memeorandum: Kennedy opens, closes Senate in 29 seconds (CNN)

4:45 PM ET, January 7, 2008

Top Items:

TALK OF HILLARY EXIT ENGULFS CAMPAIGNS — Facing a double-digit defeat in New Hampshire, a sudden collapse in national polls and an expected fund-raising drought, Senator Hillary Clinton is preparing for a tough decision: Does she get out of the race? And when?!

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton fights back tears: 'It's not easy' — Exhausted and facing the prospect of losing the second test of her primary campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton fought back tears as her voice broke at the close of a sedate event in a Portsmouth coffee shop. — She expressed the sheer difficulty …

Discussion: The New Republic, The Carpetbagger Report, Right Wing Nut House, Liberty Pundit, Blogs of War and Blue Crab Boulevard

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:

Clinton Gets Emotional on Campaign Trail — ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: Campaigning in New Hampshire one day before the first-in-the-nation primary, Senator Hillary Clinton got emotional and had tears in her eyes as she spoke with voters about how hard it is to balance a busy campaign life and her passion for the country's future.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Power Line, michellemalkin.com, TalkLeft, The Sundries Shack, Salon, QandO, Outside The Beltway, On Deadline and Boston Globe

Robert Shrum / NY Daily News:

Sen. Clinton's massive mistake - and the final chance to fix it — Be Our Guest — If (although I strongly suspect the right word is “when") Hillary Clinton loses tomorrow's New Hampshire primary, there will be a few proto-obituaries for her campaign and many more stories about how it will be “shaken up” or “relaunched.”

Discussion: The Politico, Weekly Standard, The Trail, The Democratic Daily, HazZzMat, Talking Points Memo, Outside The Beltway, Liberal Values, Riehl World View, Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

WSJ.com:

Emotional Moment for Clinton in N.H. — Amy Chozick reports on the presidential campaign from Portsmouth, N.H. — Speaking to an intimate group of undecided voters this morning at a cafe in Portsmouth, N.H., Sen. Hillary Clinton showed a rare emotional side.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Caucus, Hot Air, Open Left, Talking Points Memo, L.A. Times, Attytood, Taylor Marsh, Tammy Bruce and Althouse

Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby New Hampshire Tracking Poll: Big “Mo-bama” …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Donklephant, TPM Election Central and Washington Times

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
EMOTION ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.

Discussion: Oliver Willis

Ernie Paicopolos / Fox News: FOX News Poll: McCain Makes Late Surge In New Hampshire—Takes Top Spot

The Anchoress:
Will 2008 finish what 1968 began?

Discussion: Associated Press

The Politico:
Romney dials down expectations hard

Discussion: The Swamp, The Hill, TIME: Swampland, Hot Air, Brainster's Blog, UNCoRRELATED, TIME, TBogg and GreenMountainPolitics1

Fernando Suarez / CBS News: Clinton Fights Back Tears

Dan / Riehl World View:
A Drudge Intrigue: Is Hillary Dropping Out?

Discussion: The Caucus

Michael Elmore / Political Radar:
Rivals Reacts to Teary Clinton

Discussion: Feministing and Macsmind

Michelle Malkin:

Duncan Hunter to make an announcement; Update: He's staying in, blasts media “knuckleheads” — Update 2:38pm Eastern. Rep. Hunter is staying in the race. He blasted “knucklehead, arrogant” TV execs at ABC and Fox for excluding him from the presidential debates this weekend.

Discussion: TVNewser, Captain's Quarters, Los Angeles Times, Ground Game, Hot Air and Say Anything

CNN:
Struggling GOP candidate to stay in the race

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, D-Day, The Campaign Spot and Wake up America

Atrios / Eschaton:

Conservative Victims — From Red State. This is pretty hilarious even for them. … There's more, but you get the idea. It's the fault of liberals that they can't run their website because... hell I don't know.

Discussion: Redstate, The Supreme Irony of Life and Angry Bear

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

RedState Tells Readers Scoop Developers Are All Liberals, So Fork Over $25 Grand — I realize that there's one born every minute, but in a letter to RedState readers, Erick Erickson says that their readers need to raise $25,000 in order to keep them from being overrun by a liberal plot:

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ron Paul Supporters Confront Frank Luntz — It's always great when Fox News calls for civility. After excluding Ron Paul (who is, per some polls, in a statistical tie for third in the GOP New Hampshire primary) from the debate last night, Fox's official pollster Frank Luntz's feathers …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Supreme Irony of Life

The Corner: How Shameful — Ron Paul supporters harrassed Sean Hannity in Manchester last night.

Melissa Bailey / New Haven Independent:
“You are ignoring America's savior!”

Discussion: TPMmuckraker and Cameron's Corner

William Kristol / New York Times:

President Mike Huckabee? — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Thank you, Senator Obama. You've defeated Senator Clinton in Iowa. It looks as if you're about to beat her in New Hampshire. There will be no Clinton Restoration. A nation turns its grateful eyes to you.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, michellemalkin.com, Ross Douthat, Real Clear Politics, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Newshoggers, Power Line, Swords Crossed, New York Magazine, Publius Pundit, Wonkette, Shakespeare's Sister, The Carpetbagger Report, Sadly, No! and Outside The Beltway

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:
Whoopsie! Kristol's First New York Times Column Attributes Quote To Wrong Author

Discussion: Sadly, No!, The Opinionator and The Plank

Michael O'Hanlon / Wall Street Journal:

Obama and Iraq — One of Sen. Barack Obama's many strengths is his ability to inspire beyond party lines. Because he lacks the baggage of the past, and because his melodic message of hope speaks to many, he garnered much more support from independents in Iowa than either Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.

Discussion: Think Progress, The Newshoggers, Matthew Yglesias, JustOneMinute, Commentary, toohotfortnr, Captain's Quarters and democracyarsenal.org

Andrew Gray / Reuters:

Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: Pentagon — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Iranian boats made aggressive maneuvers and showed hostile intent towards three U.S. Navy ships at the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route in the Gulf, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Lede, The Newshoggers, FP Passport, Associated Press, Jules Crittenden, Corrente, Booman Tribune, CALIFORNIA YANKEE, The Glittering Eye, Unqualified Offerings, Cold Fury and Washington Times

New York Times:
U.S. Describes Confrontation With Iranian Boats

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, The Blotter, The Belmont Club and Prairie Weather

Mark R. Levin / Human Events:

Man of the Year: Rush Limbaugh — Rush Limbaugh's detractors never learn. They've tried everything to come between Rush and his more than 20 million listeners, intending to destroy his appeal and impact. But it's a hopeless, almost laughable endeavor. They led boycotts against his advertisers …

Discussion: The Corner, Think Progress and Redstate

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

Can Clinton's Emotions Get the Best of Her? — N.Y. Senator's Recent Displays of Emotion Have Political Analysts Buzzing — How voters interpret Sen. Hillary Clinton's composure — emotional, cold or just plain tough — could be a deciding factor in her campaign for the presidency, political analysts told ABCNEWS.com.

Discussion: Cogitamus

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

FALSE HOPES....I don't like to obsess too much over single sentences in presidential debates, but by far the most jarring statment I heard in Saturday's Democratic debate was Hillary Clinton's admonition that “we don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered.”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias and The Carpetbagger Report

Steven Maviglio / The California Majority Report:

CMR EXCLUSIVE: This Time It's For Real: Doolittle to Drop Out, Oller in for Congressional Seat — Embattled Congressman John Doolittle, the focus of a federal corruption probe, will announce that he will not seek re-election paving the way for former State Sen. Rico Oller …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Crypt's Blogs and Hotline On Call