memeorandum: Fred Thompson Tied for Second Launches a New Ad in S.C. (Carl Cameron/Cameron's Corner)

1:25 AM ET, January 15, 2008

Top Items:

Obama Damps Down Racial Controversy — ABC News' David Wright, Andy Fies, and Sunlen Miller Report: Sen. Barack Obama told ABC News Monday there is nothing in Sen. Hillary Clinton's record that would give him any cause for concern about her in terms of racial politics.

Discussion: Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Hullabaloo, The Trail, protein wisdom, Matthew Yglesias, Tom Watson, TIME: Swampland, Booman Tribune, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Gun Toting Liberal™, TalkLeft and Gateway Pundit

Matt Bai / The Caucus:

The Clintons and History — WASHINGTON — There's an old joke people here in the capital like to tell about Charles E. Schumer, the New York senator, and over the years I'm sure it's been used to describe other politicians, as well: The most dangerous place to stand in Washington …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, The Swamp, CNN, Latest Politics, Right Wing Nut House, protein wisdom, MSNBC, God's Politics, Blue Crab Boulevard, NY Daily News, Balloon Juice and Pandagon

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

The Case Against Hillary Clinton — WHY ON EARTH WOULD WE CHOOSE TO PUT THE CLINTON FAMILY DRAMA AT THE CENTER OF OUR POLITICS AGAIN. — Seeing the name Hillary in a headline last week—a headline about a life that had involved real achievement—I felt a mouse stirring in the attic of my memory.

Discussion: the talking dog, Viking Pundit, Weekly Standard, Captain's Quarters, Riehl World View and New York Times

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama, putting out the fire — Carrie Budoff Brown has some key quotes from an Obama avail this afternoon in Reno, where he tried to put to rest the racially-charged name-calling. … His surrogates and a spokeswoman have, it's worth noting, participated in the recent round of criticism of the Clintons …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, The Democratic Daily, Sisyphus Shrugged, Comments from Left Field, The Page and Buck Naked Politics

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Clinton booed at MLK rally in New York — NEW YORK, N.Y. — Dogged by continuing racial tensions around her presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a smattering of boos on Monday when she spoke at a religiously tinged Martin Luther King Jr. rally put together by a union organizing predominantly black security workers.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gateway Pundit, Keith Burgess-Jackson, New York Sun, Captain's Quarters and The Trail

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Obama Tries to Stop the ‘Silliness’ — (Photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times) — RENO, Nev. - As he campaigned in northern Nevada on Monday, Senator Barack Obama said he was concerned that a heated discussion of racial issues in the presidential campaign could divide the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Sister Toldjah and Too Sense

CNN:

Bill Clinton compiles ‘list’ of Obama attacks — (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign came out swinging Monday against the latest complaints from her rival, with former President Clinton announcing he has “a list of 80 attacks on Hillary” by Senator Barack Obama's campaign.

Discussion: The Swamp, Horses Mouth and State of the Day

David Espo / Associated Press:
Clinton, Obama step back from race flap

Discussion: Stumper and MSNBC

Scott Ott / ScrappleFace:
Obama: It Took Men to Give Women the Vote

Discussion: UrbanGrounds

Earl Ofari Hutchinson / The Huffington Post:
Obama Needs a History Lesson about Hillary and King

Discussion: PoliGazette and Too Sense

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Judge To NBC: You Can't Control Your Own Content — A solution in search of a problem found a judge in search of some understanding of the concept of private property and free speech. Both converged in Las Vegas through the efforts of Dennis Kucinich to force his way into the NBC Democratic debate.

