memeorandum: Why Pork Matters — I get a lot of e-mail every day … (Ed Morrissey/Captain's Quarters)

6:30 PM ET, January 25, 2008

Top Items:

UPDATE: ‘No way of knowing’ who whispered, MSNBC says — The whisper that could be heard just before an answer from Mitt Romney at Thursday's Republican debate was the result of a microphone malfunction, an MSNBC spokesman tells RAW STORY, but its source remains a mystery.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Strata-Sphere, AfterDowningStreet.org, Daily. Gay. News. and Wonkette

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Was that a whisper in Romney's Ear? — What's a debate without a little blogging fun? During the GOP Presidential Debate on MSNBC, a very curious thing happened during a Tim Russert question to Mitt Romney. You can hear what seemed like an on air-whispered answer directed at Romney …

Discussion: Democrats.com, National Review and CANNONFIRE

P.M. Jaworski / The Shotgun:
“Psst: He raised taxes”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and PoliGazette

NEWSRADIO - 1290 WJNO:
Bizarre Whisper During Romney Debate Answer

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, D-Day and Shakespeare's Sister

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Mystery whisper at the debate!

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Riehl World View and Confederate Yankee

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC: THAT TAXES WHISPER — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro

Stewart Rhodes / Dirt Rhodes Scholar:
The Great Romney “Whisper in His Ear” Puppet Show

Discussion: The Raw Story

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do — We begin, as one always must now, again, with Bill Clinton. The past week he has traveled South Carolina, leaving discord in his wake. Barack Obama, that “fairytale,” is low, sneaky. “He put out a hit job on me." The press is cruelly carrying Mr. Obama's counter-jabs.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Tapscott's Copy Desk, QandO, Comments from Left Field, Macsmind, The Plank, Blue Crab Boulevard, Preemptive Karma and The Strata-Sphere

John Kerry / CNN:

Kerry blasts Bill Clinton for ‘abusing truth’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) — John Kerry, the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee for president, took aim at Bill Clinton Friday, telling the National Journal the former president does “not have a license to abuse the truth.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Gateway Pundit

NationalJournal.com:

Transcript: John Kerry On Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton And More — National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with John Kerry for “National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation. — Q: I'd like to introduce Sen. John Kerry, former Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, United States senator now.

Discussion: The Field, Spin Cycle, Washington Post and Boston Globe

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:

Bill Clinton Takes on the ‘Polarizing’ Issue — SPARTENBURG, S.C.- Bill Clinton just staged a passionate defense of his wife here, after a voter asked how Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton could unite this country when it is so split, politically and racially, and when she is such a polarizing figure.

Discussion: politburo diktat 2.0 and Hot Air

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Peggy Noonan: “George W. Bush Destroyed The Republican Party”

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Norwegianity, American Street and DownWithTyranny!

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

CLINTON TRIES TO REINSTATE MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA'S DELEGATES. — This is a very, very, very big deal. From the Clinton campaign: … This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart. In an attempt to retain some control over the process and keep the various states …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
NO WAY — The Clinton camp really needs to be shut …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, HillaryClinton.com and Matthew Yglesias

Scott Horton / Harper's:

The Illustrated President — W.H.D. Koerner, “A Charge to Keep” (1916) — George W. Bush is famous for his attachment to a painting which he acquired after becoming a “born again Christian." It's by W.H.D. Koerner and is entitled “A Charge to Keep." Bush was so taken by it …

Discussion: CREDO Action, Pharyngula, Political Machine, Daily. Gay. News. and democracyarsenal.org

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
The unintentional humor of ‘A Charge to Keep’

Discussion: Think Progress

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Obama's Lead Shrinks in SC — Edwards continues to advance, nips at Clinton's heels — UTICA, NY - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's lead over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton narrowed yet a little more in South Carolina with just two days to go before the primary …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Reuters, Rasmussen Reports, The State, Marc Ambinder, Political Machine, Facing South, American Street, Outside The Beltway, TalkLeft, Donklephant, MyDD, Open Left, Cliff Schecter, PoliGazette, Taegan Goddard's … and TPM Election Central

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Losing Ugly — There's losing. There's losing honorably. And then there's John Edwards. — Mike Huckabee is not going to be president. The loss in South Carolina, one of the most highly evangelical states in the union, made that plain. With a ceiling of 14 percent among nonevangelical Republicans …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Blue Crab Boulevard, Captain's Quarters, Riehl World View, Fausta's blog, Redstate and democracyarsenal.org

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Feingold Rips Edwards Again, Urges Dem Candidates To Take On Rove — As one of Congress' foremost progressive figures, Sen. Russ Feingold is a coveted endorsement for any of the Democratic presidential nominees. But if those seeking the White House are waiting for his call …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, TPM Election Central, The Carpetbagger Report, Open Left and Lean Left

Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Democrats Make Targeted Appeals to S.C. Voters

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy

Michelle Malkin:

John McCain's open-borders outreach director: The next DHS secretary? — Dr. Juan Hernandez, McCain Hispanic outreach director: “We must not only have a free flow of goods and services, but also start working for a free flow of people." — Last month, I received an e-mail from a concerned reader.

Discussion: WorldNetDaily, Hot Air, Cold Fury, The Corner, The Sundries Shack, Ankle Biting Pundits, Lonewacko, Pat Dollard, Say Anything, Patterico's Pontifications and Gateway Pundit

Michelle Malkin:
Meet the open borders family: McCain, Hernandez, Soros, and the “Reform Institute”

Discussion: Hot Air and Riehl World View

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

UNIONS GAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS. — Some good news today as fresh numbers come out showing, for the first time in 25 years, union density actually increased over the previous year, inching up from 12 percent to 12.1 percent. The gains were concentrated among white women and black men …

CEPR:
Union Byte

Discussion: Think Progress and D-Day

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:

A Revealing Poll — The latest SurveyUSA Florida poll shows McCain at 30 percent, Romney at 28 percent, Rudy at 18 percent and Huckabee with 14 percent. Some interesting internal numbers jump out. First, with Hispanic voters, McCain leads 60 percent to 16 percent over Rudy, while Romney draws only 10 percent.

Discussion: protein wisdom, CBS News, Political Radar, SurveyUSA, St. Petersburg Times, Weekly Standard, Middle Earth Journal and Riehl World View

Rasmussen Reports:

Attorney General Edwards? — An Inside Report by Robert Novak — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards will be named attorney general in an Obama administration. — Installation at the Justice Department …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Political Machine, Hot Air and Don Surber