Top Items:
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Massachusetts: ‘Bottom has fallen out’ of Coakley's polls; Dems prepare to explain defeat, protect Obama — Here in Massachusetts, as well as in Washington, a growing sense of gloom is setting in among Democrats about the fortunes of Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
A Trade Center image in DSCC spot — A new ad from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee uses an unlikely symbol of Wall Street greed: the World Trade Center. — The image in the attack on Scott Brown for his alleged closeness to Wall Street pictures the Trade Center and the destroyed Marriott Hotel on its western side.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Scott Brown Voted Against Giving Help To 9/11 Recovery Workers — One month after the September 11th attacks, Scott Brown was one of only three Massachusetts State Representatives to vote against a bill to provide financial assistance to Red Cross workers who had volunteered with 9/11 recovery efforts, we've learned.
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
OK, It's a Toss-Up — Earlier today I tweeted about how there wasn't enough evidence to describe the Massachusetts special election as a “toss-up”, as some other forecasters have done, based on the information available to us at that time. — Well, now there's some new evidence.
Discussion:
Boston Herald, Calitics, Open Left, Newsweek Blogs, Democrats.com, ProfessorBainbridge.com and The Mahablog
Jessica Van Sack / Boston Herald:
Poll shocker: Scott Brown surges ahead in Senate race — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio — Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a historic upset that would reverberate …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Steve Kornacki, The Politico, Gateway Pundit, Boston Globe, Red Mass Group, wbur.org, Washington Post, sisu, Commentary, PERRspectives, PostPartisan, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Fox News, Outside The Beltway, Crooks and Liars, Political Byline, NewsBusters.org, Taylor Marsh, Another Black Conservative, The Note, RedState, AMERICAblog News, The Confluence, Pajamas Media, No More Mister Nice Blog, Townhall.com, Scared Monkeys and The Strata-Sphere
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
What To Do If Coakley Loses — As the likelihood grows that Republicans could win the special election in Massachusetts, it's worth thinking again about alternatives for health care reform in case that happens. I see three, in descending order of preference:
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog:
Obama heading to Massachusetts for Coakley — President Barack Obama will be heading to Massachusetts to campaign for Martha Coakley this Sunday, according to two senior sources informed of the president's decision, a last-minute effort to give the Democrat a needed boost in the Senate race.
Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama to campaign for Coakley — BOSTON — President Barack Obama will campaign for Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley on Sunday, POLITICO has learned, a sign that Democrats believe the seat remains winnable enough that it's worth risking the president's prestige.
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Daily Dish, The Strata-Sphere, Hotline On Call, The Note, Washington Post and Dennis the Peasant
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHO VOTES AGAINST HELP FOR 9/11 RECOVERY WORKERS?.... It's a little late in the game to introduce a game-changing issue into the Senate special election in Massachusetts — the election is Tuesday, after all — but this revelation nevertheless tells voters something pretty important about Republican Scott Brown.
Bshor / Boris Shor, PhD:
Scott Brown is a more liberal Republican than Dede Scozzafava — A special Senate election is being held next Tuesday in Massachusetts to finish Edward Kennedy's term. The candidates are Martha Coakley (D), and State Senator Scott P. Brown (R). — The election is particularly noteworthy for a number of reasons.
Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
How Health Care Reform Could Crash — Poll watcher Sean Trende (if that really is his name) thinks Massachusetts GOP challenger Scott Brown may have peaked too soon. Hmm. Doesn't necessarily look like it. .... Mark Blumenthal has some guidance for reading and reconciling all the Mass. polls …
Dorothy Rabinowitz / Wall Street Journal:
Martha Coakley's Convictions — The role played by the U.S. Senate candidate in a notorious sex case raises questions about her judgment. — The story of the Amiraults of Massachusetts, and of the prosecution that had turned the lives of this thriving American family to dust, was well known to the world by the year 2001.
Kerry Picket / Washington Times:
Martha Coakley: Devout Catholics 'Probably shouldn't work in the emergency room'
Martha Coakley: Devout Catholics 'Probably shouldn't work in the emergency room'
Roger L Simon / Pajamas Media:
Massachusetts shocker: Brown Up 15% in Pajamas Media/CrossTarget Poll
Massachusetts shocker: Brown Up 15% in Pajamas Media/CrossTarget Poll
Michael Cooper / New York Times:
3rd-Party Candidate Named Kennedy Could Tip Senate Race in Massachusetts
3rd-Party Candidate Named Kennedy Could Tip Senate Race in Massachusetts
Jon Ward / The Daily Caller:
Obama to campaign for Coakley
Obama to campaign for Coakley
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Betsy's Page, Washington Wire, The BRAD BLOG, Riehl World View and Washington Examiner
Charles Krauthammer / Real Clear Politics:
The Fall of Obama — WASHINGTON — What went wrong? A year ago, he was king of the world. Now President Obama's approval rating, according to CBS, has dropped to 46 percent — and his disapproval rating is the highest ever recorded by Gallup at the beginning of an (elected) president's second year.
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Greenroom, The Atlantic Business Channel, Political Punch and Commentary
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Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Beck: Obama is ‘dividing the nation’ by reacting ‘so rapidly to Haiti.’ — Right wing radio talker Rush Limbaugh has received considerable criticism for politicizing the earthquake in Haiti this week with a series of inflammatory remarks attacking President Obama.
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David Brooks / New York Times:
The Underlying Tragedy — On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Discussion:
Atlantic Correspondents, Clive Crook, BBC, Achenblog, FP Passport, Matthew Yglesias, The Awl, The Foundry, The Anchoress, TPMCafe, The Moderate Voice and EconLog
Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:
Consumer Protection Agency in Doubt — Dodd Weighs Dropping Idea of Creating Independent Body in Bid to Get Financial Regulatory Revamp Passed This Year — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd is considering scrapping the idea of creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Wonk Room, New Deal 2.0, Felix Salmon, The Washington Independent, The Hill and naked capitalism
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New York Times:
Pentagon Report on Fort Hood Shooting Details Failures — WASHINGTON — The military's defenses against threats from inside its own ranks are outdated and ineffective, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Monday as he described the findings of an Army review of the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.
Discussion:
No Sheeples Here, Outside The Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Online NewsHour and Main Justice
Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner on National …:
Testing the Waters: Santorum Makes It Official — By: Kathryn Jean Lopez — In a letter that went in the mail yesterday to his PAC, the America's Foundation, Rick Santorum talks about his concerns about Barack Obama's first year of “Change we can't afford.”
David Axelrod / Washington Post:
What Karl Rove got wrong on the U.S. deficit — For its Topic A feature last Sunday, The Post invited a panel of political operatives to offer their advice to the Democratic Party on strategy for 2010 [Sunday Opinion, Jan. 10]. Improbably, one of the operatives asked was Karl Rove …