Internal Memo To Top Dem Donors Warns Mass Senate Race Is “Very Tight,” “Urgent”  —  In a sign of serious worry about the increasingly tense battle for Ted Kennedy's seat, the Democratic National Committee and the Martha Coakley campaign have blasted a private memo to top national Dem donors …

Conan O'Brien Says He Won't Host ‘Tonight Show’ After Leno  —  Conan O'Brien released a statement Tuesday saying that he no longer wanted to be the host of “The Tonight Show” on NBC if it appeared at 12:05 a.m.  —  Mr. O'Brien's brief run as host at 11:35 p.m. is to be cut short next month …

Palin, Bachmann Tea Party sessions closed to press  —  It looks like the revolution will not be televised, after all.  —  At least not the Tea Party's revolution.  —  Word from Nashville on Monday was that the First National Tea Party Convention next month will be closed to the press …

NV Sen Moved to Lean Takeover, Dems Still have Edge in MA Sen  —  New polling confirms that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) is mired near 40% in general election ballot tests against all potential opponents, even those voters know nothing about.  It will be extremely difficult …

Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans  —  Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States.  Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage.

McCain on claims of campaign's lax vetting of Palin: 'I wouldn't know.'  —  Buzz up!  —  An interview on “The Today Show” this morning became contentious when host Matt Lauer questioned Sen. John McCain about allegations in a new book that his campaign did little background research …

CNN Poll: Americans split on success of Obama presidency  —  Washington (CNN) - Americans are giving Barack Obama a split decision on his first year in office, according to a new national poll.  —  Forty-eight percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday …

Tax on Investment Income Is Weighed  —  Health-Bill Negotiators Consider Extending Medicare Levy as They Face Pressure to Ease Proposed Hit on Generous Insurance Plans  —  WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators are considering applying for the first time the Medicare payroll tax …

Ford: I'm gearing up for Senate race  —  It's true: I am strongly considering running for the United States Senate.  —  I do so because our best as a nation has always come when we test our ideas and ourselves, and when we trust competition to refine the steel of our convictions and the truth of our arguments.

Health Insurers Funded Chamber Attack Ads  —  Just as dealings with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats soured last summer, six of the nation's biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying …

Obama to address House GOP  —  President Barack Obama will address House Republicans next week at their annual retreat in Baltimore, deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton said Tuesday afternoon.  —  It's a show of bi-partisanship after a year rife with tumult in the relationship between …

The Tel Aviv Cluster  —  Jews are a famously accomplished group.  They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates.  —  Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population …

Sources: Hickenlooper intends to enter guv's race  —  Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has told top Democrats he intends to run for governor, sources tell The Denver Post.  —  Hickenlooper has been meeting with key advisers since Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter last week unexpectedly announced he was dropping his re-election bid.

The Real Harold Ford: Why I Support the White Woman Over the Black Dude  —  Harold Ford presents a formidable challenge to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 Democratic primary.  —  Why?  The former Tennessee congressman is a light-skinned African American with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.

Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in 2009  —  Wall Street firms aren't the only banks that had a banner year.  The Federal Reserve made record profits in 2009, as its unconventional efforts to prop up the economy created a windfall for the government.  —  The Fed will return about $45 billion …

Strange reunion  —  Why would a former Guantanamo Bay prison guard track down two of his former captives - two British men - and agree to fly to London to meet them?  —  “You look different without a cap.”  —  “You look different without the jump suits.”  —  With those words, an extraordinary reunion gets under way.

DADT Repeal: Dems Move Forward With Plans  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Congressional negotiators and White House officials are moving forward with plans to add the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell to the upcoming defense authorization bill, Democratic sources tell the Huffington Post.

U.S. Chamber warns of ‘double-dip’ recession because of Dem policies  —  U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue warned the U.S. faces a double-dip recession because of the taxes and regulations under consideration by the Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama.

Exclusive: Afghan President Grateful to U.S. for ‘Little Help’  —  Karzai Tells Diane Sawyer Income, Education and Health Has Improved in His Tenure  —  Afghan President Hamid Karzai disputed President Obama's claim that Afghanistan once had a “blank check” from the U.S., but said he is grateful for the …

With Updated Hubble Telescope, Reaching Farther Back in Time  —  Astronaut repairmen had hardly finished tightening the last stubborn bolts on the Hubble Space Telescope last summer when astronomers set the controls on the refurbished telescope to the dim and distant past.

Nelson ‘not 100 percent certain’ he'll support health bill's final passage  —  Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said he's not yet “100 percent certain” he can vote for health reform legislation.  —  Nelson, who gave Democrats a crucial 60th vote to end debate on its healthcare bill and pass it …

Iran Says U.S., Israel May Be Behind Killing of Nuclear Expert  —  Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — Iran said U.S. and Israeli spy agencies may have conspired with dissident Iranians to kill a nuclear scientist in a bomb attack today in Tehran.  —  Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of nuclear physics …