memeorandum: Palin-Farah ticket at 1st national tea-party convention (Chelsea Schilling/WorldNetDaily)

11:45 AM ET, January 7, 2010

Top Items:

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Conservatives Finish 2009 as No. 1 Ideological Group — Uptick owing largely to more independents calling themselves conservative — PRINCETON, NJ — The increased conservatism that Gallup first identified among Americans last June persisted throughout the year, so that the final year-end …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Real Clear Politics, GayPatriot, GINA COBB and Shot in the Dark

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Democratic Support Dips Below Majority Level in 2009 — PRINCETON, NJ — The year 2009 marked the end of a three-year run of majority Democratic support among U.S. adults. Last year, an average of 49.0% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they leaned Democratic, the party's first yearly average below 50% since 2005.

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Moderate Voice, Hotline On Call, Commentary and MyDD

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Democrats lose majority support in Gallup polling

Discussion: msnbc.com, Federal Eye and Minnesota Independent

Susan Page / USA Today:

National security adviser: Airline bomber report to ‘shock’ — WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel “a certain shock” when they read an account being released Thursday of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane.

Discussion: The Hill, Commentary, Wall Street Journal, Mudville Gazette, Scared Monkeys, Top of the Ticket, The Strata-Sphere, Breitbart.tv, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, NPR Blogs, Cafe Hayek, GINA COBB, Raw Story, The Hill, TPM LiveWire and Political Punch

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Oh, Byron, We Hardly Knew Ye — Senator Byron Dorgan is retiring! I know this comes as a shock to you, people. Also Senator Chris Dodd! We are only one week into the new year, and the political world is in turmoil. It's a wonder we can continue on with our regular duties.

Discussion: Washington Post and Prairie Weather

New York Times:

Democrats Wary as Two Senators Decide to Retire — WASHINGTON — The sudden decision by two senior Democratic senators to retire shook the party's leaders on Wednesday and signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda.

Discussion: Denver Post, The Note, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, TPMDC, USA Today, Washington Post, The Reality-Based Community and pa2010.com

The Politico:
Unresolved questions for 2010 — This week's near-simultaneous …

Discussion: The Foundry and The Page

Room for Debate:
What's the Outlook for Democrats?

Discussion: Prairie Weather, The Caucus and PoliPundit.com

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn't Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN? — Reminds me of the time Tapper coolly yet cruelly pressed Gibbs to defend Biden's sub-moronic advice to New Yorkers about avoiding city subways during swine-flu season. There is, and can be, no defense here, and everyone in the room knows it.

Discussion: PoliBlog, Breitbart.tv, Stop The ACLU and Pajamas Media

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

White House: We will NOT discuss broken C-Span promise — On Tuesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to answer questions about the president's campaign commitment to hold health-care negotiations on C-Span. Gibbs said he had not seen a letter from C-Span's Brian Lamb …

Discussion: Wake up America, The Foundry, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Another Black Conservative, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, The Lonely Conservative, Pajamas Media, CNN, YID With LID, Fausta's Blog, Pundit & Pundette, Power Line, Carol's Closet, Neptunus Lex, Real Clear Politics, TigerHawk, Riehl World View and Commentary

Erica Werner / Associated Press:
White House put on the defensive on health care

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Breitbart.tv, Associated Press, The Corner on National …, CBS News, Commentary, Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and AmSpecBlog

Patrik Jonsson / Christian Science Monitor:

Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention — Sarah Palin's appearance is a coup for a movement now getting grudging respect from mainstream commentators. But will the feisty Tea Party movement coalesce with the GOP's old guard? — Atlanta

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Political Carnival, Wonkette, The Lonely Conservative, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, The Daily Dish, PostPartisan and No More Mister Nice Blog

Chelsea Schilling / WorldNetDaily:
Palin-Farah ticket at 1st national tea-party convention

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Joe. My. God.

S.A. Miller / Washington Times:
‘Tea party’ head warns GOP of Fla. repeat

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs and Naked Politics

James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:

NCTC director Michael Leiter remained on ski slopes after Christmas Day airline bombing attempt — WASHINGTON - The top official in charge of analyzing terror threats did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an airliner on Christmas Day, the Daily News has learned.

