memeorandum: Election 2008: Georgia Senate (Rasmussen Reports)

3:15 AM ET, November 20, 2008

Top Items:

Prop. 8 gay marriage ban goes to Supreme Court — The California high court will review legal challenges to Prop. 8. A hearing is set for March. Prior to a ruling, gay weddings will not be allowed to resume. — REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court agreed today …

Discussion: Sacramento Bee, New York Times, Political Machine, Feministe, American Power, La Shawn Barber's Corner, Macsmind, Mike Tidmus, Truthdig, Joe. My. God., National Review, L.A. Now and GretaWire

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:

Prop. 8 foes win right to challenge measure, but problems lie ahead — (11-19) 18:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The state Supreme Court plunged back into the same-sex marriage wars Wednesday, agreeing to decide the legality of a ballot measure that repealed the right of gay and lesbian couples to wed in California.

Discussion: Associated Press, TalkLeft, Mike Tidmus, Shakesville and On Deadline

Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Huckabee: Prop. 8 Did Not ‘Prohibit’ Same-Sex Marriage

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, Shakesville and Donklephant

Lisa Leff / Associated Press:
Calif. Supreme Court to take up gay marriage ban

Discussion: Pam's House Blend

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Arizonan will head Homeland Security — Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible …

Discussion: THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Reuters, TIME.com and Swing State Project

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:

[UPDATED] On First Day of Recount, Franken Gains Net of 43 Votes on Coleman — According to data just released by the Minnesota Secretary of State, Al Franken has gained a net of 43 votes on the first day of that state's recount process. Norm Coleman had a lead of 215 voters over Franken …

Discussion: MyDD and Donklephant

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Recount: Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken shrinks — The Great Minnesota Recount kicked off Wednesday with masses of volunteers for Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken moving into a fresh phase of the struggle: eyeballing the first of 2.9 million ballots …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com, Talking Points Memo, TPM Election Central and Senate Guru

James Shiffer / Whistleblower:
One challenge headed to the state so far in Plymouth

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Power Line and Blue Grass, Red State

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

TOM DASCHLE: HEALTH CZAR. — CNN is reporting that Tom Daschle will not only be Health and Human Services Secretary, but also health reform czar under the Obama administration. This is huge news, and the clearest evidence yet that Obama means to pursue comprehensive health reform.

Discussion: CNN, RHRealityCheck.org, Think Progress, New York Times, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Townhall.com, Hullabaloo, QandO, Feministe, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Gateway Pundit, Shakesville, Connecting.the.Dots, Overlawyered and Prairie Weather

David Corn / MoJoBlog:
Obama's First Drama: Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice and Salon

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Obama's Pick of Daschle May Test Conflict-of-Interest Pledge

Discussion: www.redstate.com

The Trail / Washington Post:
Obama Picks Daschle for HHS

Discussion: The Fix, CNN, The Moderate Voice, American Power, Matthew Yglesias, Daily Kos and Buck Naked Politics

Declan McCullagh / CBS News:

Rewarding Failure: Why Stop With Big 3? — With Tongue In Cheek, Declan McCullagh Urges Treasury Chief To Bail Out Everybody … The Honorable Henry Paulson — U.S. Department of the Treasury — 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW — Washington, DC 20220 — Dear Secretary Paulson:

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press:
Finger-pointing begins as Senate nixes auto vote

Discussion: Bloomberg and Israpundit

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Kerry expected to get top foreign affairs panel post

Discussion: Corrente

Jon Ward / Washington Times:
Norm Coleman for RNC chair?

Discussion: The Hill and MyDD

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2008: Georgia Senate — Chambliss Ahead by Four in Georgia Run-off Race — Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss holds a four-point lead over Democratic challenger Jim Martin in Georgia's closely-watched Senate runoff race, according to the first Rasmussen Reports survey in the state since Election Day.

Discussion: Salon, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Swing State Project and Fresh Loaf

Jay Bookman / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Martin puts Georgians' needs first — Chambliss fights for corporations — Jim Martin and Sen. Saxby Chambliss may be former fraternity brothers at the University of Georgia, but they look, act, think and speak in very different ways. The two candidates in the Dec. 2 Senate runoff offer Georgia voters a stark choice.

