memeorandum: Mark Penn's hyper-speed career trainwreck (Kagro X/Daily Kos)

12:30 AM ET, January 7, 2008

Top Items:

Poll: Obama jumps ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire — MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — With two days to go until the New Hampshire primary, a new CNN/WMUR poll out Sunday afternoon suggests that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has opened up a double digit advantage over New York …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Reaction, Right Wing News, Talking Points Memo, American Street, AMERICAblog, Althouse, TPM Election Central, Deadline USA, Boston Globe, The Politico, Donklephant, Zogby, McClatchy Washington Bureau and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

USA Today:

Obama up by 13 points, McCain up by 4 in USAT/Gallup Poll in N.H. — Sen. Barack Obama has opened up a 13 percentage point lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the battle for votes in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted in the state from Friday through this afternoon.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, The Seminal, MyDD, Pollster.com, Pam's House Blend, Los Angeles Times and Blue Crab Boulevard

The Politico:

Hillary advisers fear N.H. loss — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Hillary Clinton's strategists, desperate for a win in New Hampshire, have decided against unleashing attack ads against Sen. Barack Obama before Tuesday's primary, Democratic sources said. — The senator's aides concluded …

Discussion: You Decide 08!, Boston Globe, Liberal Values, Political Machine, The New Republic, YID With LID, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Swamp, TPM Election Central, Deadline USA, Time and TalkLeft

Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard:

Is There Something Happening Here? — Something rather odd is happening in New Hampshire, and for once it has nothing to do with my Nashua based in-laws. While bearing in mind that what follows may be a Romney guy struggling to keep hope alive... Rasmussen's polls show the race tightening.

Discussion: Hot Air

WMUR:

Barack Moves Into Lead; McCain Holds Onto Top Spot — Tracking Poll Shows Movement In Democratic Race — MANCHESTER, N.H. — The latest WMUR/CNN tracking poll shows that Barack Obama has moved into a significant lead over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Hotline On Call

USA Today:
Poll: Obama, McCain leap ahead in N.H.

Discussion: The Trail and Hotline On Call

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Polls Picking Up an Obama Surge?

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Kagro X / Daily Kos:
Mark Penn's hyper-speed career trainwreck

Discussion: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, D-Day and TPM Election Central

Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:
Romney's Weekend — Mitt Romney had an excellent exchange …

Discussion: Oliver Willis and The Corner

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Obama takes double-digit lead in N.H., poll shows

Discussion: TalkLeft, Washington Post, Spin Cycle, The Caucus and Los Angeles Times

Suffolk University:
Jan. 6, 2008 — It's Neck and Neck in New Hampshire: Obama …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, MSNBC and Wake up America

Mark Blumenthal / Pollster.com:
POLL OF POLLSTERS: RATING THE NH POLLSTERS

Discussion: race42008.com

HillaryClinton.com:
Where Is The Bounce? — Two polls that had the race within …

Discussion: New Yorker, The Politico and Reuters

Michelle Malkin:

Sunday night roundtable: The Fox News/GOP debate — 9:35pm Eastern. Wow. Frank Luntz's focus group was just asked about Romney. Only a few raised their hands to say they supported him before the debate. Almost all raised their hands to say they were supporting him afterward. Look:

Discussion: PrestoPundit, Hot Air, Fox News, TownHall Blog, Stop The ACLU, Betsy's Page, Gateway Pundit and Riehl World View

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

SCORING TONIGHT'S GOP CANDIDATES' FORUM — I'd like to score this discussion like a prize fight, by round. Here we go. First round: … I score this round on taxes as a tie between Giuliani and Romney. Next round: Moderator Chris Wallace turns the subject to Social Security:

Discussion: You Decide 08!, Macsmind, michellemalkin.com and Nashuatelegraph.com

Michael Luo / New York Times: Republican Rivals Go After One Another in Forum

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
From smackdown to somnolent — Sequels are almost never as entertaining as the original.

Discussion: Stumper

The Corner:
Huck & McCain — Huckabee, after three ducks, now suggests …

Discussion: Say Anything

Monday Morning Clacker / GreenMountainPolitics1:

Bad Romney Staffer! Bad! Bad! Bad! — Absolutely hilarious. — GMP1 thinks that the girl in the video is a Romney staffer. — Anyway, what Romney staffer (or volunteer or supporter) pulls a stunt like this in front of at least two video cameras (the one recording the footage …

Discussion: Donklephant, Blue Hampshire, Macsmind and The Reaction

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

GOP DEBATE WRAP-UP — First, I think you have to say that tonight's Republican debate didn't hold a candle to yesterday's in terms of entertainment firepower. That said, all jokes aside, Mitt Romney did much, much better than he did last night. It didn't take much of course.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Corner

Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:

Romney Rising — Whoa. Did you see the Luntz focus group of undecided voters: an overwhelming surge to Romney. This was the first well-managed debate and Romney had the best of all of his debate showings. — Oliver Wendall Holmes once famously remarked about FDR that the president had a A …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and RealClearPolitics

Mary Katharine Ham / TownHall Blog:

Winners and Losers: Rank 'Em Up — 1. Mitt: He was a stronger, more real version of Mitt tonight. I truly enjoyed it, and I haven't thought he's won a debate since the very first Republican debate. I think he probably did himself a lot of good in New Hampshire tonight, and the Luntz focus group shows it.

Discussion: Redstate, Fred File and Hot Air

CNN:

Edwards vows to stay in race to convention — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democrat John Edwards said Sunday he will stay in the presidential race through the party's convention in late August, even if he fails to win any of the early presidential primary states. — “This is the call of my life …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, Taegan Goddard's …, Newsweek, Political Machine and Lawyers, Guns and Money

ABCNEWS:

Obama Exclusive: Barack Sits Down for First Interview Since Iowa Win — Diane Sawyer Talks With the Presidential Hopeful About Debate Performance and More — After pulling off a victory in Iowa, and with only two days before the New Hampshire primary, presidential hopeful Barack Obama, D-Ill., is on fire.

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

THE PACK....Ezra Klein watches pack journalism at work, 2008 style, and it's not pretty. Nickel version: If some other reporter says Hillary Clinton melted down because she displayed a flash of emotion in last night's debate, then she melted down. After all, who are you going to believe, the spin room or your own lyin' eyes?

Discussion: TalkLeft, Taylor Marsh, The RBC, Pollster.com, The New Republic, Matthew Yglesias, Buck Naked Politics and Political Punch

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE PRESS CORPS. — Read Chris Hayes on the psychology of the press corps here.

Discussion: Grasping Reality …, RealClearPolitics, The Newshoggers, The Nation, The Carpetbagger Report and Matthew Yglesias

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Back to Iraq — In Nashua, Hillary skates on the edge of Iraq revisionism: … Now, that's probably true in the literal, alternate history sense: As president, she wouldn't have taken the U.S. into war. But it also revives a conversation that had flagged, about her initial vote for the use of force.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Matt Zeitlin and TPM Election Central

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
Hillary: time to ‘separate rhetoric from reality’

Discussion: The Caucus, 2008Central.net, The Heretik and Threat Level

Robin Koerner / The Moderate Voice:

Obama Lifts Lid on Latent Global Pro-Americanism — A list of the most recent headlines posted by the global news aggregator, Watching America, shows that the Obama phenomenon is sending ripples far and fast. There's enough global output that WA is continuing its multiple Obama feature with new content into the new week.

Discussion: Watching America