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Making News Today…

Viva Las Vegas

The seven Democratic presidential candidates head to Las Vegas Thursday for the CNN/Nevada Democratic Party Presidential Debate. This is the first event in the West to be sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. Tune into CNN and keep checking back to http://www.CNNPolitics.com  and http://www.cnn.com/ticker  throughout the week for the latest on this historic event, as the Democratic candidates head into the homestretch in the race for their party’s presidential nomination.

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Democratic presidential candidates will debate on MLK Day

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Congressional Black Caucus Political Education & Leadership Institute will announce Monday that its Democratic Presidential Debate will be held January 21, the nationally recognized holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

The event will be broadcast live from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, by CNN, CNN International, CNN Radio, and the network’s other platforms.  Full Story

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Mountain west battleground for '08 vote

ON BOARD THE CNN ELECTION EXPRESS (CNN) — We’re on the road to Las Vegas. That’s where CNN and the Nevada Democratic Party will hold a presidential debate this Thursday.

We’re riding the CNN Election Express, stopping along the way as we pass through the Rocky Mountains towards Las Vegas. We started this trip in Denver, along side the state capitol. The Democrats are holding their presidential convention in the Mile High City next summer. Setting aside California, it’s been 80 years since the Democrats held a convention west of Chicago, and they are coming here for good reason.   Full Story 

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The Best Political Team wants you

CNN is looking for an associate political editor with strong editing and reporting skills to help the network cover the historic 2008 elections. Primary responsibilities will be to edit and write for the CNN Political Ticker, as well as serve as an off-air reporter. Previous television experience is not required, but strong newswriting ability and experience covering politics are a must.   Full Story

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Political Hot Topics
(Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country)

Compiled by Lindsey Pope
CNN Washington Bureau

New York Times: A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing
The so-called Wounded Warriors Act, legislation intended to improve health care for veterans, has attracted nearly unanimous, bipartisan support in Congress. So why would the newly formed Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America begin running a television commercial urging the citizens of South Carolina to tell Congress to pass it?

Washington Post: Democrats' Provocative Iowa Dinner Conversation
In the space of an hour this weekend, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), using some of their most pointed and forceful rhetoric of the campaign, framed in stark terms the choice for Democrats deciding their party's presidential nomination.

AP: N.H. Poll: Romney, Clinton Lead, Obama Gaining
The Democratic race in the key early primary state of New Hampshire has tightened with Barack Obama gaining ground on front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a new poll released Sunday.

New York Times: A Weekend of Skirmishing for Obama and Clinton
Senator Barack Obama kept on the attack against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, accusing her of running a “poll-driven campaign” that avoided tough questions.

DC Examiner: Clinton: Go Slow on Social Security
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton marked Veterans Day by calling for new assistance programs, but said she would move more carefully than her rivals on dealing with looming shortfalls facing the Social Security system.

Wall Street Journal: In Iowa, Party Rivals Sharpen Jabs at Clinton
As the campaign heats up for the Democratic presidential nomination, a race within a race appears to be taking shape in the effort to win over the people who will lead off the balloting with the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

Boston Globe: Edwards, Obama Vie For Anti-Clinton Vote
Only a half hour after an impassioned John Edwards made his pitch to a standing-room-only crowd squeezed into a community college function room, a cheerful Barack Obama took the microphone amid a sea of voters on a middle school basketball court.

USA Today: Moved-Up Iowa Caucuses Could Hinder Youth Vote
Democrat Barack Obama is generating palpable excitement on Iowa campuses. But he's up against both history and new challenges as he tries to turn that energy into votes in the state's leadoff presidential caucuses.

LA Times: Thompson's Scarlet 'L'
Campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson raised his voice and shook his fists as he described his vision of an America true to conservative values.

Roll Call: Thompson Lags on Hill Support
Even though he spent eight years in the Senate, GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson (Tenn.) has failed to corral significant support from his one-time colleagues on Capitol Hill — a reality his backers argue is immaterial and detractors say adds to questions about his electability.

Boston Globe: Acting Fame Hasn't Eased The Campaign For Fred Thompson
As Fred Thompson admired rifles at a gun factory this week, some of the workers eyed him with a mixture of curiosity and bafflement. One employee, asked when he had learned that the actor and former US senator from Tennessee was running for president, responded, "Fifteen minutes ago."

