memeorandum: Paul Has ‘No Intention’ of Making Third-Party Bid (Jose Antonio Vargas/The Trail)

11:50 AM 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?!

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway, Wonkette, Atlas Shrugs, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Political Machine, Blue Crab Boulevard, PoliGazette, JammieWearingFool and Daily Pundit

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: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside The Beltway, Riehl World View and Blue Crab Boulevard

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby New Hampshire Tracking Poll: Big “Mo-bama” Grabs Dems in Granite State; McCain Regains Lead Over Romney in GOP Battle — UTICA, New York - Democrat Barack Obama's dramatic post-Iowa momentum has come to full bloom in the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby New Hampshire daily tracking poll …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TPM Election Central and Pollster.com

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

In New Hampshire, Bill Clinton Finds Less Spark — DURHAM, N.H. — Is this what it would have been like had Elvis been reduced to playing Reno? — Former President Bill Clinton has been drawing sleepy and sometimes smallish crowds at big venues in the state that revived his presidential campaign in 1992.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Corner, Times of London, Captain's Quarters, Los Angeles Times, Political Machine, USA Today, Blue Crab Boulevard, TIME, Wake up America, Betsy's Page, Booman Tribune, Sweetness & Light, DownWithTyranny!, USS Neverdock, Althouse, Riehl World View and CNN

Roger Simon / The Politico:

Can you win on dull? — NASHUA, N.H. — Two candidates, one room, two days and two worlds apart. — That was Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the Nashua High School North gymnasium Saturday and Sunday. — And the difference between the two candidates was never more apparent.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Captain's Quarters

The Politico:

Romney dials down expectations hard — Mitt Romney, a dominant favorite in New Hampshire just weeks ago, said Sunday that a “close second” to Arizona Sen. John McCain would be a significant feat on Tuesday. — The almost frantic downsizing of expectations for the former Massachusetts governor came …

Discussion: The Hill, Captain's Quarters, Brainster's Blog, Hot Air, michellemalkin.com, Daily Pundit and Connecting.the.Dots

Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:

McCain's Lost Weekend — The polls still have John McCain comfortably ahead of Mitt Romney in the New Hampshire primary, but I don't believe them. For one thing, McCain has just dragged himself through two of his worst debate performances ever. For another, Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Macsmind, The New Republic and PoliGazette

John Whitesides / Reuters:
Obama rockets past Clinton in New Hampshire

Discussion: The Caucus, The Reaction, American Street and Gateway Pundit

Walter Shapiro / Salon:
Heartbreak ahead for Hillary Clinton?

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and MSNBC

Geoff Earle / New York Post:
HILL TRAILING AND FLAILING

Discussion: Don Surber

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

Discussion: Blogs of War

Washington Times:
Clinton recruits out-of-staters to pack rally

Discussion: TownHall Blog, New York Observer, GINA COBB, Wizbang, WMUR, Jules Crittenden, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit and QandO

Andrew Gray / Reuters:

Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: Pentagon — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Iranian boats made aggressive maneuvers and showed hostile intent against 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: CALIFORNIA YANKEE, michellemalkin.com, FP Passport, Corrente, Washington Times, The Glittering Eye and Unqualified Offerings

Jim Miklaszewski / MSNBC:

U.S. says Iran gunboats harassed warships — Officials describe incident as a 'significant provocative act' — WASHINGTON - Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats harassed three U.S. Navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz Sunday, in what the U.S. military officials described as a “significant provocative act.”

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Lede, LewRockwell.com Blog, On Deadline and Sister Toldjah

Pauline Jelinek / Associated Press:

Pentagon says ships harassed by Iran — WASHINGTON - In what U.S. officials called a serious provocation, Iranian boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening to explode the American vessels. — U.S. forces were on the verge of firing …

Discussion: Cold Fury and Gateway Pundit

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Officials: Iranian ships ‘harass’ U.S. Navy

Discussion: Hot Air, ThreatsWatch, Blogs of War and Jihad Watch

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.

Matthew Yglesias:
The Electable Huckabee — The trouble with having Bill Kristol …

Discussion: The Opinionator

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

The Twenty Most Annoying Liberals In The United States: The 2007 Edition — Honorable Mentions: ACLU, Barbra Streisand, Bill Clinton, Bill Moyers, Bill Richardson, Brian DePalma, CAIR, Chuck Schumer, Code Pink, Columbia University, David Gregory, Dennis Kucinich, Ellen DeGeneres, George Soros …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and UrbanGrounds

Jose Antonio Vargas / The Trail:

Paul Has ‘No Intention’ of Making Third-Party Bid — Ron Paul at Saint Anselm College. (Getty Images). — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Rep. Ron Paul has no plans to run on a third party ticket, he told The Trail tonight, minutes before boarding a private jet to Los Angeles.

Discussion: Think Progress, Reason Magazine, Donklephant and No More Mister Nice Blog

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:
Ron Paul launches eight-state ad blitz

Discussion: The Caucus

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

FRAUD ALERT … Explicit racism has disappeared from mainstream political discourse in the United States. Jesse Helms made his long career in Washington by muttering about “bloc votes,” but he's been gone from the Senate since 2003, and he has no similarly outspoken successors.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker and New York Times

BBC:

Britons ‘richer than Americans’ — The average UK person will this year have a greater income than their US counterpart for the first time since the 19th Century, figures suggest. — Analyst Oxford Economics said the UK's GDP per head of population will reach £23,500 - £250 higher than in the US.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye and QandO