Top Items:
Sridhar Pappu / Washington Post:
As Huckabee Pulls Ad, Rollins, For Once, Must Pull a Punch — DES MOINES — “The negatives feel good,” says Ed Rollins, the onetime wunderkind of the Reagan White House and now, at 64, the national campaign chairman for upstart Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
Discussion:
michellemalkin.com, Firedoglake, TownHall Blog, The Corner, The Campaign Spot, Hot Air, Blue Girl, Red State and Connecting.the.Dots
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Attack ad decision cost Huck $150K — DES MOINES — Mike Huckabee's last-minute decision to pull the plug on an attack ad against Mitt Romney has been the talk of Iowa in recent days. — But it turns out there is more to the story than Huckabee explained at his now-famous, had-to-see-it-to-believe it news conference Monday.
Michael Levenson / Boston Globe:
More of Romney's fortune is plowed into campaign — Candidate has outspent all GOP rivals in Iowa — Mitt Romney with his wife, Ann, Saturday in Altoona, Iowa. Romney said he was unsure of the amount he had put into his campaign during the past three months. (John Gress/Reuters)
Discussion:
About.com US Politics
CNN:
Poll: McCain ties Romney in New Hampshire — (CNN) — With six days to go until the New Hampshire primary, there are ties in poll results for the top candidates in both parties. — With roughly a quarter of those polled in both parties saying they won't make up their mind until the election …
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New York Times:
Stonewalled by the C.I.A. — MORE than five years ago, Congress and President Bush created the 9/11 commission. The goal was to provide the American people with the fullest possible account of the “facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001” — and to offer recommendations to prevent future attacks.
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
9/11 Commission: Our investigation was “obstructed” — The bi-partisan co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, jointly published an Op-Ed in today's New York Times which contains some extremely emphatic and serious accusations against the CIA and the White House. The essence:
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Rasmussen Reports:
Partisan Trends — Number of Republicans in U.S. Increases in December to Two-Year High — The number of Americans who consider themselves to be Republicans jumped nearly two percentage points in December to 34.2%. That's the largest market share for the Republican brand in nearly two years …
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Jodi Kantor / New York Times:
Caucuses Empower Only Some Iowans — DES MOINES — Jason Huffman has lived in Iowa his whole life. Lately he has been watching presidential debates on the Internet, discussing what he sees with friends and relatives. But when fellow Iowans choose among presidential candidates on Thursday night …
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Washington Post:
Independent Voters May Give Obama Edge in Iowa
Independent Voters May Give Obama Edge in Iowa
Discussion:
USA Today, CBS News, TIME, The Independent, The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, Taylor Marsh, MSNBC and Corrente
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2007 … Also see, — The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2006 — The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes For 2005 — The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes For 2004
Peter Fenn / The Hill:
Edwards: Too Cute by Half — John Edwards may very well win Iowa. He has a strong organization, four years in the making, and a message that goes to the anger and frustration of many voters. — His central theme is that Washington is corrupt. Lobbyists and money control the process.
Michael M. Phillips / Wall Street Journal:
What Kucinich Saw: Witnesses Describe His Close Encounter — Candidate's Pals Recall Three Throbbing UFOs; Outed by Shirley MacLaine — The 2008 presidential race has raised many questions about the candidates' personal histories. Will Barack Obama's past drug use preclude a White House future?
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
FRED THOMPSON: Too sane to be President? Quite possibly. … I think he's right. Thompson is running the kind of campaign — substantive, policy-laden, not based on gimmicks or sound-bites — that pundits and journalists say they want, but he's getting no credit for it from the people who claim that's what they want.
Discussion:
The Corner, The Sundries Shack, Patterico's Pontifications, The Politico, PoliBlog (TM), Hot Air, Say Anything, BitsBlog and BobKrumm.com
Michael J. Totten:
A Plan to Kill Everyone — “War, children, it's just a shot away, it's just a shot away” - The Rolling Stones, from “Gimme Shelter" — FALLUJAH — A sign on the door leading out of India Company's Combat Operations Center says “Have a Plan to Kill Everyone You Meet.”
Discussion:
TownHall Blog
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
GIVING THANKS — I suspect that TPM Readers are as divided in their support of the candidates as much of the public seems to be. But as we get ready to kick off the 2008 election season I think it's an appropriate moment to give thanks for something we can all be thankful for …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
World's Top Surveillance Societies — Updated with link — Privacy International, a UK privacy group, and the U.S.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center have put together a world map of surveillance societies, rating various nations for their civil liberties records.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Jules Crittenden, the talking dog, Samizdata.net and The Daily Dish