From NBC's Mark Murray
One more point about Mark Penn's comment from last night: It wasn't the first time that someone from Team Clinton argued that Obama was ambivalent about how he would have voted on the 2002 war authorization vote.

Bill Clinton first raised the issue at a recent New York fundraiser, according to a New York Post article last week. "Clinton focused on the fact that three years ago - shortly after Barack Obama burst onto the world stage with his speech at the Democratic National Convention where John Kerry was nominated - Obama was asked how he would have voted on the Iraq war if he'd been in Congress at that time. 'And Obama said, "I'm not sure,"' [a participant] recalled.

From NBC's Mark Murray
As we mentioned earlier, top advisers for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama clashed last night at what was supposed to be a tame discussion at Harvard on the presidential contest. What triggered it was Clinton pollster Mark Penn's response to a question about her 2002 war authorization vote. Penn, as the Washington Post notes, used the question to attack Obama, arguing that the Illinois senator had said in 2004 that he even wasn't sure how he would have voted on the resolution had he been in the Senate in '02. "Obama said he didn't know exactly how he would have voted in Congress because he didn't have the full intelligence," Penn said.

An examination of what Obama exactly said in 2004, however, suggests that Penn was employing a tactic the Bush-Cheney campaign used to their benefit in the 2004 presidential campaign: the selective quote. It's something, of course, that all campaigns use to whack their opponents. But Team Bush did it better than most. 

Most notably, they jumped all over Kerry's remark in the first presidential debate that he would employ a "global test" when weighing a pre-emptive strike against another country. In fact, they launched this TV ad right after he said it: "The Kerry doctrine: A global test. So we must seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America? So America will be forced to wait while threats gather?"

But a close look at Kerry's remark made it clear he wasn't suggesting that at all. Here is what he said in that debate: "The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control. No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it … you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

So what did Obama say in 2004 that led to Penn's charge that Obama acknowledged he isn't sure how he would have voted on the war resolution? Here is the exchange, from a 2004 Meet the Press appearance, the Clinton campaign has passed around. You be the judge:

MR. RUSSERT: You also said this: "...I also know that Saddam possesses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history." The nominee of your party, John Kerry, the nominee for vice president, John Edwards, all said he was an imminent threat. They voted to authorize George Bush to go to war. How could they have been so wrong and you so right as a state legislator in Illinois and they're on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees in Washington?
STATE SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think they have access to information that I did not have. And what is absolutely clear is that John Kerry said, "If we go into war, let's make sure that we do it right. Let's make sure that our troops are supported. Let's make sure that we have the kind of coalition that's necessary to succeed." And the execution of what was a difficult choice to make was something that all of us have to be concerned about. And moving forward, the only way that we're going to be able to succeed is if, I think, we have an administration led by John Kerry that's going to allow us to consolidate the relationships with our allies that bring about investment in Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: But if you had been a senator at that time, you would have voted not to authorize President Bush to go to war?
STATE SEN. OBAMA: I would have voted not to authorize the president given the facts as I saw them at that time.
MR. RUSSERT: So you disagree with John Kerry and John Edwards?
STATE SEN. OBAMA: At that time, but, as I said, I wasn't there and what is absolutely clear as we move forward is that if we don't have a change in tone and a change in administration, I think we're going to have trouble making sure that our troops are secure and that we succeed in Iraq.

 

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell 
Senior officials tell NBC News that President Bush phoned Attorney General Gonzales early this morning and "reaffirmed his strong backing and support for the attorney general." They had a "very good conversation" in the wake of the "unprecedented step by the [Justice Department] to release thousands of pages of e-mails" to be "fully responsive."

Advisers say these pages include White House and DoJ communications that were authorized for release by the White House. Officials say DoJ officials will be made available for on-the-record statements to Congress. This will provide a "substantial body of evidence."

From NBC's Mark Murray
It was in mid-December 2006 that word first trickled out that Tim Griffin, a Karl Rove protégé and former GOP opposition researcher, was replacing the US attorney in Arkansas. Three months later, it has snowballed into THE story that now consumes Washington and that -- at the very least -- has placed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job in jeopardy. Today, The Politico and the Los Angeles Times have floated the names of possible successors to Gonzales: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; Larry Thompson, the deputy AG under John Ashcroft; White House anti-terrorism coordinator Frances Townsend; former solicitor general Ted Olsen; former US Sen. and UN ambassador John Danforth (R); and even former Sen. Fred Thompson (R).

