memeorandum: Race At A Glance Total Primary Votes: Romney (Hugh Hewitt/Townhall.com)

4:20 PM ET, February 3, 2008

Top Items:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Two days before the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, Gallup Poll Daily tracking data show Hillary Clinton (46%) and Barack Obama (44%) in a statistical dead heat …

Discussion: USA Today, Buck Naked Politics, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and Open Left

John Wildermuth / San Francisco Chronicle:

State poll shows huge gains by Obama, McCain — A startling surge of support for Barack Obama has catapulted the Illinois senator into a virtual tie with Hillary Rodham Clinton in California's Democratic presidential primary, a Field Poll released Saturday shows.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The New Republic, MSNBC, The Swamp, Commentary, politburo diktat 2.0, Marc Ambinder, protein wisdom, Liberal Values, Booman Tribune, Pajamas Media, The Politico, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Dean's World, Washington Post and DownWithTyranny!

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:

Zogby: Obama, Romney Ahead In California — A new Zogby poll in California — a state that may well decide the direction of the Democratic race — shows Barack Obama taking a small lead over Hillary Clinton, within the margin of error. Obama has 45% to Clinton's 41%, with Obama's 20-point …

Discussion: American Prospect, TalkLeft, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Political Machine, rubber hose, Talking Points Memo and Gateway Pundit

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Clinton, McCain lead in bellwether Super Tuesday states — WASHINGTON — Republican John McCain leads in all four corners of the country heading into a rush of primaries on Tuesday, while Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were locked in a close struggle for delegates coast to coast …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, The Carpetbagger Report and Open Left

Ellen Wulfhorst / Reuters:
Clinton, Obama in dead heat ahead of big vote

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Oliver Willis, Open Left, Sister Toldjah and Donklephant

Pew Research Center:
McCain's Support Soars, Democratic Race Tightens

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and American Power

Robert D. Novak / Townhall.com:
Bush Against Romney — WASHINGTON, D.C. — While President …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, michellemalkin.com and Power Line

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:

Breaking News: Pro-Clinton push poll erupts in California — Ed Coghlan was just starting to prepare his dinner in the northern San Fernando Valley the other night when the phone rang. The caller was very friendly. He identified himself as a pollster who wanted to ask registered independents …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, Calitics and culturekitchen

CNN:

Romney predicts conservatives will stop McCain — (CNN) — Mitt Romney predicted Sunday his party's conservative base will rally behind him on Super Tuesday in order to prevent John McCain from winning the Republican nomination. — “What I have to do is continue to see what's been happening …

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:

The Conservative Minority — I feel like I'm beating a dead horse on the issue, but the continued high pitched battle between conservative Republicans who have rallied around conservative-come-lately Mitt Romney in hopes of defeating Teddy Kennedy's Good Friend John McCain remains the most interesting story this election cycle.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Riehl World View, American Power, The Other McCain, Middle Earth Journal, PoliBlog (TM), Power Line and Daily Pundit

Evan Thomas / Newsweek:
What These Eyes Have Seen — He's endured the unendurable, and survived.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Patterico's Pontifications, TBogg and Macsmind

Andante Higgins / CBS News: McCain: “I Assume That I Will Get the Nomination”

Carl / The Reaction:

Because I'm B.A.D., ya know it! — Today is the anniversary of a dark day in Blogtopia (© Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo). — One year ago, Atrios (also known as Duncan Hunter), proprietor of the feebly-written (except for his co-bloggers) blog, “Eschaton,” decided to trim his blogroll for...well, his own reasons.

Discussion: Pharyngula, World-O-Crap, rubber hose, The Garlic, Fallenmonk, Buck Naked Politics, BlondeSense and The Mahatma X Files

Kate Michelman / The Huffington Post:

Why I'm Endorsing Barack Obama — The question I have been asking myself and others during my entire life in public policy and throughout this 2008 presidential Campaign — the question which tens of millions of women and men have also been asking — is how do we best bring America together …

Discussion: Political Radar

Simon Jenkins / Times of London:

Fall back, men, Afghanistan is a nasty war we can never win — Britain's commanders ignored every warning that the Taliban were the toughest fighters on earth — The American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, flies to Britain this week to meet a crisis entirely of London and Washington's creation.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Jules Crittenden, Samizdata.net and Comment Central

Jason Burke / Observer:
Taliban attacks on allied troops soar

Discussion: The Seminal

Peter Wehner / Washington Post:

Why Republicans Like Obama — Barack Obama is not only popular among Democrats, he's also an appealing figure to many Republicans. Former GOP House member Joe Scarborough, now a host on MSNBC, reports that after every important Obama speech, he is inundated with e-mails praising the speech …

Discussion: Redstate, The Carpetbagger Report and Althouse

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Evangelicals a Liberal Can Love — At a New York or Los Angeles cocktail party, few would dare make a pejorative comment about Barack Obama's race or Hillary Clinton's sex. Yet it would be easy to get away with deriding Mike Huckabee's religious faith. — Liberals believe deeply …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Rising Hegemon, The Crone Speaks, The Carpetbagger Report, Unqualified Offerings, The Sideshow and Connecting.the.Dots

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

Unbelievable and Assaultive Strip Search on an Innocent Woman — Raw Story: (h/t Existentialist Cowboy)

Discussion: ThePoliticalCat and Balloon Juice

Barbara Ehrenreich / Washington Post:

The Boom Was a Bust For Ordinary People — I t begins to sound a bit naughty — all this talk about the need to “stimulate” the economy, as if we were discussing how to make a porn film. I don't mean to trivialize our economic difficulties or the need for effective government intervention …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Middle Earth Journal and Mercury Rising

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Bill Kristol: White women are a problem — The neocon warmonger speaks. With Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton locked in a very good battle leading up to Super Tuesday, Kristol makes this misogynistic quote: — BILL KRISTOL: Look the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment …

Discussion: protein wisdom

Patrick Ruffini / Townhall.com:

Older Belligerent Men — If John McCain wins the nomination, he'll do so on the backs of older belligerent men. — What is this new swing voter bloc? It's something I've teased out from exit polls and anecdotal observations. It helps explain why McCain has decent enough conservative appeal …

Discussion: American Spectator