Daily Briefing: Go On, Pull Bush's Purple Finger
•Parties milk Iraqi election results to gain momentum into tomorrow's State of the Union address.Bush, validated, callsChirac, Schroder;Reid, Pelosidemand progress report. [ NYT , WP , USAT , WT ]
• Bushmay support limits to Social Security privatization; MoveOn.org begins targeted ad buy. [ WP , NYT , WT ]
•State Democratic Chairs override executive recommendation to endorseDean, setting path for victory. [ WP , NYT , LAT ]
• Bushwants to increase benefits for families of troops killed in combat to $100,000 from $12,420 and add $150,000 more in life insurance; would be retroactive. [ NYT ]
•Republican lawmakers balk at proposed Defense Department budget cuts that affect their states. [ WSJ ]
•Military contracts for troop services are costing much more than expected; $4b gap in one deal for Halliburton, $7b gap for Kellogg Brown & Root contract. [ WSJ ]
•WillBush's Social Security plan go the way ofClintonhealth care? Republican playbook says stay simple. [ NYT ]
•Prominent African American ministers begin drive to ban same-sex marriage; GOP wants to expand base. (Heh.) [ LAT ]
• Hillaryfaints during speech due to stomach virus. [ NYT , WP , WT ]
• Bushpledges educational "reform agenda" with expansion of NCLB;Spellingssworn in. [ WP , WT ]
•Networks reject ad opposingBush's medical malpractice reform; cleared by CNN. [ NYT ]
• Hillary's new emphasis on religion: calculated or genuine? [ NYT ]
• Robert Gatesdeclines offer to be first DNI. [ NYT ]
• Codeywill not run in NJ gubernatorial race;Corzineis favored. [ WP ]
• Reidprofiled as great balancer of state, national desires. [ WP ]
•Review: Gingrich's book is a "sloppy, poorly reasoned" possible jump-start for '08. [ NYT ]