memeorandum: As Bush Heads to Mideast, Renewed Questions on Iran (Washington Post)

2:30 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?!

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Power Line, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette, Wonkette, Atlas Shrugs, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Wake up America, Macsmind, Blogs of War, Blue Crab Boulevard, PunditGuy, Gateway Pundit, Fausta's blog, Pajamas Media, Political Machine and JammieWearingFool

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, HazZzMat, The Trail, Liberal Values, Riehl World View, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside The Beltway 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: Salon, Washington Post, Times of London, The Swamp, New York Post, The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, The Corner, Political Machine, TIME, Betsy's Page, Blue Crab Boulevard, Captain's Quarters, Wake up America, Sweetness & Light, Booman Tribune and DownWithTyranny!

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, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, GreenMountainPolitics1, Brainster's Blog, Daily Pundit and Connecting.the.Dots

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

Discussion: The Caucus and Wonkette

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

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Can you win on dull? — NASHUA, N.H. — Two candidates …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, JustOneMinute, CBS News, Publius Endures and Captain's Quarters

Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:
McCain's Lost Weekend

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Ross Douthat, The Opinionator, UNCoRRELATED, PoliGazette, Macsmind and The New Republic

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, Blue Crab Boulevard and Slog

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 her passion for the country.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Swamp, michellemalkin.com, TalkLeft and On Deadline

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 and Hot Air

The Anchoress:
Will 2008 finish what 1968 began?

Discussion: Associated Press

Patrick Healy / The Caucus:
Clinton Tears Up; Talks About Campaign Strains

Discussion: Big Brass Blog

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 Newshoggers, FP Passport, michellemalkin.com, Booman Tribune, The Glittering Eye, Unqualified Offerings, Corrente, CALIFORNIA YANKEE, Washington Times and UNCoRRELATED

Jim Miklaszewski / MSNBC:
U.S. says Iran gunboats harassed warships

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

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:
U.S. Describes Confrontation With Iranian Ships

Discussion: The Belmont Club

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Iranian boats ‘provoked’ U.S. Navy, officials say

Discussion: Hot Air, The Blotter, The Raw Story, ThreatsWatch, The Agonist, Jihad Watch, Blogs of War and Danger Room

Pauline Jelinek / Associated Press:
Pentagon says ships harassed by Iran

Discussion: Cold Fury, Daily Pundit and Gateway Pundit

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 and Horses Mouth

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, New Haven Independent and Cameron's Corner

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

Discussion: Roger Ailes

Michelle Malkin:

Duncan Hunter to make an announcement — Just in from the Hunter campaign. News coming at 2:00pm Eastern: — Contact: Bob Bevill, (978) 339-3198, (603) 913-1770 — Presidential Candidate and California Congressman Duncan Hunter will be making a major announcement today at 2:00 p.m. …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Captain's Quarters, Ground Game and Wake up America

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 and Think Progress

Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Bagram: Still There — There's a good piece by Tim Golden in today's Times about the detention center at Bagram, where conditions are even more bleak than at Guantanamo; conditions are overcrowded (the population having increased from around 100 to nearly 700 since 2002) …

Discussion: New York Times, Commentary, Prairie Weather, The Daily Dish and Total Information Awareness

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: JustOneMinute, Matthew Yglesias, Captain's Quarters and democracyarsenal.org