Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., provided the Democratic response to President Bush's speech on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush once again failed to provide a plan to successfully end the war in Iraq, Democrats said after his primetime address Thursday while touting their strategy "to responsibly and rapidly" begin pulling U.S. forces out of the war zone.

"The president rightfully invoked the valor of our troops in his speech, but his plan does not amount to real change," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, who delivered the Democratic response.

"Soldiers take a solemn oath to protect our nation, and we have a solemn responsibility to send them into battle only with clear and achievable missions. Tonight, the president provided neither," he said.

U.S. successes in Iraq mean some troops can begin to come home, but others will have to stay there into 2009 and beyond, the president announced Thursday night.

Bush also acknowledged the Iraqi government has not met its own legislative benchmarks and its success would require U.S. engagement that would extend beyond his presidency.

Full story: Nation is at a critical moment on Iraq, Democrats say

President Bush addressed the American public about the Iraq war on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. successes in Iraq mean "we can begin seeing troops come home," President Bush announced Thursday night.

But Bush cautioned that the U.S. must not abandon Iraq while it is "fighting for its survival."

Earlier, the White House said Bush will pledge to bring home 5,700 soldiers from Iraq by Christmas.

Full story: Bush: Iraq is 'fighting for its survival'

WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. successes in Iraq mean "we can begin seeing troops come home," but other American troops will remain there into 2009 and beyond, President Bush will announce Thursday night.

Bush is scheduled to deliver a national address on the war at 9:01 p.m. ET, touting what he says are the achievements of the troop "surge" he launched in January.

"Our success in meeting these objectives now allows us to begin bringing some of our troops home," Bush will tell viewers, according to excerpts released by the White House.

Full story: Excerpt: Homecoming for some troops, other stay until 2009

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has a plan that may have enough votes in the U.S. Senate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats believe they are making inroads toward a strategy to force a change in U.S. policy in Iraq. Congressional sources say they may be “close to having 60 votes” on a proposal from Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, that would give American troops more time between deployments. Senate rules require 60 votes to defeat a filibuster and bring an issue to a vote, and 67 votes to overcome a veto from the president.

Supporters say mandating more time between deployments would force a reduction in troop levels because there are not enough troops to sustain a constant level of the130-thousand expected to remain in Iraq under the schedule laid out in the Petraeus Report.

The Webb plan is more moderate than the mandatory withdrawal timetables Democrats have failed to get, but said one source, “This has the advantage of being doable.”

The Democratic leadership is looking for votes off a list of 11 Senate Republicans who have been critical “in one form or another” of President Bush’s strategy in Iraq. Though expressing optimism, one Democratic source admitted, with the exceptions of Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon, “We still don’t have any Republicans making a clean break with the president, yet.”

The measure – which would likely be attached to a Defense Authorization Bill – must also pass the House. Republican leadership sources there say they are confident the Webb amendment, which failed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary to overcome a veto the last time around, would meet the same fate in the House now.

Still, if the Senate passes the bill, war-weary House Republicans may feel freer to vote for it.

Despite the optimism in the Senate, Democratic aides were reluctant to make any predictions, noting that shopping and reshaping proposals is “a gradual process.”

– CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley

Candy Crowley and the rest of the Best Political Team on TV will be covering President Bush's speech on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Watch CNN's Candy Crowley discuss what's at stake for President Bush as he announces his plans for the U.S. military in Iraq.  

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Many are wondering what President Bush will say in his prime-time speech to the nation about the Iraq war, but it's worth noting one phrase they surely will not hear: "Stay the course."

The president gave up that phrase long ago because it was further complicating efforts to sell a war with sliding public support.

But the fundamental question looming over the president's eighth prime-time address on Iraq is this: Regardless of how the president packages this progress report, will it amount to a de facto stay-the-course battle plan?

Full story: Analysis: Is Bush selling success in Iraq or buying time?

– CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry

Will former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner be the next Warner to represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate?

Watch Tom Foreman's report about the race to replace Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia.

Related: GOP: 'Don'tMarkWarner' 

Related: Warner reflects on retirement

Senator Obama said South Carolina voters just need some more time to get to know him.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – In an interview with South Carolina-based ETV Thursday, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he has "the strongest grassroots organization" ever assembled in the early primary state.

"Obviously, it's still quite some ways off before the South Carolina primary," Obama said in the phone interview. "We will be campaigning down there. We've got the strongest grassroots organization that I think folks have ever seen down in South Carolina."

Obama's campaign here is promoting their organizational efforts in urban and rural communities across the state with the goal of introducing the senator from Illinois to voters who may now know him as well as Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, or former Senator John Edwards, a South Carolina native.

"People are still getting familiar with my track record," Obama said. "We are going to be spending more time down there. There will be Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primaries before the South Carolina primary. By the time South Carolina's primary comes along, I guarantee you that people will know my track record."

