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Making news today:

CNN/YouTube debate draws record-breaking audience

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nearly 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate Wednesday night, making it the highest rated primary debate in cable news history. 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: Citing Statistics, Giuliani Misses Time and Again
In almost every appearance as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph W. Giuliani cites a fusillade of statistics and facts to make his arguments about his successes in running New York City and the merits of his views.

USA Today: Immigration Is GOP Hot Button
A long-running dispute between Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani centers on a term without a clear meaning: sanctuary city.

Washington Times: Immigration Groups Slam Huckabee As A 'Disaster'
Groups that support a crackdown on illegal aliens haven't settled on their champion in the race for the White House, but there's little doubt which Republican scares them most — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

New Hampshire Union-Leader: Iowa's 'Hot Ticket' Headed Here
How is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee playing in New Hampshire? Can he emerge from the single-digit morass in which he has polled here all year?

LA Times: A Surprise Turn In Iowa's Republican Race
With 34 days remaining, the Republican presidential race in Iowa has broken wide open, as Mike Huckabee surges into contention with the longtime front-runner, Mitt Romney.

Iowa Independent: Rumors and Accusations Cast Shadows on Brown and Black Presidential Forum
The [Brown and Black] forum, which is the oldest minority-focused presidential debate in the country, is one of the great traditions of the Iowa Caucuses, but local activists and campaigns have been frustrated by this year's planning and execution.

Des Moines Register: Iowa Ear: Happy Holidays, But Don't Tell Anyone
Iowa's political movers and shakers are hosting a number of holiday celebrations open to invited media, but with one caveat: They're off the record.

New Hampshire Union-Leader: Presidential Debates In NH Set Just Days Before Voting
Competing presidential debates the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary on Jan. 8 are infusing more drama into the final hours of the campaigns.

Boston Globe: With Iowa Tight, N.H. Becoming Clinton's Firewall
With Hillary Clinton faltering in polls leading up to the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary is looming as a possible make-or-break moment for her - in a place where she has most of the party's key endorsements and a sizable lead in the polls, but where a defeat could be devastating.

San Francisco Chronicle: Clinton, Democrats Find Religion, Court Evangelical Voters
A wise man once said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven - and it used to be nearly as tough for a Democratic candidate to take a presidential campaign to a conservative evangelical church.

Washington Post: The Candidate's 'Catch Me if You Can'
ABC correspondent Kate Snow was ready to push through the crowd and ask Hillary Clinton a question until an aide blocked the path of Snow's sound man as he aimed his boom mike in the senator's direction.

Washington Post: Obama Campaign Worker Discussed PAC Donations
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign helped recommend several of the donations his political action committee made in recent months to politicians in key primary states as the campaign was working to secure endorsements, campaign officials said yesterday.

New York Times: Obama Takes His Campaign to Harlem
Senator Barack Obama held a fund-raiser in Harlem last night, his first event in the historic seat of black cultural and political power since he announced his Democratic presidential candidacy and a place where Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton enjoys wide popularity.

Chicago Tribune's The Swamp: No. 37 In Iowa For Obama Offices
Armed with a large pair of garden sheers, Michelle Obama cut the blue ribbon Thursday to open the 37th Iowa office for her husband's president campaign.

USA Today: Douglas Wilder Cools on Obama
Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, is backing off plans for a quick endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama and is remaining neutral for now.

Boston Globe: Clinton, Romney Capture Notable Endorsements
Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney each picked up high-profile endorsements yesterday.

DC Examiner: GOP Gay Group Slams Romney in New Ad
A Republican gay rights advocacy group accuses Mitt Romney of "Mitt-flops" in a new radio ad that criticizes the former Massachusetts governor on his tax record.

USA Today: Watchdog Group: Most Lobbyists Giving To Clinton Don't Represent 'Real People'
The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics, today investigates what it calls the "lobbyist lobs" among Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Wall Street Journal: Host Indicted, Clinton Fund-Raiser Canceled
A Dec. 15 fund-raising event for Hillary Clinton at the home of prominent Mississippi trial laywer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs is off, now that Scruggs has been indicted for bribery.

