Romney for President  —  Many conservatives are finding it difficult to pick a presidential candidate.  Each of the men running for the Republican nomination has strengths, and none has everything — all the traits, all the positions — we are looking for.  Equally conservative analysts can reach …

DEMS HOLD FIRE ON HUCKABEE; SEE 'EASY KILL' IN GENERAL ELECTION  —  Democrat party officials are avoiding any and all criticism of Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee, insiders reveal.  —  The Democratic National Committee has told staffers to hold all fire, until he secures the party's nomination.

Huckabee And Thompson: Global Warming Is 'Overblown'  —  Tonight on CBS Evening News, each of the 10 leading presidential candidates will be asked, "Do you think the risks of climate change are at all overblown?"  According to an advance transcript, every single candidate acknowledges the threat …

McConnell moves to crack budget stalemate  —  Sensing that Democrats are in a compromising mode, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is pitching a budget amendment that Democrats would have laughed off just a few weeks ago.  —  McConnell on Tuesday called for $70 billion for Iraq …

Clinton Pushes Electability Argument  —  With the Iowa caucuses now just 23 days away, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign is using the electability argument as a cudgel against Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).  —  In a hastily-organized conference call this afternoon, which just happened …

Dad charged in teen's death  —  A 16-year-old girl is dead and her father has been charged with murder after an attack in a Mississauga home.  —  Aqsa Parvez, a student at Applewood Heights Secondary School, had been on life support in hospital since yesterday morning.

Larry O'Donnell admits he's afraid to criticize Islam publicly  —  Consider this post a companion post to Allah's, about the Muslim man who murdered his daughter because she wouldn't wear the hijab.  If you criticize the man and/or his religious motivation, consider yourself more courageous than one of the MSM's prominent pundits.

Bush to tap Glassman to shape US image  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush intends to name a well-known conservative commentator and journalist to lead the State Department's struggling efforts to improve the U.S.'s image abroad, replacing long-time confidante Karen Hughes, who is leaving government …

NBC refunds advertisers as ratings plunge  —  NEW YORK (Media Week) - Fourth-ranked broadcaster NBC has quietly begun reimbursing advertisers an average of $500,000 each for failing to reach guaranteed ratings levels, the first time a network has taken such a step in years, media buyers said.

How Ron Paul Can Ruin Fred Thompson  —  There's been a lot of buzz over Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen's crusade against the possibility of campaigns organizing non-Iowa resident college students to caucus.  Most of the talk has been about whether Obama will pull in loads of Illinois college kids.

Clinton camp bludgeons Obama on WH readiness  —  Today's New York Times/CBS News poll might as well be a big stick, the way Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is trying to bludgeon Sen. Barack Obama with it.  —  The poll found more than double the voters—83 percent …

How to Defuse Iran  —  IN the wake of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program, Democrats and others are criticizing President Bush for again having "hyped" a nuclear weapons threat.  This criticism, while deserved, does not address the critical policy question: What do we do now?

Police: N.Y. subway riders beaten after 'Happy Hanukkah' greeting  —  Four Jewish subway riders who wished other people Happy Hanukkah were  —  pelted with anti-Semitic remarks before being beaten, New York police and prosecutors said.  The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Bush issues 29 pardons but Libby not among them  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush granted pardons to 29 people on Tuesday but Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was not among them.  —  There has been speculation that before he leaves office …

The Pope condemns the climate change prophets  —  Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.  —  The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested …

GALLUP: Romney Speech Flopped?  Many Still Say Won't Vote for Mormon  —  NEW YORK A new Gallup Poll finds that better than one in six Americans, including similar numbers of Republicans and Democrats, indicate they would not support their party's nominee for president if that person were a Mormon.