Top Items:
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Clinton Gets an Instant Chance to Wield a New Weapon — It used to be that when a campaign had an argument with a news report, it put out a mass e-mail message disputing the offending item. That was a huge technological leap from the fax machine. — Now even e-mail may be growing quaint.
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Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
Waitress tells campaign reporters: 'You people are really nuts' — It's hard to say for sure when the "silly season" started in the media's coverage of the presidential campaign. If there was a "serious season," it was exceedingly short. I'm afraid I missed it. — But yesterday was unusually inane.
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
Things Are Tough All Over — But Mrs. Clinton is no Iron Lady. — The story as I was told it is that in the early years of her prime ministership, Margaret Thatcher held a meeting with her aides and staff, all of whom were dominated by her, even awed. When it was over she invited …
Discussion:
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The Prowler / American Spectator:
Huckabee's Salvation — Dr. James Dobson, who has largely been made irrelevant to the 2008 Republican presidential race, has apparently found his man, and according to an adviser, is ready to change the landscape of the Republican nomination race. — "He is the leader of the evangelical …
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Is it now official? — Can we just go ahead and crown Mike Huckabee …
Is it now official? — Can we just go ahead and crown Mike Huckabee …
Amanda / Think Progress:
Rove Decries 'Nutty' 'Vitriolic' Bloggers Who Spew 'Bad Words' — Yesterday, ThinkProgress attended a Yahoo-sponsored Citizen 2.0 event in Washington, DC, at which Karl Rove discussed the intersection of politics and the Internet. Rove lamented the loss of civility in politics on the web …
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Jon Ward / Washington Times:
Karl Rove's advice for fuming bloggers
Karl Rove's advice for fuming bloggers
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
New Jersey Rep. Saxton to Retire — Rep. Jim Saxton, the twelve-term Republican from New Jersey's 3rd District, plans to retire after his current term, an announcement that could come as early as today, according to sources familiar with his decision. — Saxton's retirement opens up a seat …
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Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
GOP Reps. Saxton, Cubin to retire — House Republicans were hit with two additional retirements Friday, losing a veteran New Jersey member with a history of winning comfortably in a competitive district and an underachieving Wyoming lawmaker who ran uncomfortably close races in a conservative state.
Discussion:
CNN Political Ticker
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
What happened to the Senate's "60-vote requirement"? — Every time Congressional Democrats failed this year to stop the Bush administration (i.e., every time they "tried"), the excuse they gave was that they "need 60 votes in the Senate" in order to get anything done.
Discussion:
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Noam Scheiber / The Stump:
Is Romney Running Away With It? — For all the attention Rudy Giuliani got with that Pat Robertson endorsement earlier this week, the numbers increasingly suggest Romney is going to be the GOP nominee. According to Pollster.com, Romney's up 14 points in Iowa (28.6 to Huckabee's 14.8 …
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
Edwards: I'm closer to Obama than Clinton — Edwards seems to be saving his artillery for Hillary, and sought in Des Moines today to minimize the distance between himself and Obama. — "The differences between Sen. Clinton and myself are much more dramatic than the differences between …
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New York Times:
Kerik's Corruption Case Dogs Giuliani — The scene outside the old Victorian-style courthouse in Dubuque on Thursday morning showed that the indictment of Bernard B. Kerik is at the very least a big distraction for Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaign.
Discussion:
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Beth Reinhard / MiamiHerald.com:
GOP's top tier to join Spanish debate
GOP's top tier to join Spanish debate
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
David Brooks / New York Times:
History and Calumny — Today, I'm going to write about a slur. It's a distortion that's been around for a while, but has spread like a weed over the past few months. It was concocted for partisan reasons: to flatter the prejudices of one side, to demonize the other and to simplify …
Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Lieberman Lashes Out at Democrats — WASHINGTON — The Senate's only "independent Democrat" is lashing out at the party whose vice presidential nominee he once was, accusing its leaders of betraying the tradition of presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy.
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Drew Cline:
Biden: Democrats have lost faith in the American people — Sen. Joe Biden said in an interview at the New Hampshire Union Leader this afternoon that too many Democrats, including the frontrunners for the presidential nomination, do not have faith in the American people.
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Rage of Reason — It's official: Bush Derangement Syndrome is now a full-blown epidemic. George W. Bush apparently has reduced more of his fellow citizens to frustrated, sputtering rage than any president since opinion polling began, with the possible exception of Richard Nixon.
The Atlantic Online:
Two New Hampshire Polls Will Show Shrinking Clinton Lead — Two new reputable polls of New Hampshire Democratic Primary voters will show statistically significant drops in support for frontrtunner Hillary Clinton, Democrats who have seen those polls said today.
Lisa Girion / Los Angeles Times:
Health insurer tied bonuses to dropping sick policyholders — One of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved. — Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million …