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 …
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The Moderate Voice, The Note, Washington Examiner, Townhall.com, DaTechguy's Blog, Congress Matters, Another Black Conservative, Wake up America, iOwnTheWorld.com, OpenSecrets.org, Des Moines Register, Ruby Slippers, Flopping Aces, Scared Monkeys, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, Open Congress, NO QUARTER, Politics Nation, The Caucus, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pajamas Media, msnbc.com, The Lonely Conservative and Fausta's Blog
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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, The Awl, Jezebel, The Hill, The Page, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Ben Smith's Blog
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.
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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.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Megan McArdle, The Politico, ABCNEWS, The Confluence and The Strata-Sphere
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, The Hill, Wonk Room, Hot Air, Online NewsHour, RHRealityCheck.org, Don Surber, Clusterstock and Swampland
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:North Dakota: #1 With a Bullet
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Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Fix, The Daily Dish, Guardian and Prairie Weather
Justin Kitsch / Byron L. Dorgan:STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR BYRON DORGAN
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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.
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The Politico:
Pelosi swipes at Obama's promises — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, piqued with White House pressure to accept the Senate health reform bill, threw a rare rhetorical elbow at President Barack Obama Tuesday, questioning his commitment to his 2008 campaign promises. — A leadership aide said it was no accident.
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.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Hill, Scorecard's Blog, Talking Points Memo and Ben Smith's Blog
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Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:Connecticut's Attorney General Will Seek Dodd's Senate Seat
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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
Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
Former bin Laden bodyguard is among ex-guerrillas in Yemen — SANAA, YEMEN — When he served in the Afghan mountains as Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, Nasser al-Bahri said, he was known as “The Killer.” Today, Bahri is a business consultant in Yemen who favors Western-style pinstriped shirts, crisp slacks and black loafers.
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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 …
Discussion:
Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Gateway Pundit, TigerHawk, Wake up America and The Corner on National …
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.
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Denver Post:
Sources: Ritter expected to withdraw from governor's race — Gov. Bill Ritter is planning an 11 a.m. press conference Wednesday at which he is expected to announce that he will withdraw from the race for governor, numerous sources close to Ritter confirmed tonight.
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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 …
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.
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