Top Items:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
What we're seeing in Massachusetts — Because of the heavy interest we'll try to get our Massachusetts numbers out over the weekend. But because we've already conducted most of the interviews for it here are some of the major storylines we're seeing: —At this point a plurality …
Discussion:
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William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
It's On - Push Polling “Hate Group” Support for Brown — See update to this post: Is SEIU Behind Anti-Brown Push Polling? — I received this e-mail from a Massachusetts resident and businesswoman (and I verified her identity through publicly available sources), regarding a phone call she received last night:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Can Dems pass health care if Brown wins? — The notion of a Republican winning Ted Kennedy's seat remains unlikely, despite (or perhaps because of) the recent hubbub around the race. — But it's a real enough possibility that Democrats have started to consider the question.
Discussion:
The New Republic
George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
Rudy Giuliani Wrong in Saying ‘No Domestic Attacks Under Bush’ — President Obama yesterday took personal responsibility for failures in the Christmas day terror plot, but Rudy Giuliani still isn't convinced. — I spoke to the former mayor of New York City this morning on GMA …
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George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
Giuliani Update — Through his spokesman, Rudy Giuliani has clarified the remarks he made this morning on GMA regarding terrorist attacks on the United States under Presidents Bush and Obama. — The Mayor's spokesman says that the remark “didn't come across as it was intended” …
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Mediaite, Media Decoder, The Daily Dish, Gawker, Raw Story, AMERICAblog News, TPM LiveWire and The Washington Independent
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Steele comments have GOP aides pleading, ‘Get him to stop’ — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, under fire this week for a string of controversial statements he has made while promoting his new book, has so angered the party's congressional leaders that their aides …
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David Brody / The Brody File:
Video: Michael Steele: Unplugged
Video: Michael Steele: Unplugged
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Think Progress, Washington Monthly, Minnesota Independent, The Hill, The Plum Line and msnbc.com
NPR Blogs:
Loud Protests on NPR's ‘Tea Party’ Cartoon — For nearly two months, the animated political cartoon sat on npr.org virtually unnoticed. And then someone discovered it, was disgusted and launched it into the blogosphere — making it a raucous rallying point for conservatives.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Gruber responds: ‘Completely consistent’ — One of the key voices for Congressional health care legislation, MIT economist Jon Gruber, is taking fire from the precincts of the left that oppose the Senate plan over the fact that he is on contract with Department of Health and Human Services.
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Judson Berger / Fox News:
Economist Was Under Contract With HHS While Touting Health Reform Bill — MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the leading academic defenders of health care reform, is taking heat for failing to disclose consistently that he was under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services …
James Pethokoukis:
9 reasons why the Dec. jobs report is bad news for Dems — Talk about one last gasp from the horrible year that was 2009. On the political front, the December jobs numbers were terrible news for the White House and congressional Democrats in a midterm election year. Here's how it plays out:
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The Corner on National …
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Christina Wilkie / The Hill:
Carville: Airport scanners can ‘measure my penis’ — The debate over full body security scans just got a lot more graphic, thanks to Democratic political strategist and frequent flyer James Carville. — Speaking on The Tony Kornheiser Show Friday, Carville laid out, or unzipped, his vision for airport security.
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Ford Says He Won't Be ‘Bullied’ — Under assault from allies of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former congressman Harold E. Ford Jr. fired back on Friday afternoon, saying he would be not be “bullied or intimidated” by “party bosses” as he considers challenging her in this fall's Democratic primary.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Ford staffs up — Harold Ford's bid for Senate just got a little more serious: He's hired a spokesman, and — I'm told — brought on board Mike Bloomberg's campaign manager and pollster to help with his bid. Two sources close to the nascent campaign said the pollster, Doug Schoen …
Chris Irvine / Telegraph:
British woman ‘arrested in Dubai after being raped’ — A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse. — The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement …
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
White House: Geithner ‘not involved’ in latest AIG flap — The White House claimed Friday that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did not play a role in alleged improper actions government officials took in the bailout of insurance giant American Insurance Group.
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Wall Street Journal:
The Risk of Catastrophic Victory — Obama is in the midst of one. Can the GOP avert one of their own? — Printer — Friendly — Passage of the health-care bill will be, for the administration, a catastrophic victory. If it is voted through in time for the State of the Union Address …
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman and The Atlantic Business Channel
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
A blogger's parting with the right — (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times / January 7, 2009) — Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs website once was devoted to writing about the ‘Loony Left.’ Now he prefers to focus on his liberal social views and disagreeing conservatives.
Tina Daunt / The Huffington Post:
The Secret History of Kubrick, the Blog Theme That Changed the Internet — Kubrick, the template that launched millions of beautiful blogs and helped transform the Internet, is expected to be retired mid-year as the default theme for the popular WordPress blogging platform.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Cheney group recalls ‘24’ — Liz Cheney's group, Keep America Safe, is out with a new video that casts President Obama's response to the Christmas Day terror attempt as a parody of the television show “24.” — The video uses unflattering moments from the administration's response …
Discussion:
Wonkette
Charlie Cook / National Journal Online:
Democrats Trapped In A Vicious Circle — FROM RETIREMENTS TO PARTY DEFECTIONS, THE BAD NEWS FOR 2010 KEEPS COMING. — In the world of economics, a virtuous circle is created when a series of positive events triggers a self-perpetuating pattern of other good occurrences — a positive feedback loop, in other words.
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