Primary Choices: Hillary Clinton  —  This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hard to get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast an uninspiring pack.  That is not remotely the case this year.  —  The early primaries produced …

YEP, HE SAID IT  —  Seems McCain did say that.  —  Here's the video to refresh your memory ...  TPM Reader BY just sent in this clip from the Boston Globe ...  I guess it was too much to ask to have Russert crash and burn on this one.  —  Russert's quote was: “I know a lot less …

Why was this debate so bad?  —  One of my GOP candidates had an expression: “WOT."  Waste of time.  —  Did this debate accomplish anything, other than to remind us that Tim Russert is the most overrated journalist in television?  —  I'm trying to imagine what Florida voter watched that and went—"OK, now I'm ready to vote!"

Kucinich drops presidential bid  —  • To embed this video in your own blog, copy and paste this code:  —  Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the Democratic race for president.  —  Kucinich will make the announcement Friday at a news conference in Cleveland.

Interrogator: Invasion Surprised Saddam  —  Tells 60 Minutes Former Dictator Bragged About Eluding Capture  —  (CBS) Saddam Hussein initially didn't think the U.S. would invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, so he kept the fact that he had none a secret to prevent an Iranian invasion he believed could happen.

Clintons leave no fingerprints  —  The couple have skillfully steered the nomination campaign toward race  —  WASHINGTON - First, a quick show of hands: How many of you honestly thought we'd make it through this Democratic presidential primary without a bruising debate over race?

In Senate, a White House Victory on Eavesdropping  —  WASHINGTON — A White House plan to broaden the National Security Agency's wiretapping powers won a key procedural victory in the Senate on Thursday, as backers defeated a more restrictive plan by Senate Democrats that would have imposed more court oversight on government spying.

Fact Sheet: New Growth Package Meets Criteria to Keep Our Economy Healthy  —  President Bush Discusses the Bipartisan Economic Growth Agreement  —  Today, President Bush announced his Administration reached a bipartisan agreement with House leadership on an economic growth package …

Immigration officials detaining, deporting American citizens  —  FLORENCE, Ariz. — Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia.  —  Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held Warziniack for weeks …

Wolfowitz Returns to U.S. Government as Adviser  —  Paul D. Wolfowitz, who resigned as World Bank chief after serving as second-in-command at the Pentagon, has returned to the Bush administration, albeit in an advisory role.  From a short news release put out this afternoon:

Losing Ugly  —  There's losing.  There's losing honorably.  And then there's John Edwards.  —  Mike Huckabee is not going to be president.  The loss in South Carolina, one of the most highly evangelical states in the union, made that plain.  With a ceiling of 14 percent among nonevangelical Republicans …

Georgia Republican Presidential Primary  —  Georgia: Huckabee 34% McCain 19% Romney 16%  —  While John McCain and Mitt Romney are fighting for the lead in Florida's Presidential Primary on January 29, Mike Huckabee has the lead in Georgia.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

Strains on the I.R.S. Could Delay Rebate Checks for Months  —  The checks will be in the mail — eventually.  —  But President Bush's plan to send payments to 117 million households to stimulate the economy would impose major strains on the Internal Revenue Service, delays in answering calls …

Wolfowitz Picked for Arms Control Panel  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department will name former World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz to head a high-level advisory panel on arms control and disarmament, The Associated Press has learned.  —  The move by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice marks …