By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

The CIA is going public with a promise that the al Qaeda chief is still Enemy No. 1. In recent comments, speeches, and interviews, officials have been reiterating their pledge to find the terrorist—dead or alive. Leading the campaign to get the word out has been CIA Director Mike Hayden, who told one group this month that the agency's goal remains finding bin Laden and blocking terrorist attacks. "I can assure you, although there has been press speculation to the contrary . . . that the hunt for bin Laden is very much at the top of the CIA's priority list," he said in comments provided to U.S. News. "Because of his iconic stature, his death or capture clearly would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers, both core al Qaeda and these unaffiliated extremists," he said. The agency believes that nabbing or killing bin Laden would pave the way to extinguishing the organization, in large part because al Qaeda has not suffered a leadership change in 20 years. However, al Qaeda has seemed able to regenerate lower level leaders as some have been reported killed. Here are some of Hayden's recent remarks on bin Laden to the Atlantic Council:

I can assure you, although there has been press speculation to the contrary, I can assure you that the hunt for bin Laden is very much at the top of the CIA's priority list. Because of his iconic stature, his death or capture clearly would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers, both core al Qaeda and these unaffiliated extremists, unaffiliated extremists throughout the world.

This is an organization that has never been through a change at the top. For 20 years, bin Laden has been the visionary, the inspirational and harmonizing force behind al Qaeda. Whether his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, could maintain unity in the ranks is a genuinely legitimate question. The truth is, we simply don't know what would happen if bin Laden is killed or captured, but I'm willing to bet that, whatever happens, it would work in our favor.

Killing, capturing, disrupting al Qaeda senior leaders, wherever they may find or seek sanctuary, is absolutely essential in thwarting attacks on the West. That's the key lesson from 9/11. Our understanding of this enemy and what it will take to defeat him changed on that day.

Never before have we faced an enemy so completely committed to our destruction and so completely irresponsible with human life. Al Qaeda is willing to sacrifice both its own operatives and the Muslims for whom it professes to fight.

This enemy, unprecedented in our history, requires a response that also has no model in our past. Let me remind you;one of the defining objectives of al Qaeda's theory of war is to erase the distinction between combatant and noncombatant, for themselves and for their victims alike. And that distinction between combatant and noncombatant has been an inviolate distinction in the laws and morals of the civilized world.

And so, this war presents us with operational, ethical, and legal challenges that we as a nation have not faced before. And at CIA, we have been at the center of this nation's response to that challenge, using our full authorities and our most advanced capabilities, always within law, always with executive and congressional oversight. Doing anything less than playing to the full extent of our authorities and our capabilities would be a failure to live up to the oath we took, which is to defend the nation.

I'm extremely proud that our efforts, together with those of the military, law enforcement, and our foreign partners, have yielded results, results in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and even in the world of ideas. I'm encouraged by the progress that's being made in South Asia today. And I'm grateful for the talent and dedication of the thousands of CIA officers involved in this fight.

Their work has helped us to disrupt many attacks, including one that would have rivaled the destruction of 9/11. But I'm also acutely aware that al Qaeda remains the most dangerous threat we face.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

The Democrats did it in Virginia and North Carolina. But turn Texas blue? That's exactly what the party has in mind as it already goes to work building a re-election platform for President-elect Barack Obama. "We want to make Texas the next swing state," says a party big shot. "We believe we can compete in Texas." It's not too far-fetched. Sen. John McCain's victory over Obama was half the margin of President Bush's Texas victory in 2004. And Democrats nationally won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote, one of the two major voting blocks in Texas. The official says the state breaks down this way: white versus Hispanic voters, "and we're making big inroads among Hispanics."

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

If you thought the 2006 Dubai Ports World issue was a prob, then Congress's look into another foreign security deal could be a real headache. Whispers hears that the House Homeland Security Committee has raised questions about a year-old, $1.9 million deal with a Chinese company, which will X-ray cargo being loaded onto cruise ships in Los Angeles. At issue: The company, Nuctech Inc. of Beijing, is run by the son of China's president Hu Jintao and does business with U.S. foes, including Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. The firm was the low bidder, and U.S. and British competitors feel Nuctech bid below cost to win the right to get its high-tech scanning machines into a U.S. port. The committee has raised questions, but for now, isn't pursuing a probe. But the case isn't closed. One question: Will Nuctech's computers be hooked up to Department of Homeland Security databases? For competitors, it's a bigger deal than the Dubai Ports World controversy. That was when Congress, worried about letting a foreign firm handle port security, attacked the administration's plan to let a security firm from friendly United Arab Emirates do the job.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

So far, at least nine more books about the 2008 presidential election and Barack Obama have been ordered up by publishers. Most will look at how Obama won and his background. For example, How Barack Obama Won, a state-by-state guide, is due out before Inauguration Day if NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd and cowriter Sheldon Gawiser can deliver. New Yorker's Ryan Lizza will diary Obama's first year in office for a six-figure check. Our fave: Big Girls Don't Cry, due out in 2010, about how the race and players like Sen. Hillary Clinton, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, television's Tina Fey, and Michelle Obama changed feminism.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

Newspapers, magazines, TV networks, and now, even the Associated Press is feeling the tight pinch of the recession and advertising stall. Long considered by reporters as a safe haven from the economic seesaw of local markets, the AP has cut the price it charges newspapers by $30 million. But that might not be enough for some. Scripps Howard, which has 17 newspapers and a Washington bureau, is in money talks with AP. "We are a member in good standing of the AP as of today," says spokesman Tim King. "I can't tell you what the future holds for the relationship because we are continuing our discussions with them concerning pricing."

