memeorandum: The Next 12 Hours — Reading this morning's analysis on line … (William Kristol/Weekly Standard)

6:20 AM ET, January 31, 2008

Top Items:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Jan. 27-29, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has now cut the gap with Hillary Clinton to 6 percentage points among Democrats nationally in the Gallup Poll Daily tracking three-day average, and interviewing conducted …

Discussion: The Reaction, Right Wing News, Talking Points Memo, TPM Election Central, Liberal Values, MyDD, Pollster.com, Captain's Quarters, AdAge, Open Left, The Daily Dish, Spin Cycle, New York Daily News Blogs, Needlenose, Commentary, The Page, Rasmussen Reports and The New Republic

MSNBC:

Romney, McCain clash in California — Is Romney pulling back on advertising in Super Tuesday states? — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - Republican Mitt Romney said John McCain used dirty tricks by suggesting shortly before the Florida primary that the former Massachusetts governor wanted a deadline …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Wake up America, QandO, Real Clear Politics, The Corner and The Campaign Spot

John McCain / CNN:

Sources: Schwarzenegger in talks to endorse McCain — SIMI VALLEY, California (CNN) — Two Republican sources familiar with the conversations tell CNN California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in discussions about endorsing John McCain's presidential bid.

Discussion: The Politico, The Trail, The Reaction, michellemalkin.com, Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and The Page

David Espo / Associated Press:

Romney Tactics Seem Good News for McCain — WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major boost for John McCain, Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney signaled Wednesday he's not ready to commit to a costly campaign in the states holding primaries and caucuses next week.

Discussion: Patrick Ruffini and MSNBC

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
McCain declines one-on-one debate

Discussion: Hot Air, The Swamp, Riehl World View, New York Daily News Blogs, NY Daily News and Weekly Standard

CNN:
McCain, Romney spar over Iraq, credentials

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Huffington Post, Gateway Pundit and The Moderate Voice

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

The Next 12 Hours — Reading this morning's analysis on line, I'm a little shocked by the number of people writing about the GOP race who think that “It's still competitive, it will go on a long time, they're really going to slug it out. ..." I think, to the contrary …

Discussion: The Other McCain and Sister Toldjah

Michael Crowley / The New Republic:

Romney's Missed Opportunity — Boy, was that not the momentum-changer Mitt Romney needed. Overall I saw a mostly predictable news-free affair. But Romney looked to me like a rattled and somewhat defeated figure. — Romney was handed one fine opportunity: A question about whether John McCain lied …

Discussion: The Corner and Spin Cycle

Bryan / Hot Air:
Video: “How is it that you're the expert on my position?”

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Riehl World View and The Other McCain

Daniel Casse / Commentary:
The Man Who Blew It — Tonight was Mitt Romney's last stand.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot

The Fact Hub:

Sen. Obama's Speech In Denver, CO Will Contain Four Misleading Attacks On Hillary In One Sentence — Just 24 hours after Sen. Obama asserted he has run a consistently positive campaign, he released excerpts of a speech to be delivered this morning in Denver, CO that distorts Hillary's record …

Discussion: The Caucus, Comments from Left Field, Buck Naked Politics, TalkLeft, Oliver Willis and TPM Election Central

Associated Press:
Obama says Clinton would be a step back

Discussion: AMERICAblog and Wizbang

Frank James / The Swamp:
On trail in Illinois, Bill Clinton ignores Obama

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Democratic Daily

Matthew Yglesias:
That's More Like It — Here's Barack Obama talking today in Denver:

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Democratic Daily, Outside The Beltway and Liberal Values

Karl / protein wisdom:

McCain Derangement Syndrome: A reply to Roger L. Simon — Roger L. Simon, whose blog I usually enjoy, makes some serious errors today: … Put me in the same boat as Elder as to the woman who purportedly denied McCain was a war hero, but Simon manages to start from faulty premises and work …

Discussion: The Other McCain, American Power, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, RADAMISTO and Stop The ACLU

Roger L. Simon:
McCain Derangement Syndrome - It's Here!

Discussion: Classical Values, Hot Air, Daily Pundit, Instapundit.com, Riehl World View, Stop The ACLU, BLACKFIVE and The Other McCain

New York Post:

POST ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA — Democrats in 22 states across America go to the polls next Tuesday to pick between two presidential prospects: Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. — We urge them to choose Obama - an untried candidate, to be sure, but preferable to the junior senator from New York.

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, The Democratic Daily, Truthdig, Salon, TPM Election Central, Total Information Awareness, Wonkette, City Room, Boston Globe, TIME and Commentary

David Neiwert / Orcinus:

The Orcinus fundraiser — by Dave — Fund-raisers can be something of a mixed bag — simultaneously inspiring and deflating, especially when you're like me and really don't care for certain things required of people who use them as the revenue sources for their blogs.

Discussion: HorsesAss.Org, Lean Left, American Street and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Kristin Jensen / Bloomberg:

Nader Says He's Considering a New White House Run — Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) — Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate who ran for president in 2000 and 2004, said he is considering another bid for the White House because he believes the current contenders aren't standing up enough to corporate interests.

Discussion: MyDD

Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:
Ralph Nader Flirts with Presidential Bid

Discussion: The Nation, Politics1, Los Angeles Times, the talking dog, The Caucus, Salon, Wonkette, Hot Air, Shakespeare's Sister, The Hill, AMERICAblog, Boston Globe, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Outside The Beltway

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2008: Massachusetts Democratic Primary — Massachusetts: Clinton 43% Obama 37% — A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the Massachusetts Democratic Presidential Primary finds Hillary Clinton attracting 43% of the vote while Barack Obama earns 37%.

Discussion: Donklephant, MyDD, TPM Election Central and The New Republic

New York Times:

An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor — Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The RBC

Philip Shenon / New York Times:

Mukasey Will Not Rule Out Waterboarding — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that while he would consider it torture if he underwent the harsh Central Intelligence Agency interrogation technique known as waterboarding, the practice was not necessarily illegal …

Discussion: The Swamp and The Heretik

Digby / Hullabaloo:
It Depends On What The Definition Of Conscience Is

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Balkinization, American Street and Talking Points Memo

Ricardo Hausmann / Financial Times:

Stop behaving as whiner of first resort — The same voices that supported tough macroeconomic policies to deal with the excesses of spending and borrowing in east Asia, Russia and Latin America are today pushing for a significant relaxation in the US to deal with the so-called subprime crisis.

Discussion: Economist's View