memeorandum: After Sharp Words on C.I.A., Obama Faces a Delicate Task (New York Times)

7:20 AM ET, December 3, 2008

Top Items:

sos.georgia.gov:

Georgia Election Results Unofficial And Incomplete Results of the Tuesday, December 02, 2008 General Election Runoff — The results displayed are UNOFFICIAL AND INCOMPLETE until certified by both county election superintendents and the Secretary of State, a process that will not be completed until the week of December 8.

New York Times:

Republican Wins Runoff for Senator in Georgia — ATLANTA — Saxby Chambliss, a first-term Republican senator, was re-elected by Georgia voters on Tuesday in a substantial victory, ending Democratic hopes for a 60-vote majority in the Senate that would make it difficult for Republicans …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com, Boston Globe, Kausfiles, The Swamp, TIME.com, Michelle Malkin, Gawker, Obsidian Wings, American Power, Wonkette, Salon, MyDD, The RBC and The Other McCain

Shannon McCaffrey / Associated Press:

Chambliss wins US Senate runoff in Georgia — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — ATLANTA - Relieved Republicans celebrated a resounding win in Georgia's hard-fought U.S. Senate runoff, a victory that denied Democrats a filibuster-proof majority and cemented the state's reputation as a GOP bastion.

Discussion: Reuters, The Raw Story, The Politico and TigerHawk

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Chambliss gets the last word: ‘Georgia values matter’ — 10:35 p.m.: On the heels of a concession by Democrat Jim Martin, Republican Saxby Chambliss took the stage to claim his second term in the U.S. Senate. — But Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan …

Shannon McCaffrey / Associated Press:
Chambliss wins Georgia Senate runoff over Martin

Discussion: Think Progress, Hot Air and Riehl World View

Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Chambliss wins, denies Democrats 60 seats

Discussion: The Politico and Real Clear Politics

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Chambliss to win Senate runoff, CNN projects

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, The Reaction and Donklephant

Hotline On Call:
Chambliss Wins; 60 Eludes Dems

Discussion: Hot Air and The Political Carnival

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Saxby Chambliss wins Georgia runoff

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gawker, TIME.com and The Swamp

Curt Brown / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

171 uncounted ballots turn up in Ramsey County; Franken nets gain — The final day of recounting in Ramsey County in the U.S. Senate race kicked up controversy today when 171 uncounted ballots from Maplewood turned up. The ballots apparently had been uncounted because of a ballot-counting-machine malfunction on Election Day.

Discussion: Politics from Minnesota …, TPM Election Central, The Hill, Buck Naked Politics, The Caucus, Braublog, Taegan Goddard's …, Minnesota Public Radio, Power Line, Washington Monthly and AMERICAblog News

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:

Statistical Models Now Show Coleman as Slight Favorite — With in excess of 90 percent of Minnesota's votes now having been recounted, our statistical models now show Norm Coleman as the favorite to retain his senate seat, although with a high degree of uncertainty and without accounting …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Campaign Silo, www.redstate.com, Braublog and MyDD

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
New Signs That Recount Momentum May Be Swinging Back To Franken

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com

Marc Ambinder:

Jeb Bush Ponders Florida Senate Run — Two sources close to Jeb Bush, including one who has spoken to the former Florida governor within the past few hours, say he is seriously considering a run for Senate now that incumbent Republican Mel Martinez has retired.

Discussion: Hot Air, Foolocracy, The Moderate Voice, The American Pundit, Buck Naked Politics, Macsmind, Naked Politics, The Buzz, The Raw Story and Group News Blog

Damien Cave / New York Times:
Republican Senator Opts Against Run for 2nd Term

Discussion: The Politico

Daily Mail:

Jewish mother killed in Mumbai attacks ‘was pregnant’... and her son, 2, may have been beaten by militants … The Jewish mother murdered in the brutal Mumbai terror attacks last week was six month pregnant, her father revealed today at her funeral. — And Rivkah Holtzberg's two-year-old son …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Tim Butcher / Telegraph:
Mumbai attacks: Rabbi's wife killed in attacks was pregnant

Discussion: Seraphic Secret and American Power

Susan Page / USA Today:

Poll: Obama earning high marks — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama gets soaring marks for his handling of the transition and his choices for the Cabinet, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, even at a time the public is downbeat over the economy. — More than three of four Americans …

Discussion: Wonkette, Buck Naked Politics, TIME.com, The Democratic Daily and The Rude Pundit

David Stout / New York Times:
Gates Says He and Obama on the Same Page on Iraq

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama National Security Picks Get High Marks

Discussion: Washington Post, DownWithTyranny!, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Donklephant

Mirror.co.uk:

Mumbai bombers ‘took cocaine and LSD’ before carrying out attacks — Terrorist Azam Ameer Qasab lies dazed after his capture (Pic:Getty) — The Mumbai terrorists may have pumped themselves full of drugs to keep going during their murderous three-day rampage.

Discussion: Telegraph, Little Green Footballs, American Power and Gateway Pundit

Wall Street Journal:
India Names Mumbai Mastermind

Discussion: FP Passport and Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

After Sharp Words on C.I.A., Obama Faces a Delicate Task — WASHINGTON — For two years on the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama rallied crowds with strongly worded critiques of the Bush administration's most controversial counterterrorism programs, from hiding terrorism suspects …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

NIXON TAPES: RUTHLESS, CYNICAL, PROFANE — From NBC's John Rutherford — Richard Nixon's reputation takes a fresh pounding every time the National Archives releases another batch of audio tapes from his presidency, and today's opening of nearly 200 hours of Nixon White House recordings is no exception.

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Wire, I Don't Like You Either, The Moderate Voice, Amygdala, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, Oliver Willis, Truthdig, FOX Forum, Gawker and Washington Times

Tom Gross / Wall Street Journal:

If this Isn't Terrorism, What Is? — Last week in Mumbai we witnessed as clear a case of carefully planned mass terrorism as we are ever likely to see. — The seven-venue atrocity was coordinated in a highly sophisticated way. The terrorists used BlackBerrys to stay in touch with each …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs

The Trail / Washington Post:

Holbrooke Under Consideration for South Asia Diplomatic Role — President -elect Barack Obama is seriously considering giving former ambassador Richard Holbrooke a key role in handling diplomacy in south Asia, a move that would put one of America's most prominent international troubleshooters …

Discussion: FP Passport and ATTACKERMAN

Tim Weiner / New York Times:

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77 — Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was 77. — The cause was heart disease, said her manager, Doug Yeager.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

Anxiety among Democrats as Pelosi tightens her grip — Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) moves since the November elections have shaken up some of her colleagues, with some looking over their shoulders and others worried about how the Speaker will lead her expanded majority in 2009.

Discussion: Don Surber