Top Items:
The Politico:
Romney skips S.C., bets on Nevada — “This is a state I'd expect that Sen. [John] McCain has pretty well wrapped up,” Romney told reporters at the Sun City Hilton Head Retirement Center in Bluffton. “It would be an enormous surprise if he were unable to win here.”
Discussion:
The Hill, Captain's Quarters, The Swamp, Rasmussen Reports, Matthew Yglesias, Sister Toldjah and The Fix
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Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Huckabee vows to send all illegal aliens home — TIGERVILLE, S.C. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee yesterday continued to move to the right on immigration during this year's presidential campaign, signing a pledge to enforce immigration laws and to make all illegal aliens go home.
Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain Still Leads in South Carolina — Huckabee still No. 2, Thompson boots Romney from No 3 spot — Utica, NY - Arizona Sen. John McCain kept his lead in South Carolina in the second installment of the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll.
Discussion:
Don Surber
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Romney best pick for state Republicans — GOP also caucusing on Saturday — You might not know it, but there's also a Republican caucus in Nevada on Saturday. — While the Democratic candidates have been showering attention on the Silver State in order to sway voters in preparation …
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
Voter-Fraud Rethink — Both Democrats and Republicans are good at practicing hypocrisy when they need to. But it's still breathtaking to see how some Democrats ignore that it was only last week they argued before the Supreme Court that an Indiana law requiring voters show ID at the polls …
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Carla Marinucci / SFGate:
Bill Clinton Gets Riled Over Nevada Strip Caucuses — Former President Bill Clinton got positively riled — as in steely-eyed — today when pressed by a local TV reporter on the issue of lawsuits filed by Sen. Hillary Clinton's Nevada supporters to challenge the Jan. 19 Democratic “at large” …
Ryan Grim / The Politico:
Anti-war groups retreat — After a series of legislative defeats in 2007 that saw the year end with more U.S. troops in Iraq than when it began, a coalition of anti-war groups is backing away from its multimillion-dollar drive to cut funding for the war and force Congress to pass timelines for bringing U.S. troops home.
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Josephine Hearn / The Politico:
Obama splits Black Caucus — Even though Barack Obama may become the first African-American ever to represent a major party as the nominee for president, many black lawmakers on Capitol Hill are not supporting him. And that's creating tensions within the Congressional Black Caucus.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
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David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The Résumé Gap — A Democratic Field Without an Executive — It was fascinating to watch the three top contenders for the Democratic nomination discuss their concept of the presidency during Tuesday night's MSNBC debate in Las Vegas. But it was also stunning to realize …
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Abortions Hit Lowest Number Since 1976 — The number of abortions performed in the United States dropped to 1.2 million in 2005 — the lowest level since 1976, according to a new report. — The number of abortions fell at least in part because the proportion of women ending their pregnancies …
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Arthur C. Brooks / Wall Street Journal:
Liberal Hatemongers — A politically progressive friend of mine always seemed to root against baseball teams from the South. The Braves, the Rangers, the Astros — he hated them all. I asked him why, to which he replied, “Southerners are prejudiced." — The same logic is evident …
Matthew Yglesias:
Like Reagan — Barack Obama tosses off a vague comparison between himself and Ronald Regan and Matt Stoller gets really pissed. I don't really get it. Obama is pretty unambiguously claiming that much as Reagan was a friendly, popular face of a much more conservative governing agenda …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Leahy for Obama — Two sources familiar with the senior Vermont senator's plans say Patrick Leahy will be endorsing Obama today in an 11:00 a.m. conference call today. — Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, wouldn't confirm the senator's plans, but did suggest a reporter pay attention to the call …
Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Even at Home, Backers Worry About Giuliani — For months, the Republican establishment in New York and New Jersey marched nearly in lock step behind Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former hometown mayor they were confident would become their party's nominee for president.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, New York Daily News Blogs, MSNBC, NY Daily News and TPM Election Central
Wall Street Journal:
Republicans and Taxes — As the rugby scrum that is the Republican Presidential race heads to South Carolina, the players are wrestling on conservative turf. So it's a good time to wrestle ourselves with an issue that has become a conservative signature — taxes.
Gareth Porter / Asia Times:
How the Pentagon planted a false story — WASHINGTON - Senior Pentagon officials, evidently reflecting a broader administration policy decision, used an off-the-record Pentagon briefing to turn the January 6 US-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz into a sensational story demonstrating …