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

You may think that its post-9/11 policies are out of date, but the State Department's venture into the digital world is nothing to scoff at. Its year-old "DipNote" blog has 2 million viewers, and top spokesman Sean McCormack has just gone YouTube in the diplomat's bid to bring State into the 21st century. "It gives a face and voice to the department," he tells Whispers. Going online wasn't easy, of course. It took two years to update the press room and website, but now, McCormack's ideas are in demand from other departments and even foreign governments looking to beef up their online presence. One discovery: The blog and his YouTube press conferences attract different audiences. The blog, done by midlevel experts on a bunch of issues, is big with older viewers. His YouTube meets, where people E-mail their questions for him to answer, lures a younger and quizzical crowd.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

If you didn't know that the two-war Pentagon was operating on shoestring, here's the latest evidence. Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has just canceled his annual Christmas party. The chief has just sent out cards announcing that he and his wife have decided to "forego their holiday reception this year" in light of the "trying financial times." The Mullens had been famous for welcoming friends and associates during back-to-back parties at their decked-out Foggy Bottom digs. The parties drew an eclectic mix of Pentagon brass, federal lawmakers, foreign military attachés, journalists, and stars bound for the annual USO Christmas tour for troops overseas. Last year, musician Kid Rock mingled among several dozen guests enjoying heavy hors d'oeuvres and a glass or two of their fave beverage while military singers and musicians dazzled with an array of holiday classics. According to the card, shown above, the Mullens will host a small gathering for wounded service members, their families, and the families of the fallen. So far, Mullen is the only one taking such drastic action as Wall Street, Main Street, and the incoming Obama administration grapple with job losses, evaporating retirement accounts, and depressed consumer sentiment.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

For conservative Republicans looking for a fresh face, Sarah Palin wasn't just the GOP flavor of the month. We hear that several conservatives from the Bush and Reagan administrations are quietly mobilizing a draft movement to make the Alaska governor a 2012 front-runner for prez.

Our tipster says that they have already purchased a Web address and are commissioning white papers from experts on how Richard Nixon and the Gipper followed defeats with victories. They are also drawing up a to-do list for Palin, including who she should meet with domestically and internationally for advice and a "candidate school" to get her up to speed on key issues and electioneering techniques.

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers.

He's the "terrorist" that Barack Obama was pals with, but Bill Ayers missed most of his headline role at the end of the presidential election. "I don't watch TV," says Ayers, a cofounder of the radical Weather Underground. "So, I only got the feeds when my three grown-up, very politically obsessed children would send me the occasional thing and then I would get the gist, I would get it. Or, I would see myself on Colbert and I would get that."

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers.

It may be the Obamas' favorite pizza from Chicago, but it's definitely a diss to Chicago-style pizza. That's right, the Obamas' favorite neighborhood pizza place, Italian Fiesta Pizzeria, is known for its thin-crust pies, not the mushy deep dish associated with the Windy City. This was a big surprise for Whispers when we got to sample slices at last night's Ritz-Carlton Inaugural Sneak Preview Show.

While the pizza wasn't Chicago-style, the Obama family seems to be on to something. The pizza was tasty. The thin-crusted slices were heaped with toppings like an Italian sausage and pepperoni combo covered with delicious mozzarella cheese. Even though co-owner Patti Harris-Tubbs (pictured above) and her fellow pizza makers were making the family recipe far from home, she tells Whispers she thought the pizzas made at the Ritz-Carlton tasted the same as they do in Chi-town. "They have the same ovens that we have back in Chicago, and we brought all of our ingredients, so it's worked out just beautiful," she says. Tubbs, whose family has owned the pizza chain (there are five outlets) since 1951, says this is the most media attention they've ever received. Since it was discovered that the president-elect loves their pizza, business has been booming. Booming so much that she might open a pizza place in Washington, too? "That would be a very big undertaking," she says. But those tasting the pizza last night were encouraging her to do so, with one gentleman even offering her an empty Washington storefront.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

Even before his pop became vice president-elect, Delaware's Beau Biden was on the rise. He was elected attorney general at 37, and the whole Delaware Democratic establishment expected him to be the easy choice to replace his dad in the Senate once Joe Biden takes his new job at the White House. But a higher calling entered. It seems that Beau Biden is one dedicated soldier. Already dispatched to Fort Bliss, Texas, for training with his 261st Tactical Theater Signal Brigade of the Delaware Army National Guard before a year tour in Iraq, Captain Biden spurned an offer to be an absentee senator by taking his dad's spot in Washington. And, family friends say, that isn't all he declined. Before departing for training, National Guard officials raised the issue of security for a vice presidential son in Iraq, clearly aware of other high-profile cases like that of former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's son, who is now serving in Iraq, and that of Prince Harry in Afghanistan. Their offer: Do his tour in Delaware instead. But we hear that Biden, in the judge advocate general's corps, responded with a firm "No Sir!" and has even gone out of his way to avoid interviews and photographers eager for his story. "Beau asked to be treated like any other member of the guard," says a family friend. That was no surprise to daddy Biden, who recalled that in Beau's 2006 attorney general's race, pollsters suggested that he be shown in campaign brochures wearing his uniform. Beau refused because he didn't want to change the easy rapport he had with his fellow guardsman. The VP-elect's reaction to all of this? He was heard telling friends, "I'm prouder of Beau than I am of any title."

Illustration by Joe Ciardiello for USN&WR