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Making news today:

Romney: President needs prayers of people of all faiths

(CNN) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday articulated his position on the role of religion in America, but avoided details about his personal faith.   Full Story

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Edwards: NIE justifies opposition to Bush on Iran

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards Thursday said a new intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear program validated his opposition to the Bush administration's “saber rattling” against the Islamic republic.   Full Story

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Obama battles (Bill) Clinton

WASHINGTON (CNN) - He's been battling Hillary Clinton for months, but now Barack Obama is set to face off with her famous husband. Both the Illinois Democrat and former President Clinton were nominated for a Grammy Thursday in the spoken word album category.   Full Story

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Now you can take the Best Political Team with you anytime, anywhere. Subscribe to the “Best Political Podcast” for extensive coverage of the 2008 election.   Best Political Podcast

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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: Romney, Eye on Evangelicals, Defends His Faith
Mitt Romney asked the nation on Thursday not to reject his presidential candidacy because of his religion, assuring evangelical Christians and other religious voters that his values matched theirs in a speech that used the word “Mormon” only once.

LA Times: Evangelicals May Never Take Romney On Faith
The glowing reviews began tumbling in at once: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's speech on faith was powerful and convincing, analysts said - sincere, effective, hit all the right notes. But will it help Romney, a Mormon, win over the key voting bloc of conservative Christians?

Boston Globe: Getting Out The College Vote – When Campuses Are Empty
For a presidential campaign trying to mobilize young voters for the first-in-the-nation primary, University of New Hampshire students are typically sitting ducks. They congregate in dorms, dining halls, and the student union. They pack The Bagelry at lunchtime and sip coffee at Breaking New Grounds.

AP: Poll: Huckabee in 2nd Place GOP Race
Mike Huckabee has vaulted from nowhere into second place in the Republican presidential race, riding a burst of support from evangelicals, Southerners and conservatives, a poll showed Friday.

New Hampshire Union-Leader: Push Poll Probe In NH Continues
State investigators said yesterday progress is being made in a probe of possible illegal push poll telephone calls made in New Hampshire last month that conveyed negative remarks about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and flattering remarks about rival John McCain.

USA Today: Huckabee Has Fewer Resources To Fuel Momentum
In recent days, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has moved into second place behind Rudy Giuliani in two national polls. What's unclear is whether Huckabee will have the money to advance his candidacy in New Hampshire's primary Jan. 8 or beyond, if he wins or does well in Iowa.

Wall Street Journal: McCain's New Hampshire Glimmer
Campaign volunteer and retired physicist Bill Machell says he sees a change from a few months ago when he began telephoning voters on behalf of John McCain: Fewer people are hanging up on him. Could the Arizona Republican senator, at 71 years old, be this election's comeback kid?

NY Daily News: Judith Nathan Got Security Earlier
Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed – even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News.

Washington Post: The Line: For Obama, It Takes a Movement
For months, we've written that the only way for Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) - or any other Democrat for that matter - to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is to make the vote about more than just politics.

Boston Globe: Dukakis Says Obama Not Capitalizing On Grass Roots
Michael Dukakis, a former Massachusetts governor, says he's "baffled" why Barack Obama's campaign has not turned his grass-roots following into a more powerful ground organization.

Des Moines Register: Obama School Aid Hinges On Volunteer Programs
Federal assistance to schools would be based upon a district's ability to develop volunteer service programs, according to a plan proposed Wednesday by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during a campaign stop at Cornell College.

LA Times: The Clinton Resisters
On paper, they look an awful lot like Hillary Rodham Clinton. They are professional women of a certain age - politically active Democrats, liberals, unabashed feminists who remember what it was like to be told they could not become firefighters or university department heads, let alone president of the United States of America. You'd think they'd be rushing to support Clinton. But they can't stand her.

AP: Gennifer Flowers May Vote for Clinton
A onetime other woman in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s life has said she is considering voting for the former first lady.

USA Today: Edwards Ad Touts Him As People's Champion
Consistent with his populist message, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards blasts business-as-usual in Washington in a TV ad airing in New Hampshire.

Boston Globe: Group Assails Giuliani Comments On AIDS As 'Hypocrisy'
On World AIDS Day last weekend, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani vowed that if he were elected president he would "continue America's life-saving role as a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS until the day humanity can declare victory against this deadly disease."

Chicago Tribune: Huckabee Gets Last Spot On Ballot For GOP Primary
Barring any objections, Illinois' Feb. 5 Republican primary ballot will feature Iowa presidential front-runner Mike Huckabee along with major rivals Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and John McCain, candidacy filings with state elections officials showed Wednesday.

Politico: Ron Paul Blimp Charts Unprecedented Course
If a whimsical publicity stunt goes as planned, a blimp hyping the long-shot Republican presidential campaign of Texas congressman Ron Paul will launch next week.