Discussion: Political Machine, The Discerning Texan, The Newshoggers and TigerHawk

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:
Breaking News: Judge says MSNBC must include Kucinich

Discussion: Eschaton

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:
Breaking News: Kucinich sues NBC over Nevada debate

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, MyDD and TVNewser

Anjeanette Damon / Inside Nevada Politics:

New Poll: Democratic race in Nevada a dead heat — A new poll by the Reno Gazette-Journal shows a neck-and-neck three-way race among Democrats for Saturday's caucus. On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. John McCain has taken his first lead in Nevada of the election season, and Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Pollster.com, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, Washington Wire, The Agonist, Open Left, The Fix, MSNBC, Las Vegas Sun, Daily Kos, Boston Globe, The Caucus, MyDD and CANNONFIRE

Phoenix Woman / Firedoglake:
The Polls You Won't Hear Much About

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Cogitamus and Daily Kos

USA Today:
USAT/Gallup Poll: McCain jumps to lead; Clinton regains advantage

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, Stop The ACLU, Pollster.com, Los Angeles Times, Quinnipiac University News …, TPM Election Central, Classical Values and The Moderate Voice

Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:

Bothersome Intel on Iran — In public, President Bush has been careful to reassure Israel and other allies that he still sees Iran as a threat, while not disavowing his administration's recent National Intelligence Estimate. That NIE, made public Dec. 3, embarrassed the administration …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, democracyarsenal.org, Emptywheel, THE CUNNING REALIST, Think Progress, Cliff Schecter, The Newshoggers, SteveAudio, Corrente, Wall Street Journal, The Carpetbagger Report, Make Them Accountable and RADAMISTO

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Artificial Intelligence — PRESIDENT BUSH'S CAVALIER DISMISSAL …

Discussion: Think Progress

Carl Cameron / Cameron's Corner:

Fred Thompson Tied for Second Launches a New Ad in S.C. — Fred Thompson's lagging campaign finds solace in the latest Rassmussen poll in South Carolina which shows he is TIED with Huckabee and Romney for SECOND. — His campaign launched a new ad in South Carolina on the heels of the good news.

Discussion: Freeman Hunt, Macsmind, Political Machine and Captain's Quarters

David Mark / The Politico:
Clinton holds solid lead in California

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Taegan Goddard's …

Peter Robinson / The Corner:
Fred Thompson: Liftoff?

Discussion: Power Line and Fred File

Spengler / Asia Times:

Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code — Islam watchers blogged all weekend about news that a secret archive of ancient Islamic texts had surfaced after 60 years of suppression. Andrew Higgins' Wall Street Journal report that the photographic record of Koranic manuscripts …

Discussion: ShrinkWrapped, The Belmont Club, Fausta's blog and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Tim B. / Tim Blair:

A VISIT TO THE INFIRMARY — Feeling poorly for some time. Saw a doctor a few weeks ago, who sent me to a specialist, who booked me into hospital for tests. — It's cancer. — Major abdominal surgery next week. If all goes well, the remaining non-cancerous section of me will be home by early-mid February.

Discussion: The Corner, Blue Crab Boulevard, Daily Pundit and Bolus

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

Iraq Defense Minister Sees Need for U.S. Security Help Until 2018 — FORT MONROE, Va. — The Iraqi defense minister said Monday that his nation would not be able to take full responsibility for its internal security until 2012, nor be able on its own to defend Iraq's borders from external threat until at least 2018.

Discussion: Open Left, RADAMISTO and Greatscat!

Kos / Daily Kos:

IL-03: 5,000 for Pera — Let me lay out the brutal reality for you guys: — Few people in DC care what we think. — Yeah, yeah, big shock, what with one Democratic capitulation after another last year. That was pretty much the tip-off. — But the bottom line is that we can't buy them off with lobbyists.

Discussion: Open Left, DownWithTyranny!, Watching Those We Chose and Hullabaloo

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Raise Your Hand If You're Sick of the Presidentials

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog and Hullabaloo

Thomas de Zengotita / The Huffington Post:

A Defining Moment for The Clintons: The Lawsuit Against Nevada's Culinary Workers Union — As this link shows, the Clinton campaign is supporting, if not actually inciting, a Nevada State Teachers Association lawsuit against the Culinary Workers Union. The reason?