Wright's Poison  —  I guess I am late to the party, am I not?  I didn't watch Jeremiah Wright's National Press Club performance live this morning, as every other blogger seemed to.  Wright is not on the ticket of any major party, he is not Barack Obama, and I'm not going to be baited …

Democrats Divided Over Gas Tax Breaks  —  WASHINGTON — As angry truckers encircled the Capitol in a horn-blaring caravan and consumers across the country agonized over $60 fill-ups, the issue of high fuel prices flared on the campaign trail on Monday, sharply dividing the two Democratic candidates.

Clinton: $2.3B in earmarks  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has requested nearly $2.3 billion in federal earmarks for 2009, almost three times the largest amount received by a single senator this year.  —  The Democratic presidential candidate's staggering request comes …

McCain's Health Care Plan: It's About You  —  Here are excerpts from Sen. John McCain's speech in Tampa later today.  He will unveil his national health care policy. … More on this later.

Karl Rove Gives Obama Six Pointers to Recover and Win  —  Karl Rove, writing in Newsweek, says Obama needs to recover from his recent fumbles.  He offers six tips:  — Get a new stump speech, the message in his current one has become old and tired.  — When you're on the defense …

Is an Iranian general the most powerful man in Iraq?  —  BAGHDAD — One of the most powerful men in Iraq isn't an Iraqi government official, a militia leader, a senior cleric or a top U.S. military commander or diplomat,  —  He's an Iranian general, and at times he's more influential than all of them.

The GOP Generational Time Bomb  —  It's no secret that Republicans have a brand problem; the gap between Dem and GOP party identification is greater today than at any point since the vanguard of the Reagan revolution, when Republicans held a double-digit advantage.

SYRIA: More questions about alleged nuclear site  —  Professor William Beeman at the University of Minnesota passed along a note today from “a colleague with a U.S. security clearance” about the mysterious Syrian site targeted in a Sept. 6 Israeli airstrike.

A Victory Against Voter Fraud  —  In ruling on the constitutionality of Indiana's voter ID law - the toughest in the nation - the Supreme Court had to deal with the claim that such laws demanded the strictest of scrutiny by courts, because they could disenfranchise voters.  All nine Justices rejected that argument.

Storm brewing for William Gray  —  Hurricane forecaster says his dispute with school focuses on global warming debate  —  By pioneering the science of seasonal hurricane forecasting and teaching 70 graduate students who now populate the National Hurricane Center and other research outposts …

Brent Scowcroft Echoes Obama: We Need To Talk To Enemies  —  Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, said on Monday that he agrees with the position, stated mainly by Sen. Barack Obama, that the U.S. would benefit from having direct talks …

NOOSE ALLEGEDLY FOUND AT SECRET SERVICE TRAINING CENTER  —  The U.S. Secret Service has placed a white agent on leave after an African American employee reported finding a noose hanging at the service's main training facility outside the nation's capital.  —  The service has acknowledged …