Yet another GOP retirement: Rep. Regula (R-OH), from Roll Call (sub. req.)

Matt Lauer scores the Larry Craig and wife interview.

Key staffer to Rep. Lewis (R-CA) subpoenaed in on-going Lewis probe.

According to the AP, the Afghans are now also cracking down on the private security firms working in the country. Hard to believe that’s unrelated to the beating the reputation of these companies has taken over the last few weeks.

From some recent statements put out by the Clinton campaign:

Oct. 11, regarding torture: “It’s unfortunate that Barack Obama is abandoning the politics of hope as his campaign stagnates and is launching false attacks on other Democrats instead.”

Oct. 11, regarding Iran: “It’s unfortunate that Sen. Obama is abandoning the politics of hope and embracing the same old attack politics as his support stagnates.”

Oct. 8, regarding Iran: “It’s unfortunate that Senator Obama is resorting to the same old attack politics as his poll numbers start falling. . . . A flagging campaign is not an excuse to distort anyone’s record.

Sep. 19, regarding a lobbyist luncheon: ‘‘Increasingly negative attacks against other Democrats aren’t going to end the war, deliver universal healthcare, or turn John Edwards’ flagging campaign around.’’

Working to cultivate the sense of Clinton’s inevitability? Nah.

Chris Bowers has a slightly different take on some of these recent campaign statements.

Starting today we’re kicking off our weekly round-up of the 2008 campaign. Mainly we’ll focus on the presidential race, as we do in today’s kick-off episode, but not exclusively. We’ll dig into the House and Senate contests and various down-ticket battles. We do a lot of digging into various aspects of the campaign. And in these episodes I’ll try to distill it down to the key development and trends.

We want your feedback. So let us know what you think, both of the show, but also our analysis. We’ll include your responses and questions in future episodes …

(See this episode on Youtube.)

It seems that CIA Inspector General John L. Helgerson has probed too aggressively into the CIA’s detention and “interrogation” policies. So now CIA Chief Michael Hayden has decided to start investigating Helgerson. Hayden’s probe, says the Times, is looking into whether “has not acted as a fair and impartial judge of agency operations, but instead began a crusade against those who have participated in controversial detention programs.”

We’ll bring you more on this tomorrow.

The Nobel Peace Prize goes to Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Share your thoughts on Gore’s Nobel in our special discussion thread at TPMCafe.

In what the NYT and LAT are calling an “unusual” if not “unprecedented” move, CIA Director Mike Hayden is investigating his own inspector general, who has been highly critical of the agency.