Notes from the parlor game people can't seem to stop playing:

Ted Kennedy puts John Kerry on the clock and says, declare soon or I'm going to support someone else - like Osama-Obama.

Despite the fact Obama seems to have lit a bit of a fire under her, Hillary says she won't declare until after the New Year.

Meanwhile, Iowa Dems tell Hillary she needs to stop being such a "control freak." Also this from the same story:

Asked whether red-hot potential rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would be a good President, Clinton responded with

a chuckle, which has become her trademark style of ducking questions.

Dan Wasserman of the Boston Globe nails Hillary's mood here.

E.J. Dionne says a showdown with Obama would be good for Hillary: "A Clinton-Obama contest would require Clinton to shed some of her caution. It would create enormous popular interest in the Democratic Party. And if she were to beat Obama -- this assumes, as I expect, that Obama will look just as formidable a year from now as he does today -- Clinton would prove her mettle, which might finally put the doubts to rest."

John Podhoretz labels Obama " The Rorschach Candidate" in the New York Post.

Al Gore, still hanging around: "I am not planning to run for president again," Gore said last week, arguing that his focus is raising public awareness about global warming and its dire effects. Then, he added: "I haven't completely ruled it out."