memeorandum: Over the top in Mass. — Via Sargent, an extremely sweeping charge … (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blog)

2:35 AM ET, January 17, 2010

Top Items:

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

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: NO QUARTER and The Corner on National …

Bruce Drake / Politics Daily:

Another Poll Shows Scott Brown Edging Martha Coakley in Massachusetts — Massachusetts Republican state Sen. Scott Brown is leading Democrat Martha Coakley, the state's Attorney General, by 48 percent to 45 percent among likely voters in Tuesday's special election with 2 percent backing …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Scorecard's Blog and The Daily Caller

Steve Kornacki:

Latest Coakley Internal: Brown +2 — I've been told reliably that Martha Coakley's internal poll for Friday night showed Republican Scott Brown leading by two points, 47 to 45 percent. Her campaign's three-night average for Friday, Thursday and Wednesday is the same — a 47 to 45 lead for Brown.

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, Taegan Goddard's … and Betsy's Page

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

Boston Globe:
Coakley: Scott Brown doesn't pay for health care for workers

Discussion: Think Progress, Blue Mass. Group, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The New Republic, The Caucus, Riehl World View, Eschaton, Ben Smith's Blog, The Political Carnival and TPMDC

Jon Keller / Wall Street Journal:
The Backlash Is Coming! The Backlash Is Coming!

Discussion: Boston Globe, Hot Air, Christian Science Monitor, Orange County Register, neo-neocon, SCSUScholars, The Moderate Voice and Jules Crittenden

Robert Cruickshank / Firedoglake: MA-Sen: We've Seen This Movie Before

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

Discussion: Democracy in America, Washington Wire, New York Times and Dennis the Peasant

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Over the top in Mass. — Via Sargent, an extremely sweeping charge from Massachusetts Democratic Party. — The basis is a provision Brown voted for that would allow religious hospital staffers not to inform victims of the availability of the morning after pill. — The NRSC invoked Felix Grucci in response.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and The Corner on National …

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

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 …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, Taylor Marsh, TBogg, MyDD, Weasel Zippers, Eye on 2010, Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill

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

Discussion: Red Mass Group, Big Government, Gateway Pundit, AmSpecBlog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Weasel Zippers

Dr. Melissa Clouthier:

BREAKING: Tea Party Nation's Judson Phillips: “I Want To Make A Million From This Movement” — Embattled Tea Party Nation, Inc. owner Judson Phillips has been making the media rounds to defend his up-coming, February 4-6 conference at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

Discussion: Riehl World View, Erick's blog and Democratic Strategist

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

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!

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: The Sideshow, Grasping Reality …, Emptywheel and TalkLeft

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: Open Left and Crooks and Liars