Politico: Clinton Says Wife's Schedules Out Soon
Former President Bill Clinton told C-SPAN this week that he believes the long-inaccessible first lady schedules of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) will be released in January — in the heat of the first presidential nomination contests.

Seacoastonline: Biden: Impeachment If Bush Bombs Iran
Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without Congressional approval.

DC Examiner: Biden Won't Serve As Secretary of State
Joe Biden is complaining that his foes keep saying he'd be a great secretary of state. Nothing wrong with that job, he says, but he's running for president.

LA Times: CAUSE CÉLÈBRE: Is Chuck Norris Huckabee's Secret Weapon?
AN A-list celebrity endorsement can lift a presidential campaign. But Chuck Norris' seal of approval can kick-start the Airbus.

DC Examiner: Can Oprah Win Women For Obama?
She’s universally recognized, enormously popular and, as one entertainment Web site put it, “has more power over women than George Clooney.” But is Oprah Winfrey influential enough to help Barack Obama close the widening gender gap with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton?

The Times of London: Maybe Ron Paul Will Do For The Democrats What Ralph Nader Did For The Republicans
As an independent libertarian candidate (something he has been before but without his new national profile or money) Ron Paul would shave a few votes from the Democrats, as well as attracting others out of the woods, but the main losers would be the Republicans.

USA Today: Grass roots 'big ace' in Ron Paul's White House bid
Ron Paul joked during Wednesday's Republican debate that so much money is pouring into his campaign from the Internet that he's "struggling to figure out how to spend" it all.

Washington Post's The Trail: Macaca's New Gig: Richardson Staffer
Remember Macaca? The young man whose handheld video brought down former Virginia Sen. George Allen, has resurfaced in the presidential contest that Allen once hoped to be part of himself. S.R. Sidarth, the Fairfax student of Indian descent, is now a paid staffer in the communications office of Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson.

The Hill: Hunter Asks Bush For China Policy Meeting
Presidential hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is pressing President Bush to call a meeting with several congressional committees to discuss policy towards China in the aftermath of Beijing’s refusal to allow a Navy aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships to dock in Hong Kong last week.

Washington Post: Virginia GOP Gets Strict on Voting
The loyalty pledge to the Republican Party that Virginia voters will be required to sign if they vote in the state's GOP presidential primary on Feb. 12 is another attempt by the party to police the open primary system.

Roll Call: House GOP Aiding Wittman in Virginia Special Election
Less than two weeks before voters select a successor for the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), the National Republican Congressional Committee has begun sinking a modest amount of money into the race and House GOP leaders have set up a campaign committee to help the party’s nominee, state Del. Rob Wittman.

The Hill: Louisiana Treasurer Announces Landrieu Challenge
Louisiana GOP state Treasurer John Kennedy announced Thursday he will challenge Sen. Mary Landrieu, who is considered the most vulnerable Democratic senator up for reelection in 2008.

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On the Trail:

Compiled by Lauren Kornreich and Katy Byron
CNN Washington Bureau

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton address the Democratic National Committee's annual winter meeting in Vienna, Virginia.

* Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and his wife, Jeri, are guests on Larry King Live.

* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds an "Ask Mitt Anything" town hall meeting focusing on lowering taxes at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Later, Romney meets with Loras College students and attends a house party hosted by the Iowa Christian Alliance in Dubuque.

* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee delivers remarks at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce 2008 Presidential Forum Series in Concord, New Hampshire. Later, Huckabee plays guitar with the Tilton school rock band in Tilton and meets with local residents in Bow.

* Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd attend the First Annual Culver-Judge Holiday Party in West Des Moines, Iowa.

* Senator Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has a photo op with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Manhattan.

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivers remarks at town hall meetings at Sun City Pavilion in Okatie, South Carolina and at the Boca Raton Marriott in Boca Raton, Florida.

* Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, campaigns in South Carolina.

* Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, goes door-to-door with campaign volunteers in Tilghman Forest Neighborhood stops by Rick's Kitchen in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Later, McCain holds a town hall meeting in Seabrook.

* Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, attends a Fire Fighters for Dodd campaign event with Iowa State Rep. Patrick Kenned in Ames, Iowa.

* Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, attends the Republican College Convention in Manchester, New Hampshire.

* The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook

* The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook