Top Items:
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 …
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John Harwood / The Caucus:
Is Obama a Plan B for Richardson Voters? — Barack Obama's drive to win tonight's Iowa caucuses is getting a boost from two of his putative rivals. After earlier winning the support of Dennis Kucinich, Obama's campaign has reached an agreement with Bill Richardson for the second-choice votes …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Iowa Independent, Marc Ambinder, You Decide 08!, Taylor Marsh and TPM Election Central
Shailagh Murray / The Trail:
A Biden-Obama Deal? — DES MOINES — Sen. Joseph Biden wants to beat New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson tonight. And Sen. Barack Obama could help him do that. — A source close to the Biden campaign described a possible arrangement, now under discussion between the two camps …
Chase Martyn / Iowa Independent:
Richardson set to send Obama second-choice support — [Exclusive] Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign is expected to direct its supporters to caucus for Sen. Barack Obama in the second round of voting at Thursday's caucuses in precincts where he is not viable. Two sources familiar …
Discussion:
CNN, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, Captain's Quarters, Open Left, Salon, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, TPM Election Central, The Carpetbagger Report, Outside The Beltway, MyDD, Hullabaloo, CommonDreams.org, All Spin Zone, Left in the West, Comments from Left Field, Booman Tribune, michellemalkin.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Deadline USA, Shakespeare's Sister, The Democratic Daily, Blue Hampshire, PSoTD, VodkaPundit, The Moderate Voice, Cliff Schecter, ABCNEWS and Pew Research Center
Thomas Beaumont / Des Moines Register:
Democrats may draw more independents — Thousands more Iowa independent voters are expected to turn out for Democratic presidential candidates than Republicans at today's Iowa caucuses. — If polls and turnout forecasts are accurate, Iowa independents would be following the lead set by their national peers in 2006.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Captain's Quarters, Cliff Schecter, PoliGazette, TPM Election Central and New York Times
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Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Domestic Issues Now Outweigh Iraq — DES MOINES — The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are navigating a far different set of issues as they approach the Iowa caucuses on Thursday than when they first started campaigning here a year ago, and that is likely to change …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Candidates Offer Final Messages to Iowa Voters
Candidates Offer Final Messages to Iowa Voters
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, The Politico, Immigration Chronicles, Wake up America, truthout and American Street
doj.nh.gov:
MCCain and Romney PUsh Poll Complaints — Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte is requesting the public's assistance in identifying who employed Moore-Information of Portland, Oregon to conduct a poll in New Hampshire, in November 2007, which has been alleged to be a push-poll.
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Brent Baker / NewsBusters.org:
NBC Highlights ‘Life-Long Republican’ Caucusing for Obama, But... On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, Andrea Mitchell showcased “a lifelong Republican, who twice voted for George Bush, now canvassing for Obama” as a “precinct captain” in Iowa. In an interview two months ago, however …
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Matthew Sheffield / NewsBusters.org:
Bush-bashing ‘Republican’ Henry Lowenstein, NYT's Favorite — The quickest way to get the liberal media to pay attention to you is to claim to be a Republican who hates Republicans. It's an almost infallible public relations strategy that of late has worked well for “Republican” Monica Green.
Matthew Yglesias:
The Independents — John Judis and Ruy Teixeira take a look at the demographic and ideological characteristics of self-described independents and their potential role in the presidential election. It's clear that the post-partisan rhetoric from Barack Obama that's annoyed a lot of bloggers …
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New York Times:
Justice Dept. Sets Criminal Inquiry on C.I.A. Tapes — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that the Justice Department had elevated its inquiry into the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation videotapes to a formal criminal investigation headed by a career federal prosecutor.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, BuzzFlash.org, New York Sun, TalkLeft and The Moderate Voice
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Redstate:
One More on the Politico Hit Job — According to people who actually know, I'm told $1,878,138 has been raised since the debate on December 12 from 24,949 people, including $719,534 from 10,237 people. For the week before, week of and week after Christmas, I think that's pretty good.
Discussion:
Hot Air
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Byron York / The Corner:
Team Fred Strongly Denies...
Team Fred Strongly Denies...
Discussion:
IowaPolitics.com Caucus …, Weekly Standard, Captain's Quarters, The Politico, Environmental Republican, Fausta's blog, Comments from Left Field, The Anchoress, WTF Is It Now?!?, PunditGuy, Hot Air, Stop The ACLU, QandO, Right Wing Nut House, TIME, Don Surber, The Palmetto Scoop, BobKrumm.com, Betsy's Page, Political Machine, PoliBlog (TM), Macsmind, The Sundries Shack and Primary Monitor Blog
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.
Discussion:
Environmental Republican, Weekly Standard, Connecting.the.Dots, PoliGazette and Redstate
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Solomon Moore / New York Times:
Attacker Bombs Pro-U.S. Sunnis in Iraq
Attacker Bombs Pro-U.S. Sunnis in Iraq
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, democracyarsenal.org, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press
Diane Cardwell / New York Times:
Political Field Is Panned by Bloomberg — With unusually dismissive language, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg offered tart assessments of his potential presidential rivals at a news conference on Wednesday, suggesting they are offering meaningless bromides rather than serious answers to the problems confronting the country.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Can Edwards Do It In Iowa? — The Mellencamp concert for John Edwards last night was a huge success for the campaign. It was well attended (easily twice the size of the Huckabee “Huck'n'Chuck” rally the night before), the crowd was enthusiastic and responded to his message.
Election Projection:
Iowa predictions — Ok, I know I said the caucuses are too close to call. But I just can't help myself. So here are my predictions for tonight's battle in the heartland. — Republicans
Discussion:
michellemalkin.com, Right Wing News, VodkaPundit, Macsmind, Sister Toldjah and Confederate Yankee
John Kass / Chicago Tribune:
For Marine's sendoff, his car is keyed — Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty — now on his way to Iraq for his second tour of duty in the war — took meticulous care of his car. — It is a black two-door BMW, an expensive ride for a young Marine from Chicago, but then, McNulty didn't exactly join …
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 …
Pig / WanderingGoblin.com:
Goblin Literature — Ron Paul, the Future President of Azeroth — Ron Paul, the Future President of Azeroth — I am, by my own admission, the worst journalist in gaming. Before I begin writing about the World of Warcraft Ron Paul rally, it's important that you understand this.
Ross Douthat:
My Mitt Romney Problem (And Yours?) — Watch this ad: — “In the next ten years, we'll see more progress, more change, than the world has seen in the last ten centuries." — Mitt Romney is an immensely talented and accomplished figure. In many ways, he looks like an ideal antidote to George W. Bush …