Huckabee Announces Presidential Bid

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee yesterday announced plans to form a presidential exploratory committee, hoping to carve out a conservative niche in an increasingly crowded field of Republican candidates.

• Huckabee Announces Presidential Bid

Democrats Worry About Clinton's High Negatives

"Prominent liberal Democrats" in Sen. Hillary Clinton's "home base of New York City privately express the opinion that she has unsolved political problems," according to Robert Novak .
"These critics note that Clinton's negative national ratings remain high (around 45 percent). She also generated similarly low ratings for her Senate re-election bid in New York last year, but she won in a landslide against token Republican opposition. Clinton's performance in Iowa last week received poor reviews from liberals at home, who did not laugh at her little joke aimed at husband Bill Clinton when she was asked about her ability to handle 'evil, bad men.'"
"The most likely left-of-center alternative to Clinton, in New York as elsewhere, appears to be former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina."

• Democrats Worry About Clinton's High Negatives

New Advertising Opportunity

We're pleased to unveil a new advertising feature on Political Wire called "live linking ads." These are just like the ads in the right hand column except that they contain headlines from your website -- whether you're a political campaign, an advocacy organization or any website that generates a RSS feed.
These ads work in both the premium and regular slots. When buying the ad, simply use this code in place of the text:
@RSS:http://yourdomain.com/yourfeed.xml
When the ad goes live on Political Wire, you'll get the latest 10 headlines from your RSS feed under the graphic, updated every 15 minutes.
Early testing shows these have a click thru rate more than three time higher than traditional ads. But since they are still in beta, we're not charging extra for them yet.
For more details, see the technical description of the new feature at BlogAds or email them at the address in the top of the right hand column.

• New Advertising Opportunity

For GOP, Discord In Dissent On Iraq

Republican misgivings over President Bush's new war strategy are increasingly dividing the GOP as the Senate moves toward a showdown over the deployment of 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

• For GOP, Discord In Dissent On Iraq

What's the Matter With Kansas>

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?....Apparently it's not just liberals who are asking that question anymore. Steve Rose, chairman of the Johnson County Sun, who admits that the policies of the Democratic Party still make him "cringe," has nonetheless had enough...

• What's the Matter With Kansas>

Contempt

CONTEMPT....Tucker Carlson talks to Chris Matthews:CARLSON: It goes deeper than that though. The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power. ....MATTHEWS: So this gay marriage...

• Contempt

Senate Rejects Minimum Wage Hike

A bill fusing a reduction in inheritance taxes to an increase in the minimum wage went down to defeat in a 56-42 Senate vote. The minimum wage of $5.15 an hour hasn't gone up since 1997; the election-wary Senate might revisit the issue this fall.

• Senate Rejects Minimum Wage Hike

In IN-7, Carson in Unexpectedly Close Race

In Indiana's 7th congressional district, a new Research 2000 poll shows Rep. Julia Carson (D) beating Eric Dickerson (R), 48% to 43%.
Carson's poor health has been an issue in the campaign as she "has high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes and took a one-week leave of absence from her congressional duties in 2003 for what she called routine medical appointments. She missed dozens of votes in 2004, saying she felt bad and had no energy."

• In IN-7, Carson in Unexpectedly Close Race

Foley Case a Test for Ethics Panel

Despite an uncharacteristic spurt of activity, the House ethics committee is unlikely to complete its investigation of the Mark Foley page scandal before the election, but it may issue an interim report on Foley's activities and how the GOP leadership responded to warnings, according to sources.

• Foley Case a Test for Ethics Panel

GOP Aims to Scare Up Big Voter Turnout

With top Republican strategists now privately predicting substantial House losses, President Bush and top GOP officials plan to spend the final days of the 2006 campaign attempting to rally partisans and limit conservative defections with dire warnings about the consequences of a Democratic...

• GOP Aims to Scare Up Big Voter Turnout

The Woman Who Would Be Speaker

On election night 2004, Nancy Pelosi faced a painful reality: Her party was again a big loser, failing to win the presidency and losing three more House seats. Pundits were suggesting Pelosi should accept her fate as the leader of a permanent House minority.

• The Woman Who Would Be Speaker

The Columnist Who Shut Up to Speak Out

CLEVELAND At a lively Democratic gathering in a nearby suburb, Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is talking up his wife to the party faithful. He says, as he always does in this part of Ohio, that the crowd probably already knows Connie Schultz as a prizewinning newspaper columnist. It is a... Fran......

• The Columnist Who Shut Up to Speak Out

Rank Would Guide Pelosi As She Chose Chairmen

If Democrats win control in November, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has decided to award committee chairmanships based almost entirely on seniority, ensuring that the House would feature far more minority faces, and some liberal firebrands, in key posts.

• Rank Would Guide Pelosi As She Chose Chairmen

Air America Files For Bankruptcy

Air America Radio, which has tried to create a liberal talk and news network to challenge the dominance of conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but said it would remain on the air.

• Air America Files For Bankruptcy