memeorandum: Fourth undersea cable cut near UAE, suspicions rise (Darren Murph/Engadget)

6:05 PM ET, February 5, 2008

Top Items:

Campaign Manager Beth Myers On The West Virginia Convention — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Boston, MA - Today, Romney for President Campaign Manager Beth Myers issued the following statement regarding the outcome of West Virginia's Republican Party convention:

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, TownHall Blog, New York Daily News Blogs, Eunomia, Balloon Juice and Middle Earth Journal

Marc Ambinder:

West Virginia Intrigue — After the first round of balloting in West Virginia, Mitt Romney was solidly in the lead with 41% of the votes, followed by Mike Huckabee with 33% and John McCain with 16%. — Since 50% is needed to win all 18 delegates, a second balloting is underway.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Reuters, Firedoglake, TownHall Blog, MSNBC, Examining Presidential …, D-Day, Daily Kos and MyDD

CNN:

Huckabee first on the board on Super Tuesday — (CNN) — Republican Mike Huckabee scored the first Super Tuesday victory, winning all 18 delegates at stake in West Virginia — partially with the help of Sen. John McCain's backers. — “It gives us some real wind to our backs as we go into tonight …

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Reason Magazine, You Decide 08!, Left in the West, Shakespeare's Sister, Connecting.the.Dots, Outside The Beltway, Cynics' Party and Balloon Juice

You Decide 08!:

HUCKABEE WINS WEST VIRGINIA GOP CONTEST IN SECOND ROUND, WITH HELP FROM MCCAIN — Mike Huckabee won the first of 21 states being contested by the Republican presidential candidates on Super Tuesday, pulling out a victory in the West Virginia Republican convention.

Discussion: TigerHawk, The Reaction, protein wisdom, Confederate Yankee, PrestoPundit, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, Salon, Wake up America and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Feb. 2-4, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain fairly closely matched in national Democratic voters' nomination preferences, although Clinton appears to have stopped Obama's momentum over the past two days.

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, The Washington Note and The Moderate Voice

Tom Searls / Charleston Gazette:

Huckabee wins W.Va. GOP convention — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee captured the 18 West Virginia delegates up for grabs at the state's Republican convention on Tuesday, the first of many presidential contests on Super Tuesday. — Huckabee won on the second ballot …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, Cynics' Party, Comments from Left Field and Donklephant

Bryan / Hot Air:

Rush Limbaugh *endorses Mitt Romney — Levin, Hannity, Ingraham and now Nobel nominee Rush Limbaugh (membership req'd): Big talk radio swings unanimously for Mitt Romney. Rush makes several solid points that you've heard before, mostly regarding how McCain represents the GOP's national security wing …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and The Jawa Report

Gallup Guru:
Is Huckabee hurting Romney?

Discussion: Riehl World View and race42008.com

Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain Dominates GOP Races; Dems Locked …

Discussion: Pollster.com, MSNBC, MyDD, The Moderate Voice, Raising Kaine and TalkLeft

Michael Luo / The Caucus:
Romney at the West Virginia Convention

Discussion: TownHall Blog, On Deadline, who is willard milton romney? and Assorted Babble

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Huckabee wins in West Virginia

Discussion: Pottersville

Chuck Todd / MSNBC:
Todd: Your hour-by-hour Super Tuesday guide

Discussion: The Fix, Election Projection, US News and The Caucus

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs: Romney loses West Virginia!

Associated Press:
Huckabee wins W.Va. GOP convention

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Josh Gerstein / Latest Politics:

Limbaugh Defends Clinton and Obama on Iraq — Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is so exasperated about Senator McCain's surge in the Republican presidential contest that he is coming to the defense of Senators Clinton and Obama. — On Mr. Limbaugh's program today, he said people should not be rushing …

Discussion: The New Republic, protein wisdom, Firedoglake, The Jawa Report, JustOneMinute, American Street, Hot Air, Political Radar, No More Mister Nice Blog, TownHall Blog, Buck Naked Politics, Weekly Standard and Think Progress

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Dobson: I Will Never Support McCain

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Hot Air, D-Day and TBogg

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Limbaugh on McCain: It's Better to Be Right All the Time

Discussion: CNN, The Corner, The Moderate Voice, NY Daily News, Political Machine, Shakespeare's Sister, Dick Polman's American Debate, Comments from Left Field, DownWithTyranny!, MSNBC, Center Face, New York Post and TIME

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Limbaugh says McCain's camp manipulated Bob Dole: John Kerry …

Discussion: Ice Station Tango

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:

Intelligence Chief Cites Qaeda Threat to U.S. — WASHINGTON — The top American intelligence official said on Tuesday that Al Qaeda is improving its ability to attack within the United States by recruiting and training new operatives. At the same time, he said, the group's affiliate in Iraq …

Discussion: Salon, Buck Naked Politics, The Jawa Report, D-Day, The Agonist, Prairie Weather and Born at the Crest …

John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:

Our Politicized Intelligence Services — Today, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee (and Thursday on the House side) to give the intelligence community's annual global threat analysis. These hearings are always significant …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, Commentary, Think Progress, The Corner and On Deadline

Randall Mikkelsen / Reuters: CIA says used waterboarding on three suspects

Matt / Think Progress:
McConnell: When I Said Waterboarding Is ‘Torture,’ …

Discussion: Muckraker, The Carpetbagger Report and The Lede

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Penn: More debates! (One on Fox!) — In a conference call with reporters, Clinton strategist Mark Penn announced that Clinton would like to face off against Obama in one debate every week between now and March 4. — “The campaign believes that it's critically important that we continue the debate …

Discussion: The Field

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Clinton Accepts Fox News Debate — Risking the ire of progressive activists, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign announced that it has accepted a debate to air on Fox News on February 11, according to her chief strategist Mark Penn. — “There is an enormous interest in these debates an clamoring …

Discussion: FOX Embeds, Comments from Left Field, The Carpetbagger Report, TVNewser and Sister Toldjah

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Clinton Agrees to Fox Debate

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Open Left, DownWithTyranny! and Minnesota Monitor

Darren Murph / Engadget:

Fourth undersea cable cut near UAE, suspicions rise — For the fourth time in a week, an undersea communications cable has apparently been cut (or “failed due to a power outage,” as some sources suggest), and while no official reports of subversion have surfaced just yet, things are beginning to get suspicious.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, International Herald Tribune, The Jawa Report and Blue Crab Boulevard

Ben / Think Progress:

Anti-War Candidates Are Top Recipients Of '08 Donations From U.S. Troops — Conservatives opposed to redeployment in Iraq have consistently claimed that U.S. troops are on their side: … Yet U.S. troops disagree. Yesterday, the Center for Responsive Politics reported that members …

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, The Carpetbagger Report, Comments from Left Field, MoJoBlog, Political Punch and Buck Naked Politics