"I think they will understand that we don't just talk about change, that I've stood for change for many years and I think they will be very confident in my capacity to lead this country and they will vote for me."

– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby

Giuliani greets a potential voter at an Atlanta restaurant Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – An average of six national polls released following former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's official entry into the White House race shows that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani holds a 7-point lead over the former "Law & Order" star.

The polls: ABC News/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times, USAToday/Gallup, NBC News/Wall Street Journal, CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, and FOX News/Opinion Dynamic, shows Giuliani at 30 percent with Thompson in second at 23 percent. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, polls 16 percent, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is at 11 percent.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, holds a commanding lead over Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, 44 percent to 25 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards comes in third with 16 percent.

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — Gov. Bill Richardson scored a significant endorsement Thursday from one of New Hampshire's top Democrats, former Manchester mayor Bob Baines.

"In the race for president, there are a few candidates with experience, and there are a few others who represent change," Baines said in a written statement. "Bill Richardson is the only candidate who can bring both change and experience to the White House."

Baines, who the Richardson campaign points out was twice named as one of New Hampshire's "Ten Most Powerful People" by a local business magazine, served as mayor from 2000 to 2006. He was defeated for re-election in 2005.

"In the battle for votes in the state's largest city, Bob Baines' endorsement is a clear win for Bill Richardson," said Scott Spradling, political director for WMUR-TV in Manchester. "Connected in city politics, Baines still has the type of access to a grassroots operation that you would expect a former mayor to have, and he can potentially provide access to supporters throughout the city."

The impact of the Baines endorsement on Richardson's long-term standing in the Granite State remains to be seen.

"Endorsements in New Hampshire are nice, but rarely have they shown to make a huge difference with independent-minded voters. What Baines can do is perhaps provide a new introduction to an audience he [Richardson] has not met yet," said Spradling.

– CNN New Hampshire Producer Sareena Dalla

(CNN) – Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra and former CIA and State Department official Cofer Black will advise former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on intelligence and terrorism issues, his presidential campaign announced Thursday.

Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, will oversee Romney’s Intelligence Policy Advisory Group, while Black will head the governor’s Counter-Terrorism Policy Advisory Group. The formation of these new campaign advisory panels comes the same week that the top commander in Iraq testified before Congress about the situation in the war torn country and several hours before President Bush was set to address the nation on the topic.

“We have made progress in securing our homeland since 9/11, but we still have much work to do,” Romney said in a statement released by the campaign. The former Massachusetts governor also said that “effective intelligence-gathering and counter-terror efforts that can prevent further attacks” are “critical” to the country’s security.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – It may be his last week on the job, but embattled United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he wasn't about to cancel a scheduled trip to Iowa. He met Thursday with local partners of a group that combats sexual abuse and exploitation of children, because he said it's an issue he and his wife view as "very important."

But at a news conference after the meeting, a reporter prefaced a question by mentioning that Gonzales has been harshly criticized in the weeks leading up to his resignation. Gonzales let out a subtle laugh. The reporter asked him how he'll look back on his tenure.

"With a great deal of pride, quite frankly," Gonzales said. "It's a great privilege to serve in this position, and when you serve in these positions obviously sometimes there are tough decisions and tough times that occur, but I think we did a lot of good things."

Gonzales cited an infrastructure that's been put in place to "protect our kids" as one of those positive things. He also said he thinks that under his watch a "lot of good things" have been done to protect the United States from another terrorism attack.

When asked if there was anything he regrets Gonzales said, "Well of course, we're all human and all of us make mistakes, and the thing that's important is to identify when those mistakes are made, acknowledge the mistakes, correct the mistakes and then you move on… So that's what I've endeavored to do as attorney general."

Gonzales' resignation takes effect Monday.

Click here for video coverage from CNN affiliate KCCI in Des Moines.

Related: Bush: Gonzales' 'good name dragged through the mud'

-CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

Obama said Thursday Oprah may stump for him on the trail.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in a TV interview here Thursday that having Oprah Winfrey in South Carolina "would be a lot of fun for everyone," and added the popular television host has expressed interest in hitting the stump.

In the interview with South Carolina's ETV, Obama also called Oprah and and his wife Michelle "two powerhouse women."

Oprah is supporting Obama's presidential bid, and hosted a lavish fundraiser for the senator from Illinois at her estate in Montecito, California, last weekend.

Asked if Oprah would come stump for him in this crucial early primary state, Obama said: "I can't make promises, but I know that she has expressed an interest in South Carolina and maybe we can pull that … Certainly it would be a lot of fun for everyone."

Obama did the interview by phone from Iowa.

Why would Oprah's presence here matter? Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are battling to win over African-American women voters in this state, and a new poll from ETV and Winthrop University that will be released tonight shows Obama and Clinton dead even among African-American women.

"The real tipping point in the Democratic primary election may be undecided African-American female voters-there are many more African-American female undecideds than males," Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said in a news release.

– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby

Watch the latest edition of 'Race to '08.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In the latest Race to '08 podcast, President Bush delivers remarks to the nation on the Iraq war. CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley and CNN's John Lisk gauge the political impact.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, picked up an endorsement Thursday from Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Mississippi.

Sen. Cochran’s endorsement comes a little over a week after Thompson formally announced his candidacy for president.

“Thompson is the candidate best able to win the general election in 2008 and carry our conservative values all the way to the White House,” said Cochran in a statement released by the Thompson campaign.

Cochran is serving his fifth term in the U.S. Senate.

– CNN Ticker Producer Xuan Thai

President Bush goes over a draft of tonight's address to the nation with members of the White House speechwriting staff Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007, in the Oval Office. With him, from left, are: Marc Theissen, Bill McGurn and Christopher Michel. White House photo by Eric Draper.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush is expected to emphasize what his administration calls "bottom-up" political progress in Iraq in a major address to the nation Thursday night, a senior administration official said.

Amid Democratic criticism and Republican concerns that the so-called troop surge has failed to produce national reconciliation at the top levels in Baghdad, the official said the president is expected to argue that grass-roots efforts by Iraqis are "laying the groundwork for national reconciliation" but there is a "long haul and tough work ahead."

Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq in January — a move known as "the surge" — in an effort to pacify Baghdad and its surrounding provinces amid rampant sectarian and insurgent warfare.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told congressional hearings this week the surge campaign has met its military goals of reducing sectarian killings by more than 50 percent nationwide and by more than 80 percent in Baghdad.

Full story

The NRSC went live with a Web site seeking to paint Warner as a liberal.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republicans wasted no time Thursday in launching an all-out offensive on former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who announced in the morning he would seek the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. John Warner.

Warner, a Democrat, once flirted with the idea of running for his party’s 2008 presidential nomination.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee went live with a Web site: http://www.dontmarkwarner.com/, at about the same time Warner declared his candidacy via video on his campaign Web Site: http://www.markwarner2008.com/, and by e-mail to supporters.

The NRSC Web site seeks to paint Warner as a liberal lawmaker who raised taxes and vetoed a bill that would have outlawed partial birth abortion. Warner, who left the governor’s office with a high approval rating, often touts his ability to work across party lines. Meanwhile, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and Rep. Tom Davis are considering running for the Republican Senate nomination.

– CNN Political Editor Mark Preston

Hsu left a note saying he intended to commit suicide, according to the Wall Street Journal.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Two days after The Wall Street Journal reported fugitive Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was found sprawled on the floor of a train cabin surrounded by pills, the newspaper reports Hsu drafted a suicide note before he went briefly missing.

The Journal reported in Thursday's edition that Hsu, who was convicted for investment fraud in the 1990's and failed to appear in court last Wednesday, sent copies of his suicide note to "several acquaintances and charitable organizations" before he boarded an Amtrak train bound for Chicago.

According to a recipient of the note who spoke with the Journal, Hsu "very explicitly said he intended to commit suicide," and also apologized if he put people "through inconvenience or trouble."

Hsu has raised campaign cash for several Democrats, but most significantly for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York. On Monday, the New York Democrat's presidential campaign said it would return $850,000 raised by Hsu to individual donors. The Democratic National Committee also told CNN it is now re-vetting $47,000 worth of contributions raised by Hsu between 2004-2007 verifying them with the donors directly.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Clinton said she would not actively ask the donors to make a new contribution to her campaign.

"We're not asking that that be done," she said, according to the Associated Press. "But I believe that the vast majority of those 200-plus donors are perfectly capable of making up their own minds about what they will or won't do going forward."

Earlier in the week, the Journal reported the peculiar condition in which Hsu was found on the train

Another passenger, Joanne Segale, told the newspaper she noticed several items spill out of his sleeping cabin, and when she peeked through the window and "saw a man who appeared to be in fetal position, bare-chested."

A crowbar was needed to open the Hsu’s cabin where he was found on the ground and unable to walk, the Journal reported.

Segale also told the newspaper she noticed "lots and lots of medication in that room. I could see pills on the floor and rolling around."

Hsu was taken to a Colorado hospital and then taken into custody by the FBI.

Hsu's attorney would not comment on his client's condition but he issued a statement last week describing Hsu as being under enormous and unbearable strain.

Related: Dems rush to dump donations from fugitive fundraiser

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Warner launched a campaign Web site Thursday and announced his intention to run for the Senate on YouTube.

(CNN) — Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner turned to YouTube Thursday to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated retiring Republican Sen. John Warner.

The former governor also informed supporters Thursday morning by email about his decision to run for the Senate.

The Web site, "MarkWarner2008," features a Web video in which he pitches himself as a moderate problem solver willing to work with both
Republicans and Democrats.

"I've decided the way I can contribute most to getting our country back on
track is to serve in the United States Senate," Warner said in the video.

Warner also said he will wait to make an official announcement until after Virginia's legislative elections in November.

Full Story

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby