Top Items:
New Hampshire Union Leader:
The Romney backlash: Conservatives are coming home — THERE IS A reason Mitt Romney has not received a single newspaper endorsement in New Hampshire. It's the same reason his poll numbers are dropping. He has not been able to convince the people of this state that he's the conservative he says he is.
Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard:
While America Celebrates... Huckabee plunges. — WHEN WE PAID pundits try to provide campaign analysis, we often strain to find historical analogies. Although I'm not asking for sympathy, please understand that it's not easy. There have been only fifty-something presidential campaigns …
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BobKrumm.com
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Michael Scherer / Time:
How Will Huckabee's Populism Play? — The pastor's power is to tell you what it all means. And so Mike Huckabee, the preacher turned politician, stands before several hundred in a convention hall here Friday, spinning a tale worthy of a worship service. His campaign, he says, is not just about his ideas for the country.
Rsinderbrand / CNN Political Ticker:
Conservative group ups anti-Huckabee ad buy — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The fiscally conservative Club for Growth - which is actively opposing Republican Mike Huckabee's presidential candidacy - is upping its ad buy in Iowa yet again, with about a week to go until the state's caucuses.
Juan Cole:
Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007 — 10. Myth: The US public no longer sees Iraq as a central issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. … 9. Myth: There have been steps toward religious and political reconciliation in Iraq in 2007. Fact: The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Dr. Sanity, Don Surber, The American Street, PoliGazette, Rising Hegemon and The Heretik
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
The Résumé Factor: Those 8 Years as First Lady — As first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton jaw-boned the authoritarian president of Uzbekistan to leave his car and shake hands with people. She argued with the Czech prime minister about democracy.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, Captain's Quarters, Washington Monthly, NY Daily News, TIME: Swampland, The Corner, Sweetness & Light, MSNBC, You Decide 08!, Greatscat!, Connecting.the.Dots, The Seminal, TPM Election Central, PBD, Althouse, Gateway Pundit, The Heretik, Jules Crittenden, CALIFORNIA YANKEE and Prairie Weather
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Hillary Edges Out Oprah as Most Admired Woman in '07 — PRINCETON, NJ — For the sixth year in a row, President George W. Bush is the most admired man and Sen. Hillary Clinton the most admired woman in Gallup's annual survey. But neither winner had a very decisive win this year …
Reuters:
Iran needs no uranium enrichment: Russia's Lavrov — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's delivery of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr power station makes it unnecessary for Iran to pursue its enrichment program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Macsmind
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Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
The Russian Conundrum — Russia has begun transferring nuclear fuel …
The Russian Conundrum — Russia has begun transferring nuclear fuel …
Discussion:
The Newshoggers
Philip Kennicott / Washington Post:
Sooner or Later, Candidates Will Surely Look Lost — They have become a useful, though very tricky, class of images in this roller-coaster ride of a presidential campaign. Call them the “hangdog” candidate photographs: They capture the politician with eyes downcast, looking tired, stressed.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
At 60% of Total, Texas is Bucking Execution Trend — This year's death penalty bombshells — a de facto national moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade — have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Pro-Edwards 527 Hits TV Airwaves in Iowa Today — Over the past three days, Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards and Barack Obama have publicly squabbled over an outside group with ties to Edwards that is funding a series of ads obliquely touting his candidacy.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs
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Telegraph:
Britain in secret talks with the Taliban — Agents from MI6 entered secret talks with Taliban leaders despite Gordon Brown's pledge that Britain would not negotiate with terrorists, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. — Officers from the Secret Intelligence Service staged discussions …
New York Times:
A One-Size-Fits-All Solution — WHILE the causes of the mortgage crisis are myriad, a central problem was that many borrowers took out loans that they did not understand and could not afford. Brokers and lenders offered loans that looked much less expensive than they really were …
Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read — The Ramones once implored us not to fight on Christmas. But the Turkish general staff doesn't like the Ramones. Nor, to understate matters, does it like the Kurdish terror group known as the PKK. With the approval of the U.S. to violate Iraqi airspace …
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Wall Street Journal:
Same Party, Different Style — Romney, Huckabee — Present a Stark Choice For Iowa Republicans — In Iowa, the Republican presidential race has come down to two former governors who offer caucus goers a stark choice. It's the pulpit vs. the boardroom, poverty vs. privilege, passion vs. preparedness.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Change our lifestyle to save Santa's home — Editor - Santa is deeply concerned with the rapid shrinking of the North Pole. For generations, he has depended on swift, reliable and environmentally friendly reindeer power. — If we do not change our lifestyle soon and seek alternative energy sources …
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Paul Krugman / Slate:
FORGET ABOUT BUSH—AND THE MIDDLE GROUND. — Here's a thought for progressives: Bush isn't the problem. And the next president should not try to be the anti-Bush. — No, I haven't lost my mind. I'm not saying that we should look kindly on the Worst President Ever …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Monica Langley / Wall Street Journal:
Clinton's Right-Hand Woman Scrambles for a Win in Iowa — Patti Solis Doyle Steers Campaign, Juggling — Family Role, Staff Egos — DES MOINES, Iowa — With snow and sleet pounding her hotel window, campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle dialed in to an early-morning strategy debate …
Jack Fowler / The Corner:
Praise for Liberal Fascism — Charles Murray declares: “'It is my argument that American liberalism is a totalitarian political religion,' Jonah Goldberg writes near the beginning of Liberal Fascism. My first reaction was that he is engaging in partisan hyperbole. That turned out to be wrong.