Top Items:
Michael R. Bloomberg / Bloomberg:
I'm Not Running for President, but ... WATCHING the 2008 presidential campaign, you sometimes get the feeling that the candidates — smart, all of them — must know better. They must know we can't fix our economy and create jobs by isolating America from global trade.
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
ROAD MAP — Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can't. — But that's not the core.
RELATED:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
McCain's Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out — WASHINGTON — The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president?
New York Times:
McCain and Obama Trade Jabs on Iraq — Senator John McCain opened a new line of attack against Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday, accusing him of being willing to surrender Iraq to Al Qaeda. — Mr. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, previewed a possible general election contest …
RELATED:
Mosheh Oinounou / FOX Embeds:
McCain uncomfortable with TN GOP anti-Obama release
McCain uncomfortable with TN GOP anti-Obama release
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Truthdig, Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog
CTV.ca:
Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric — Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned. — Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Going First Most of the Time — WASHINGTON — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded almost put upon. — “Can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time,” she said to Brian Williams of NBC News, a moderator of Tuesday night's debate between Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama.
Discussion:
Fact Checker
Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Air Force Blocks Access to Many Blogs — The Air Force is tightening restrictions on which blogs its troops can read, cutting off access to just about any independent site with the word “blog” in its web address. It's the latest move in a larger struggle within the military over the value — and hazards — of the sites.
Discussion:
Blue Girl, Red State, War and Piece, Weekly Standard, Balkinization, Buck Naked Politics and PunditGuy
Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
Christmas!: Barack Obama Cuts A Campaign Ad... For John McCain — I thought this was going to be a negative ad against Barack Hussein Obama. — It is. It's just that he made it himself. — Big props to the Real Revo for this ad. I hate swiping vids usually (except from Hot Air …
Discussion:
Wake up America, Wizbang, Blue Crab Boulevard, GayPatriot, Stop The ACLU and Marc Ambinder
Jeet Heer / sans everything:
William F. Buckley: the Gift of Friendship — William F. Buckley. — The death of a man at age 82, after a productive, successful, event-filled life enriched by an unusually close-knit family and an enormous circle of friends and admirers, should hardly be the cause of sadness.
RELATED:
Seth Sutel / Associated Press:
NYT's Greenhouse Takes Buyout Offer — NEW YORK — Linda Greenhouse, who has covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times for 30 years, said Wednesday that she has accepted a buyout package from the newspaper. — Greenhouse joined the Times in 1968 and started covering the court in 1978 …
Advocate:
Obama Makes Gay Ad Buys in Ohio, Texas — The Obama campaign is lavishing some of its cash advantage on the LGBT community with targeted ad buys in Ohio and Texas leading up to the critical March 4 primaries in both states (Rhode Island and Vermont also vote that day).
Jack Shafer / Slate:
The Times Plagiarizes the Miami Herald — A PAGE ONE STORY LIFTS TWO LINES ABOUT AN ILLICIT DRUG. — The hell wrought on Argentina by the illicit drug “paco” has already become a journalistic staple. The Christian Science Monitor visited the topic on April 5, 2006; the Miami Herald on Aug. 12 …
Juan Cole:
Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes — At Cincinnati, Bill Cunningham, according to the LAT, who “introduced presidential candidate John McCain at a rally here today accused Barack Obama of sympathizing with 'world leaders …
Isabel Kershner / New York Times:
Hamas and Israelis Trade Attacks, Killing Several — JERUSALEM — In a sudden surge of violence, an Israeli civilian was killed Wednesday in a rocket attack by Hamas militants from Gaza, the first such fatality in nine months, and at least eight Palestinians, militants and civilians …
Discussion:
The New Republic