Fred Thompson, of course, also seems to be eyeing a possible White House bid. Olsen has endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president. Thompson's name, meanwhile, was floated by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) on Meet the Press. Chertoff could win confirmation, but would bring back memories of his department's handling of Hurricane Katrina. And then there's Danforth, who would probably be the easiest to confirm (and would become the second ex-Missouri senator to serve as Bush's AG), but he and his advocacy for embryonic stem cells haven't made him too popular with evangelical Christians.

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports, however, that multiple senior White House officials are pushing back on these reports that there is a short list of AG replacements under consideration. Officials say the reports are "overblown" and "untrue." (O'Donnell notes, though, that the use of the term "overblown" would seem to leave open a tiny crack.)

There's more on the US attorneys controversy. Today, NBC's Ken Strickland says, White House Counsel Fred Fielding is expected to announce whether the Administration will allow Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and others to be questioned by Congress about their involvement in the controversy. Also today, the Senate will vote on legislation to strip the attorney general of his power that many Democrats feel was the genesis of the firings. The bill would prohibit the AG from replacing US attorneys for in indefinite period without Senate confirmation. The bill has bipartisan support.

 

Besides the US attorneys controversy, the other story that the political world is talking about is last night's showdown between Clinton adviser Mark Penn and Obama adviser David Axelrod at what was supposed to be a friendly discussion at Harvard about the presidential campaign. The Washington Post: "The exchange marked the most substantive clash to date between the Obama and Clinton campaigns and reflected frustration among Clinton advisers over the Illinois senator's use of [the 2002 war authorization vote] to distinguish his candidacy."

The AP adds that Penn "gave a sneak preview of" Clinton's strategy for combating … Obama's criticism for her support of the Iraqi war, telling a Harvard audience Monday that the two behaved similarly on the issue 'when they got to the Senate.' Mark Penn … also cited two quotes he said undercut Obama's oft-cited opposition to an October 2002 congressional resolution authorizing military action in Iraq.

Yet the Boston Globe, in a review of Obama's record during his 26 months in Congress, writes that "he has taken a more nuanced and cautious position on the war than the full-bore opposition."

The AP says John Edwards is struggling to hold onto his support in South Carolina, a state he won in 2004 and where he was born.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News -- in a survey of Texas GOP insiders -- notes that none of the Republican presidential front-runners "has generated much support among Republican Party loyalists in Texas, whose early favorite to head the ticket in 2008 hasn't even announced -- Newt Gingrich."

The New York Times front-pages how John McCain's and Sam Brownback's support for comprehensive immigration reform has become a problem with GOP voters in Iowa. "As he left Iowa, Mr. McCain said he was reconsidering his views on how the immigration law might be changed. He said he was open to legislation that would require people who came to the United States illegally to return home before applying for citizenship."

And the San Francisco Chronicle tries to unmask ParkRidge47, the person who first posted the anti-Hillary YouTube video that's a spoof off of Apple's famous "1984" TV ad. 

From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
At a fundraiser today in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton weighed in on the Iraq war and its four-year anniversary. Repeating a line she's given in the past -- one that plays up her anti-war creds -- Clinton said, "I think we all hope and pray that George Bush ends this war. But make no mistake about it -- if he doesn't, as President, I will."

She added: "One of the reasons why I believe I am best prepared, most qualified, and ready to serve on day one, is because I think I can extract us from Iraq in the right way. This is one of those issues that really has to go beyond politics. This cannot be a political football. Too much is at stake, too many brave Americans and innocent Iraqis have died. I am going to continue talking about this even though it's politically controversial because when I am president, the country is going to have to be prepared to do what is necessary to get us out of Iraq."

Her chief rival (so far) for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama, spoke in Oklahoma City today. And unlike Clinton, who put Iraq up front -- altering form her usual stump speech -- Obama didn't mention it until several minutes into his remarks. He called it a war "that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged"; a war "that has cost us half a trillion dollars, a war that cost us almost 3200 of our bravest young men and women; and a war that "made us less safe and diminished our standing in the world."

From NBC's Mark Murray
Fred Thompson (R) might be a possible presidential contender, but the former senator/actor is also now moonlighting as movie reviewer. And in his review of "300" on Pajamas Media, he combines the political with the entertainment.

