Ken Rudin

In 1974, Richard Lugar was known as "Richard Nixon's favorite mayor," which didn't help his bid for the Senate. Now, with the Tea Party calling him "Barack Obama's favorite senator," he is in real danger of losing the GOP primary on Tuesday.

It's been a busy week in politics including Mitt Romney's five primary wins — making him the de facto Republican presidential nominee. Newt Gingrich, however, has still not pulled out of the GOP presidential race.

Candidates have gone into New Hampshire in the past with high expectations, only to be shot down, even if they won. Mitt Romney knows the Granite State is set with traps for his nomination.

As Iowa Republicans head to the caucuses to have their say, we look at how the candidates stack up on the eve of the vote — and how previous winners (and losers) eventually fared.

The Democratic Rules Committee agreed Saturday to seat delegates from the disputed Florida and Michigan primaries at the party's convention — but give them only half a vote each. The decision was supposed to help heal the party. But the opposite seems to have occurred, with angry supporters of Hillary Clinton promising to take their fight to the convention in Denver.

The Democratic Party tried to resolve its longstanding dispute over delegates from Michigan and Florida. On Saturday, the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee agreed to seat all the delegates from the two states, but give them each just half-votes at the August national convention in Denver.

The Rules and Bylaws committee of the Democratic National Committee meets in Washington to try to resolve whether to seat delegates from Michigan and Florida at the convention. The states were stripped of their delegates after violating party rules by holding early primaries.

The economy is emerging as a big issue in the presidential campaign. Presidential contenders in both parties are touting their economic plans for reviving the ailing economy. Upcoming contests will be critical for some candidates.

A poll of likely caucus voters in Iowa indicates Republican Mike Huckabee has opened up a lead over Mitt Romney. On the Democratic side, the poll gives Barack Obama a slight edge over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, but that race is still very close.

After the retirement of Sen. John Warner, and with Sen. Larry Craig's seat in jeopardy, where do Republicans and Democrats in the Senate stand ahead of the 2008 elections?

California will hold an early presidential primary in 2008. What does it mean for candidates in the race? The California primary will now take place Feb. 5, just three weeks after the first contest in the race, the Iowa caucuses.

In an announcement made on his Web site, Sen. Barack Obama says he will form a presidential exploratory committee. The first-term Democrat says he will go into greater detail about his White House plans on Feb. 10.