memeorandum: Steele: Reid should step down from leadership role for ‘Negro’ remark (Eric Zimmermann/The Hill)

5:00 PM ET, January 10, 2010

Top Items:

Senate poll: Coakley up 15 points — AG viewed as stronger on most issues, Globe survey finds, but Brown has gained traction, too — Democrat Martha Coakley, buoyed by her durable statewide popularity, enjoys a solid, 15-percentage-point lead over Republican rival Scott Brown as the race …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

All About the Screen — Special elections are notoriously hard to poll because it's hard to figure out just who is going to show up to vote. (That's the reference to the ‘screen’ — how the pollster figures out who is a likely voter.) But this is a helluva a spread.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air and Taegan Goddard's …

JammieWearingFool:

Mass Confusion: Brown Up a Point in One Poll, Coakley Up 15 in Another — I was a bit skeptical over the buzz surrounding the PPP poll last night that has Scott Brown up a point over Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat. — For good reason.

Discussion: Charlie Foxtrot and Real Clear Politics

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Toss up in Massachusetts — The Massachusetts Senate race is now a toss up.

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Brown HQ Report #2

Discussion: sisu and Jumping in Pools

Jessica Taylor / Scorecard's Blog:
Poll: Scott Brown ahead of Martha Coakley by 1 point

Discussion: Wake up America

Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:

Steele: Reid should step down from leadership role for ‘Negro’ remark — The chairman of the Republican National Committee called Sunday for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to step down as Majority Leader in the wake of revelations that he used the term “Negro” when discussing President Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Politico, Scared Monkeys, The Political Carnival, GayPatriot and Political Punch

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

GOP: Lott-Reid double standard — Top Republicans called for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to step aside Sunday — and accused the Democrats and the media of holding the GOP to a double standard on matters of race. — In an interview with POLITICO, National Republican Senatorial …

Discussion: MyDD, psychologytoday.com, The Caucus, Outside The Beltway and Flopping Aces

Janet Hook / Los Angeles Times:

Some Democrats want to rein in the filibuster — With Republicans using endless speeches to block all manner of legislation, and the prospect of fewer Democrats after midterm elections, some say it's time for a change so the majority can govern. — Reporting from Washington …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Washington Monthly, American Power and Unqualified Offerings

Fox News:
Steele Calls on Reid to Resign as Senate Leader After Obama ‘Negro’ Comment

Discussion: The Fix, Riehl World View, The Politico, RedState and Weekly Standard

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Majority Leader Reid apologizes to Obama for 2008 remarks

Discussion: PostPartisan, The Plum Line, Verum Serum, The Other McCain, Washington Monthly, New York Times and Ben Smith's Blog

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Captain Obvious Learns the Limits of Cool — Our president came down from the mountaintop. — He had applied the freshness of his independent thought to the critical matters at hand. He had convened his seminar, reviewed the reviews, analyzed the intelligence every which way …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, Hullabaloo, Pundit & Pundette, Commentary, Left Coast Rebel, The Reality-Based Community and And So it Goes in Shreveport

Alexander Bolton / The Hill: Feinstein: Halt Gitmo prisoner transfers to countries with al-Qaeda presence

Philip Sherwell / Telegraph:
Detroit bomber ‘singing like a canary’ before arrest

Discussion: Power Line, JustOneMinute, Maggie's Notebook and Townhall.com

Frank Rich / New York Times:

The Other Plot to Wreck America — THERE may not be a person in America without a strong opinion about what coulda, shoulda been done to prevent the underwear bomber from boarding that Christmas flight to Detroit. In the years since 9/11, we've all become counterterrorists.

Discussion: American Power, DealBook, The Big Picture, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Suburban Guerrilla

New York Times:
Banks Prepare for Big Bonuses, and Public Wrath

Discussion: TPMCafe, Prairie Weather, Concurring Opinions, The Business Insider and The Agonist

Isabel Vincent / New York Post:

‘Jihad’ jitters at Met — Mohammed art gone — Is the Met afraid of Mohammed? — The Metropolitan Museum of Art quietly pulled images of the Prophet Mohammed from its Islamic collection and may not include them in a renovated exhibition area slated to open in 2011, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Pajamas Media, QandO and Jihad Watch

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Liz Cheney Airs Hypocritical Attack Ad On Obama For Waiting ‘100 Hours’ To Respond To Terror Plot — In their eagerness to place blame on President Obama for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack, Republicans have argued that the president waited too long to talk publicly about the matter.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Moderate Voice

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Adviser: Obama subdued, disappointed by latest jobs report — After celebrating last month over an uptick in employment, President Barack Obama received the December jobs report, which showed a loss of 85,000 jobs, with subdued disappointment. — Christina Romer, chairman of the White House Council …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and The Politico

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:

Boehner chief of staff dies at 46 — Paula Nowakowski, the longtime chief of staff to House Republican Leader John Boehner, died suddenly Saturday night, according to the leader's office. She was 46. — “It is with profound sadness and shock that I announce the passing of Paula Nowakowski …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

Tom Kington / Guardian:

Italians cheer as police move immigrants out — Mafia involvement is suspected as riots leave scores injured — Local people clapped and cheered yesterday as hundreds of Africans were moved by police out of a small town in Calabria following clashes in which immigrant farmworkers were shot at, severely beaten and run over.

Discussion: Truthdig

Eileen Ng / Associated Press:

4 more churches attacked in Malaysia in Allah feud — Buzz up! — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Firebombs were thrown at three more churches in Malaysia on Sunday and another was splashed with black paint, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian houses of worship following …

Discussion: Informed Comment and Jihad Watch