From Thompson's' review: "'300,' shows a small band of Spartans saving the lives of their countrymen AND the seeds of modern Democracy by kicking the much larger Persians forces effectively in the backside at Thermopylae until the shear numbers overwhelmed them. If I remember my history, that's exactly what happened. But the Iranians have filed a flurry of complaints with the United Nations, claiming '300' is 'cultural and psychological warfare.'  Who are these guys who are getting all flushed over our cultural insensitivity?

"People who want to blow Jews off the face of the earth. The regime that stormed our embassy in 1979 and kept Americans captive for 444 days. Iran's Hezbollah puppets have killed more Americans, than any other terrorist group except Al Queda [sic]. Explosive devices from Iran are being used right now against our soldiers in Iraq...I must say that I'm impressed that Hollywood took on a politically incorrect villan [sic]. Must have run out of neo-Nazis. So now these sensitive souls in Iran think that Hollywood is part of a U.S. government conspiracy to humiliate them into submission. I can only wish we were that effective."

Update: Thompson also misspelled "shear [sic] numbers." That's at least three misspellings.

Update II: The mistakes now are corrected in the online version of the review. 

From NBC's Mark Murray
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R), who also served as Bush's Health and Human Services secretary, is set to formally announce he's running for president in the next couple of weeks, a spokesman for Thompson's exploratory committee tells First Read. The spokesman adds that the announcement, which will occur in both Wisconsin and Iowa, will take place in early April or thereabouts, although the details are still being ironed out.

From NBC's Mark Murray and Chuck Todd
Is South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford the latest Republican now dipping his toe in the presidential waters? Today's The State puts it this way: "Sanford says he's not running for president in 2008. That's the official line. But nearly every week there's another sign that Sanford might be running for something."

Sanford might not be eyeing a White House bid as much as other possible GOP candidates like Fred Thompson or even Chuck Hagel, but consider this: that three of the four most-rumored "new" Republican candidates -- Sanford, Thompson, Hagel -- all endorsed John McCain's 2000 campaign.

From NBC's Mark Murray
Just minutes ago, President Bush was in a familiar setting: behind a White House lectern defending the Iraq war. In a statement on the war's four-year anniversary, Bush acknowledged that the fight there has been difficult over the past four years. "But it can be won. It will be won if we have the courage and resolve to see it through."

Bush also addressed critics of the war who want to leave Iraq, saying that such a withdrawal "would be devastating" for America's security. And he called on Congress to pass his supplemental Iraq spending request. "They have a responsibility to get this bill to my desk without strings and without delay."

From NBC's Mark Murray
Has any other event dominated modern American politics longer than the Iraq war? The Cold War perhaps, but that was more a series of global events than a singular one. There was the Lewinsky affair and its aftermath, but that lasted less than three years -- from January 1998 to the 2000 presidential election. And there's 9/11, but its political impact hasn't been the same since 2004.

By comparison, the Iraq war -- which turns four years old today -- and its influence on politics has lasted since 2002. The build-up to it left its imprint on that year's midterms (to the GOP's benefit); it overshadowed the Bush-Kerry race (which Bush won); it certainly dominated last year's elections (which allowed Democrats to regain control of Congress); and it remains issue No. 1 as we head into 2008.

The war also has spawned numerous secondary stories and dramas: Cindy Sheehan, the CIA leak investigation, our obsession over the war authorization votes, Bush's sinking political fortunes, Donald Rumsfeld's ouster, and America's relationships in the Middle East and the rest of the world.

Perhaps the biggest question remaining is how long the Iraq war lasts and what the political map looks like when it finally ends.

On the Sunday shows yesterday, national security adviser Stephen Hadley urged Democrats "not to waste their time trying to pass a bill to accelerate withdrawal from Iraq, saying President Bush would veto such legislation," while Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Bush's so-called "surge" in Iraq is working -- "so far, so good."

A new poll commissioned by the BBC, USA Today, and ABC finds that just 18% of Iraqis have confidence in US and coalition troops, and they are evenly split on whether they have confidence in their own government.

USA Today on another survey: "Only about one-fifth of 10,000 veteran officers in the Army's Individual Ready Reserve say they're willing to be deployed overseas, an Army survey shows. It suggests souring attitudes within the military toward U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy said yesterday that he will ask Karl Rove and other top White House aides to testify in the US attorney scandal, but the White House will likely claim executive privilege to keep the testimony from happening.