NY Sun: Bloomberg's Electoral Calculus
States rich in electoral votes, such as New York, California, and Florida, could be Mayor Bloomberg's for the taking if he jumps into the presidential race next year as an independent candidate, political professionals say.

New York Times: Electoral Revision Misses June Ballot
A Republican-sponsored ballot measure that would have changed the way the state apportions its 55 electoral votes will not be eligible for the June primary ballot, its sponsors said on Thursday, in spite of promises a few weeks ago that the initiative would get enough money and signatures to do so.

AP: Schwarzenegger Reveals List of Donors
For the first time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a list of the millionaires and billionaires who pay to send him on lavish overseas trips, offering a glimpse into the elite business and social circles that critics say have unfair access to his power.

New York Times: Cellphones Challenge Poll Sampling
With more American households giving up their old-fashioned land lines and using cellphones for all calls, public opinion researchers are facing a challenge of how to make sure they are getting representative samples when conducting polls.

AP: Presidential hopefuls seem to dislike veggies
John Edwards has to be a mighty hungry man before he'll touch that mushroom on his plate. Mitt Romney says he's never met an eggplant he'd eat.

LA Times: Bush Loses Ground With Military Families
Families with ties to the military, long a reliable source of support for wartime presidents, disapprove of President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, with a majority concluding the invasion was not worth it, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

New York Times: C.I.A. Destroyed 2 Tapes Showing Interrogations
The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about its secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.

New York Times: Senate Backs Freeze on Tax Without Cost Offsets
Trying to find a way out of a sticky tax problem, the Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting millions of middle-class Americans without replacing the $50 billion that would be lost.

Washington Post: Hill Negotiators Drop Hate-Crime Provision
House and Senate negotiators yesterday nixed a measure to expand hate-crime protections, removing it from a Pentagon policy bill that is now likely to pass both chambers by wide margins.

New York Times: All the Makings of a Carnival, Except the Fun
Here, in the Cirque du Senate, there is trash-talking, whining and finger-pointing, bickering and, occasionally, brief flashes of serious disagreement on policy.

Washington Post: In Twilight of His Career, Warner Now an Environmental Maverick
There are easier ways to retire than this. John W. Warner was flat on his back - his coat was buttoned, his pocket square was perfect, but he was totally horizontal on a leather recliner wedged among his office's antique chairs. Warner had a leg infection that prevented him from sitting down. He was looking at the ceiling and talking about climate change.

AP: 2 Republicans Leave Page Board
Two Republican House members resigned Thursday from the board supervising teenage pages, accusing a Democratic appointee of failing to inform them about sexual and criminal activity by at least four youngsters.

USA Today: One Family, Three Campaigns: Udall Is Latest Political Dynasty
The baby-boomer generation of the West's quietly influential Udall family has reached a milestone: Three relatives are running for the U.S. Senate.
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On the Trail:

Compiled by Lauren Kornreich and Katy Byron
CNN Washington Bureau

* Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards participates in an AARP forum in Manchester, New Hampshire. Later, he attends a house party in Bedford and hosts town hall meetings in Peterborough and Claremont.

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, holds a press conference in Washington, D.C. Later, she heads to Des Moines, Iowa for a "Take Your Buddy to Caucus" event at East High School.

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will give a speech at the Manufacturers' Association annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago. Giuliani will then hold a town hall meeting at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago.

* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee starts the day in Charlotte, North Carolina where he’ll take questions from the press and attend a fundraiser. Huckabee will attend another fundraiser as well as the AARP South Carolina health care and lifetime financial security forum at the Frazier Park Community Center, in Bluffton, South Carolina. Huckabee will then receive an endorsement in the low country part of the state in North Charleston, SC and to end the day, Huckabee will speak at the North Myrtle Beach Republican Club Christmas party at the Barefoot Resort and Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach, SC.

* Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, will hold a town hall meeting followed by a media availability at the Atkinson Country Club in Atkinson, New Hampshire. McCain will then attend a community forum to “Commemorate Pearl Harbor and Honor Veterans at Hampstead Middle School.” McCain will visit his campaign's Nashua headquarters and then hold a town hall and press availability in Bedford to wrap up the day.

* Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, holds a "Generation Barack Obama" event with special guests at The Riviera in Chicago, Illinois.

* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will hold a "Strategy for a Stronger America: Strengthening America's Military" event at Fort Des Moines in Des Moines, IA.

* Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, attends a fundraiser for Iowa state Sen. Herman Quirmbach in Ames. Later, he attends a meet and greet in Boone.

*Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, will hold a meet and greet event at the Ohio Republican Party headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Thompson will travel to Iowa to give a speech and hold a question and answer session at Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport. Thompson will end the day in Des Moines and attend the Iowa Farm Bureau Annual Meeting "Tastes of Iowa" Dinner at Polk County Convention Complex.

* Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, participates in a town hall meeting with Air America's Ed Schultz Radio Show by phone.

* The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook 

* The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook