memeorandum: A Republican Retreat — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly … (Robert Novak/Real Clear Politics)

11:15 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: The Swamp, MSNBC, Gateway Pundit, New York Times, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Comments from Left Field, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind, Fausta's blog and The Page

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, Norwegianity, Open Left, MyDD, Brian Beutler, Political Radar, politburo diktat 2.0, Prairie Weather, Cafe Hayek, 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

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

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

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

Discussion: Associated Press

Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
Clinton invites voters to 'inspect' her

Discussion: michellemalkin.com

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, PoliBlog (TM), The Democratic Daily, PoliGazette, Connecting.the.Dots and Los Angeles Times

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Paul's one-day haul a record

Discussion: CALIFORNIA YANKEE, TechRepublican.com and Boston Globe

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

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

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

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: 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

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

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

CNN:
Lieberman to back McCain for president

Discussion: 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, On Deadline, Prairie Weather 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.

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

Associated Press:

Sarkozy linked with model-turned-singer — PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new love interest is supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni, reports said Monday after the two were photographed together at Disneyland Paris. — The respected news weekly L'Express posted a photo of the duo …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

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