Discussion: Daily Kos and The E&P Pub

Megan / Jezebel:

The 10 Sexiest Everyday Men Of 2008 [Must List] — When People announced its Sexiest Man Alive today — Hugh Jackman, you may recall — we thought, well, that's all well and good and he is hot, but what about the guys who don't (necessarily) grace the big and small screens but do get our hearts a-twitter and our loins a-twitchin'?

Discussion: The Internet Food Association and Matthew Yglesias

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Health Insurers Offer to Accept All Applicants, on Condition — WASHINGTON — The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic and The RBC

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Hears a Giant Sucking Sound — His legacy is spent before he gets his hands on it. — His friends advise Barack Obama to launch a “New” New Deal. Maybe that's because the old New Deal is sinking fast. — Mr. Obama's one deeply false note during the campaign was his harping on …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Power Line

CBS News:

Lieberman On Obama, Post-Campaign Politcs — CBS News Exclusive: Independent Who Backed McCain, Offending Allies, Gives First Post-Election Interview … Lieberman: I think what the Democratic caucus did yesterday in response to the appeal from president-elect Obama was to say “it's time for us to reconcile, to close ranks.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny! and NewsBusters.org

Ross Douthat:
Eyes on the Prize — Jim Geraghty: … Michael Goldfarb:

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Daily Dish, The New Republic and Top of the Ticket

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:

Whither Oogedy-Boogedyism? — My email box runneth over with nice attaboys and more than a few interesting criticisms regarding my post about Kathleen Parker. Keying off some of the criticisms, here's one thing I want to know, as I sit here at the Whither Conservatism conference.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Kevin Drum, Townhall.com and Hot Air

Ericka Andersen / Culture11:
One Annoying Columnist — Reading Kathleen Parker's column yesterday …

Discussion: The Corner, Newshoggers.com, Donklephant, Salon, Balloon Juice, Marc Ambinder, Comments from Left Field and skippy the bush kangaroo

Washington Wire:

Palin Congratulates Begich after Sen. Stevens Concedes — Joel Millman reports on the Senate race in Alaska. — Sen. Ted Stevens, the man Alaskans know as “Uncle Ted”, quietly conceded his re-election fight Wednesday, a day after his opponent defeated the 85-year old Republican.

Discussion: The Sleuth

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Stevens ousted; Dems eye power of 60

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, New York Times, Associated Press, Towleroad and Bloomberg

Jacob Sullum / Reason:

Eric Holder Nips Marijuana in the Bud and Invents a Time Cover Story — Barack Obama's selection of Eric Holder as his attorney general is a very discouraging sign for anyone who hoped the new administration would de-escalate the war on drugs. As Dave Weigel noted earlier today …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Boston Globe, TalkLeft, Knowledge Problem and www.redstate.com

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:

AL QAEDA'S MOST EPIC FAIL EVER. — Al Qaeda plays a little identity politics: … The best part about this is that a knee-jerk patriotic response implicitly rejects the notion of black American culture as oppositional by definition. And doing so is an act of solidarity with the future President of the United States!

Discussion: MountainRunner, The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent, QandO, Ta-Nehisi Coates and VetVoice

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Zawahiri gives Obama the Belafonte treatment

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Michelle Malkin, Wonkette, Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report, Blue Grass, Red State, Jules Crittenden, Obsidian Wings and Counterterrorism Blog

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Michelle Bachmann denies saying she wanted the media to investigate members of Congress who might be anti-American — John Amato's virtual online magazine...OK, It's a blog! — Home- Archives — Tags Directory — Contact Us- Donate- FAQ — Advertising- Commenting- General …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, DownWithTyranny!, The Moderate Voice, Hullabaloo, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL and Pam's House Blend

CNN:

McCain wins Missouri; State's streak over! — From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser, CNN Research Director Robert Yoon — (CNN) - It's taken more than two weeks, but we finally have a winner in Missouri. — Fifteen days after Election Day, Republican Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Washington Monthly

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Dems see new signs Gates will stay — If Gates stays, no reconfirmation hearing would be needed, officials said. — Keeping Gates at the helm would help give Obama political cover for a gradual reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq and would enhance his relationship with Gen. David Petraeus …

Discussion: Hot Air