Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline  —  The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

CNN/Time Poll: Race for South Carolina tightening  —  Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With three days to go until the first-in-the south primary, Mitt Romney remains in the lead in the Palmetto State, but according to a new poll, his advantage over Newt Gingrich is rapidly shrinking.

SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect  —  Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting.  —  Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.

Morning Jay: What to Make of Obama's Approval Bounce?  —  You might have noticed recently that Barack Obama's job approval has ticked up slightly in the last few weeks.  What to make of this?  —  Here is the RealClearPolitics average:  —  Two months ago, the president's job approval was 43.7 percent.

Editor's Note of the Day  —  This was attached to the end of a nauseating Boston Globe article celebrating the amorous relations between Occupy protesters: … Oops.  —  The Boston Herald called out the Globe for its lazy vetting: … Bias?  What bias?  Congrats, Boston Globe.

Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On  —  Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days.  He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus.  So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.

Romney Caricatures Himself  —  Mitt Romney, in all likelihood, is going to walk away with his party's presidential nomination.  Yet from the standpoint of positioning himself for the general election, the primary season has been a disaster for him.  Romney's campaign has worked hard …

Gingrich Fundraises Off Saying He Wants To Punch Obama In The Face  —  Newt Gingrich's campaign sent out a fundraising request to supporters this afternoon touting that the former speaker said he wants to knock Obama out, because, as the subject line of the email suggests, “A Bloody Nose Just Won't Cut It.”

Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans  —  A year into his first full-time teaching job, Newt Gingrich applied to be college president, submitting with his application a paper titled “Some Projections on West Georgia College's Next Thirty Years.”

Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead  —  OVERVIEW  —  Days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney maintains a substantial lead nationally in the race for the GOP nomination.  Yet his image among all voters has slipped since November and he runs no better …

Prosecutors aim new weapon at Occupy activists: lynching allegation  —  Screen grab from youtube video showing the arrest of Occupy LA activist Sergio Ballesteros on Thursday, Jan. 12.  Ballesteros, 30, was released on $50,000 bail early Tuesday.  He is charged with “lynching” …

Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview  —  Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism  —  It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.

David Brooks: Gail, I'm sorry we missed each other in South Carolina, but I've moved on to the next primary state, Florida, in search of people who pay Mitt Romney's 15 percent tax rate.  I'm in Palm Beach now.  I think I've found them.  —  By the way, why do we make candidates release their tax forms?

DCCC chairman: Dems have put 76 seats in play  —  Democrats have put about 76 districts in play and only need to capture 25 to retake control of the House in November, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) said Wednesday.  —  Unveiling the first 18 recruits …

In the February Issue: Mark Wahlberg  —  Mark Wahlberg, the man once best known for dropping trou, has evolved into a Hollywood force on and off screen.  —  In our February issue, on sale now: Erik Hedegaard profiles two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg, Paul Solotaroff revisits the golden era …

New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey to retire, sources say  —  Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey will retire from Congress at the end of 2012, his office announced Wednesday.  —  Hinchey, 73, recently completed treatment for colon cancer.  He underwent a second round of surgery last week, a follow-up for an earlier operation in July.