memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Republican Scott Brown has raised at least one million … (Alex Pappas/The Daily Caller)

6:55 PM ET, January 14, 2010

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: The Fix, The Other McCain, Michelle Malkin, Left Coast Rebel, Political Punch, Hot Air, TPMDC, DaTechguy's Blog, National Review Online, Commentary and Don Surber

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).

Discussion: Washington Wire, TPMDC, Real Clear Politics, MyDD, Swing State Project, Open Left, The Hill, Scorecard's Blog, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller

Steve Kornacki:

On Massachusetts.... I wrote a column last week in which I dismissed the chances of Republican Scott Brown actually winning next Tuesday's Senate special election in Massachusetts. The race would be close, I figured — 53-47 for Coakley, or something like that — but the state's blue tint would be just enough to save the Democrats.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Fix, Boston Globe, National Review Online, Hot Air and The Natural Truth

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: Boston Globe, HillBuzz, Ruby Slippers, Power Line, TD Blog, RedState, Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Scorecard's Blog, Erick's blog, Moonbattery, race42008.com and Weasel Zippers

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Scott Brown has raised at least one million dollars every day this week — Knowledgeable sources in Massachusetts tell The Daily Caller that Republican candidate for Senate, Scott Brown, has raised at least $1 million dollars every day this week, most of it online.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air and National Review Online

Gary Hewson / Big Journalism:

Martha's Greatest Hits: The Things the Democrats Would Like You to Forget About Candidate Coakley — In researching the ever-intensifying Massachusetts Senate race between Democrat Martha Coakley and her Republican challenger Scott Brown, it only takes a few keystrokes to unearth her ongoing history …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Townhall.com

Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:
Scott Brown: Obama not invited to this party

Discussion: National Review Online, The Lonely Conservative, Jules Crittenden, New York Times, Boston Globe, No More Mister Nice Blog, JammieWearingFool and Gateway Pundit

CNN:
Obama makes plea for Coakley in Massachusetts

Discussion: Hot Air, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and The Political Carnival

Josh Marshall / TPMDC:
CORRECTED: Brown Says He's Unfamiliar with Tea Partiers; Campaign Pix Say Otherwise

Discussion: The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo, Boston Globe, Salon, Blue Mass. Group, Washington Monthly, Philly.com and Daily Kos

Matt Viser / Boston Globe:
Rancor between Senate foes rises as vote nears

Discussion: In The Pink, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Media Nation and Blue Mass. Group

Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog: Rothenberg calls Mass. race a tossup

Gail Collins / New York Times:
The 10 Percent Rules

Discussion: Hot Air, Boston Globe, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Strata-Sphere, DailyHowler.com, The Anchoress, QandO, The Awl, Commentary, The Corner on National … and DaTechguy's Blog

Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Ad Wars: Obama Cuts Spot for Coakley, Can Barely Contain Himself

Discussion: Power Line

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 …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, The Note, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Open Left, The Page and TPMDC

Megan McArdle:

Special Deal for Labor Unions in Health Care Bill — The labor unions have been fighting the Senate health care bill for some time now—specifically, the provision that levies high taxes on “Cadillac” plans that exceed certain maximums. That was expected to be a sticking point …

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
White House, unions reach deal on taxing insurance coverage

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, Ezra Klein, Prescriptions, Washington Monthly, The Lonely Conservative, Associated Press, The Corner on National …, Fausta's Blog and TPMDC

Michael Whitney / Firedoglake:
Two Bad Ideas Don't Make a Good One: Unions Reportedly Seek Exemption …

Discussion: TPMDC, Wonk Room, No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Source: Tentative deal on Cadillac plans

Discussion: NO QUARTER and Ben Smith's Blog

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Details Emerge On White House-Labor Health Care Agreement

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

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: Sweetness & Light, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit, The Corner on National … and Little Green Footballs

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

What's the Journal doing on this list? — The Tea Party Convention put out a press release today announcing that they were packed and had space for just five news outlets: — Everyone from a small town newspaper in Iowa to Fox News has asked for press credentials.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Lean Left

Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
Will Fox, WSJ accept tea party press selection?

Discussion: The Caucus and The Washington Independent

PR Newswire:
Tea Party Nation Would Like to Announce the Following Efforts …

Discussion: Liberal Values

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 …

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Swamp, Truthdig, TPM LiveWire and Washington Monthly

Danny Shea First / The Huffington Post:
Pat Robertson: Haiti ‘Cursed’ By ‘Pact To The Devil’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Corner on National …, The Huffington Post, Democratic Strategist, The BRAD BLOG, Hullabaloo, NewsBusters.org, Guardian and The Moderate Voice

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Watching Beck And Palin: “God Played An Essential Role In The Founding Of This Nation” — Just listen to the beginning of their restaurant chat, appropriating both the WTC site and the Statue of Liberty. More to the point, listen to the framework of their discussion. The core concept is a “re-founding” of America.

Discussion: Pollster.com All Content and Riehl World View

Eric Kleefeld / TPM LiveWire:
Beck Calls ‘Bullcrap’ On Palin's Non-Answer About Favorite Founding Father (VIDEO)

Discussion: Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo

Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Palin says her favorite founding father is ‘all of them.’

Discussion: Guardian, BuzzFlash.org, News Hounds and Washington Monthly

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.

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Nicholas Graham First / The Huffington Post:
Limbaugh: 'We've Already Donated To Haiti, It's Called US Income Tax' (VIDEO)

Discussion: Think Progress, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, National Review Online and AMERICAblog News

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.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Washington Independent and Taylor Marsh

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
White House signals allegiance with centrists on major healthcare points

Discussion: The Politico and Open Left

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

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.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Swing State Project and The Political Carnival

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Shadegg retires, 14th Republican out in 2010

Discussion: Washington Monthly and MyDD

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.

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Ezra Klein, White House.gov Blog Feed and Washington Monthly

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

What Do Sarah Palin and Jesus Christ Have In Common? — Having survived the day and in a relatively good mood, with a devil may care attitude, comments are now allowed. — I don't know what it is about Sarah Palin that sets people off, but there is very little in between.

Discussion: Riehl World View, PoliBlog and AmSpecBlog

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.