Kerry won't run for president in '08  —  WASHINGTON —Senator John F. Kerry plans to announce today that he will not run in the 2008 presidential race, and will instead remain in Congress and seek reelection to his Senate seat next year, according to senior Democratic officials.

Transcript: CNN Interview with Cheney  —  We've just received the transcript for Vice President Cheney's interview with Wolf Blitzer this morning.  It's posted in full below the fold.  —  Q And joining us now, the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney.  Mr. Vice President, thanks very much for doing this.

Hagel: "There Is No Plan"  —  Here's Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) barnburner of a speech this morning during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on the resolution against the president's troop increase in Iraq.  —  An excerpt: … Update: We've added a complete transcript of this portion of his remarks below.

Take The Pledge  —  Take the pledge.  This is the temporary site.  The full-service site will be up soon.  —  If you are a blogger who has taken the pledge and linked to the site, please send me a note so I can add your support here.  —  I interviewed Tony Snow at the top of the program today …

Senate Republicans Block Minimum Wage Increase  —  Despite a united front from Senate Democrats for passing the same stand-alone minimum wage increase approved by the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the Republican minority voted against cloture on the bill today …

Fox's Gibson: CNN Reporter Who Debunked Obama Smear Probably Went To The Same Madrassa  —  Last week, Fox News highlighted a right-wing report alleging that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) attended an Islamic "madrassa" school as a 6-year-old child.  In a memo released today, Obama's office specifically called …

The Knee-Jerk Opposition  —  If George W. Bush proposes something, it must be bad.  Such is the knee-jerk state of partisan suspiciousness that when the president actually endorses a tax increase — a tax increase that would primarily hit the well-off, no less — Democrats still howl.

Nifong Faces More Serious Ethics Charges  —  RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Bar Wednesday filed new and more serious ethics charges against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and misrepresenting the truth to the judge in the Duke lacrosse case.

China's Hu vows to "purify" Internet  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet, state media reported on Wednesday, describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.

Getting a Read On the Speech Makes for Quite A Snapshot  —  George W. Bush flirted with eloquence only at the end of his so-so, nuts-and-bolts State of the Union speech last night: "The state of our union is strong," he said, "our cause in the world is right, and tonight that cause goes on."

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE NEW YORK MONEY PEOPLE:  —  I've admired Wes Clark for a long time.  But his comments to Ariana Huffington about wealthy Jews pushing the country toward war with Iran strike me as nutty and disturbing.  Either I seriously misjudged the man, or his comments were misquoted or taken wildly out of context.

Exceeding Expectations  —  Bush's former speechwriter on what the president did right—and on Jim Webb's wobbly wordcraft.  —  All the commentary leading up to the State of the Union noted the president's historically low poll ratings and unpopular Iraq strategy.

MN congresswoman can't keep her hand off President  —  Newly-elected Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann got quite a bit of face time with President Bush after his State of the Union Speech Tuesday night.  —  While the President was signing autographs for members of Congress after the speech …