The Politico: "Democratic officials told The Politico that one of the major questions Congress would like to pose to Rove, a deputy chief of staff to Bush, and other administration officials is the extent of Bush's knowledge of the impending changes." More: "Key figures in both parties believe Gonzales … will wind up resigning over the imbroglio. "I think he's gone," said a Republican official close to Bush." 

The Los Angeles Times has Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) revealing evidence that California US attorney Carol Lam notified the Justice Department about search warrants in the GOP corruption case involving former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. "Soon thereafter, a top Justice Department official in Washington wrote to the White House about a 'real problem we have right now with Carol Lam.'"

On Friday, Gonzales apologized in a conference call to the US attorneys for how the earlier firings were handled and for suggesting that they were a result of poor performance, the AP writes. But an official familiar with the conference call "said Gonzales did not apologize for firing the eight U.S. attorneys."

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that David Iglesias, the fired US attorney in New Mexico, was heralded twice by the Justice Department for his expertise in prosecuting voter fraud. "The fact that Justice officials held out Iglesias to his colleagues as an exemplar of good work on voter fraud conflicts with an explanation offered last week by a senior aide to President Bush that eight U.S. attorneys had been removed in part because of complaints that some had been lax in pursuing election fraud."

And, if you click on some of the more prominent liberal blogs, you'll see advertisements from the Clinton campaign calling on Alberto Gonzales to step down -- a sign that the Clinton camp is trying to get out in front on this issue to appeal to the left.

Finally, as he wraps up his campaign trip through New Hampshire, John McCain told CBN News that he needs the evangelical vote to win the GOP nomination. "McCain also acknowledged that he hasn't been as outspoken as a Senator on the right to life issue and that criticism from the pro-life community is valid. 'I think there may be some legitimacy to that discussion. But I certainly think I have done my labor in the vineyards for 24 years. I have a 24 year solid, consistent pro-life voting record.'"

From NBC's Mark Murray
Given the Senate Democrats' inability to pass their Iraq measure yesterday -- as well as earlier non-binding resolutions against Bush's troop increase -- the conventional wisdom is building that the Democrats can't stop tripping over themselves when it comes to Iraq. "Defeat on Retreat," blares a Republican National Committee press release today.

But who faces the biggest political risks regarding these votes? Senate Democrats or their GOP counterparts? Next year, Republicans must defend 21 Senate seats (compared with 12 for the Democrats), and four of them are held by incumbents running for re-election in blue states -- Susan Collins in Maine, Norm Coleman in Minnesota, John Sununu in New Hampshire, and Gordon Smith in Oregon. And last year, with the Iraq war dominating the political landscape, Republicans lost big in all of these states: They lost the Senate race in Minnesota by a whopping 20 points (and the popular GOP governor there barely won); their two House incumbents in New Hampshire lost; and they were unable to defeat two vulnerable incumbent governors in Maine and Oregon.

Yet with polls showing that the political landscape has changed little since last year's election, it's worth noting that Smith was the only Republican to vote for the Democratic measure yesterday; Collins, Coleman, and Sununu all voted against it. "The best thing that's happening is these votes against this stuff," a Democratic operative said about the Iraq votes. "We are smacking them around."

To be sure, these four Republicans have all done things to give them some cover in these blue states. Last month, Collins, Coleman, and Smith voted for the non-binding resolution opposing Bush's troop increase. Sununu is now calling for Alberto Gonzales' resignation in the wake of the US attorneys firing. And as we mentioned earlier today, Smith gave a speech on the Senate floor late last year saying he was "at the end of my rope" in supporting Bush and the Iraq war.

But is that enough? Sununu voted against the non-binding resolution opposing the troop increase, as well as an earlier procedural vote on the measure. Smith also voted nay in that procedural vote. The stakes regarding these four GOP incumbents are high: With Democrats in good position to pick up the open GOP-held seat in Colorado, a loss among any of the four would make the Republicans' chances of taking back control of the Senate even tougher.

But Republicans aren't the only ones who may need some cover heading into next year. Democrats have at least four Senate incumbents hailing from red states who are running for re-election (or at least seem to be): Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Max Baucus in Montana, and Tim Johnson in South Dakota. Landrieu and Baucus voted for yesterday's Iraq measure, while Pryor voted against it; Johnson, who is still recovering from his brain hemorrhage, didn't vote. And if someone like Hillary Clinton becomes the presidential nominee at the top of the ticket, these incumbents might find themselves -- at the very least -- in a tight race.

