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Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
The Two Words That Strike Fear Into The GOP — They aren't Hillary Clinton, nor are they Ron Paul. The two words that will haunt the early primary states are "brokered convention", and we may be heading towards it. At Heading Right, I review the McClatchy analysis of what looks to be a Rudy Giuliani slide.
Discussion:
The Palmetto Scoop, The Huffington Post, PoliBlog (TM), TPM Election Central and LewRockwell.com Blog
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David Yepsen / Des Moines Register:
Don't rule out surges by Edwards, Thompson — There's a lot of buzz about the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for Democratic caucus votes in Iowa. And there's also a lot of talk about the fight between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee on the Republican side.
Matt Lewis / TownHall Blog:
Fred Thompson Making a Major Move in Iowa … ... That's according to Sen. Fred Thompson's Iowa Executive Director, Robert Haus, a self-proclaimed "fossil" of Iowa politics who has worked for candidates like Sen. Chuck Grassley, Bob Dole, and Steve Forbes. — Of course, Haus was referencing …
Discussion:
Stop The ACLU
Tom Baxter / Southern Political Report:
Edwards takes lead in InsiderAdvantage Iowa poll — John Edwards has leapfrogged over his rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and leads the Democratic field in Iowa, according to the latest InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion poll. In the Republican caucus race, Mike Huckabee continues to hold a narrow lead over Mitt Romney.
USA Today:
Poll: Electability key among Democrats — WASHINGTON — Democratic voters increasingly are focused on nominating the most electable presidential candidate, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama fares better than New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton against prospective Republican rivals.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Reuters, New York Times, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Raleigh News & Observer, Nashuatelegraph.com, Des Moines Register, The Fix, Pollster.com, Taylor Marsh, Political Machine, Greatscat!, protein wisdom, Los Angeles Times, NY Daily News, MSNBC, Associated Press, Washington Times, QandO, Quad City Times, Blue Crab Boulevard, Obama HQ, Neptunus Lex, TPM Election Central, The Ruckus, TIME, Drudge Retort and The Mahatma X Files
Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Reid: The American people are losing — If this is what winning looks like, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants no part of it. — Tired of Republican crowing about winning on Iraq funding, the budget battle and the energy bill, Reid (D-Nev.) shot back on Tuesday afternoon.
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Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Reid: Al Qaeda Still Winning In Iraq — Harry Reid doesn't know when to give up, or more precisely, when to give up on giving up. After spending the last several months trying to live down his declaration of America's defeat in Iraq on the Senate floor, Reid once again gave al-Qaeda …
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Huckabee Adviser Clarifies Remark About Homosexuality And Necrophilia: They're Both "Aberrant Behavior," But They're At "Opposite Ends Of The Spectrum" — By Greg Sargent - December 18, 2007, 4:57PM — Oh, man. One of Mike Huckabee's chief advisers has just attempted to clarify …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, MoJoBlog, The Corner, Think Progress, The Daily Dish, The Carpetbagger Report, TownHall Blog and David Corn
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Dems mull ousting Byrd as chairman — A group of Senate Democrats has begun quietly exploring ways to replace the venerable Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, believing he's no longer physically up to the job, according to Democratic senators …
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Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, CNN Political Ticker, michellemalkin.com, Wonkette, Publius Endures, Washington Times, Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, The Swamp, The Newshoggers, The Strata-Sphere, UrbanGrounds, Think Progress, TPMmuckraker, Captain's Quarters, Betsy's Page and Right Voices
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Rsinderbrand / CNN Political Ticker:
Elder Bush nixes Clinton trip idea — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former President George H.W. Bush has shot down his successor Bill Clinton's idea of a diplomatic mission under a Hillary Clinton presidency that would send him and other notables abroad to assure other nations that "America is open for business and cooperation again."
Reuters:
New York Times in Iraq: "Blackwater shot our dog" — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards — this time of the New York Times's dog. — Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau …
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The Huffington Post, Think Progress, Wonkette, Sweetness & Light, Gawker, JammieWearingFool, Redstate, Brave New Films blog and On Deadline
MBA Announcement / Media Bloggers Association:
Newsweek and MBA create a Ruckus on Newsweek.com — in - MBAMajorNews - MBANewsweek - MBAPressRelease — MEDIA BLOGGERS ASSOCIATION JOINS WITH NEWSWEEK TO LAUNCH 'THE RUCKUS,' A NEW GROUP POLITICS BLOG — THE RUCKUS FEATURES GUEST BLOGGERS FROM THE LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER-PLUS KEY PRIMARY STATES
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Stephen Labaton / New York Times:
F.C.C. Eases Media Ownership Rule — WASHINGTON — By the narrowest of margins, the Federal Communications Commission adopted proposals by its chairman to tighten the reins on the cable television industry while loosening 32-year-old restrictions that have prevented a company from owning …
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Patrick Healy / The Caucus:
Yes, Mrs. Clinton Was There, Too — IN THE CLINTON HELICOPTER ABOVE IOWA - Hillary Rodham Clinton finally had a friend who could sympathize with her: Even Magic Johnson was not a big enough star to steal back the attention that was showered on former President Bill Clinton at a campaign event in Des Moines this morning.
Discussion:
TownHall Blog
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Matthew Moore / Telegraph:
BBC's censorship of The Pogues: Reader fury — The BBC's decision to remove the word "faggot" from the classic Christmas song Fairytale of New York has roused the ire of Telegraph readers. — Music lovers of all political stripes and sexual orientations have posted messages …
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Charles Paul Freund / American Spectator:
A Brutalist Bargain — How many dollars does it take to change a light bulb? Well, if the defunct bulb you're replacing has been illuminating the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in downtown Washington, you could be looking at a bill of up to $8,000. That's because unscrewing a blown bulb …
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
New Fred Thompson Video: Kill. Protect. Punch. — If Fred wants to win the election, all he has to do is put this in constant rotation in Iowa and his victory would be guaranteed...or he would actually drop into last place. One or the other.
National Enquirer:
NATIONAL ENQUIRER WORLD EXCLUSIVE: JOHN EDWARDS LOVE CHILD SCANDAL! — The woman linked to Presidential candidate John Edwards in a cheating scandal is more than six months pregnant and telling a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her unborn child, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.