Top Items:
Krooney / The Page:
Romney Quits Race — Says time of war is not the right time to continue GOP fight: “I feel I have to stand aside.” — Read full remarks at the CPAC conference here. — Did not endorse McCain. — AP: Decision effectively cedes nomination to McCain. — HALPERIN'S TAKE: TEN THINGS MITT ROMNEY COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY
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Byron York / The Corner:
Romney Pulling Out? Campaign Doesn't Want “To Look Destructive At What Might Be The End.” — We are beginning to see signs that Mitt Romney might be preparing to pull out of the Republican race. — Everyone is looking for tea leaves from the campaign, and we'll know more about the governor's state …
Discussion:
Redstate, Boston Globe, TIME, Power Line, Comments from Left Field, PoliBlog (TM), BobKrumm.com, Sister Toldjah and Roger Ailes
John King / CNN:
GOP sources: Romney to suspend campaign — (CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will suspend his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP sources tell CNN. — Romney had won 270 delegates in through the Super Tuesday contests, compared with front-runner John McCain's 680.
Eric Pianin / The Fix:
Romney Announces He Is Dropping Out of GOP Race — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney announced today he will suspend his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. — He revealed his decision during a a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee conference a few minutes ago in Washington, D.C.
Discussion:
Politics Plus
Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:
“EXCLUSIVE!” JOHN McCAIN CPAC SPEECH — A secret operative working for this website has gotten a hold of the speech John McCain will deliver to attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference. She says I shouldn't ask how she got it although she mentioned that she had a real …
Jeff Quinton / Inside Charm City:
Romney drops out, to endorse McCain in Baltimore tonight? — Amid reports that Mitt Romney is dropping out of the Presidential race, The Sun reports that Sen. John McCain has been added to tonight's Baltimore County Lincoln Day Dinner. The event previously featured Romney, who is apparently still going to be there.
Michelle Malkin:
Live from CPAC: Romney speaks..."Frankly in this time of a war, I cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror...I feel I need to stand aside" — 12:43pm Eastern. I'm starting a new thread for Romney's speech...awaiting his official announcement of the suspension of his campaign.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers
Marc Ambinder:
AP has Excerpts of Romney's Drop Out Speech — “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or (Barack) Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign …
Mark Halperin / The Page:
Transcript of Romney's Speech Withdrawing From the Race
Transcript of Romney's Speech Withdrawing From the Race
Discussion:
GINA COBB
Sam Graham-Felsen / my.barackobama.com:
Message from David Plouffe: Matching the Five Million — David Plouffe just sent out this email...
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Jennifer Parker / Political Punch:
And Obama Wept — Inspiration is nice. But some folks seem to be getting out of hand. — It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, “Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city …
Discussion:
The Plank, TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, Attytood, Taylor Marsh, Redstate, Wonkette, New York Observer, Hullabaloo and NewsBusters.org
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BBC:
Sharia law in UK is ‘unavoidable’ — The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK “seems unavoidable”. — Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to “face up to the fact” that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, The Jawa Report, Hot Air, Biased BBC, Tim Blair and Blue Crab Boulevard
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
CPAC: Dick Cheney Speech Live-Blog — Dick Cheney is giving one of the first speeches here at CPAC. He got a very warm welcome from the crowd, which is SRO. The Cheney we're seeing now is the relaxed and funny speaker that we've known from many speeches here and other places.
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Mister Leonard Pierce / Sadly, No!:
The Beast is Red, Chapter 4: In a Mad Frenzy, Stinging Themselves to Eternal Death
The Beast is Red, Chapter 4: In a Mad Frenzy, Stinging Themselves to Eternal Death
Discussion:
Hold Fast
Bloomberg:
Obama Advisers Foresee a Delegate Draw With Clinton — Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama's advisers are anticipating the possibility of a Democratic presidential race deadlocked past the last primary, and the outcome may hinge on a fight over whether delegations from Florida and Michigan …
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Anne Schroeder Mullins / Anne Schroeder's Blogs:
CPAC to all CPAC-ers: Don't boo McCain — John McCain may have it easier than he expected today when he commandeers the podium at CPAC this afternoon. Conservatives from all over will predictably fill the room to the brim to listen to what the now GOP front-runner has to say, despite a hate/love relationship with the guy.
The Politico:
McCain seeks truce with right-wing critics — John McCain, whose Super Tuesday performance has given him an aura of inevitability in the eyes of many Republican leaders, has begun an aggressive campaign to quell conservative dissent and prevent an outbreak of GOP buyer's remorse.
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee, Washington Wire, Liberty Pundit, Connecting.the.Dots, The Heretik, You Decide 08! and AMERICAblog
Sonia Verma / Times of London:
Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man — A 37-year-old American businesswoman and married mother of three is seeking justice after she was thrown in jail by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
McCAIN AND THE GOP....By now, everybody knows that the Senate version of the economic stimulus bill failed to overcome a Republican filibuster yesterday. You need 60 votes for that, and the final tally was 59-40. (Harry Reid changed his vote at the end for parliamentary reasons, so the reported tally was 58-41)