Top Items:
The Politico:
Thompson may drop out, back McCain — DES MOINES, Iowa - Several Republican officials close to Fred Thompson's presidential campaign said they expect the candidate will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday's Iowa caucus. — Thompson's campaign …
Discussion:
New York Times, You Decide 08!, Crooks and Liars, Stop The ACLU, Redstate, The Fix, The Caucus, Don Surber, TIME, Talking Points Memo, The Texas Blue, American Power, QandO, PoliBlog (TM), Political Machine, Brilliant at Breakfast, RealClearPolitics, Right Wing News, BAGnewsNotes, Cliff Schecter, DownWithTyranny!, Macsmind, MyDD, The Corner, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Classical Values, The Sundries Shack, Wonkette, Greatscat!, The Right's Field, Miss Beth's Victory Dance, The Huffington Post, TBogg, Shakespeare's Sister, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, LiberalLand, Reason Magazine, TPM Election Central, Hullabaloo, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Publius Endures, race42008.com, Taegan Goddard's …, ABCNEWS and Gallup
RELATED:
Byron York / The Corner:
Team Fred Strongly Denies... Good morning from Des Moines. I just got off the phone with Rich Galen, a top adviser to Fred Thompson, and it would be an understament to say that he is strongly denying the Politico story reporting that Thompson “will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday's caucus.”
IowaPolitics.com Caucus Countdown Blog:
Thompson: Poor finish in Iowa won't end campaign
Thompson: Poor finish in Iowa won't end campaign
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Fred Says Relax, He Won't Do It — The Politico predicts …
Fred Says Relax, He Won't Do It — The Politico predicts …
Discussion:
The Palmetto Scoop
Chase Martyn / Iowa Independent:
Richardson Set to Send Obama Second-Choice Support — [Exclusive] Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign is expected to direct their supporters to caucus for Sen. Barack Obama in the second round of voting at Thursday's caucuses in precincts where he is not viable.
RELATED:
Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Daily Tracking Poll: Obama Moves Into Lead Followed by Edwards; Huckabee Lead Widens — Clinton, Romney dip as Ron Paul gains — UTICA, New York - Democrat Barack Obama continued his upward momentum through the evening before the Iowa caucuses, capturing the lead ahead …
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, TPM Election Central, Captain's Quarters, The Corner, Pajamas Media, Comments from Left Field and Hot Air
Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:
Too Quick to Triangulate — Sen. Hillary Clinton faces tonight's Iowa caucuses not as the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee but seriously challenged by Sen. Barack Obama, thanks in no small part to committing a strategic error: premature triangulation.
Discussion:
Back Talk, The Carpetbagger Report, The American Scene, Booman Tribune, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind and PunditGuy
Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
The Iowa Caucuses: Five Not-So-Unlikely Surprises — The smart money — not to mention the latest polls — gives an edge to Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee in tonight's Iowa caucuses. — But take a couple hundred thousand Midwesterners, pack them into gyms and libraries and town halls …
John Deeth / Iowa Independent:
Clinton Understood Surface, Not Spirit, Of Caucuses
Clinton Understood Surface, Not Spirit, Of Caucuses
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
CNN:
Caucuses 101: Mastering rules could lead to victory — (CNN) — The arcane rules governing Thursday's Iowa Democratic caucuses will test even the most organized campaign, but mastery of the process could launch a candidate on a path to the White House. — Most Americans are familiar …
Discussion:
VodkaPundit
RELATED:
Foreign Policy:
Seven Questions: Gen. David Petraeus on Winding down the Surge — By the end of July, 25 percent of American combat troops are due to withdraw from Iraq. FP sat down with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to find out how he plans to draw down without leaving chaos behind.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Slaying of popular teens stuns friends — Sisters' father wanted for capital murder — Sarah Said was an avid tennis player known as a silly but bright student. Her 18-year-old sister, Amina Said, was often called “the girl with pretty eyes,” friends say.
RELATED:
Vanity Fair:
Karl Rove — A principal architect of the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, Karl Rove, 57, has charted a long course from the internship he landed with the Republican Party in Utah almost four decades ago. Here, the president's former deputy chief of staff reflects on his fear of going broke …
Discussion:
Rising Hegemon
Chuck Todd / MSNBC:
Get your post-caucus spin now — With this guide, you can analyze any result — before the Iowans gather — DES MOINES, Iowa - In a matter of hours, following the results of the Iowa caucuses, a contest will begin. It will take place among the slew of national media trying to determine exactly what happened.
Thomas F. Schaller / American Prospect:
Why Iowa Means Nothing to the GOP — The Republican race in Iowa has been an increasingly bitter battle between Huckabee and Romney. Despite the ever-rising stakes, could the real outcome be a victory for one of the candidates who stayed out of the Iowa brawl?
RELATED:
New York Post:
ROCK MAKES THE GARDEN HOWL — RAUNCHY stand-up Chris Rock had Madison Square Garden in stitches Monday night, when he kicked off his six-month tour performing for a sold-out New Year's Eve audience of 20,000 fans who gave him a midnight standing ovation. — The comic from Bed-Stuy proclaimed …
Comment is free:
Independents' day — US elections 2008: Voters who are not affiliated to either the Republican or Democratic parties may be decisive in picking the next president — There is a spectre haunting this year's presidential campaign: the independent voter. Buoyed by the Des Moines Register poll predicting …
Daily Mail:
Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser dies aged 82 after cancer battle — George MacDonald Fraser, author of the hugely entertaining Flashman novels, has died aged 82. — Fraser - whose fans included P G Wodehouse and Kingsley Amis - died after a battle with cancer.
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Democrats say Bush can't pocket veto defense bill — House Democrats and the Bush administration appear on the verge of a new constitutional fight over whether President Bush can pocket-veto the defense authorization bill. — The White House on Monday said it was pocket-vetoing the measure …
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker
Shaun Waterman / Washington Times:
Press, political pressure helped ‘lose’ Fallujah, report says — A secret intelligence assessment of the first battle of Fallujah shows that the U.S. military thinks that it lost control over information about what was happening in the town, leading to “political pressure” …