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Frank Takes on Rare Role

By Damian Paletta
Wall Street Journal
December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Barney Frank, the Massachusetts liberal known for his sharp tongue, was widely expected to be a scourge of business in the new Democratic Congress…

Democrats Push $522 Billion Spending Bill

By David Rogers
Wall Street Journal
December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON -- After weeks of negotiations, the House takes up tomorrow a single governmentwide spending bill that represents Democrats' last, best shot at avoiding a repeat of the budget collapse last year under Republican rule…

Signs of trouble back home for Harry Reid

Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket
December 10, 2007

Two newspaper polls show dissatisfaction with his job among half of Nevada's voters…

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BIDEN

Biden Wants Special Counsel To Probe CIA Destruction of Tapes

Associated Press
December 9, 2007

WASHINGTON -- A Senate Democratic leader said Sunday the attorney general should appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists…

Biden Plans Television Ads in Iowa

Associated Press
December 9, 2007

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden plans to air television ads in Iowa on Wednesday, touting his plan to end the Iraq war and his history of overcoming personal tragedy…

CLINTON

Friends of Hillary
She's seeking women executives to aid her climb to the top. It's harder than you'd think.

By Monica Langley
Wall Street
December 8, 2007

She's the ultimate professional woman. So you'd think Hillary Clinton's biggest source of support would be other alpha females…

Clinton Talks of Scars While Keeping Guard Up

By Mark Leibovich
New York Times
December 10, 2007

After years of public battles, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton must prove she is not too hardened to inspire…

Clinton campaign branches out by generations

By Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2007

Touring Iowa, the presidential aspirant takes along her mother and daughter and leaves behind the attacks on her rivals…

OBAMA

Winfrey Stumps for Obama in Iowa

Associated Press
December 9, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Oprah and Hillary -- two women so famous that they are known only by their first name -- were vying for the attention of Iowa voters Saturday on opposing sides of the intensely close presidential campaign…

Oprahpalooza in South Carolina

By Katharine Q. Seelye
New York Times
December 9, 2007

The Double O Express -- Oprah for Obama -- drew what is easily the biggest crowd at a campaign event, for any candidate, so far this season…

Oprah Winfrey Hits Campaign Trail for Obama

By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
December 10, 2007

When Ms. Winfrey strode onto a stage in Des Moines, she acknowledged not knowing whether her endorsement of Senator Barack Obama would matter…

'Our Moment Is Now,' Obama Declares
Oprah Winfrey Helps Candidate Pull a Huge Crowd in S.C.

By Dan Balz
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C., Dec. 9 -- An overwhelmingly African American audience took center stage in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination here Sunday, as Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), joined by television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, appealed to black voters to set aside their doubts and seize the opportunity to send him to the White House in 2008…
Obama and the 'Oprah Effect': can she sway voters?

By Alexandra Marks
Christian Science Monitor
December 10, 2007

Winfrey hit the stump for the first time this weekend for Barack Obama…

Trekking to see Oprah -- oh, and Obama

By Louise Roug and Seema Mehta
Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2007

At Iowa rallies, the TV host's appearance rouses thousands. She also takes some subtle digs at Clinton…

Obama: Facility Should be Unionized

By Jason George
Chicago Tribune
December 10, 2007

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sen. Barack Obama came on stage tonight just after 8 p.m. and almost immediately thanked a special guest, but it's not who you might suspect…

Obama and Winfrey in S.C.: An historic turnout

By Mike Dorning
Chicago Tribune
December 10, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. --Oprah Winfrey came to South Carolina today with a message tailored to the state's considerable African-American community, asking them to cast aside doubt and support the black man she assured them could—and should— be elected president…

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THE FIELD

Immigration Is Focus Of Republican Debate

Associated Press
December 9, 2007

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain told a Spanish language television audience that harsh immigration rhetoric voiced by some Republicans has driven Hispanics away from the party at a primary debate Sunday…

Rivals Hold Firm on Immigration in Republican Debate

By Michael Cooper and Marc Santora
New York Times
December 10, 2007

The candidates toned down their rhetoric but told Spanish-language viewers that they would take a hard line on illegal immigration…

GIULIANI

Giuliani Defends Ties to Qatar
Candidate Says Firm's Work Helped Regime Fight Terror

By Mary Jacoby and Chip Cummins
Wall Street Journal
December 10, 2007

Rudy Giuliani yesterday defended his consulting firm's work in Qatar, saying he was bolstering a moderate Persian Gulf regime in its fight against Islamic terrorists…

A Crime Buster, With His Eye on the Future

By Michael Powell
New York Times
December 10, 2007

Rudolph W. Giuliani most plainly displayed the rawness of his promise and drive as U.S. attorney in the 1980s…

Giuliani Defends Continued Ties to Consulting Firm

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani reaffirmed yesterday that he continues to hold a financial stake in the security consulting firm he launched after leaving the New York mayor's office and said the company's client list will remain confidential…

HUCKABEE

Huckabee stands by '92 view on AIDS isolation

Associated Press
December 10, 2007

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Sunday he will not run from his statement 15 years ago that AIDS patients should have been isolated…

Huckabee's Momentum At Stake as Scrutiny Rises

By Laura Meckler
Wall Stret Journal
December 10, 2007

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Hundreds of Republicans arriving to hear Mike Huckabee speak this weekend were greeted by a man in prison stripes with a rubber mask and this sign: "Hey Mike, Thanks for the Pardon."

