memeorandum: Anti-Intellectualism, the Right, and Rudy (Ross Douthat)

11:40 AM 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, Gateway Pundit, MSNBC, New York Times, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Comments from Left Field, Scared Monkeys, Blue Crab Boulevard, 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, democracyarsenal.org, Norwegianity, Political Radar, Open Left, MyDD, Brian Beutler, politburo diktat 2.0, Cafe Hayek, Prairie Weather, 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: CNN Political Ticker, TownHall Blog, The Politico, MSNBC, The Stump, TIME, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog and Shakespeare's Sister

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

Discussion: Associated Press

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

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 …, TechRepublican.com and Boston Globe

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 Caucus, 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

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Ron Paul becomes $6 million man

Discussion: Reason Magazine

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

Discussion: LewRockwell.com 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: michellemalkin.com, TPM Election Central and First State Politics

Learfield / Radio Iowa:

Congressman King endorses....Fred Thompson — ...apparently Mitt Romney since all the Romney staff just arrived in the room where the announcement is to be made. King is now in the house, at 9:06 a.m. There are Thompson people here now, too. — King suggested it would have been a bit cowardly …

Discussion: Hot Air and Patrick Ruffini

Michelle Malkin:
Newsflash: Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King endorses Thompson

Discussion: Fred File and Riehl World View

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

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Harry Reid — compare and contrast

Discussion: Firedoglake, TIME: Swampland and Eschaton

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.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Stump, eyeon08.com and New York Post

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Rudy pulls back in NH, eyes Florida

Discussion: TPM Election Central

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, The Trail, PoliGazette, Shakespeare's Sister, Oliver Willis and Buck Naked Politics

CNN:
Lieberman to back McCain for president

Discussion: Wonkette

Michelle Malkin:

Yet another jerk of the year nominee — Honestly, I thought Bobby "Big Man in the Green Zone" Calvan had the Jerk of the Year award all wrapped up. But there's a late entry in the contest. She's a Philadelphia anchorwoman charged with punching a NYC cop over the weekend. Via Philly Gossip:

Discussion: New York Post, UrbanGrounds, PhillyGossip and JammieWearingFool

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

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.

Ross Douthat:

Anti-Intellectualism, the Right, and Rudy — David Frum, on populism and anti-intellectualism: … Fair points all: Huckabee's Fair Tax zeal and Paul's anti-Fed enthusiasm are genuinely foolish; there is a touch of Miers-ish identity politics in the evangelical community's Huckaphilia …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Crooked Timber and Vox Popoli

Maria Aspan / New York Times:

At Web Site for Journalists, Criticism of a Campaign Article Becomes a Melee — A usual round of media self-criticism turned into a schoolyard brawl last week, as editors, reporters and bloggers traded insults over a front-page article in The Washington Post, all at the very online water cooler …

Discussion: Horses Mouth

Joseph Menn / Los Angeles Times:

Striking writers in talks to launch Web start-ups — MOVING TO NEW MEDIA: Aaron Mendelsohn, a Writers Guild board member known for the "Air Bud" franchise, is in a group that plans to produce programming for the Internet independently of Hollywood studios at odds with the union.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye and Matthew Yglesias