From NBC's Mark Murray
On Monday, we noted that former Senate Majority Leader sent an email to supporters urging fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson to run for president. Frist is up with a new email: "I talked to Fred Thompson last night, really just to share with him the tremendous support that he has received from all of you who have blogged on the Volpac web site over the past 4 days... Now is the time for big ideas ... big, true conservative ideas that rise above the fray. Fred is listening. He will carefully consider running over the next several weeks. His public statements exactly reflect what he is thinking inside."

From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray
California has now moved up its presidential primary to Feb. 5, raising the prospect that as many as 20 other states -- including giants like Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas -- will hold their nominating contests on this date. We're calling it Tsunami Tuesday. So which candidates will Tsunami Tuesday end up benefiting? What will it all mean? A few notes on the impact in California:

-- Independents. According to the state parties there, political independents will be able to participate in the Democratic primary, but not in the Republican one; it is open only to registered Republicans. That could potentially hurt GOP candidates like McCain or Giuliani, who appeal to these kind of voters. There is a growing effort to open up the GOP primary to independents, but the California Republican Party will need to change its bylaws to do that -- and the state party's next bylaw meeting, we're told, doesn't occur until after voters are supposed to be registered. As for the Democrats, John Edwards was considered the candidate independents helped the most in 2004. For this cycle, no one Democrat seems to have made appealing to independents a priority. Will that now change?

-- Ballot Initiatives. Expect to see ballot initiatives included in the California primary. As we know, California ballot initiatives can have lives of their own. (imagine what an immigration-related init could do to the GOP primary, for instance) There is already one proposed init for Feb. 5, per today's Los Angeles Times: "An advisor to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) has submitted a proposed initiative that would change California's term-limits law, allowing current lawmakers to stay longer but reducing the number of years permitted for those who come later."

-- Hispanics. This really hasn't been talked about, but the prospect that California, Florida, and Texas could all hold their primaries on Feb. 5 suddenly puts the Hispanic vote in play, especially on the Democratic side. Could this benefit someone like Bill Richardson? Probably -- but he first has to survive to get to Feb. 5….

One last thing to chew on: According to its Secretary of State's office, California voters are allowed to submit absentee ballots 29 days before an election. That would mean that Californians begin voting well before the Iowa caucuses, which are slated for Jan. 14. Of course, if New Hampshire leapfrogs Nevada (as many speculate), then Iowa would move up a week as well. Still, absentee ballot programs by all the campaigns would have to begin in California well before Iowa and New Hampshire.

From NBC's Mark Murray  
According to a new Gallup poll, 67% say they oppose President Bush pardoning Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted on perjury and obstruction charges resulting from the CIA leak investigation. Just 21% support a pardon.

That finding is similar to a recent CNN poll, which found that 69% opposed a pardon for Libby.

From NBC's Ken Strickland
A spokesperson for GOP Sen. Gordon Smith says his boss is NOT calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to be fired or to resign, despite reporting today to the contrary. Instead, Smith's spokesman R.C. Hammond says: "Senator Gordon Smith believes it would be helpful for this Congress, that the Attorney General be a person they could invest confidence in. Senator Smith does not believe the Congress has confidence in the Attorney General."

But if Smith isn't technically calling for Gonzales to be fired, he's pretty darn close and can't get much closer. For the past six months or so, Smith -- who's up for re-election in '08 -- has been moving further and further from Bush and his Administration. Just before Christmas, Smith took to the Senate floor in an emotional speech to say he was "at the end of my rope" in supporting Bush and the war. And, as we mentioned yesterday, he was the sole Senate Republican to vote for the measure calling to withdraw US forces from Iraq by March 2008.

From NBC's Mark Murray
A new round of Administration emails, from January 2005, indicates that Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales (while he was still White House counsel) "had considered replacing prosecutors earlier than either has previously acknowledged."

The Justice Department released this statement: "[Gonzales] has no recollection of any plan or discussion to replace U.S. Attorneys while he was still White House Counsel. The period of time referred to in the email was during the weeks he was preparing for his confirmation hearing, January 6th, 2005, and his focus was on that."

