Here comes Oprah Winfrey, all weekend long, beating the drum for Barack Obama, in South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire.

It's now a stadium event in South Carolina. Can "the nation's wealthiest African-American woman" have an impact on the voters of a poor state like South Carolina? The race card is already in play. African American supporters of John Edwards are calling the Oprah-Obama tour a publicity stunt.

More...

As Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee was pretty good on immigrants' rights. Today, he released his proposed immigration plan, and it's an about-face.

His new immigration plan does not address education, health care or other services provided to illegal immigrants....In addition to building the fence and installing surveillance cameras along the border, and adding law enforcement agents, the plan would, among other things:

• Punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, create a system to verify citizenship and stop the IRS and Social Security Administration from accepting fake Social Security numbers.

• Pass a tax plan, called the FAIR tax, which would eliminate the IRS as well as income, corporate, payroll and other taxes in favor of a 23 percent sales tax. Huckabee said this would credit an economic disincentive for illegal immigration.

• Eliminate the visa lottery system and admission preferences for brothers and sisters of citizens, increase visas for highly skilled and educated applicants and expedite processing for Armed Services members.

• Force illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before they are allowed to apply to return to the U.S.

It also rejects the Mexican consular ID card.

The New York Daily News reports that Judith Nathan received security from the NYPD for months before the affair went public.

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.

"It went on for months before the affair was public," said Lee Degenstein, 52, a retired Smith Barney vice president who formerly lived at 200 E. 94th St., Nathan's old building.

In January, 2001, Bernie Kerik said Judith received protection as a result of a threat in December, 2000. The affair became public in May. Now, the neighbors say she received sporadic protection since early in 2000.

Former neighbors of Nathan's, as well as a law enforcement source, describe a full-scale valet service at Nathan's beck and call well before the affair became public.

The Giuliani campaign now revises its story.

They said Nathan had received previously undisclosed "threats" earlier in 2000, and that protection was provided at those times.

One question: How could she need protection because of a threat before she was a public figure or publicly identified as the Mayor's girlfriend?

Former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is taking a lot of heat these days over his clemency decisions while Governor -- particularly that of Wayne Dumond. Huckabee's latest statement, released today, is here.

This is a complicated tale. For the facts of the Dumond - Ashley Stevens rape case, and why Huckabee might have had doubts about Dumond's guilt, based on problems with the scientific evidence and Stevens' identification of Dumond, there's no better source than the appellate court opinions on the case. Here are four of them:

• January, 1988
• January, 1989
• September, 1989
• August, 1990

TalkLeft contributor Last Night in Little Rock also known as John Wesley Hall, was Wayne Dumond's post-conviction attorney. In addition to seeking post-conviction relief in the state courts, John represented Dumond in his federal habeas actions, the pre-Huckabee clemency request and in the civil case against Sheriff Coolidge Conlee, who displayed Dumond's castrated testicles on a jar on his desk. John obtained a $150,000.00 verdict for Dumond for the tort of outrage. The Sheriff later died in prison while serving his own 20 year sentence for extortion, gambling and other crimes. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9/26/96, available on Lexis.com)

An interview with John about Dumond's sentence commutation and clemency, the roles of former Lt. Gov. Tucker, Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee, Dumond's castration and his thoughts on Dumond's original rape conviction, from evidentiary doubts to the sentence disparity, follows:

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake, 12/06/07]

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive....

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is on the ropes after his repeated denials that he recommended parole for Arkansas rapist and murderer Wayne Dumond. For background on the Wayne Dumond case, check out Byron York's article today at the National Review.

It began in September 1984, when Dumond, a 35-year-old handyman, kidnapped and raped a 17-year-old high-school cheerleader in the small eastern-Arkansas town of Forrest City. Dumond was allowed to remain free on bond while awaiting trial, and in March 1985 two masked men entered his house, tied him up with fishing line, and castrated him. People were stunned; the case, already notorious, became much more so. And that was before the local sheriff, a rather colorful man named Coolidge Conlee, displayed Dumond’s severed testicles in a jar of formaldehyde on his desk in the St. Francis County building. Amid tons of publicity, Dumond was found guilty and sentenced to life plus 20 years.

The case took on a political coloring when it became known that the victim was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton. After conviction, Dumond, who claimed he was innocent, asked Clinton for clemency. Clinton declined.

For details about what Huckabee knew about Dumond and when he knew it, see Murray Waas' article at the Huffington Post yesterday. Also, here's a detailed chronology (pdf) of events concerning the case.

York interviewed Huckabee last August about his role in Dumond's release. [More...]

A federal judge has ruled the DNC can exclude Florida delegates from the convention as a penalty for moving up their primary date.

[U.S. District Court] Judge Robert Hinkle said that political parties have a First Amendment right to set their own rules and enforce them. The national party did that, which means that Florida will not have a say in picking the Democratic nominee.

Florida's set its primary for January 29 even though the rules don't allow them before February 5, so as to maintain the importance of the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Two other states, Nevada and South Carolina, are also allowed early primaries "to add geographic and racial and ethnic diversity."

