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Michael Luo / New York Times:
Romney Leads in Ill Will Among G.O.P. Candidates — TAMPA, Fla. — At the end of the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire this month, when the Democrats joined the candidates on stage, Mitt Romney found himself momentarily alone as his counterparts mingled, looking around a bit stiffly for a companion.
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RushLimbaugh.com:
Let's Hear Some Straight Talk — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: A new California poll taken just after Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Republican primary shows Mitt Romney as leading big over McCain in California when it comes to which candidate best represents the Republican Party.
Steven Stark / Real Clear Politics:
Who Said Freddy's Dead? — The Republican race is coming into focus. Well, sort of. If John McCain can win the Florida primary on January 29, he'll be the clear front-runner heading into Super Tuesday a week later. — But Florida is hardly a sure thing for McCain.
Joy Lin / CBS News:
The Huckabee Puzzle — From CBS News' Joy Lin: — FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA — “I want to get something out of the way because there are some pretty crazy rumors going around that the Huckabee campaign is pulling out of Florida,” Mike Huckabee said as he looked out into a crowd of 250 enthusiastic supporters at a jet hangar here.
Discussion:
Say Anything
Chuck Todd / MSNBC:
Let the sunshine in — If the other GOP candidates don't stop McCain now, they never will
Let the sunshine in — If the other GOP candidates don't stop McCain now, they never will
MiamiHerald.com:
Poll: McCain rising, Giuliani fading
Poll: McCain rising, Giuliani fading
Discussion:
NYT, Real Clear Politics, MSNBC, The Carpetbagger Report, The Heretik, Washington Wire, Political Punch and PoliBlog (TM)
Washington Post:
Some in Party Bristle At Clintons' Attacks — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign aired a new radio ad here Wednesday that repeated a discredited charge against Sen. Barack Obama, in what some Democrats said is part of an increasing pattern of hardball politics by her and former president Bill Clinton.
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The Politico:
Obama pulls punches vs. Clintons — All the talk about how rough the Democratic presidential race is becoming is absurd. Considering that Hillary Rodham Clinton is running to restore the personalities and policies of the 1990s to the White House, it is astonishing how gentle the debate has been.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Swamp, The Heretik, New York Times, NY Daily News and Right Wing News
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments — (updated below - Update II) — As the Senate takes up “debate” today over granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, the individual who joined forces with Dick Cheney …
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Robert Novak / Real Clear Politics:
Business as Usual GOP — WASHINGTON, D.C. — When House Republicans convene behind closed doors today (Thursday) at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., they have a chance to make two bold moves to restore their reputation for fiscal responsibility.
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Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Obama's SC lead slipping but still wide — Edwards makes gains amid shifting voter preferences — Utica, NY - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's lead over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has shrunk by four points overall and by nine points among black voters …
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John Whitesides / Reuters:
Obama dips, but still has South Carolina lead: poll — FLORENCE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big lead over rival Hillary Clinton slipped slightly but is still substantial two days before South Carolina's presidential primary, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Thursday.
Azi Paybarah / New York Observer:
Source at Fund-Raiser: Edwards Calls McCain ‘Crazy’ and Says Hillary Thinks There's More on Rezko — Before John Edwards let David Letterman mess up his hair on the Late Show last night, the former Senator was at a private fund-raiser in midtown Manhattan, also attended by Kevin Bacon …
Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:
Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes — He pushed the wrong button, he asserted at the time. Two of the admitted flubs were on hotly contested issues. — Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side.
Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
Anti-Bush Campaign Planned — WASHINGTON (AP) — A liberal advocacy group plans to spend $8.5 million in a drive to make sure President Bush's public approval doesn't improve as his days in the White House come to an end. — Americans United for Change plans to undertake a yearlong campaign …
Robert A. Guth / Wall Street Journal:
Bill Gates Issues Call For Kinder Capitalism — Famously Competitive, Billionaire Now Urges Business to Aid the Poor — Free enterprise has been good to Bill Gates. But today, the Microsoft Corp. chairman will call for a revision of capitalism. — In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos …
Discussion:
The Corner
Donald J. Boudreaux / Christian Science Monitor:
THE FOOLISHNESS OF ECONOMIC ‘STIMULUS’ — Do we really want to risk prolonging a bad economy? … A consensus is building that America's economy is sliding - perhaps plummeting - into recession. In December the unemployment rate jumped to 5.0 percent, up 3/10ths of 1 percent from its November level.