The Wall Street Journal: "White House officials said the emails weren't inconsistent with the administration's position that then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers -- not Mr. Rove -- had first raised the idea of sacking all the federal prosecutors."

Has Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), become the second Republican to call for Gonzales to step down? "'The senator believes it would be helpful to have an attorney general that Congress can have more confidence in,' said R.C. Hammond, a Smith spokesman." But the Los Angeles Times says the statement from Smith's office "stopped short of saying he should quit."

On Wednesday, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) said Gonzales should resign. Both Sununu and Smith hail from blue states and are up for re-election in 2008.

Smith was also the only Senate Republican to vote in favor of the Senate measure to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by March 2008. It failed by a 48-50 vote. The New York Times writes: "'It is clear now that the majority of the Senate opposes a deadline for the withdrawal of troops,' said [Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell… [Majority Leader] Harry Reid … countered, 'The Republicans are rubber-stamping the president's failed policy. That's the message here.'"

Yet a House bill that also seeks to withdraw US troops by next year passed the House Appropriations, the Washington Post says. "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) still lacks the 218 votes she needs to pass the bill next week, aides said, but they insist she has the momentum." If passes, however, Bush has threatened to veto it.

As California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation into law moving up his state's primary to February 5, 2008, a similar effort in Florida has stalled in the state Senate.

The Washington Post: "While the rush to move to dates earlier in the nominating process has been motivated by states' desire to have more say in selecting the Republican and Democratic nominees, analysts said it may enhance the importance of the few small states whose contests will be held in January."

McCain begins Day Two of his Straight Talk Express tour Iowa; he then heads to New Hampshire (despite the poor weather in the Northeast). McCain said of his overall effort to launch a national campaign: "We haven't done a great job, but we've done a pretty good job in doing what's necessary to prepare."

As Mitt Romney hits McCain for his support of comprehensive immigration reform, the Boston Globe reports that Romney wasn't always critical of McCain's immigration bill. "In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as 'quite different' from amnesty… Romney did not specifically endorse McCain's bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them 'reasonable proposals.'"

Per the New York Post, Bill Clinton criticized the New York Times' coverage of his wife at fundraiser on Tuesday. "'Clinton said the Times is attacking Hillary because she won't apologize for her vote on the war in Iraq,' [one guest] said.

And Valerie Plame today testifies before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Washington Post: "People close to Plame say her primary goal in testifying … is to knock down persistent claims that she did not serve undercover. 'She is so tired of hearing that,' her mother, Diane Plame, said in an interview earlier this week."

 

From NBC's Ken Strickland
The vote on the Senate Democratic resolution setting the "goal" of getting most troops out of Iraq by March of 2008 was defeated, 48-50. Sixty votes were needed for passage under the agreement reached by the Senate leadership.

The vote was pretty much along party lines, except for:
-- Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R), who voted with the Democrats;
-- Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) and Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor (D), who voted with the Republicans;
-- and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I), who voted with the Republicans.

From NBC's Mark Murray
So which presidential campaign was the first out of the gates to flex its muscles after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation into law today moving California's primary up to February 5, 2008? No other than Rudy Giuliani's.

Campaign manager Mike DuHaime said in a statement: "Rudy Giuliani is the Republican candidate who can win California in both the primary and general elections. The Mayor's record as a proven problem solver continues to resonate with California voters."

From NBC's Mark Murray
Previewing the speech he will give later today in New Hampshire, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards laid out his plans to combat global poverty. First, he wants the United States to lead a worldwide effort to expand primary education to developing countries. Second, he calls for expanding preventative health care to those places. Third, he advocates creating new economic and political opportunities in these countries (like with micro-financing and expanding democracy). And finally, he proposes creating a new Cabinet post for a person to supervise these efforts.

Despite many Americans' disillusionment with the Iraq war, Edwards argued, it's important for the United States to continue to play an important role in the world. "It is extremely important for America to stay involved, stay engaged," he said. 

From NBC's Mark Murray
The Obama campaign just released this statement regarding today's LA Times report that Obama was registered as a Muslim at the schools in Indonesia he attended as a child:

"Senator Obama believes that having lived in Indonesia was a valuable experience and has respect for all faiths. But the facts are clear:

"Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ. Accounts in the L.A. Times that suggest otherwise are simply not true. Today's report is based on 40-year old memories and paperwork that, as reported by the Times, 'bugs have eaten.' 