Politico: Obama Records Requests Prove Fruitless
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) dodged questions Sunday about releasing papers from his eight years as an Illinois state senator, and his campaign has not answered records requests from the state’s two largest newspapers.

Des Moines Register: Edwards Equates Clinton, Bush
Hillary Clinton's campaign was acting like President Bush's when it recently planted a softball question from an Iowa audience member, rival Democratic candidate John Edwards said Sunday.

LA Times: Clinton No Open Book On Healthcare
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton presents herself as the candidate best able to give the nation better healthcare at lower prices, thanks in part to the searing experience she gained in trying to overhaul the healthcare system during her husband's presidency.

Washington Post: The Myth of the Iron Lady
If you consult the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which is democratically created by Internet users, you will see a pattern emerge in the phrases used to describe the first female leaders of many countries. England's Margaret Thatcher, you will learn, was called "Attila the Hen." Golda Meir, Israel's first female prime minister, was "the only man in the Cabinet." Richard Nixon called Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minister, "the old witch." And Angela Merkel, the current chancellor of Germany, has been dubbed "The Iron Frau."

Boston Globe: The Kitchen Strategy Won't Cut It
As first lady-to-be, Clinton once said, "I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession." The same woman, now running for president, is telling voters, "I'm very much at home in the kitchen."

The Times of London: Fear Of A Dynasty Denies Hillary Clinton Votes
BILL CLINTON is finding it difficult to transfer voters’ affections for him to his wife as opponents exploit concerns that two dynasties – the Bush and Clinton families – could dominate American politics for 28 years.

New Hampshire Union-Leader: Huckabee Convinvced He Can Beat Hillary
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee believes Sen. Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic nomination is a near certainty, and, he said, he's the only Republican candidate who can be effective against her. As evidence, he cites his experience of beating back the "headwinds" of the Clinton's Arkansas influence in the 1990s.

Boston Globe: Running For President, On A First-Name Basis
Republicans who have not already declared that "I'm with Fred" might be enticed to "ask Mitt anything" at a town hall meeting or to explore a webpage devoted to answering the question, "Why Rudy?"

The Hill: Udall To Run For Domenici’s Senate Seat
Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) will run for the Senate seat being vacated by New Mexico Republican Pete Domenici, the Associated Press reported on Saturday, citing the congressman’s chief of staff.

Roll Call: D.C. Democrats Launch Big 527
Prominent liberal activists last week laid the cornerstone for a network of unregulated Democratic-leaning political groups that are expected to dump perhaps $100 million or more into media buys and voter outreach in the run-up to the 2008 elections.

The Hill: Senate GOP Coordinates AMT Attack
Senate Republicans will launch a coordinated campaign next week to attack Democrats for dithering on legislation to shield millions of middle-class families from an unexpected tax hike and to convey stiff GOP resistance to raising taxes to pay for the relief, Senate GOP aides said.

Roll Call: CHC Revolts Over Leadership Snubs
Long-simmering frustrations within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus reached a crescendo on the House floor Friday, as Members staged a fiery confrontation with Democratic leaders and threatened to sink key tax legislation.
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On the Trail:

Compiled by Lauren Kornreich and Katy Byron
CNN Washington Bureau

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, address the United Auto Workers conference at Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa.

* Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, meets with the Ottumwa Courier Editorial Board in Ottumwa, Iowa. Later, Thompson drops by Smokey Row in Oskaloosa and meets with local residents at Uncommon Grounds in Indianola.

* Former Sen. John Edwards, D-North Carolina, delivers a major policy speech at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Later, Edwards holds a town hall meeting at Dartmouth College in Hanover.

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani holds town hall meetings in St. Charles and Mt. Vernon, Missouri.

* Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, attends a parade and ceremony to commemorate Veterans Day in Beaufort, South Carolina. Later, McCain meets with local residents at Trinity Restaurant in Hilton Head Island and attends the Lexington County Republican Party Bronze Elephant Dinner in Columbia.

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, delivers remarks via satellite to the National Congress of American Indians 64th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Denver, Colorado.

* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney meets with Gentex employees in Manchester, New Hampshire. Later, Romney visits veterans at the Harris Hill Retirement Home in Concord.

* Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, meets with Allamekee County Democrats in Lansing, Iowa.

* Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, holds a press conference to introduce a new campaign commercial in Des Moines, Iowa.

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson campaigns in Iowa.

* Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, talks about Middle Eastern issues and holds a fundraiser at the Cedar Rapids Islamic Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

* The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook

* The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook