memeorandum: In a Force for Iraqi Calm, Seeds of Conflict (New York Times)

11:30 AM ET, December 23, 2007

Top Items:

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:

McCain closing gap with Romney — In N.H. poll, Obama inches ahead of Clinton — Senator John McCain of Arizona, whose bid for the Republican presidential nomination was all but dead this summer, has made a dramatic recovery in the Granite State 2 1/2 weeks before the 2008 vote …

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Don Surber, MSNBC, The Ruckus, The New Republic and Jonathan Martin's Blogs

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

McCain And Obama The Mo Men? — The Boston Globe's new poll puts both New Hampshire primaries in dead heats with sixteen days to go. As other polls have shown, Barack Obama has succeeded in overtaking Hillary Clinton and now has a slight two-point lead. For the Republicans …

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Obama Headed North in New Hampshire — The Democratic half of that Globe poll I just mentioned shows Obama pulling ahead in New Hampshire—he edges Hillary 30 to 28. (He's up nine points and she's down seven since early November.) Two things jump out at me in the Globe's write-up.

Jill Zuckman / The Swamp:

McCain Closing in on Romney, Globe Poll Shows — Manchester, N.H. - Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is eating away at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's lead in the New Hampshire primary while former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has steadily lost support among likely Republican primary voters here, according to a new Boston Globe poll.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker

Washington Post:

Splintered GOP Seeks Unifying Presence — DES MOINES — For three decades, the Republican presidential nominating contest has served to unify the national party's coalition of social, economic and foreign policy conservatives in advance of a general election fight with Democrats.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Can't Anyone Play This Here Game?

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Fausta's blog, PoliGazette, Doug Ross, Punditry, Macsmind, Chuck Adkins, Rasmussen Reports and eyeon08.com

Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Clinton vs. Giuliani & Romney

Discussion: protein wisdom and ThatPoliticalBlog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama mocks Edwards on 527 — Obama cheerfully pressed his attack against John Edwards in a diner in West Des Moines this morning, suggesting that the plans for independent spending on his behalf either reveal him as a hypocrite or call into question his ability to govern.

Chip Reid / CBS News:
Five Things I Learned in Ten Days With Edwards

Discussion: Whiskey Fire, The American Street, Bleeding Heartland and Firedoglake

The Politico:
Obama-Edwards ad spat gets rough

Discussion: Pat Dollard and The Swamp

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:

Edwards and Romney Highlight Parties' Views of Wealth — A fascinating NYT profile shows how John Edwards and Mitt Romney became very wealthy circa 1984 and drew very different lessons from it. … Now, in fairness, the two men came from very different social backgrounds to begin with …

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
2 Candidates, 2 Fortunes, 2 Views of Wealth

Discussion: The Mahablog, Brilliant at Breakfast, The American Street, The Corner and Liberal Values

Washington Post:

In Britain, A Respected, If Rowdy, Holiday Ritual — LONDON — Just before midnight, the well-dressed, 25-year-old financial trader arrived by ambulance at the makeshift hospital tent pitched at a train station in central London. Blood oozed from his scalp, staining his elegant pink-striped shirt.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Concord Monitor:

Romney should not be the next president — December 22. — If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Caucus, PoliBlog (TM), PBD, The Trail, Norwegianity, Blue Hampshire, Jules Crittenden, All Spin Zone, Chuck Adkins, Punditry, Raising Kaine, AMERICAblog and TPM Election Central

NY Daily News:

It's about Hillary, stupid — Something was bugging me, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Then it hit me. While I was reading about the campaign, the realization came like a thunderbolt: I'm tired of Bill Clinton. — Tired of his half-truths and full lies about where he stood on Iraq.

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Blue Crab Boulevard

Matthew Yglesias:

International Brigades — I had sort of guessed that this “war on Christmas” business was one of those only in America things, but according to Polly Toynbee you've got the same BS over in the UK, where the Rev Jules Gomes explains that: … As I've said, I'm not a huge fan of Dawkins' work …

The Quad-City Times / Quad City Times:

Times Democratic caucus endorsement: Hillary Clinton passes the test — Hillary Clinton passes test after test after test. This Clinton arrived for the caucus campaign with much, much more experience than the first Clinton to stump across Iowa. In campaign speeches and in an interview …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Frank Rich / New York Times:

A Résumé Can't Buy You Love — WE can only imagine what is going on inside John McCain's head when he contemplates Mike Huckabee. It can't be pretty. No presidential candidate in either party has more experience in matters of war than the Arizona senator …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Outside The Beltway, Liberal Values and The Heretik

Caroline Davies / Guardian:

How the Queen got well connected — In a bid to appeal to the internet generation, the royals launch their own YouTube channel — The Queen has taken a bold stride into cyberspace by launching her own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube. The Royal Channel launches today …

Discussion: Pat Dollard