GOOD MORNING! Obama & party leaves for Mandela service in South Africa; Senate returns to defense bill, nominations; Thad Cochran running for 7th term, despite Tea Party challenge; and Happy Birthday To...Tip O'Neil and Kirsten Gillibrand: It's Monday, December 9, 2013, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from Brittany Woods Middle School in University City, MO - THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL.

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Welcome to a great week,
Gabe FleisherEditor-in-ChiefWake Up To Politicswakeuptopolitics@gmail.comFollow me on Twitter (@WakeUp2Politics) here.Read more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch here, in the Clayton High School Globe here,and on NPR here.