort of.  If John McCain can win the Florida primary on January 29, he'll be the clear front-runner heading into Super Tuesday a week later.  —  But Florida is hardly a sure thing for McCain.

Romney's Wallet Keeps Him in the Race  —  Cash Is Major Asset As Some Opponents  —  Run Perilously Low  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney lost three of the first five big Republican contests and lags behind in most major state and national polls.  Yet he is still widely seen as a credible contender …

The Huckabee Puzzle  —  From CBS News' Joy Lin:  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA — “I want to get something out of the way because there are some pretty crazy rumors going around that the Huckabee campaign is pulling out of Florida,” Mike Huckabee said as he looked out into a crowd of 250 enthusiastic supporters at a jet hangar here.

Obama pulls punches vs. Clintons  —  All the talk about how rough the Democratic presidential race is becoming is absurd.  Considering that Hillary Rodham Clinton is running to restore the personalities and policies of the 1990s to the White House, it is astonishing how gentle the debate has been.

Obama dips, but still has South Carolina lead: poll  —  FLORENCE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big lead over rival Hillary Clinton slipped slightly but is still substantial two days before South Carolina's presidential primary, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Thursday.