Poll: Obama makes gains, is even with Clinton in N.H.  —  PELHAM, N.H. — Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in a dead heat among New Hampshire voters in a statewide USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, underscoring the volatility of the race less than three weeks before the nation's first primary.

Richardson Accuses Clinton of ‘Flip-Flop’ on Iraq Pullout  —  MUSCATINE, Iowa — I just got a phone call — unprompted — from Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democratic candidate for president, blasting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for saying she would withdraw nearly all American troops …

Huckabee Surges, Giuliani Plummets  —  By The Associated Press - 13 hours ago  —  THE RACE: The presidential race for Republicans in Michigan.  —  ___  —  THE NUMBERS — REPUBLICANS  —  Mitt Romney, 21 percent  —  Mike Huckabee, 19 percent  —  Rudy Giuliani, 12 percent  —  John McCain, 10 percent

An Interview With Fred Thompson's Wife, Jeri Thompson  —  Yesterday, I got together with Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Thompson, for a phone interview as she traveled around Iowa.  Unfortunately, near the end of the interview, while she was running low on time, she hit a bad cell.

Bush boxed in his congressional foes  —  HALCYON DAY: Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) at the opening of the 110th Congress in January.  Over the course of a year, President Bush used his veto and a core of loyal Republicans to substantially limit gains by the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

Hasta La Vista  —  Tom Tancredo is an angry man.  —  We know this because he has proposed dropping bombs on Mecca.  We know this because he sang “Dixie” at a South Carolina gathering full of Confederate flags and white supremacists.  And we know this because he wants to expel 12 million people now living in the United States.

Putin ‘has secret $40bn fortune’  —  An unprecedented battle is taking place inside the Kremlin in advance of Vladimir Putin's departure from office, the Guardian has learned, with claims that the president presides over a secret multibillion-dollar fortune.

Business As Usual On The Border  —  The reliably thoughtful Andrew Sullivan delivers his perspective on the awful story of a Nordic would-be tourist: … Matt Yglesias joins in: … So, this incident from Cheney's America reads like an Eastern European country in the 70's?

McCain Campaign Calls Allegations ‘Gutter Politics’  —  Sen. John McCain said today that he has “never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special-interest group” as his presidential campaign rushed out a statement denouncing allegations that he did anything to benefit a specific Washington lobbyist as “gutter politics.”

Ron Paul's Photo-Op with Stormfront  —  An LGF reader emailed this photograph, showing Ron Paul at the Values Voters Presidential Debate in Fort Lauderdale on September 17, 2007.  Immediately to Paul's left: Don Black, the owner of neo-Nazi hate site Stormfront.

Stewart and Colbert to Return Without Writers  —  Comedy Central's pair of popular news satirists, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, will return to their late-night television shows on Jan. 7, two months after production was suspended because of a writers' strike.

American Pastoral  —  Mike Huckabee preaches to the choir, but not everyone's singing along.  —  I didn't see the famous floating cross.  What I saw when I watched Mike Huckabee's Christmas commercial was a nice man in a sweater sitting next to a brightly lit tree.

Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.  —  “We are no longer citizens …

Hillary's Crap Ad Made Better  —  Going through Hillary Clinton's own campaign files, I've improved her “Holiday” commercial:  —  Now just add a few time delays and a bigger font size and this would make a nice anti-Hillary commerical.  —  www.scottbomb.com  —  Reply To This — User Info — #1

A Problem Like Bill  —  Hillary Clinton tells audiences that having lived in the White House for eight eventful years, she's eager to take charge as president on “day one."  Apparently, though, so is Bill.  —  Before the Clinton campaign's recent shift to themes of warmth and approachability …

Romney defends MLK march remark  —  From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann  —  Ft DODGE, IA — Romney says that it depends on what the definition of “saw” is.  —  A defensive Romney was peppered with questions today on exactly what he meant when he said — most recently on Meet the Press — that he …