memeorandum: The Die Has Been Cast (Victor Davis Hanson/The Corner)

7:00 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: Associated Press, Captain's Quarters, TownHall Blog, michellemalkin.com, The American Mind, New York Daily News Blogs, Eunomia, MSNBC, Balloon Juice, The Other McCain, Middle Earth Journal and Riehl World View

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, TownHall Blog, Firedoglake, D-Day, Daily Kos, MyDD and Examining Presidential …

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!, Shakespeare's Sister, Outside The Beltway, Left in the West, Connecting.the.Dots, State of the Day, Cynics' Party and Balloon Juice

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

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, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, Salon, PrestoPundit, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL and Wake up America

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

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

Associated Press:
Early Feb. 5 Exit Poll Highlights

Discussion: Riehl World View and The Campaign Spot

Ron Paul 2008:
Ron Paul Secures Three Delegates in West Virginia State Convention

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Comments from Left Field, Lonewacko and LewRockwell.com Blog

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

Discussion: The Swamp

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Campaign Spot:

The Great Big Early Exit Poll Report — I just got a big pile of exit poll data. — The early wave in California: McCain 40 percent, Romney 36 percent, Huckabee 10 percent. — Fascinating and fun as it is, I remind my readers that this doesn't tell us that much, as we don't know what the district-by-district breakdown is.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Comments from Left Field, AMERICAblog and Riehl World View

The Campaign Spot:
Early Exit Polls in Massachusetts: Dems Close, Romney Up Big

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog and MyDD

Mark Blumenthal / Pollster.com:
LOOKING FOR SUPER TUESDAY EXIT POLLS?

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

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

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 and New York Post

Faiz / Think Progress:
Matalin: Romney Has 'What All Americans Want In The White House …

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, The Carpetbagger Report and Flopping Aces

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

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

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Clinton Agrees to Fox Debate

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

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: Think Progress, Salon, Buck Naked Politics, D-Day, Brave New Films blog, Prairie Weather and The Agonist

John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
Our Politicized Intelligence Services

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

Victor Davis Hanson / The Corner:

The Die Has Been Cast — Like many I prefer McCain but will gladly support Romney if he wins the nomination. His campaign ad here in California against Hillary's inexperience was excellent, and so was McCain's on his new views on illegal immigration. — But so far today I have gotten …

Discussion: The Daily Dish

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: International Herald Tribune, michellemalkin.com 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 …