<><>2008/CONGRESS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Senate energy bill: first skirmish over US greenhouse-gas regulation

By Mark ClaytonChristian Science Monitor
December 14, 2007

This week's Senate battle over the energy bill heralds a longer fight on climate change, some analysts say…

<><>DEM<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

THE FIELD

Democrats Debate in Iowa: Tax the Wealthiest Americans

By Christopher Cooper
Wall Street Journal
December 14, 2007

JOHNSTON, Iowa -- The final Democratic debate before election season begins unfolded as a low-key event that highlighted accord between the six top candidates in what is becoming a heated and intensely personal race…

Obama Aide: Clinton Adviser’s Decision to Quit the ‘Right Thing’

By Kate Phillips
New York Times
December 13, 2007

A chief strategist for the Democratic candidate denounces the tactics, but says the resignation sends a signal that such actions shouldn't be tolerated…

Democrats Soften Tone for Final Debate in Iowa

By Patrick Healy and Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
December 14 2007

In a sharp departure from past debates, not one of the six Democratic candidates attacked another one by name…

BIDEN

Biden Campaigning With Ease After Hardships

By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
December 14, 2007

IOWA CITY — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a back-in-the-pack Democratic candidate for president, was answering a voter’s question last week about negative campaigning when he abruptly began talking about his first, euphoric run for the Senate, in 1972, and the personal tragedy that nearly destroyed his life afterward…

CLINTON

How Politics Affect Yucaipa
Bill Clinton Looks o Limit Ties o Avoid Conflicts

By John R. Emshwiller
Wall Street Journal
December 14, 2007

When billionaire Ronald Burkle's Yucaipa investment operation agreed to put more than $25 million into a Chinese media company this fall, the investor group didn't include one of Yucaipa's high-profile partners: former President Bill Clinton…

Clinton N.H. Official Resigns After Comments on Obama

Washington Post
December 13, 2007

CONCORD, N.H. -- Sen. Hillary Clinton today accepted the resignation of her New Hampshire campaign co-chair a day after he suggested that Barack Obama's candor about his past drug use would open the door to Republican attacks…

Clinton says race will be over Feb. 5

By Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
December 13, 2007

She tells donors at a private fundraiser in Sacramento that California's influence will be crucial for her to win…

EDWARDS

Edwards leaves no doubt what he's about

Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket
December 13, 2007

Populism lives…

OBAMA

More Blacks Lean Toward Obama
Shift in Allegiance From Clinton ould Tighten Primaries in South

By Jonathan Kaufman and Valerie Bauerlein
Wall Street Journal
December 14, 2007

Barack Obama's rising poll numbers among white voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are having an unexpected ripple effect: Some black voters are switching their allegiance from Hillary Clinton and lining up behind him too. That could mean a further tightening of the Democratic presidential race, especially in southern states where blacks make up as many as half of Democratic primary voters…

So Far, and So Fast

By Dan Balz
Washington Post
December 14, 2007

It was a year ago this week that Sen. Barack Obama visited New Hampshire for the first time, a political phenomenon and a novice in national politics promoting a book called "The Audacity of Hope."

Attacks Add

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
December 14, 2007

When a Boy Scout sees an older woman, he helps her cross the street. In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama is no Boy Scout…

Obama sends his regrets

Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket
December 13, 2007

But he's pleased as punch about a part of his heritage…

<><>REP<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>>

GIULIANI

Giuliani on M.L.B. Steroid Scandal

By Michael Cooper
New York Times
December 13, 2007

Rudolph W. Giuliani said the report of steroid use by so many baseball players was "sickening"…

Giuliani’s New Immigration Spot

By Sarah Wheaton
New York Times
December 13, 2007

The optimistic spot avoids the more controversial issue of what to do with people already in the country illegally…

Giuliani to Outline Governing Vision

By Chris Cillizza
Washington Post
December 13, 2007

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will deliver a speech Saturday aimed at laying out a broad governing vision for the country, an address his campaign is touting as a turning point in his bid for the Republican nomination…

<><>FIRST CONTESTS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Nevada, now early in '08 calendar, needs Caucus 101

By Ben Arnoldy
Christian Science Monitor
December 14, 2007

Political parties and campaigns are racing to train voters, holding mock caucuses or 'mockuses.' Glitches are common in these sessions since trainers themselves are newbies to the caucus system…

<><>2008/PRESIDENT<><><><><><><><><

Reading the Mind f the Body Politic
The subconscious is the new frontier in politics. But is it good for democracy? Alexandra Alter reports.

By Alexandra Alter
Wall Street Journal
December 14, 2007

During last Sunday's Republican presidential debate in Miami, Mitt Romney declared he was the only candidate who had stopped talking about universal health care and "actually got the job done." Across the country, in San Francisco, five volunteers watched the debate while wearing electrode-studded headsets that track electrical activity in the brain…

Apologies From the Heart (of Darkness?)

By Katharine Q. Seelye
New York Times
December 14, 2007

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mike Huckabee apologized to rivals this week, but their campaigns kept the original slurs alive afterward…

Regretfully, we must write this

Los Angeles Times Top of the Times
December 13, 2007

Sorry to have to do this now, but…

<><>WAR/TERROR<><><><><>><><><>

House OKs ban of CIA waterboarding

By Richard Willing
USA Today
December 14, 2007

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives narrowly approved an intelligence bill Thursday that would forbid the CIA from using waterboarding and other severe interrogation techniques on detainees…

U.S. paid $32M for Iraqi base that wasn't built

By Matt Kelley
USA Today
December 14, 2007

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military paid a Florida company nearly $32 million to build barracks and offices for Iraqi army units even though nothing was ever built, Pentagon investigators reported…

<><>OTHER NEWS AND VIEWS<><><><><><><><><><><><>

N.J. lawmakers vote to ban death penalty

Associated Press
December 14, 2007

New Jersey will become the first state in four decades to abolish the death penalty under a measure lawmakers approved Thursday and the governor intends to sign within days…