Via Chris Bowers, some indication that Joe Biden and Bill Richardson will urge their supporters to back Barack Obama in precincts where they’re not viable. Why? One bit of speculation I’ve picked up is that it’s Hillary Clinton’s close relationship with Richard Holbrooke. The 2004 rumor mill had the competition for John Kerry’s Secretary of State gig going to either Biden or Holbrooke, with the jostling getting ugly at points. But Holbrooke’s thought to have Clinton locked down. So an Obama win would be Biden’s best shot at moving into Foggy Bottom.

Alternatively, Biden may think that his combination of whiteness and experience is just what a Nominee Obama would be looking for in a Vice President, while if one squints at it right would could even see the argument that Richardson has the right combination of non-whiteness (there’s some thought that Latinos won’t be excited about a black candidate) and experience to be Obama’s number two man.

UPDATE: Ambinder says there is no deal which makes speculation about why there’s a deal a good deal less interesting.

Arriving today at Jay Leno’s California studio to tape the Tonight Show, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was greeted by picketers holding signs reading, “Huckabee is a scab.” Huckabee ignored Writers Guild requests to not appear on Leno’s show, which is going on-air without a union settlement. “Huckabee claims he didn’t know,” chief union negotiator John Bowman said. “I don’t know what that means in terms of trusting him as a future president.”

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Doesn’t the retracted autism-vaccine study prove all medical research is a hoax?

Today on MSNBC’s Hardball, former senator Jim Talent, now an adviser to Mitt Romney, discussed Romney’s record on gays. Talent maintained that Romney has never been inconsistent on gay rights and has “always” wanted to stop the influence of “the militant gays”:

He’s always had the same position as to regards to the gay agenda. Look, he wants to know people to know he values gay people as people, okay? But he doesn’t want the militant gays to be able to change the cultural institutions of the country.

UPDATE: Pam’s House Blend has more.

In response to Attorney General Mike Mukasey announcing he would appoint John Durham, the Assistant United States Attorney from Connecticut, to investigate the CIA’s tape destruction, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said “it is disappointing” that Mukasey “declined to appoint a more independent special counsel in this matter.” From his statement:

Because of this action, the Congress and the American people will be denied — as they were in the Valerie Plame matter — any final report on the investigation.

Equally disappointing is the limited scope of this investigation, which appears limited to the destruction of two tapes. The government needs to scrutinize what other evidence may have been destroyed beyond the two tapes, as well as the underlying allegations of misconduct associated with the interrogations.

The Justice Department’s record over the past seven years of sweeping the administration’s misconduct under the rug has left the American public with little confidence in the administration’s ability to investigate itself. Nothing less than a special counsel with a full investigative mandate will meet the tests of independence, transparency and completeness. Appointment of a special counsel will allow our nation to begin to restore our credibility and moral standing on these issues.

Today, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is heading to Los Angeles to appear as Jay Leno’s first guest on the Tonight Show since the writer’s strike began on Nov. 5. When Huckabee enters Leno’s Burbank, CA studio, he will have to cross a picket line of striking Writers Guild of America members, as the union is protesting Leno’s return without a settlement.

Speaking to reporters earlier today, Huckabee “professed his support for the striking television writers union,” but said that he didn’t realize Leno’s writers were still on strike:

Mr. Leno’s program is returning to the air for the first time since a long hiatus for the strike. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Huckabee said he was unaware that he would be crossing picket lines and believed that he the program had reached a special agreement with the union.

Huckabee is either confused or being intentionally misleading. Unlike his rival — CBS’s David Letterman — the producers of Leno’s show have not brokered any sort of agreement with the Writer’s Guild.

Additionally, before being challenged by reporters about the picket lines, Huckabee and his team indicated that they knew Leno’s writers were still on strike. Today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Huckabee’s wife, Janet, described his appearance on the Tonight Show as “an opportunity, really, for Mike, with the writer’s strike and everything, to go and give back to him [Leno].” Huckabee nodded in agreement. Watch it:

In an interview with the Associated Press yesterday, Huckabee joked about the strike’s stalled negotiations, saying that “if all else fails and this whole process doesn’t work out, maybe [Leno] needs a sidekick and I’ll be auditioning tomorrow.”

UPDATE: Alluding to Huckabee’s prior ignorance about the Iran NIE, ABC’s Jake Tapper reported tonight that his ignorance about the writer’s strike was just “the latest example of Huckabee being uninformed about a major event.” Watch it:

During the Dec. 31 broadcast of Fox News’ Special Report, Concerned Women for America President Wendy Wright claimed that proponents of comprehensive sex education are trying to “encourage” sex because “they benefit when kids end up having sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancies and then they lead them into having abortions.” She then added, “You have to look at the financial motives behind those who are promoting comprehensive sex ed.” Watch it:

(HT: Newshounds)