Top Items:
Leslie Wayne / New York Times:
Richardson Drops Out of Democratic Race — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is pulling out of the presidential race, after coming in fourth in both the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucuses. — Mr. Richardson made the decision after returning to New Mexico yesterday and meeting with his top advisers.
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New York Times:
Michigan Next, G.O.P. Rivals Turn to the Economy — PONTIAC, Mich. — Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney sped to Michigan on Wednesday and turned their focus to the slowing economy as they headed toward the next showdown in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
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MSNBC
Associated Press:
AP NewsBreak: Richardson Ends Bid
AP NewsBreak: Richardson Ends Bid
Discussion:
Firedoglake, MSNBC, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, Threat Level, Taylor Marsh, The Democratic Daily, Associated Press, Captain's Quarters, Pam's House Blend, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, UNCoRRELATED, michellemalkin.com, Reason Magazine, Political Machine, The Sundries Shack, PunditGuy, MyDD and Blue Mass. Group
Robert Morris / MyrtleBeachOnline.com:
Six candidates to appear at GOP debate — Following the New Hampshire primary, six Republican candidates will attend Thursday night's debate in Myrtle Beach, state party officials said today. — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee …
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Jodi Kantor / New York Times:
Women's Support for Clinton Rises in Wake of Perceived Sexism — If the race wasn't about gender already, it certainly is now. — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been running for president for nearly a year. But in the past week, women in Iowa mostly rejected her, a few days before women in New Hampshire embraced her.
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Washington Post:
New Estimate of Violent Deaths Among Iraqis Is Lower — A new survey estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of the country. Roughly 9 out of 10 of those deaths were a consequence of U.S. military operations, insurgent attacks and sectarian warfare.
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Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Justices Indicate They May Uphold Voter ID Rules — WASHINGTON — There are many ways to lose a Supreme Court case, and by the end of an argument that was before the court on Wednesday, the Democrats who were challenging Indiana's voter-identification law appeared poised to lose theirs …
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Cindy Bevington / kpcnews.com:
Voter cited by opponents of Indiana's ID law registered in two states
Voter cited by opponents of Indiana's ID law registered in two states
Discussion:
The Corner, Don Surber, QandO, CNN, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, BobKrumm.com, First Friday Collective, SCOTUSblog and Opinion Journal
Hooman Majd / The Huffington Post:
It's a Fake — The Pentagon's version of the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday morning, involving U.S. Navy warships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats is, at the very least highly suspicious. On Tuesday, the Navy released video footage and an audiotape to back its claims …
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Gail Collins / New York Times:
Hillary's Free Pass — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Whatever your politics, people, you have to admit this is one great presidential race. What next? Fred Thompson takes Florida on a sympathy vote from retirees? (They like a leader who's really, really rested.) John Edwards finds a new emotion for South Carolina?
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Why Hillary Won — What would Shakespeare's Jack Cade say after the New Hampshire Democratic primary? Maybe the demagogue in “Henry VI” would call for the pollsters to be killed first, not the lawyers. — The opinion researchers find themselves in a difficult place after most predicted a big Obama sweep.
James Risen / New York Times:
2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions — WASHINGTON — The helicopter was hovering over a Baghdad checkpoint into the Green Zone, one typically crowded with cars, Iraqi civilians and United States military personnel. — Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas …
Wall Street Journal:
The Surge Worked — It was exactly one year ago tonight, in a televised address to the nation, that President George W. Bush announced his fateful decision to change course in Iraq, and to send five additional U.S. combat brigades there as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy and under the command of a new general, David Petraeus.
Brad Stone / Bits:
AT&T and Other ISPs May Be Getting Ready to Filter — For the past fifteen years, Internet service providers have acted - to use an old cliche - as wide-open information super-highways, letting data flow uninterrupted and unimpeded between users and the Internet. — But ISPs may be about to embrace a new metaphor: traffic cop.
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, The Volokh Conspiracy, Boing Boing, Truthdig, Daily Pundit and Mashable!
White House:
President Bush and Palestinian Authority President Abbas Participate in Joint Press Availability — PRESIDENT ABBAS: (As translated.) Your Excellency, President George Bush, President of the United States of America, I welcome you in Ramallah, as well as in Bethlehem, on the land of Palestine …
Washington Post:
For U.S., The Goal Is Now ‘Iraqi Solutions’ — Approach Acknowledges Benchmarks Aren't Met — In the year since President Bush announced he was changing course in Iraq with a troop “surge” and a new strategy, U.S. military and diplomatic officials have begun their own quiet policy shift.
Reuters:
Goldman Sachs sees recession in 2008 — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said it expects the U.S. economy to drop into recession this year, prompting the Federal Reserve to slash benchmark lending rates to 2.5 percent by the third quarter. — In a note to clients …
CBS News:
Clinton On Her Win, Rivals' “Buddy System” — Hours After Her N.H. Win, Comeback Clinton Raps Her Opponents … CLINTON: On Tuesday morning when I got up before the sun was up, and was out helping to deliver coffee to everybody who was working for me, I felt really good by the time I came in around early afternoon.
Lee Speigel / Political Punch:
Romney's Fishy Delegate Claim — Why is the former Massachusetts governor telling folks that he leads in delegates? — In Boston today, Romney told supporters, “we have more delegates than any other Republican candidate running for president." — Here's the ABC News GOP Delegate Estimate: