Top Items:
The Rothenberg / The Rothenberg Political Report:
MA Senate moved to Toss-Up — Democratic desperation and other compelling evidence strongly suggest that Democrats may well lose the late Senator Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in Tuesday's special election. Because of this, we are moving our rating of the race from Narrow Advantage for the Incumbent Party to Toss-Up.
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, Michelle Malkin, Commentary, Hot Air, National Review Online and Riehl World View
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David / Blue Mass. Group:
Exclusive BMG/Research 2000 poll: Coakley leads 49-41 — The results are in from BMG's exclusive statewide poll in next week's special Senate election. Research 2000 interviewed 500 likely voters on Tuesday and Wednesday (and we do mean “interviewed” — Research 2000 does live interviews, unlike robo-pollsters Rasmussen and PPP).
Curt Schilling / 38pitches.weei.com:
Want ANOTHER reason to NOT vote for Martha Coakley??? — Picked this up from here... [1] — If she hasn't done it yet, Martha Coakley may have just killed her campaign. — She's apparently been trying to win the title of Worst Political Campaign Ever, and she might have just clinched …
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, HillBuzz, TD Blog, Boston Globe, RedState, Erick's blog, race42008.com and TBogg
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The 10 Percent Rules — If Massachusetts was the Department of Homeland Security, the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's senate seat would have the Democrats about four-fifths of the way up the terror alert code. — Green: Everything is fine, and who cares if we spelled “Massachusetts” wrong in one of the ads.
Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:
Scott Brown: Obama not invited to this party — Surging GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown yesterday warned President Obama to “stay away” from the Bay State during his roiling race against Democratic rival Martha Coakley and not to interfere with their intensifying battle in the campaign's final days.
Discussion:
National Review Online, Boston Globe, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gateway Pundit and JammieWearingFool
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Coakley Takes Slap Shot At Fenway Fans — The Massachusetts special election continues to amaze. Democratic candidate Martha Coakley has taken a swipe at Fenway Park fans: … Well yes, politicians go out to meet the voters even if it means standing out in the cold.
Discussion:
Blue Mass. Group, Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Ruby Slippers, Moonbattery, QandO, DaTechguy's Blog, The Greenroom, Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER, Pajamas Media, neo-neocon and GayPatriot
Josh Marshall / TPMDC:
CORRECTED: Brown Says He's Unfamiliar with Tea Partiers; Campaign Pix Say Otherwise
CORRECTED: Brown Says He's Unfamiliar with Tea Partiers; Campaign Pix Say Otherwise
Andrew Scott / Pocono Record:
Sex sting in Poconos nets former chief U.N. weapons inspector … A former chief United Nations weapons inspector is accused of contacting what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, engaging in a sexual conversation and showing himself masturbating on a Web camera.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Sweetness & Light, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit and The Corner on National …
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama's Bank Tax Seeks $90 Billion to Repay Bailout — WASHINGTON—President Obama plans to call on Thursday for taxing about 50 big banks and major financial institutions for at least the next decade to recoup all taxpayer losses from the bailout of Wall Street.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Note, The Corner on National …, Gawker, Free exchange, Washington Post, Progressive Fix, Felix Salmon, Left Coast Rebel, Beat the Press, Wonk Room, New Deal 2.0, The Caucus, Truthdig, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Fausta's Blog, AMERICAblog News and skippy the bush kangaroo
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Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: ENTER THE EX-PRESIDENTS
FIRST THOUGHTS: ENTER THE EX-PRESIDENTS
Discussion:
Time, Associated Press, The Note, Swampland, FiveThirtyEight, Mediaite, The Swamp and Scorecard's Blog
Binyamin Appelbaum / Washington Post:
Obama administration seeks tax hike on financial firms to recoup cost of bailout
Obama administration seeks tax hike on financial firms to recoup cost of bailout
CNN:
Democrats, labor unions reach tentative deal on ‘Cadillac’ plans — Washington (CNN) - Congressional Democratic health care negotiators, working with the White House, have reached a tentative deal with labor unions on restructuring a tax on high-end insurance plans, a key proposal to pay …
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CBN.com:
Statement Regarding Pat Robertson's Comments on Haiti — On today's The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti's history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led …
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ABCNEWS:
White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett ‘Speechless’ Over Pat Robertson's Haiti Comment
White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett ‘Speechless’ Over Pat Robertson's Haiti Comment
Discussion:
TPM LiveWire, The Politico, The Corner on National …, MLive.com, Washington Monthly and Hot Air
David Waters / Washington Post:
Haiti, the devil and Pat Robertson
Haiti, the devil and Pat Robertson
Discussion:
The Reality-Based Community
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Reid, Lieberman clash over letter — For the second time in a week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) finds himself at the center of a political imbroglio stemming from something that he said in private that was subsequently broadcast to the outside world by unnamed sources.
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
White House signals allegiance with centrists on key health points
White House signals allegiance with centrists on key health points
Discussion:
The Politico
Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
Majority Would Vote Against Obama — A year into his tenure, a majority of Americans would already vote against Pres. Obama if the '12 elections were held today, according to a new survey. — The Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll shows 50% say they would probably or definitely vote for someone else.
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Rep. Shadegg to retire — Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), who briefly announced his retirement last cycle but then opted to seek another term, will not run for reelection in 2010, a GOP source confirms. — Shadegg becomes the third Republican to announce his retirement in recent weeks.
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Eric Kleefeld / TPM LiveWire:
Beck Calls ‘Bullcrap’ On Palin's Non-Answer About Favorite Founding Father (VIDEO) — During Sarah Palin's interview with Glenn Beck today, something extraordinary happened — Beck challenged Palin on a stock, noncommittal answer to a question. Beck asked: “Who's your favorite Founder?”
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Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama wins more spending cuts than Bush — Congress accepts 60% of proposals — President Obama notched substantial successes in spending cuts last year, winning 60 percent of his proposed cuts and managing to get Congress to ax several programs that had bedeviled President George W. Bush for years.
Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Geopolitical speculations about Haiti — Haiti is about the size of Maryland and a big chunk of the population lives in or near Port-Au-Prince, maybe a third of the total, depending on what you count as a suburb. So the collapse of Port-Au-Prince is a big, big deal for the country as a whole.
Discussion:
Megan McArdle, The Daily Dish, New York Times, Matthew Yglesias, Free exchange and Washington Post
RELATED:
Erick Erickson / RedState:
What Do Sarah Palin and Jesus Christ Have In Common? — NOTE: I've intentionally closed the comments to this post. I write this because I know exactly how the comments are going to go and that's the point of this post. If you have a problem, question, or concern email me.
Jim Roberts / The Foundry:
Things to Remember While Helping Haiti — Today, the United States began surveying the damage inflicted by a devastating earthquake in Haiti this week. In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake should address long-held concerns …
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Amie Parnes / The Politico:
EX-ADVISER: ‘WE WERE NEVER READY’ — Nicolle Wallace, former senior adviser to the McCain presidential campaign, did little to defend Sarah Palin at a panel discussion for Washington Post reporter Anne Kornblut's new book “Notes from the Cracked Ceiling” on Tuesday night.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Nelson tries to repair damage at home — Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and his wife were leaving dinner at a new pizza joint near their home in Omaha one night last week when a patron began complaining about Nelson's decisive vote in favor of the Senate's health care bill. — Other customers started booing.
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, Wake up America, RedState, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Firedoglake, The Lonely Conservative and Weasel Zippers
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Morning Joe crew rips Limbaugh: ‘Deplorable,’ ‘insensitive,’ ‘mean-spirited.’ — Yesterday, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh attempted to attack President Obama for responding to the devastation in Haiti. “This will play right into Obama's hands — humanitarian, compassionate,” Limbaugh argued.