Top Items:
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.
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Kevin Landrigan / Nashuatelegraph.com:
McCain launches direct mail attack — CONCORD - Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, launched an attack - a direct mail campaign labeling New Hampshire primary front-runner Mitt Romney as a serial flip-flopper that "voters can't trust." — The mailing is believed to be the first …
William Douglas / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Giuliani's once-leading campaign is slipping in key early states — WASHINGTON — These are tough times for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. — He's still the leading Republican presidential candidate in national polls, but only by two percentage points over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee …
Nicholas Wapshott / New York Sun:
Giuliani Begins Retreat From New Hampshire
Giuliani Begins Retreat From New Hampshire
Discussion:
MSNBC, New York Post, Gothamist, PoliBlog (TM), race42008.com, Oliver Willis and The Campaign Spot
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Dems consider ousting Byrd as appropriations chair — 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 …
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Washington Post:
Telecom Immunity Issue Derails Spy Law Overhaul
Telecom Immunity Issue Derails Spy Law Overhaul
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, Chris Dodd National Blog, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Emptywheel, The Raw Story, The Carpetbagger Report, Pacific Views, The Heretik, Lance Mannion, Democrats.senate.gov, Discourse.net, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Overlawyered, Prairie Weather and DownWithTyranny!
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Obama-Clinton Issue — Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama. She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines. Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered …
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Michelle Malkin:
House guts border fence — Update 10:20am Eastern. The fence gets robbed, but the spending bill gives $10 million in "emergency" funding for attorneys of illegal immigrants?!!?! … Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I've warned several times that the border fence expansion was gesture politics.
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RushLimbaugh.com:
Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman? — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: Now, this theory of mine based on this Drudge picture of Mrs. Clinton, with the headline: "The Toll of a Campaign." Now, it could well be that that's a sympathy photo, too, to make people feel sorry for how tough the campaign trail is.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Rachel Lucas, Hullabaloo, Don Surber, Roger L. Simon and NY Daily News
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Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
A Beauty Contest? Have You Seen These Beauties? — Could this image derail a presidential campaign? Have political campaigns become the equivalent of beauty contests for both men and women, and if so, can women get a fair shake at an age where candidates have the requisite experience?
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye
Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Romney Attended Planned Parenthood Fundraiser in 1994 — ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Mitt Romney attended a fund-raising reception for Planned Parenthood in 1994 in conjunction with a $150 donation his wife made to the organization — notwithstanding Romney's contention that he had …
Matthew Yglesias:
Stay Classy, Bob Kerrey — It's hard to express how odious I find Bob Kerrey. His behavior as a Senator was entirely discreditable, and it's hard to see that he's done anything good in his life in non-Senator roles. Keeping it up, he's now following up on his "Barack Hussein Obama" …
Washington Post:
FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect — Agencies Also Disagree On Interrogation Methods — Al-Qaeda captive Abu Zubaida, whose interrogation videotapes were destroyed by the CIA, remains the subject of a dispute between FBI and CIA officials over his significance as a terrorism suspect …
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker, INTEL DUMP, The Raw Story, Prairie Weather, Make Them Accountable, Brian Beutler and The Blotter
Peterhamby / CNN Political Ticker:
Bill Clinton: George H.W. Bush will help President Hillary — ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (CNN) - Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that the first thing his wife Hillary will do when she reaches the White House is dispatch him and his predecessor, President George H.W. Bush …
Marni Soupcoff / National Post:
Ezra Levant: Censorship in the name of 'human rights' — 'Drug dealers get the benefit of the Charter, but not pastors accused of homophobia' — The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) is taking Maclean's magazine to a human rights commission. Their crime?
Discussion:
Wise Law Blog
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Bill Mears / CNN:
Judge: White House visitor logs are public — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence …
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Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Secret Service Logs of White House Visitors Are Public Records, Judge Rules
Secret Service Logs of White House Visitors Are Public Records, Judge Rules
Lorelei Kelly / democracyarsenal.org:
How High is Up? The Defense Budget gets even crazier — For those of you concerned about the state of US security—levees that don't collapse, for example, or bridges that don't fall into the Mississippi river, sit down before you see these numbers. — Last week, both houses …
Washington Post:
U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq — Intelligence Role Could Complicate Diplomacy — The United States is providing Turkey with real-time intelligence that has helped the Turkish military target a series of attacks this month against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern Iraq …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Huffington Post, New York Times, The Swamp, Neptunus Lex, Chicago Tribune, On Deadline and RADAMISTO
Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
A Stanton For the Saudis — "A court in country X sentenced a black man who had been severely beaten by white men to six months in jail and 200 lashes." — How would you react if you read that in a newspaper? Shock, horror, anger at the regime in country X, no doubt.
Discussion:
Brian Beutler, FP Passport, Betsy's Page, Associated Press, Suburban Guerrilla and GINA COBB
Brit Hume / Fox News:
Little Outrage Over Student Beating at Princeton University — Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: — Silent Night — Conservative students and faculty at Princeton University are questioning the absence of campus and community outrage — following the beating …