From Mike Allen’s Playbook: BREAKING NEWS 1: “BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi government official says U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Baghdad for a surprise visit. The official says the California Democrat is meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. … Pelosi’s visit to Baghdad on Saturday comes …

This country went from an expected decade of Republican majorities in the Senate and House as recent as 2004, to an expected Republican minority of 70 seats in the House…in 2008. John Harris & Josh Kraushaar: GOP Cancer: Party Could Lose 20 More Seats: Many House GOP operatives are privately …

Mike Allen’s Playbook on Saturday tells us JoMa took a book to a bachelor party this past weekend: This is piece adapted from Harwood & Seib’s juicy new book, “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power.” … It’s SO GOOD that bachelor-party-attending Jonathan Martin stole our copy and won’t give it …

Patrick O’Connor: Boehner’s GOP fix: A new committee Faced with dire predictions of an electoral bloodbath in November, House Republican leader John A. Boehner responded Wednesday by creating a committee to advise the National Republican Congressional Committee. … Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), who will serve on the committee, said its …

Politico introduces THE HUDDLE From the inaugural edition (Tuesday): Welcome to the first edition of THE HUDDLE – a BlackBerry-friendly, early-morning timesaver distilling what Hulse and David Rogers have filed, what Daly and Stewie are cooking up, and what Roll Call and Politico are breaking. Also today, Politico is launching …

The second graph of the Beltway’s best round-up should get you back up to speed: Good Monday morning. The president is off to Eastern Europe, the HUD secretary is out, the Treasury secretary wants to rewire the nation’s financial regulators, Al Gore is launching an ad campaign featuring Pat Robertson …

BlackBerry service out in N. America Disruption affecting all wireless carriers /Dang it! No Playbook on the Metro!?

Allen and VandeHei: Clinton victory makes fools of doubters