Apparently so says a just released LATimes/Bloomberg poll:

The new numbers -- 17% for Huckabee and 23% for Giuliani -- show a steep slide by the former New York mayor since October's poll (when he had 32%) and a more than doubling of Huckabee support from 7% back then. This could mean the conservative religious vote, variously estimated at 20% to 40% of the Iowa caucuses, appears to be congregating around the genial Arkansan, who until now has lagged in fundraising. Such encouraging results may help donations now.

And the Dems? Better news for Hillary than recent polls:

In the Democratic race, the new Times poll numbers show that despite numerous attacks and Iowa state polls revealing a tight race there among Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama, Clinton remains the solid national frontrunner. Clinton's national support among Democrats is 45%, down slightly from October's 48% but still more than twice that of Obama at 21% (who rose slightly from 17%) and four times Edwards' 11%, which is four points under Undecideds. . . . The Democrats' margin of error is plus or minus 4%; the GOP margin is plus or minus 5%. The poll of 529 Democrats and 428 Republicans was conducted Nov. 30-Dec. 3.

To use seasonal jargon, it appears, as Jeralyn points out Rudy is roasting over an open fire of corruption.

The AP is reporting Rudy Giuliani has stepped down from Giuliani Partners and turned control over to Peter Powers.

The firm, started by the former New York mayor when he left City Hall, earned Giuliani around $4 million last year. The spokeswoman said he would retain his equity stake in the company.

Shell game. It's still his company if he retains his equity interest. Sounds like a p.r. move to better justify not releasing details about the firm's clients.

ABC News has a new Rudy Giuliani tainted friends story, this one about Hank Asher, a one-time drug dealer who cooperated, found redemption (sarcasm) and made a $700 million fortune.

Asher, earlier in his life, had, by his own admission, smuggled plane-loads of cocaine worth millions of dollars from the Bahamas to the U.S. He later cooperated with law enforcement in an effort to end similar smuggling operations.

Since 2005, he has been Giuliani's partner along with the Mayo Clinic in Jari Research, a business set on finding a bone marrow cancer cure and making a profit. Self-educated, worldly, charismatic and larger than life, according to associates, Asher, a high school dropout at age 16, today is worth north of $700 million.

I don't think this is a worthwhile story -- or that it hurts Giuliani. Asher is named but not charged in the indictment of Orange County, CA Sheriff Michael Cardona because he gave the Sheriff and some deputies and their wives Cartier watches.

"On or about December 19, 2002, defendant Deborah Carona and co-conspirator George Jaramillo (assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo) accepted as gifts from H.A., a businessman who owned a data mining software company, yellow gold and diamond Ladies Cartier Watches worth approximately $15,000 each."

Buried on page 3 of the article:

There is no allegation in the document that he [Asher] attempted to influence any purchases or other decisions by the county.

I especially don't think F. Lee Bailey will be happy to be declared dead.

Asher's friends span the spectrum from Rudy Giuliani to Jesse Jackson and the late F. Lee Bailey. His business supporters have included Giuliani, Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. (my emphasis.)

As far as I know, F. Lee Bailey is still alive. [More...]

Vanity Fair has an advance copy of an article about Rudy Giuliani from its January issue, A Tale of Two Giulianis. It's about his shady connections and troubling client list at Giuliani Partners. The intro:

On the back of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani refashioned himself as a national hero, a top presidential candidate—and, through his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, became a very wealthy man. But the questionable backgrounds of some of the firm’s clients make one wonder what Rudy wouldn’t do to make a buck. As Giuliani’s former crony Bernard Kerik faces trial, the author uncovers troubling signs of greed, poor judgment, and conflict of interest.

I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing.

(Speaking for myself only.)

As a weak Obama supporter at this time, folks will likely take my thoughts, rightly, with a grain of salt. But this most recent Gallup poll demonstrates, to me at least, that Barack Obama has a real chance to grab the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton:

Clinton's standing among Democrats dropped by 11 percentage points from early November and Giuliani's standing among Republicans fell by 9 points, though both continue to lead their fields. . . . Among Democrats, Clinton's fall wasn't matched by a statistically significant rise for chief rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards. Obama's standing rose 2 points from early November while Edwards was steady.

Clinton has slipped significantly. But Obama has not moved up. Why? I believe the reason is the doubts I have had and written about for some time - the doubt that Obama can fight for Democratic values against a vicious Republican Party. And I am not just talking about in a campaign. I mean as President as well.

Obama needs to demonstrate that he can fight FOR Democratic values and AGAINST Republican values. He needs to change this:

Clinton leads Obama by 26 points among Democratic partisans and 22 points among women.

Here is news of a poll that not only shows Hillary Clinton leading, but Obama behind Edwards, thus "disproving" my theory that Edwards is done:

Dems: Clinton 31, Edwards 24, Obama 20, Richardson 11.

GOP: Romney 25, Huckabee 22, Giuliani 16, Thompson 9, McCain 8.

Margin of error: 6%

My response? All polls stink are questionable.