Thompson's fall from grace  —  There was a time over the summer when Fred Thompson looked like he'd enjoy enormous support from the GOP's religious right base.  The Dobson crowd had already ruled out McCain and Giuliani, and skepticism over Romney lingered.

With Democrats Like These ...  Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year.  It was particularly hard to tell this week.  Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again …

Limbaugh Spins Reid's Letter Into Charity Gold  —  Petty bickering about patriotism and Who Loves Our Troops More has never been seen as a financial growth industry, but there's no stopping American capitalism.  This is why a perfunctory bit of political grandstanding, committed …

Battered Spouses  —  Yesterday I said I felt a hissy coming on and today it's blown in with all the sincerity and gravitas of Tom DeLay speaking at a Martin Luther King day luncheon.  —  The Situation Room just led the half hour with this: … JC Watts later called Stark a "small person with a withered soul."

Ex-Prosecutor Alleges Pentagon Plays Politics  —  Pressure for 'Sexy' Guantanamo Hearings  —  Politically motivated officials at the Pentagon have pushed for convictions of high-profile detainees ahead of the 2008 elections, the former lead prosecutor for terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay said last night …

'Values voters' flock to Thompson  —  Fred Thompson may have failed to impress Beltway insiders when he finally launched his run for the White House last month, but he is winning over a critical segment of the Republican coalition, new polling suggests.  —  Conservative Christians favor Thompson …

An Improbable Favorite Emerges in Cajun Country  —  An Oxford-educated son of immigrants from India is virtually certain to become the leading candidate for Louisiana's next governor in Saturday's primary election.  It would be an unlikely choice for a state that usually picks its leaders …

Rudy's New Minnesota Campaign Official Has An "N-Word" Problem  —  The man named yesterday by the Giuliani campaign to a law enforcement outreach campaign post in Minnesota was forced to resign a government job in 2004 when proof surfaced that he'd admitted to repeatedly using the word "nigger" in the past, Election Central has learned.

Sheriff's deputies arrest 'New Times' owners  —  Paper at odds with county authorities  —  Michael Kiefer, Robert Anglen and JJ Hensley  —  Phoenix New Times owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested Thursday night by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies on charges of revealing grand jury information, a misdemeanor.

Clinton Returned $7,000, Campaign Says  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign returned $7,000 in donations last spring that were linked to a fund-raising event in Chinatown in New York City, campaign officials said yesterday, acknowledging another instance …

Tomorrow's Neocon Today  —  Why Clinton II wouldn't offer much change from Bush II  —  Polls show Hillary Clinton has now opened up a striking 33-point lead over Barack Obama in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.  The latest poll shows that likely Democratic primary voters favor her in every major policy area.

EXCLUSIVE: The Case for Israel's Strike on Syria  —  Official: Air Attack Targeted Nascent Nuclear Facility Built With North Korean 'Expertise'  —  Israeli officials believed that a target their forces bombed inside Syria last month was a nuclear facility, because they had detailed photographs taken …