memeorandum: A Combative Thompson Sways Voters (Paul Vitello/New York Times)

9:20 PM ET, January 12, 2008

Top Items:

George W. Bush / Newsweek:

Sorry, Barack, You've lost Iraq. — Bush's efforts to negotiate a long-term U.S-Iraq pact may remove troops as an '08 election issue for Obama, Clinton. — Camp Arifjan in the desert kingdom of Kuwait, America's depot to the Iraq war, feels about as far away as you can get from South Carolina …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Wake up America, UrbanGrounds, Wizbang, Blue Crab Boulevard, Redstate, The Strata-Sphere, Middle Earth Journal, QandO, Cliff Schecter and RADAMISTO

Gateway Pundit:

VICTORY!... In Kuwait Bush Claims Surge a Huge Success! (Video) — “History will say, it was when you were called upon, you served, and the service you rendered was absolutely necessary to defeat an enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here at home...”

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Newt: Hillary shows courage, integrity — Newt Gingrich's on-again, off-again adulation of Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be back on. — The leader of the 1994 Republican revolution — who as House speaker in the mid 1990s clashed fiercely with then-first lady Clinton and her husband …

Wayne Washington / The State:
Clinton camp hits Obama | Attacks ‘painful’ for black voters

Discussion: American Street, The Caucus and QandO

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:
MINORITY REPORTS — After New Hampshire, a hint of racial politics.

Discussion: American Street

Meghan Daum / Los Angeles Times:
Hillary's gotta have it — In courting the voters, maybe she should play by ‘The Rules.’

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Edwards Will Face a Moment of Truth After South Carolina Primary

Discussion: Firedoglake, Buck Naked Politics, The Caucus, The Politico, The Sideshow, Blue Crab Boulevard, Prairie Weather and The Huffington Post

Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Obama Giving Clinton a Race in Her Backyard

Discussion: Weekly Standard, New York Daily News Blogs, Redstate, The Moderate Voice, Captain's Quarters, Stumper and Prairie Weather

New York Times:
Clintons Move to Tamp Down Criticism From Blacks About Recent Comments

Discussion: The Politico, Wake up America, TIME: Swampland, Political Machine, The Swamp, Ben Smith's Blogs, TalkLeft, American Street, ScrappleFace, News Hounds, Outside The Beltway, Jules Crittenden, TPM Election Central, Connecting.the.Dots and Macsmind

Booman Tribune:
The Clintons' Racial Strategy

Discussion: Firedoglake and Oliver Willis

Washington Post:
U.S. Political Drama Compels — and Baffles

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Think Progress and Needlenose

The State:

John McCain clearly the best in GOP primary — FOR SOUTH CAROLINA, and to some extent for the nation, the choice among Republican candidates for president has come down to two men. — First Rudy Giuliani, then Mitt Romney looked at political realities and fled the Palmetto State, deciding their priorities lay elsewhere.

Discussion: The Swamp and race42008.com

Robert Novak / Real Clear Politics:

Women vs. Oprah — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The absence of Oprah Winfrey from the frantic four last days of the New Hampshire primary campaign after her heavy schedule in Iowa backing Sen. Barack Obama may be traced to heavy, unaccustomed post-Iowa abuse of the popular entertainment superstar by women.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Tom Watson, The Carpetbagger Report, No More Mister Nice Blog and Bookworm Room

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Joe Won't Be The Veep Pick For McCain

Discussion: PSoTD and PoliGazette

Francis Wilkinson / New York Times:
Fighting to Lose — Nyack, N.Y. — IF parts of Hillary …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Plank

Ezra Levant:

Kangaroo court — I have just returned home from my session at the kangaroo court, called the Alberta human rights commission. Here is my opening statement that I delivered at the interrogation. I will post more details about the interrogation soon.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Jay Currie and Samizdata.net

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

“The last house of worship torched in Edmonton was my synagogue” — I've been in the wilds away from the Internet all day, but I wanted to draw attention to this - yesterday's interrogation of my old boss Ezra Levant by one of Canada's many “human rights commissions” for publishing the Danish cartoons.

Little Green Footballs:
Outrage of the Week: Canadian Publisher Persecuted for Mindcrime

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Hot Air and Ed Driscoll.com

New York Times:

Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles — Late one night in the summer of 2005, Matthew Sepi, a 20-year-old Iraq combat veteran, headed out to a 7-Eleven in the seedy Las Vegas neighborhood where he had settled after leaving the Army. — This particular 7-Eleven sits in the shadow …

Discussion: Cliff Schecter and Eschaton

Stephanie Hooper / Nashuatelegraph.com:

Clinton adviser arrested in Nashua — shooper@nashuatelegraph.com — NASHUA - A top Clinton adviser faces charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated after city police caught him speeding through Greeley Park a day before the state primary. — Sidney Blumenthal …

Discussion: BitsBlog

Rudyg / Stumper:
Blumenthal On the Boil — Sidney Blumenthal plays hardball.

Discussion: TalkLeft, NewsBusters.org, Cold Fury, BizzyBlog, UrbanGrounds and Daily Pundit

Paul Vitello / New York Times:

A Combative Thompson Sways Voters — MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — John and Ann Berenberk dutifully watched the umpteenth Republican presidential debate on television on Thursday night and had an epiphany. It was about the candidate they had previously referred to as the tall, silent one. Fred D. Thompson.

Discussion: Riehl World View, CBS News, The Politico, Right Wing Nut House, michellemalkin.com, Redstate, Wake up America, QandO, Fausta's blog, Hot Air, Fred File, Daily Pundit and PoliGazette

Steve Friess / New York Times:

Teachers Sue to Block Hotel Workers' Union Vote in Nevada Caucus — LAS VEGAS — Nevada's state teachers union and six Las Vegas area residents filed a lawsuit late Friday that could make it harder for many members of the state's huge hotel workers union to vote in the hotly contested Jan. 19 Democratic caucus in Nevada.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, protein wisdom, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, The Trail, Daily Kos, Blue Crab Boulevard, Las Vegas Sun, Taylor Marsh and Ben Smith's Blogs

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Young Evangelicals Embrace Huckabee as Old Guard Balks — WASHINGTON — Much of the national leadership of the Christian conservative movement has turned a cold shoulder to the Republican presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, wary of his populist approach to economic issues and his criticism …

Discussion: TalkLeft and protein wisdom

Wall Street Journal:

JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT — A transcript of the weekend's program: With Iowa done, the candidates look toward New Hampshire. Paul Gigot interviews Sen. John Sununu, and the panel sizes up the contenders. Tune in this weekend for more: FOX News Channel, Saturday 11 p.m. and Sunday 6 a.m. ET.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

Ben Nelson To Endorse Obama — Now this is a predictable development as Ben Nelson is the king of bipartisanship, voting with Republicans more than any other Democrat: … Again, the national implications for me are not positive for Obama, they are negative.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Hotline On Call

Jake Thompson / Omaha World-Herald:
Nelson's support shows broad Obama appeal

Discussion: Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Objects From Iranian Boats Posed No Threat, Navy Says — The small, boxlike objects dropped in the water by Iranian boats as they approached U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf on Sunday posed no threat to the American vessels, U.S. officials said yesterday, even as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and AMERICAblog

Thom Shanker / New York Times:
Iran Encounter Grimly Echoes '02 War Game

Discussion: Navy Times, abu muqawama, Hot Air, Atlas Shrugs and American Street

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:

Iraq to reinstate Saddam party followers — BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament passed a benchmark law Saturday allowing lower-ranking former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs, the first major piece of U.S.-backed legislation it has adopted.