Top Items:
Tim Grieve / Salon:
Clinton co-chair apologizes for Obama drug-use remarks — Billy Shaheen, a national and New Hampshire co-chair for the Hillary Clinton campaign, says he's sorry that he raised questions Wednesday about Barack Obama's past drug use, and he insists that the Clinton campaign had nothing to do with it.
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Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Clinton Aide Sees Problem for Obama — DES MOINES — A top adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that Senator Barack Obama's admission of illegal drug use as a young man could threaten his electability and be seized on by Republicans if he won the Democratic presidential nomination.
Glenn Thrush / Newsday:
Clinton insiders question top aide's approach — Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at a "town hall meeting" in San Francisco December 11. (McClatchy-Tribune / December 11, 2007) — DES MOINES - On the eve of the final Iowa debate before the Jan. 3 caucuses …
Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:
A Dud From Team Clinton — David Axelrod, the seasoned Chicago Democratic operative who is chief strategist for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, was taken by surprise in the last minute of CBS's "Face the Nation" on Dec. 2. Howard Wolfson, Sen. Hillary Clinton's spokesman, accused Obama of running a "slush fund."
Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard:
Fred Wins, Iowa Loses — Why Carolyn Washburn should keep her day job. — HERE WE WERE on Wednesday, a nation of political junkies gathered around our televisions to watch the candidates debate each other one last time, and we had as a moderator one Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the Des Moines Register.
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Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:
ANALYSIS: Huckabee Shines in Lackluster Debate — Last Chance GOP Debate a Missed Opportunity for Would-Be Iowa Contenders — The GOP Des Moines Register debate was lackluster but good news for front-runners Mike Huckabee, of Arkansas and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
Michelle Malkin:
Digging deeper: The enviro-nitwit-ization of the GOP — Well, fun was had by all yesterday covering the stultifying Schoolmarm and the GOP candidates in Iowa. Fred Thompson earned his gold medal for refusing to follow Schoolmarm's order for a show of hands on an inane global warming question.
New York Times:
Republican Presidential Debate — REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE PARTICIPANTS: — FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR RUDOLPH GIULIANI FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY FORMER TENNESSEE SENATOR FRED THOMPSON FORMER AMBASSADOR ALAN KEYES MODERATOR: CAROLYN WASHBURN
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill — House Democratic leaders yesterday agreed to meet President Bush's bottom-line spending limit on a sprawling, half-trillion-dollar domestic spending bill, dropping their demands for as much as $22 billion in additional spending …
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Ed Henry / CNN:
Deal would give Bush victory on war funding — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democratic lawmakers and staffers privately say they're closing in on a broad budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in new war funding. — The deal would lack a key provision Democrats had attached …
Discussion:
Salon, Open Left, The American Street, Outside The Beltway, State of the Day and The Hill
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Dems cave on spending — Senate and House Democrats backed down Wednesday from a spending showdown with President Bush. — The Democrats' capitulation Wednesday on the total domestic spending level is the latest instance of Bush prevailing on a major policy showdown.
AlterNet.org:
The Cartoon Mitt Romney Doesn't Want You To See [VIDEO] — Posted by Oliver Willis, Oliver Willis.com at 4:32 AM on December 12, 2007. — That it's got over 500,000 views on YouTube can't help someone like Mitt Romney — I don't know enough about Mormon theology to know if this bit …
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
A Debate in Name Only — JOHNSTON, Iowa - In a debate …
A Debate in Name Only — JOHNSTON, Iowa - In a debate …
Discussion:
Democratic Strategist
Henry Kissinger / Washington Post:
Misreading the Iran Report — The extraordinary spectacle of the president's national security adviser obliged to defend the president's Iran policy against a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) raises two core issues: How are we now to judge the nuclear threat posed by Iran?
Michael Tanner / Fox News:
Huckabee: The Biggest Big-Government Conservative — If you liked George W. Bush's brand of big-spending, big-government conservatism, you'll love Mike Huckabee. — Most of the leading Republicans running for president show some support for Bush's ideology, but no other candidate so completely embodies it.
Discussion:
The Corner
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NY Daily News:
Subpoenas for Al Sharpton's aides — Teams of federal agents swooped down on up to 10 close associates of the Rev. Al Sharpton Wednesday, demanding the flamboyant clergyman's financial records since 2001. — Sharpton's former chief of staff said he was roused at his Harlem home about 6:30 …
CNN:
Muslim helps Jews attacked on New York subway — NEW YORK (CNN) — A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.