memeorandum: Today's Must Read (Paul Kiel/TPMmuckraker)

12:05 PM ET, January 21, 2008

Top Items:

GOP Field Readies for True Test In Florida — The Top Candidates Finally Go All-Out In a Closed Primary — Riding the momentum from his weekend victory in South Carolina, John McCain turned his attention Sunday to Florida and the high-stakes primary there that will test whether …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Time, Captain's Quarters, Political Machine, DownWithTyranny!, Riehl World View, MSNBC and Hot Air

John Fund / Wall Street Journal:

Base Runner — Huckabee tries but fails to win the votes of non-evangelicals. — Mike Huckabee tried his best to expand beyond his evangelical base in South Carolina and appeal to what his campaign called “Joe Six Pack” voters. Mr. Huckabee was the only candidate to pander to devotees …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Corner, Betsy's Page and Transterrestrial Musings

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Accessibility Opens Doors For McCain — SPARTANBURG, S.C. — As the JetBlue charter from Michigan touched down in South Carolina, I strolled up to John McCain's front-row seat — none of his aides batted an eye — and asked if he would continue to chat with reporters around the clock if he won the Republican nomination.

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Huckabee: McCain-lover, Mitt-killer

Discussion: michellemalkin.com

William Kristol / New York Times:
Thoroughly Unmodern McCain

Discussion: MSNBC, Riehl World View, Rising Hegemon, Firedoglake, Publius Pundit and Washington Post

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Republican Field Rides Full Force Into Florida Test

Discussion: TIME and Hold Fast

Julie Bosman / New York Times:
After His Loss in Nevada, Edwards Keeps Marching

Discussion: Washington Post, John Edwards '08 Blog, MSNBC, Brendan Nyhan, TPM Election Central and Political Machine

Dan Hoover / Greenville News:
South Carolina to test Democrats next

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, MSNBC, The Caucus and New York Times

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Obama faces off against both Clintons — ATLANTA - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama launched Sunday what his top aides described as a more aggressive bid to challenge “unbelievable falsehoods” pressed last week in Nevada by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

Discussion: The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Comments from Left Field, Agence France Presse, Deadline USA, Political Machine, The Huffington Post, Truthdig, Liberal Values, Blue Crab Boulevard and Talking Points Memo

baldilocks:

It's On! — Other that the Kenya post—set last night to automatically post early this morning—I wasn't going to post today. However, this is bit of politicking is too delicious not to comment upon. In an interview that will run on ABC's “Good Morning America” tomorrow morning …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and The Glittering Eye

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Video: Obama Pushes Back Aggressively Against Bill Clinton

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report and Talking Points Memo

Reuters:
EXCLUSIVE: Barack vs. Bill: Obama Hits Ex-Prez Over ‘Troubling’ Attacks

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Debunking the Reagan Myth — Historical narratives matter. That's why conservatives are still writing books denouncing F.D.R. and the New Deal; they understand that the way Americans perceive bygone eras, even eras from the seemingly distant past, affects politics today.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias, American Power, Hold Fast, Hullabaloo, The Sideshow, Prairie Weather, Make Them Accountable, Brilliant at Breakfast, Middle Earth Journal and Economist's View

Pam / Pam's House Blend:

Obama addresses homophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in MLK Ebenezer Baptist Church speech — Today Barack Obama zeroed in on equal opportunity bigotry — and why everyone should strive to not only elevate the political discourse, but to be honest about the base instincts, words and deeds that divide, not unite.

Discussion: Firedoglake, New York Observer, The Carpetbagger Report, Hold Fast, The RBC, UrbanGrounds and New York Daily News Blogs

CNN:

S.C. debate to highlight Democratic fight for black vote — MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) — The top three Democratic presidential candidates face off in a Monday night debate in South Carolina, with the hearts and minds of African-American voters on the line.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Hullabaloo

Obama'08:
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: The Great Need of the Hour

Discussion: Weekly Standard, MyDD, TalkLeft, AMERICAblog, D-Day, Matthew Yglesias, TPM Election Central and The Democratic Daily

siena.edu:

Rudy Falls Behind McCain; Hillary Still Has 2-to-1 Lead — Spitzer Favorable Rating Edges Positive; Sees Gain in Job Performance — Voters Overwhelmingly Support Property Tax Cap and S-CHIP Expansion; — Also Support Higher Education Endowment with Lottery Sale or Lease

Discussion: Political Radar and TPM Election Central

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post: Poll: Giuliani Loses Lead In New York

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

Frontline Blogger Covers War in Iraq With a Soldier's Eyes — Michael Yon was not a journalist, and he wasn't sure what a blogger was. He had been in uniform but not in combat, and he wanted to keep it that way. He went to Iraq thinking he would stay for a month, and maybe find a way to write about the war after he got home.

Discussion: Michael Yon, Power Line, JammieWearingFool, TigerHawk and QandO

New York Times:

Stocks Plunge in Europe and Asia on U.S. Recession Fear — PARIS — Global stock markets plunged on Monday as fears spread that the turmoil in United States mortgage markets is spreading. Indexes in Europe fell as much as 7 percent after a huge selloff in Asia.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Matthew Yglesias, Publius Pundit and The Agonist

Thereisnospoon / Daily Kos:

UPDATED (2): Widespread Cheating & Vote Suppression by Clinton Campaign in Clark County, NV — [UPDATE 2: Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe has now made the accusation in the Atlantic, with over 200 separate allegations of irregularities at caucus sites.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Heading Right, PoliGazette and QandO

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Today's Must Read — We spent a good deal of time in the 2006 elections tracking the activity of third party groups on the right, groups with anonymous names like the Economic Freedom Fund. Funded by the most part by millionaire home-builder (and former Swift Boat patron) Bob Perry …

Discussion: Washington Post

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Republicans Closing The Congressional Gap — After a disastrous 2006 election, Republicans lost control of Congress for the first time in twelve years. After a disastrous 2007 session, Democrats may have given Republicans a window of opportunity to take it back.

Discussion: Macsmind

Rasmussen Reports: Generic Congressional Ballot

Confederate Yankee:

The Scott Thomas Beauchamp “ Shock Troops” Military Investigation, Statements 13-24 — Documents released by the Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base Florida, in relation to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests files for documents relating …