Iowa Pastors Urging Rick Santorum Or Michele Bachmann To Quit Race

Two politically active pastors worry that Bachman and Santorum will split the evangelical vote.

“Otherwise, like-minded people will be divided and water down their impact,” said Rev. Cary Gordon, a Sioux City minister. He said he asked Santorum several weeks ago to consider exiting the race but has since endorsed the former Pennsylvania senator, who is rising in polls.

Rev. Albert Calloway, a retired pastor from Indianola, said he asked Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, several days ago to consider quitting the race.…

Bob Kerrey Considering Run For Nelson’s Nebraska Seat

Former Senator Bob Kerrey says it’s possible he’ll run for the seat being vacated by Ben Nelson.

“(It’s) a good idea to me. It makes me feel good,” said Kerrey.

One day after learning incumbent Democat Ben Nelson would not seek a third-term, Kerrey said he had already talked to people who would run.

“There are a lot of younger people in the Democratic party who could run for Senate,” said Kerrey. “I have to make sure it’s not me swooping in and taking an opportunity for someone else.”

…

Romney: Healthcare Mandate Is A Conservative Principle

Mitt Romney is now saying that the Massachusetts mandate for health care is a conservative principle.

Speaking Wednesday on “Fox and Friends,” Romney defended the Bay State’s healthcare law, which includes a version of the individual mandate, as inline with the Republican world view. The individual mandate was the centerpiece and most controversial aspect of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, which has widely been blasted by Republicans as governmental overreach.

“I’m happy to stand by the things that I believe. I’m not going to change my positions by virtue of being in a presidential campaign,” Romney said. “What we …

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson tells Alan why he’s leaving the Republican presidential race to run as a Libertarian.

• Psychic Jeffrey Wands shares his fascinating insights into the lives of Alan’s callers.

• Countdown to Caucuses: The latest on the final week of campaiging in Iowa.…

Nursing Mothers Have Feed-Ins At Target

Michelle Hickman (left) was breastfeeding at a Target store in Webster, Texas, when she was asked to move to a fitting room while eight employees surrounded her rolling their eyes. Now, nursing mothers are descending on Targets all over the country.

Mothers from across the country have posted pictures of themselves nursing at Target stores — from Maryland to Minnesota — to a Facebook page used to organize the event. (A Target spokeswoman has confirmed that nursing mothers showed up at Target stores today but said the chain was still gathering information on the scale of the demonstrations.)…

Hickman said …

Gary Johnson to Seek Libertarian Nod For President

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, formerly a Republican, has been liberated.

Calling his choice “both a difficult decision-and an easy one,” in a statement, Johnson decried the Republican presidential nomination process and pledged to bring a “libertarian voice” to the 2012 race.

Johnson blasted the inclusion of “candidates with no national name identification like Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, and John Huntsman” as well as “candidates with no executive experience like Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum” in presidential debates while he was “arbitrarily excluded by elitist media organizations in New York.”

…And after “appeals to the Republican National Chairman …

Trump Tweets Falsehood About Obama

Donald Trump claims President Obama issued a statement recognizing Kwanzaa but not Christmas.

It’s not true.

…

The Comedy Stylings Of Arlen Specter

It was open-mic night at Philly’s Helium Comedy Club.

…

Judge Rules Ethnic Studies Illegal in Arizona

An administrative law judge says ethnic studies violates Arizona state law.

Judge Lewis Kowal’s ruling marked a defeat for the Tucson Unified School District, which appealed the findings issued in June by Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal.

Kowal’s ruling, first reported by The Arizona Daily Star, said the district’s Mexican-American Studies program violated state law by having one or more classes designed primarily for one ethnic group, promoting racial resentment and advocating ethnic solidarity instead of treating students as individuals…

“However, teaching oppression objectively is quite different than actively presenting material in a biased, political and emotionally charged …

Senate Democrats In Peril?

by Stuart Shapiro

Ben Nelson was far from the most reliable of Democrats.  However he was a Democrat.  His retirement yesterday means that his seat will almost certainly flip to the GOP in 2012.  That increases the already solid chances that the Republicans had for taking over the Senate.  Nate Silver:

The problem, of course, is that Democrats were already in possession of 23 of the 33 seats. If they retained just 18 or 19, they would lose a net of 4 or 5 seats to Republicans — enough to cost them control of the chamber.

Thus, I concur …

Violence Between Clergy At Jesus’s Birthplace

Armenian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox priests went at it.

[They] screamed at each other and beat each other with broomsticks during Wednesday’s cleanup inside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

They were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January.

The two denominations each control sections of the church and fiercely guard their turf. The violence broke out when the sides accused each other of crossing into each other’s territory. Similar fights have taken place in past years.

Palestinian forces broke it up.…