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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 …
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Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Election-Winning GOP Coalition Could Splinter Amid Wide-Open Presidential Race — Is the winning coalition that not just held the Republican Party together in recent years, but impressively sprung into action during Presidential campaigns about to splinter?
Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press:
Racial Undercurrent Is Seen in Clinton Campaign — It has unfolded mostly under the radar. But an important development in the 2008 Democratic battle may be the building backlash among African Americans over comments from associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that could be construed as jabs at Sen. Barack Obama's race.
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
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.
Representative Ron Paul / MSNBC:
Dec. 23: Ron Paul — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Our Meet the Candidates 2008 series continues, an exclusive interview with Republican Ron Paul. He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 years. In 1988 he was the Libertarian Party candidate for president.
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David Weigel / Reason Magazine:
Ron Paul on Meet the Press: Liveblogging — 10:32: Russert points out that the income tax repeal would cost $1 trillion. Paul: “That's good." — 10:33: How much would we save if we pull our troops out of every overseas post? The first of many gotchas, but Paul is ready: More than a trillion dollars.
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 …
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Little Green Footballs:
Daily Kos Supporting the Troops for Christmas — As I write, this is currently the number one recommended diary at Daily Kos: a long exercise in crackpot moral equivalence that compares US troops holding Bibles with a Palestinian female suicide bomber holding a Koran.
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Amanda / Think Progress:
Giuliani Claims It Would Have Been ‘Impossible’ To Give 9/11 Firefighters Working Radios — Today on ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos pushed former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on why the radios for the 9/11 firefighters didn't work. Giuliani dodged the question …
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Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
SUNNI AWAKENING UPDATE....I've mentioned a few times before that our “bottoms up” strategy of supporting Sunni tribes in the provinces surrounding Baghdad carries a number of risks. The biggest risk, I suppose, is that once the tribes finally feel safe from the threat of al-Qaeda in Iraq …
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Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:
William “The Bloody” Makes His New Year's Predictions — Somebody has been hitting the eggnog really hard. William “The Bloody” Kristol makes his predictions for the coming year. They would be scary if they weren't just so completely ridiculous, but at least Kristol is continuing his habit of being completely and utterly wrong.
Rsinderbrand / CNN Political Ticker:
Obama continues attacks on Edwards for third-party ads — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama continued his attacks on rival John Edwards for alleged ties to 527 groups airing ads on his behalf. Obama said his opponent's inability …
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Ben Smith's Blogs
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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.
Quad-City Times / Quad City Times:
Times GOP caucus endorsement: John McCain — Time for a real hero — John McCain's “Straight Talk Express” plows through where other Republicans steer clear. — Mitt Romney addresses the deficit by exhorting Republicans to “stop acting like Democrats." McCain doesn't resort to name calling.
Discussion:
race42008.com
Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:
This Is the Sound of a Bubble Bursting — TWO years ago, when Eric Feichthaler was elected mayor of this palm-fringed, middle-class city, he figured on spending a lot of time at ribbon-cuttings. Tens of thousands of people had moved here in recent years, turning musty flatlands into a grid …
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Norwegianity