memeorandum: Ron Paul Beats Own Fundraising Record (Jose Antonio Vargas/The Trail)

12:05 PM ET, December 17, 2007

Top Items:

New Clinton campaign out to show her likability — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, trying to warm up an image some voters perceive as cold, starts a drive Monday to showcase her personal side with testimonials from friends, associates and constituents she has helped.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Associated Press, The Swamp, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Comments from Left Field, Gateway Pundit, New York Times, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, MSNBC, Blue Crab Boulevard, Scared Monkeys, Macsmind, The Page and Fausta's blog

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Big Table Fantasies — Broadly speaking, the serious contenders for the Democratic nomination are offering similar policy proposals — the dispute over health care mandates notwithstanding. But there are large differences among the candidates in their beliefs about what it will take to turn a progressive agenda into reality.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Open Left, democracyarsenal.org, Political Radar, Norwegianity, MyDD, Brian Beutler, politburo diktat 2.0, Prairie Weather, Cafe Hayek, Connecting.the.Dots, Daniel W. Drezner and Tom Watson

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

KERREY'S PRAISE OF BARACK A BIG O-BOMBO — NEW SCHOOL President and former US Sen. Bob Kerrey just couldn't help himself from applauding Barack Obama after endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton in Iowa yesterday - until he gave a left-handed compliment that almost sounded like it was cooked up in Clinton's headquarters.

Discussion: Des Moines Register and The Campaign Spot

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
In '08 Race, the Other Clinton Steps Up Publicly

Discussion: The Swamp, CNN Political Ticker, MSNBC, The Politico, TownHall Blog, The Stump, TIME, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog and Shakespeare's Sister

Associated Press:
U.S. Rep. Loebsack to endorse Obama today

Discussion: Open Left, Obama HQ, MSNBC and TPM Election Central

Tony Leys / Des Moines Register: Iowa's first lady to back Edwards for president

Michael James / Political Punch:
Why Did Bob Kerrey Mention Obama's Middle Name — 'Hussein'?

Discussion: AMERICAblog, UrbanGrounds, The Carpetbagger Report, Political Machine, Outside The Beltway, The RBC, The Caucus, The Democratic Daily, JammieWearingFool and No More Mister Nice Blog

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

REP. KING ENDORSES ROMNEY, ER FRED — From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann — And the endorsements keep coming... Congressman Steve King (R), one of Iowa's most strident critics of illegal immigration and a champion of the state's rural conservatives, has endorsed Romney.

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Wake up America, michellemalkin.com, TPM Election Central and First State Politics

Michelle Malkin:

Newsflash: Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King endorses Thompson — Scroll down for updates... Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King announced his endorsement for president this morning. He's going with Fred Thompson. — As I mentioned, Rep. King has been one of the strongest proponents of strict immigration enforcement.

Discussion: Fred File, Riehl World View and The Campaign Spot

Learfield / Radio Iowa:
Congressman King endorses....Fred Thompson

Discussion: Hot Air and Patrick Ruffini

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Paul's one-day haul a record — Rep. Ron Paul of Texas yesterday broke the single-day Republican presidential-campaign fundraising record he set last month, raising about $6 million and giving him almost $18 million for the fourth quarter. — His new record came on a day in which former Massachusetts …

Discussion: Examining Presidential …, techPresident and Boston Globe

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Ron Paul becomes $6 million man — Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised an astounding $6 million and change Sunday, his campaign said, almost certainly guaranteeing he'll outraise his rivals for the Republican nomination in the fourth quarter and likely will be able to fund a presence in many of states that vote Feb. 5.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker and Reason Magazine

Jose Antonio Vargas / The Trail:

Ron Paul Beats Own Fundraising Record — In 2004, on the day John Kerry accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, the Boston senator raised $5.7 million on the Internet, the biggest online fundraising day on record. — Yesterday, Ron Paul, the Republican congressman whose rock star status …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Caucus, Personal Democracy Forum, Liberal Values, The Democratic Daily, PoliGazette, Connecting.the.Dots, PoliBlog (TM) and Los Angeles Times

The Corner:
Ron Paul — Two Decades of Leadership [Rick Brookhiser]

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Marc Ambinder:
Paul's $16M Haul... Impressive. No Buts.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:

Who Will Stand with Chris Dodd for the Constitution? — Sometime today, Chris Dodd will take the floor in the US Senate and begin talking — a filibuster — and what he has to say touches on the most important issues facing this country. The immediate topic will be a bill to provide retroactive immunity …

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs, Eschaton, Think Progress, Hullabaloo, Blue Hampshire, Chris Dodd National Blog, Salon, First Draft, Lean Left, All Spin Zone, Corrente, The Anonymous Liberal, Macsmind, DownWithTyranny!, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Harry Reid — compare and contrast — (updated below - Update II) — Russ Feingold, today, on the effects of Harry Reid's pro-administration dirty work: … All of this stems from Reid's refusal to honor the "hold" placed on that bill by Chris Dodd, who has been in the Senate for 24 years.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Eschaton and The Impolitic

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Being A Patriot Is Something That You Do — FYI: Discussion …

Discussion: TIME: Swampland, TalkLeft and SquareState.net

Atrios / Eschaton:

Shorter Candidates — Obama: The system sucks, but I'm so awesome that it'll melt away before me. — Edwards: The system sucks, and we're gonna have to fight like hell to destroy it. — Clinton: The system sucks, and I know how to work within it more than anyone.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Democrats.com and Open Left

The Nose On Your Face:

Islamic Rage Boy Holiday Video: "Infidels"

Discussion: The Jawa Report, snapped shot, Gateway Pundit and Don Surber

Yahoo! News:

Lieberman's New Kiss of Death — The Nation — Senator Joe Lieberman will finally come clean on Monday, unleashing his inner-Republican to endorse the struggling campaign of Senator John McCain, according to several news reports. It is a bittersweet alliance for both men.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Opinionator, PoliBlog (TM), Middle Earth Journal, Democrats.com, CANNONFIRE, PoliGazette, The Trail, Oliver Willis, Shakespeare's Sister and Buck Naked Politics

CNN:
Lieberman to back McCain for president

Discussion: Cogitamus and Wonkette

Washington Post:

Bush Faces Pressure to Shift War Priorities — As Iraq Calms, Focus Turns to Afghanistan — With violence on the decline in Iraq but on the upswing in Afghanistan, President Bush is facing new pressure from the U.S. military to accelerate a troop drawdown in Iraq and bulk up force levels in Afghanistan …

Discussion: Don Surber, Salon, Political Machine, Prairie Weather, On Deadline and SWJ Blog

Kevin Landrigan / Nashuatelegraph.com:

Clinton chases after Obama with gender card — This week has finally put an end to all of that silly talk over the last 10 months from media pundits and political observers alike that Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., was going to win the New Hampshire primary in a walk.