Fred Wins, Iowa Loses  —  Why Carolyn Washburn should keep her day job.  —  HERE WE WERE on Wednesday, a nation of political junkies gathered around our televisions to watch the candidates debate each other one last time, and we had as a moderator one Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the Des Moines Register.

Clinton N.H. Official Warns Obama Will Be Attacked on Drug Use  —  Bill Shaheen, Clinton's New Hampshire co-chair.  (AP).  —  DOVER, N.H. — Billy Shaheen, the co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign in New Hampshire, raised the issue of Sen. Barack Obama's past admissions of drug use …

Deal would give Bush victory on war funding  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democratic lawmakers and staffers privately say they're closing in on a broad budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in new war funding.  —  The deal would lack a key provision Democrats had attached …

The Cartoon Mitt Romney Doesn't Want You To See [VIDEO]  —  Posted by Oliver Willis, Oliver Willis.com at 4:32 AM on December 12, 2007.  —  That it's got over 500,000 views on YouTube can't help someone like Mitt Romney  —  I don't know enough about Mormon theology to know if this bit …

Muslim helps Jews attacked on New York subway  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.

THEY'LL LOVE YOU FOR IT!  ORDER HERE.  —  Last Night, I Helped Huck [David Freddoso]  —  Last night, I went to my favorite watering hole.  It's part of my job.  That's what I tell myself, anyway.  —  At various times, I was chatting with Capitol Hill's second-most disgruntled Democratic staffer …

Update on Ratings of Bush, Congress  —  Thirty-seven percent approve of Bush, 22% of Congress  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll, conducted Dec. 6-9, finds 37% of Americans approving of the job George W. Bush is doing as president, an improvement from his recent scores in the low 30s.

Van Hollen concerned about GOP 527 groups  —  Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) signaled concern about the prospect of GOP-aligned 527 groups pouring money into contested races, according to a memo he wrote to House Democrats today.

Half of Scots see Muslims as 'cultural threat' in wake of terrorist attacks  —  THE number of Scots who hold discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims has increased over the last three years following the terrorist attacks in London, new figures showed yesterday.