Winfrey wows crowd  —  29,000 attend Columbia rally for Obama  —  In what Sen. Barack Obama described as the best-attended rally of the political season for any candidate, more than 29,000 attendees jammed Williams-Brice Stadium Sunday.  —  Media mogul Oprah Winfrey rallied the crowd of supporters …

Republican Candidates Firm on Immigration  —  In front of what will probably be their most pro-immigration audience, Republican candidates toned down their rhetoric but told Spanish-language television viewers in a debate on Sunday that they would take strong measures to close off the country's borders to illegal immigration.

The Paygo Farce  —  Democrats admit it was all a big confidence game. … Well, as Emily Littela, the half-witted Gilder Radner character on Saturday Night Live, would have put it: "Never mind."  Last week Congressional Democrats formally renounced their ballyhooed budget pledge to offset …

Rudy Giuliani plays defense on 'Press'  —  WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani, on the hot seat Sunday for the most exhaustive grilling of his presidential campaign, doggedly insisted that death threats against then-girlfriend Judith Nathan prompted the NYPD to launch her taxpayer-funded chauffeur services.

Students stone police in Iran riot  —  Students defied a clampdown on protests in Iran yesterday by tearing down the gates of Tehran university.  —  They chanted slogans against President Ahmadinejad and carried placards saying "Live free or die", "No war, no fascism" and "Women must decide their fate, not the state."

Sunday horror: Church shootings in Colorado; gunman killed by armed female church security staffer  —  Update 12/10 8:30am.  The gunman was wearing a tactical helmet and body armor.  —  By now, you've read about the two tragic church shootings incidents in Colorado earlier today.

Henry Paulson's Priorities  —  By Bush administration standards, Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, is a good guy.  He isn't conspicuously incompetent; and he isn't trying to mislead us into war, justify torture or protect corrupt contractors.  —  But Mr. Paulson's actions reflect the priorities of the administration he serves.

JOSH SHAFFER  —  RALEIGH - Through the bomb threats, the death threats, the arsonists and the insults that have marked her career, Susan Hill steels herself with the memory of a 13-year-old girl.  —  It was January 1973, Hill's first day on the job in Florida's first abortion clinic outside Miami — one week after Roe v. Wade.

Paul turns down invitation to seek Libertarian Party nomination  —  Lake Jackson congressman won't run for president on third-party ticket.  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul turned down a Libertarian Party invitation on Sunday that could have kept him in the 2008 presidential race …

U.S. Mortgage Crisis Rivals S&L Meltdown  —  Toll of Economic Shocks May Linger for Years; A Global Credit Crunch  —  The home has long been the bedrock asset of most American families.  Now, its value has become the biggest question mark hanging over the global economy and financial system.

Philharmonic Agrees to Play in North Korea  —  Adding a cultural wrinkle to the diplomatic engagement between the United States and North Korea, the New York Philharmonic plans to visit Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in February, taking the legacy of Beethoven, Bach and Bernstein to one of the world's most isolated nations.

Tancredo: GOP Candidates 'Pandering' At Spanish-Language Debate  —  DENVER — Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is boycotting a Spanish-language debate with his fellow GOP presidential candidates in Miami on Sunday, saying it has no place in presidential race and accusing his rivals of "pandering."

CAUGHT YOUTHENING: Maureen Dowd's latest column begins: … But if you're imagining Dowd as a pigtailed six-year-old in the back of the family station wagon, think again.  The temple was finished in 1974.  Maureen Dowd was born in 1952.  So she was a "kid" who was old enough to vote and drink.

Lawrence O'Donnell Loses His Ever-Loving Mind on McLaughlin  —  A sane, if highly flawed, discussion of Mitt Romney's "Faith In America" speech on the McLaughlin Group was cold-cocked into the realm of crazy-faced anger by guest panelist Lawrence O'Donnell this morning, who started off by criticizing Romney …

PULITZER PRIZE IN TERRORISM?  —  The Associated Press won a 2005 Pulitzer for Breaking News Photography for its team coverage of the Iraq War.  But the US Military discovered at least one team member - Bilal Hussein - had been a little too cozy with the terrorists when he got that coverage.