Discussion: Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, ThreatsWatch and Gateway Pundit

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
After attempted airline bombing, effectiveness of intelligence reforms questioned

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Prairie Weather

Anill / Think Progress:

Study predicts $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized. — A new study by University of California at Los Angeles professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda suggests that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Dr. Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda / Center for American Progress:
Raising the Floor for American Workers

Discussion: Wonk Room

Hugh Son / Bloomberg:

Geithner's New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure — Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer's payments to banks during the depths …

Discussion: Felix Salmon, DealBook, The Business Insider, Wonk Room, naked capitalism, Betsy's Page and The Big Picture

Charles Lane / PostPartisan:

Dick Morris sees two parties. I see four. — I can't remember a more breathtaking 48 hours in politics since Barack Obama's election in November 2008. Byron Dorgan is out; Chris Dodd is out; Bill Ritter is out. Who would have thought that just one year into Obama's promising presidency …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Swampland, Commentary and Liberal Values

Sebastian Rotella / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. learned intelligence on airline attack suspect while he was en route — U.S. border enforcement officials discovered alleged extremist links in a database while the suspect was headed to Detroit on Christmas Day, new disclosures show. — Reporting from Washington …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Guardian, Don Surber, The Corner on National …, Talking Points Memo and PoliBlog

PittsburghLIVE.com:

Sestak puts blame on Democratic leaders for slipping support — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — Rep. Joe Sestak blames Democratic leaders for the plunge in public support for overhauling the health care system, saying Wednesday they failed to defend proposals that helped carry the party to victories in 2008.

Discussion: Breitbart.tv

New York Post:

White House budget director ditched pregnant girlfriend for ABC News gal — President Obama's budget guru has a secret love child — with the woman he jilted for his hot new fiance, The Post has learned. — White House budget director Peter Orszag's ex, shipping heiress Claire Milonas …

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette, Indecision Forever, Ben Smith's Blog, AmSpecBlog and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Exclusive: Koppel may return to ABC — ABC News is negotiating with “Nightline” founder Ted Koppel, a 42-year veteran of the network, for a potential return to anchor “This Week” three Sundays a month, broadcast industry sources said. — ABC News executives said no offers have been made.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Michael Calderone's Blog, Mediaite and The Page

The Huffington Post:

Todd Harris, GOP Strategist, DECIMATED By Chris Matthews (VIDEO) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — What have the Republicans done for America lately? Or in the past couple decades? — That's what Chris Matthews pressed Republican strategist Todd Harris about during Hardball on Wednesday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Alec MacGillis / Washington Post:

Health-care reform bill's proposed tax on high-cost plans raises questions — With Congress on the verge of imposing a new tax on high-cost health insurance plans, skeptics continue to raise questions about who would be hit hardest and whether health-care spending would be limited as much as proponents say.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Politico, gooznews.com, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Beat the Press, AMERICAblog News and The Note

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ellen Malcolm Flees Emily's List — For a lot of reasons, I believe that electoral support with no lobbying arm is a flawed advocacy model. But there's no denying that Ellen Malcolm was a superb fundraiser who built Emily's List into a powerful support network for pro-choice female candidates.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

Democrat Wears Scorn as Medal in Abortion Fight — MENOMINEE, Mich. — Representative Bart Stupak often endures things others find unbearable. He crisscrosses a Congressional district so vast that some constituents live eight hours apart and so cold that the beer at his beloved football games sometimes freezes.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Emptywheel

Glen Bolger / TQIA:

Numbers to Watch in 2010: Presidential Approval — This post was written by Glen Bolger and Jim Hobart — This is the first in a series of posts examining key polling data and other numbers to watch as we move towards Election Day. — Over the course of the past year …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Real Clear Politics, The Swamp and MyDD

Jessica Taylor / The Politico:

Health bill at issue in Mass. special — With the Massachusetts Senate special election less than two weeks away, Scott Brown is framing himself as the GOP's last hope to stop Democratic health care legislation, an approach that could provide both parties with an early glimpse at the political resonance of the issue.

Discussion: GayPatriot, Jules Crittenden and The Page

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Carlson Launches Right's Answer to HuffPost — The offices of The Daily Caller evoke a long-ago era of journalism, circa 2005 or 2006, before the Los Angeles Times closed its big-city bureaus, The Washington Times fired 60 percent of its staff, and magazines from Gourmet to Portfolio shuttered for lack of revenue.

Discussion: Wonkette, The Awl and Mediaite

Robert O'Harrow Jr / Washington Post:

Republicans put new hold on TSA nominee Erroll Southers — The nomination of a former FBI agent to lead the Transportation Security Administration hit a new obstacle Wednesday as several Republican senators expressed “serious reservations” about the nominee and pressed the White House …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Washington Independent, Erick's blog and RedState