Parole Case and ’90s AIDS View Trail Huckabee

By Michael Luo
New York Times
December 10, 2007

Mike Huckabee is facing scrutiny over a rapist’s parole and his past support for quarantining people with AIDS…

Huckabee Immigration Plan Emphasizes Security

By Sarah Wheaton
New York Times
December 8, 2007

Mike Huckabee, the Republican presidential candidate, released a plan for tougher immigration enforcement and border security yesterday, pledging to complete a border fence between the United States and Mexico by July 2010 and ruling out a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants unless they returned first to their country of origin…

ROMNEY

A Mormon’s Ultimate Doorbell

By Laurie Goodstein
New York Times
December 9, 2007

Mitt Romney, after nearly a year of graciously sidestepping invitations to a theological duel, may have at last engaged it despite himself…

How He Got Here: A Mission Accepted

By Eli Saslow
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

They had spent the past month scared and sequestered as France revolted around them, so the Mormon missionaries could hardly wait to get outside Paris and onto open country roads. The mission president and his wife readied their roomiest car, a Citroen DS. For this road trip in June 1968, they asked Mitt Romney to be their driver…

Fighting Head Winds

Dan Balz
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

Mitt Romney's pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination has followed a time-tested route with an unorthodox twist…

Anything Goes

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

Before Mitt Romney arrived to give a stump speech in Des Moines on Friday, his aides covered the windows with blue curtains. When that failed to block enough sunlight, they taped campaign signs to the windowpanes…

Anchored Away

By Robin Givhan
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

The most memorable accomplishment of the TV ad depicting Mitt Romney jogging along a tree-lined road -- huffing and schvitzing as he goes -- is assuring voters that his hair is not actually carved out of granite…

THOMPSON

Thompson helped immigrants in legal peril

By Ariel Sabar
Christian Science Monitor
December 10, 2007

He intervened twice as a US senator for noncitizens at risk of deportation, records show…

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So, What's a Caucus?
Democrats Try to Spur Iowa Turnout

By Christopher Cooper
Wall Street Journal
December 8, 2007

The hottest ticket in Iowa could be for a political rally this weekend in Cedar Rapids featuring a duo from Chicago: Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. The cheap seats are free. Better seats go to those who donate four hours of volunteer time, manning a phone bank or canvassing for the Illinois senator's presidential campaign…

Debate Season Ending, at Least for Iowans

By Adam Nagourney
New York Times
December 9, 2007

In yet another political oddity, the last debates in Iowa are taking place this week — three weeks before Republicans and Democrats assemble to caucus on Jan. 3…

N.H. Is Campaign Central for Republicans

Associated Press
December 9, 2007

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- New Hampshire has become the hot spot for action in the Republican presidential race, just like Iowa is for the Democrats…

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The Web Users’ Campaign

By Matt Bai
New York Times
December 9, 2007

Why candidates no longer control their candidacies…

Planned climate debate a no-go now

By Dan Morain
Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2007

McCain says a lack of participation from other candidates has scuttled Schwarzenegger's forum in N.H. The governor is still trying to make it happen, an aide says…

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Debates: Not Just for Show

By Dalia Sussmann
New York Times
December 9, 2007

Are all the debates this campaign season helping voters decide which candidate to support? A recent poll suggests that they are…

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CIA Official in Tapes Case Tended Toward Caution
Fellow Officers Say Goal Was Probably To Protect Agents

By Siobhan Gorman
Wall Street Journal
December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON -- In late 2005, the Abu Ghraib prison pictures were still fresh, the existence of secret CIA prisons had just been revealed and politicians on Capitol Hill were talking about curtailing "extreme techniques," including the Central Intelligence Agency's own interrogation tactics…

Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002
In Meetings, Spy Panels' Chiefs Did Not Protest, Officials Say

By Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen
Washington Post
December 9, 2007

In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk…

After Guantanamo, 'Reintegration' for Saudis

By Josh White and Robin Wright
Washington Post
December 10, 2007

For five years, Jumah al-Dossari sat in a tiny cell at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, watched day and night by military captors who considered him one of the most dangerous terrorist suspects on the planet…

Despite relative calm, divisions deepen in Iraq

By Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2007

The U.S. troop buildup has brought down violence. But ethnic and sectarian balkanization continue…

Army leaders push to shorten Iraq tours

Associated Press
December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — As security improves in Iraq, pressure is building to reverse one of the most onerous decisions Defense Secretary Robert Gates made to enable President Bush's troop buildup to go forward this year: extending the tours of active-duty soldiers from 12 months to 15 months…