Good Tuesday morning. Atlanta Falcons fans had a bad day yesterday, with Mike Vick going to jail for twenty-three months and Drew Brees making their secondary look foolish. Somewhere, Jim Mora Jr. is secretly relieved. Here's what Washington is looking out for today:

-- The Senate is back to the farm bill today, and aside from weekly party lunches, they're debating and considering amendments all day. The first roll call votes will take place around 4 p.m. The House begins consideration of the State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill, H.R. 2764. Remember that number: The House will use that bill as the omnibus spending measure to get things done before Christmas. Other bills considered under suspension today include an expansion of the Do Not Call Registry and its extension. The Senate Intelligence Committee begins an investigation of the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes today as Attorney General Mike Mukasey briefs the committee. Expect more than just a briefing from other big players as the House gets involved as well.

-- Whether the House votes on the massive half a trillion dollar omnibus bill today is unclear, as House Appropriations Chairman David Obey last night declined to file the bill. Obey said he is looking to cut funding to the president's requested domestic levels if it means ending any link between domestic spending and the war in Iraq. Democrats had offered the White House billions of dollars for the war, without strings attached, if Bush would sign a bill increasing domestic spending by a fraction of that total. "I'm not in the business of trying to pave the way for $70 billion or $90 billion for Iraq for $10 billion in table scraps," Obey told Washington Wire. The deal had been first floated by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who is said to have made Obey and Speaker Nancy Pelosi livid with his remarks.

-- It's Election Day in Virginia 01 and Ohio 05. It is unlikely that Democrats will come close to beating Republican Rob Wittman in Virginia, to replace the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis. But in Ohio, State Rep. Bob Latta faces an uncomfortably close race for re-election. In fact, a poll conducted for the Latta campaign showed him trailing two-time Democratic nominee Robin Weirauch, Politico's Josh Kraushaar reports. The NRCC has spent more than $425,000 on the race, a huge percentage of their bank account. Still, it's a good investment: If Republicans lose the seat, which President Bush carried by twenty points both times he ran, the Republicans in trouble storyline will continue unabated into next year, depressing fundraising even further. Stu Rothenberg notes that today's race could be the nadir of Ohio Republicans' recent troubles, and that polls don't mean much because of the low turnout in special elections. Today's weather: 34 degrees and raining at 7 a.m. local, heading up to 39 degrees and raining all day.

-- We've already seen new third party ads taking on a number of candidates. The Boston Globe reports we're not done yet. The Club for Growth, long an arch-enemy of Mike Huckabee, is up with another spot in Iowa -- and a $175,000 media buy to air it. Hillary Clinton has been hit for her abortion positions, Mitt Romney on flip flopping. One can only imagine the mailings prepared for South Carolinians detailing Rudy Giuliani's many flaws. And, the Globe reports, it's easier than ever to start a PAC or a 527 and go after candidates running for President. Why the sudden proliferation of outside groups? Thanks to John Kerry's weak reaction to Swift Boat Veterans in 2004, which helped sink his '04 bid.

-- The opposition research game that outside groups play is not theirs alone. Campaigns have research divisions for a reason, and Barack Obama's is not engaged only in finding nice, positive things to say about people. Instead, Obama is circulating a flier in Iowa attacking John Edwards with what Jake Tapper sees as some below-the-belt shots. The campaign says the piece is in response to a local union asking for differences between the two, but as it tries to connect Edwards to closing Maytag plants in Iowa, Illinois and Arkansas, Obama's people, Tapper said, should remember than their candidate is probably more closely linked to (but still not responsible for) the closings.

-- The shot proves once again that John Edwards should not be overlooked in Iowa. In fact, a new CNN/Opinion Research poll out this morning shows that Edwards' whole electability argument is actually accurate: Edwards does better than every other Democrat against every leading Republican. On the GOP side, once again it's John McCain who does better than any fellow Republican when matched up against top Democrats, beating Clinton by two, pulling even with Obama and losing to Edwards by the slimmest margin. Lastly, Mike Huckabee, who despite being in the top tier still has low name recognition nationwide, trails Democrats by more than any other Republican, down 10 point to Clinton, 15 to Obama and 25 to Edwards.

-- Still, Huckabee's support is growing, as NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports. A fundraiser planned for Dallas yesterday had to be moved twice to accommodate a huge crowd. The campaign, which now trails Rudy Giuliani by a few points in national polls, has spent next to nothing -- just $750,000, O'Donnell reports. But they're ramping up the organization, adding to their 45 staffers nationally with organizers in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Even Huckabee's offices are getting bigger: Someone took out a few walls in the Gov's downtown Des Moines office space, making it three times bigger to handle the influx.

-- Celebrity Endorsement Of The Day: Forget Oprah Winfrey. Barack Obama has the backing of Kal Penn, the co-star of "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," one of the strangest but funniest movies Politics Nation has ever seen, The Swamp reports.. With Penn's obviously huge endorsement, Oprah must feel terrible that she didn't get in with Obama sooner. OnCall has a compilation of celebrity endorsements, somehow leaving Penn off Obama's list. Looking at the Democrats, at least, the list is pretty self-evident: Obama's got the cool kids (Winfrey, Clooney, Jessica Biel, Will Smith, Zach Braff). Clinton's got the establishment (Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand, Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Carole King). Edwards has the middle America types (Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt). And Richardson has, somehow, Lee Iacocoa and the New Mexico-native Unser family.

-- Today On The Trail: Mike Huckabee is in Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Creston and Osceola, Iowa, before finishing his day in Des Moines. Rudy Giuliani meet supporters in California, while Mitt Romney meets locals in Des Moines. John McCain is in Inman, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, while Ron Paul gives speeches in Sioux Center and Sioux City and attends a rally in Council Bluffs. On the Democratic side, John Edwards holds town hall meetings in Clinton and Muscatine, then holds an event with the United Steelworkers in Davenport. Hillary Clinton has a big fundraiser with Warren Buffett and Barack Obama has a giant fundraiser in south Seattle.