"This is unfortunately yet another piece from this paper in which the reporter on the ground did not take into account the people who knew Barack Obama best."

 

From NBC's Mark Murray
"Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, long said to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to them at a military hearing held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon yesterday," the New York Times says. "He also acknowledged full or partial responsibility for more than 30 other terror attacks or plots."

The House Appropriations Committee will today vote on a spending bill calling for the Iraq war to end by September 2008. Per the AP, "House Democrats confidently predicted they can pass [the] bill … even as their counterparts in the Senate struggle just to get their war debate off the ground."

As the Senate began debate over its own Iraq measure, the White House "immediately issued a veto threat, even though the measure is considered unlikely to win final passage. The administration's statement denounced the Democratic plan in forceful terms, declaring that it would 'embolden our enemies' and 'hobble American commanders in the field.'"

The Washington Post examines the Administration's inconsistent statements in the controversy over the fired US attorneys. "The conflict between documents released this week and previous administration statements is quickly becoming the central issue for lawmakers who are angry about the way Gonzales and his aides handled the coordinated firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year."

The Politico: "The furor over the replacement of eight federal prosecutors reveals how radically the Republican wipeout in November, coupled with a looming presidential election, have transformed Washington politics. Three new dynamics have given the scandal its punch and foreshadow a brutal political season: Democratic presidential candidates eager to confront the administration; congressional Democrats whose requests are now demands; and GOP presidential hopefuls reluctant to associate with -- much less defend -- a wounded president."

In an interview with the New York Times, Hillary Clinton said that if elected president, she would keep a reduced US presence in Iraq "to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military… In outlining how she would handle Iraq as commander in chief, Mrs. Clinton articulated a more nuanced position than the one she has provided at her campaign events, where she has backed the goal of "bringing the troops home." 
 
The Los Angeles Times becomes the latest to delve into Barack Obama's childhood in Indonesia, reporting that his former Catholic and Muslim teachers and two childhood friends "say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended. That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class." Obama's campaign responded "that the friends were recalling events 'that are 40 years old and subject to four decades of other information.' Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only 'for big communal events,' not every Friday."

(We have to ask this question, though: Are the childhoods of presidential candidates fair game for investigative reports?)

As McCain begins his Straight Talk Express tour through Iowa today, the Washington Post asks if he can regain the magic from his 2000 bid. "As McCain departs today … he is hoping to regain the front-runner status that has slipped away from him and rekindle the insurgent spirit of his first presidential bid."

With Arnold Schwarzenegger poised to sign a bill into law today that would move California's primary up to February 5, 2008, the Wall Street Journal says the move "is likely to give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger greater cachet on the national stage next year, particularly in influencing which Republican is nominated for president."

And The Politico adds that DNC chairman Howard Dean "has been meeting with world leaders to repair 'the extraordinary damage' that the Bush administration has done to America's image and to prepare the way for a new Democratic president."

From NBC's Ken Strickland
New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu (R), who's up for re-election next year, is now the first Republican to call from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to be fired. "If the Attorney General isn't credible, then he cannot be effective and help the president implement good policy to deal with terrorism investigations and prosecutions and homeland security issues and the management of the justice department," he said.

"This is driven by far more than one single problem or one single incident. There have been problems within the department and difficulties between Congress and the attorney general going back 18 months."

"I think the president should fire the attorney general and replace him so that he has someone who's strong and aggressive and can be assertive on the president's behalf"

From NBC's Mark Murray
During his bid for re-election in 1996, Bill Clinton famously promised to build a "bridge to the 21st Century." His message was crystal clear: Despite the earlier political setbacks in his first term, Clinton was the fresh, energetic candidate best suited to lead the country into the next decade. His opponent, the then-73-year-old Bob Dole, was not.

Nearly 11 years later, however, a few of the best-known candidates in the current race for the White House are making a sharp U-turn back to the 1990s. On Thursday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embarks on his "Straight Talk Express" bus tour, after doing the same thing eight years ago during his first White House bid. At her own campaign stops, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., continually invokes her husband's presidency and enlists his help with key constituencies. And now even Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the '90s, is seriously pondering a presidential run.

It seems that everyone is carrying on like it's, well, 1999 -- or earlier. In fact, all that's missing is for Ken Starr to announce a bid for the Senate, Monica Lewinsky to get her own TV show, and former Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug to stick another vault landing.

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