memeorandum: BMG Exclusive: Scott Brown thought maybe Obama was born out of wedlock (David/Blue Mass. Group)

10:50 PM ET, January 16, 2010

Top Items:

Dem Mail: Scott Brown Wants Hospitals To Turn Away All Rape Victims — This is absolutely brutal: Massachusetts Dems have dropped a mail piece accusing GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown of wanting hospitals to turn away “all” rape victims. — The mail piece — sent over by the Brown campaign …

David / Blue Mass. Group:

BMG Exclusive: Scott Brown thought maybe Obama was born out of wedlock — Born out of wedlock? Really?? — Well, yes. During (or maybe shortly after) the 2008 Republican convention, Brown was on a panel discussion (aired on the now-defunct CN8 cable news channel) about Sarah Palin.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Hullabaloo, The Washington Independent and The Political Carnival

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Massachusetts Race Tests Staying Power of Democrats — BOSTON — There may be no better place to measure the shifting fortunes of President Obama and the Democratic Party than in the race being fought here this weekend for the Senate seat that had been held by Edward M. Kennedy.

Discussion: New York Times, Connecting.the.Dots, The Corner on National …, AMERICAblog News and TalkLeft

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Enthusiasm gap in Mass. Senate race — HYANNIS, Mass. - As the two candidates running in the special Senate election here barnstormed across the state Saturday, the enthusiasm gap between the two parties was on vivid display. — Democrat Martha Coakley, Massachusetts' attorney general …

Discussion: The Corner on National …

Robert Cruickshank / Firedoglake:

MA-Sen: We've Seen This Movie Before — When Mike Stark commented on “the implosion” looming for Democrats as evidenced by the Massachusetts Senate special election next week by suggesting he wouldn't phonebank for Martha Coakley, there were a number of replies taking issue with his assessment …

Boston Globe:

Coakley: Scott Brown doesn't pay for health care for workers — Democratic US Senate candidate Martha Coakley today highlighted her differences with her opponent, Republican Scott Brown, on health insurance reform by saying that Brown does not pay for health insurance for his campaign workers, while she does.

Discussion: The New Republic, Daily Kos, The Caucus, Eschaton, Ben Smith's Blog, The Political Carnival and TPMDC

Frank Quaratiello / Boston Herald:
What can Scott Brown do for Dems? UPS ships off legal salvo

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Gateway Pundit, Red Mass Group, YID With LID, Big Government, American Power and Weasel Zippers

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Quote For The Day — “I've been called a lot of things …

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant, The Lonely Conservative and The Politico

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Coakley dismisses Schilling: ‘Another Yankee fan’

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Brown's pushback — America...only three (3) more days left to the start of the 2nd Revolution in America...the Voter Revolution of 2010! And this additional attack is why the “real” American people are fed up with these Chicago mafia style politics! They are dirty, sleazy and so Democratzi!

Democracy Now:

“Bush Was Responsible for Destroying Haitian Democracy"-Randall Robinson on Obama Tapping Bush to Co-Chair US Relief Efforts — We speak with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, author of An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Open Left

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Krugman, Gruber and non-disclosure issues — In the midst of my lengthy discussion yesterday of Cass Sunstein's proposal to “cognitively inflitrate extremist groups” by employing covert agents and secretly paying so-called “independent” analysts to tout the government line …

Discussion: Grasping Reality …, The Sideshow and TalkLeft

Richard Johnson / New York Post:

Palin gets 100G for mag cover — Bristol, earned an eye-popping $100,000 for their new In Touch Weekly cover, sources say. For just eight hours' work at her own home, Palin pocketed nearly as much as her $125,000-a-year salary as Alaska governor. It seems her decision to quit her political role is making big financial sense.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Political Carnival and Gawker

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:

Ohio Democrat Steve Driehaus Losing To Steve Chabot 39% to 56% — Steve Driehaus (image via aflcio2008 flickr) — FDL/SurveyUSA, 1/12-1/14, 600 likely voters, Margin of Sampling error ± 4.1% … A new SurveyUSA poll sponsored by Firedoglake shows incumbent Democrat Steve Driehaus …

Discussion: American Power, The Hill, RedState, Scared Monkeys, The Fix and Washington Wire

ZIP / Weasel Zippers:

Honest Democrat Ed Schultz Says 'I'd Cheat' To Keep Scott Brown From Winning... The Democrat Party should change it's name to ‘Thieves “R” Us’... Via Breitbart.tv — FreeThinkerNY

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Ruby Slippers, Breitbart.tv, DaTechguy's Blog, The Moderate Voice, protein wisdom, The Other McCain and The Greenroom

Mark Landler / New York Times:

In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti — PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Bearing soap, bottled water and other much-needed supplies, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew into this ruined capital on Saturday and told the Haitian people that the United States “will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.”

Discussion: TalkLeft

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Bush, Clinton join Obama at White House to kick off Haiti relief fund

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, Washington Post, Associated Press, PERRspectives and Instapundit

Jesse Lee / White House.gov Blog Feed:

Weekly Address: Getting Our Money Back from Wall Street — As the President continues to work on immediate job creation, he discusses his proposal for a new fee on the largest financial institutions to ensure that every cent of taxpayer assistance gets paid back.

Discussion: The Page and Washington Monthly