Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Chris Dodd to step aside — Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans. — Dodd's retirement comes after months …
Discussion:
The Note, Washington Examiner, The Moderate Voice, theblogprof, Congress Matters, Townhall.com, Another Black Conservative, DaTechguy's Blog, Wake up America, OpenSecrets.org, Des Moines Register, Ruby Slippers, Flopping Aces, iOwnTheWorld.com, Scared Monkeys, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, Open Congress, NO QUARTER, Politics Nation, The Caucus, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pajamas Media and msnbc.com
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
‘DROPPING LIKE FLIES’?.... Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is retiring. So is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). And before anyone could catch their breath, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) announced he's not seeking re-election, either. — It led ABC News to report that “Democrats are dropping like flies.”
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand — Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall's Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him.
The Politico:
Top Democrats head for the exits — The grim outlook for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections just got a little worse. — Four top Democrats—including veteran Sens. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan—all prepared to pull the plug on their campaigns in a 24-hour period that began Tuesday …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Democratic Strategist, The Awl, Jezebel, The Hill, The Page, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Ben Smith's Blog
The Note:
Democrats are Dropping Like Flies — ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, who was in for a tough reelection fight this year, canceled a scheduled fundraiser this evening and has decided not to seek reelection, according to Democratic sources familiar with the governor's plans.
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Senator Dodd Will Not Seek Re-election, Democrats Say — WASHINGTON — Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the embattled Connecticut Democrat who was facing an increasingly tough bid for a sixth term in the Senate, has decided to step aside and not seek re-election, Democrats familiar with his plans said Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, Associated Press, New Haven Independent, Think Progress, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Note, Commentary, The Caucus, DownWithTyranny!, YID With LID, Outside The Beltway, msnbc.com, Politics Daily, JustOneMinute, Raw Story, TalkLeft and The Moderate Voice
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd won't seek reelection, will retire at end of term — Embattled Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek reelection, sources familiar with his plans said Tuesday night.
Discussion:
Power Line, Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Wonk Room, The Hill, Online NewsHour, Don Surber, RHRealityCheck.org and Clusterstock
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:North Dakota: #1 With a Bullet
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Fix, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, Guardian and Prairie Weather
Justin Kitsch / Byron L. Dorgan:STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR BYRON DORGAN
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, The Washington Independent, Think Progress, TPMDC, The Nation, GayPatriot, NewsBusters.org, The Politico, Outside The Beltway, Real Clear Politics, Politics Nation, Stop The ACLU, Shakesville, The Reaction, The Faster Times, Scared Monkeys, Open Congress, Minnesota Independent, Politics Daily, Power Line, Emptywheel and Michelle Malkin
Jared Allen / The Hill:
Dems agree that House will take up, tweak Senate healthcare bill — House and Senate leaders have formally agreed to bypass a bicameral conference committee to merge two healthcare bills, and have opted to instead “ping-pong” the Senate bill over to the House and back again, according to House leadership aides.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, AmSpecBlog, The Foundry, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post
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Nashuatelegraph.com:
Blumenthal to run for Dodd's Senate seat — AP-CT — Dodd Retirement-Blumenthal,0127 — Eds: APNewsNow. — HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he will seek to succeed fellow Democrat Christopher Dodd in the U.S. Senate.
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Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:Connecticut's Attorney General Will Seek Dodd's Senate Seat
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight
Publius / Big Government:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport — Award winning war correspondent Michael Yon was detained and handcuffed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Yesterday by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel.
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Boy, now he's in real trouble; Obama administration revokes U.S. visa of accused Nigerian bomber — Under the category of looks-like-about-12-days-too- late, the State Department has announced it is revoking the U.S. visa for suspected Nigerian underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Los Angeles Times, Moonbattery, Hot Air, Reuters and The Moderate Voice
Ron Christie / Pundits Blog:
Amateur hour is over — Enough is enough. There was a time when the amateur hour that has characterized the behavior of the staff in the Obama White Hour over the past year could be chalked up to innocent inexperience. Now that behavior is nothing short of dangerous and President Barack Obama …
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Jules Crittenden:
It's Pretty Bad ... When the local lefty broadsheet goes on jihad against the Liberal Lion's annointed successor, Martha Coakley, in the midst of said Lion's legacy health-care fight, the day after a leading pollster shows her opposition to be within pistol-shot in the race.
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Clusterstock:
CHART OF THE DAY: How The Government Payroll Replaced Goods-Producing Jobs — In the just-so story of the evolution of our economy, our old manufacturing based economy has been replaced by an innovative knowledge economy. That's not quite true. — In fact, the decline of the jobs …
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Worst RNC cash flow in a decade — A 2009 spending spree has left the Republican National Committee (RNC) with its worst election-year cash flow this decade. — A 2009 spending spree has left the Republican National Committee (RNC) with its worst election-year cash flow this decade.
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Obama Starts 2010 With 50% Approval — More than 8 in 10 Democrats but less than half of independents approve — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama begins his second year as president with 50% of Americans approving and 44% disapproving of his overall job performance.
RELATED:
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Without a movement, progressives can't aid Obama's agenda — Every Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — has raised the hope that he would bring with him a new era of progressive reform. The legislative torrents of the New Deal and the Great Society …
ArkansasBusiness.com:
Blanche Lincoln Rips Nebraska Health Care Deal — LITTLE ROCK - U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln on Tuesday said a political deal that benefits Nebraska and may have clinched a lawmaker's support for health care legislation should be removed from the bill. — The Democratic senator from Arkansas …
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Ritter Dropping Out in Colorado — A source tells Political Wire that Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is ending his re-election campaign. A fundraiser scheduled for tonight was canceled and all campaign staff was sent home in the middle of the day. — The decision does not appear …
Discussion:
The Fix, Swing State Project, Hotline On Call, CNN, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys and TalkLeft
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Richard A. Epstein / Forbes:
Deregulation Now — A New Year's resolution for failing state governments. — As we enter a new decade, the political mood of the country can be captured in one word: glum. In particular, there is widespread recognition at the state level that conditions have reached near crisis proportions.
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
A Bad Time For The Empire — Lot of doom-saying out there about election year 2010. I don't use the word “doom-saying” to mock the predictions—it probably will be bad year—as much as to mock the notion that we shouldn't have seen this coming. For my money, Ezra got it right a few months back:
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