Top Items:
Charles Franklin / Pollster.com All Content:
What to believe about Massachusetts Senate Polls — There has been a wider than normal range of polling results in the last two weeks from the Massachusetts Senate special election. This has been further clouded by a number of leaked internal polls and polling by relatively unknown and unproven pollsters …
RELATED:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Massachusetts Senate Poll — Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 51-46 in our final Massachusetts Senate poll, an advantage that is within the margin of error for the poll. — Over the last week Brown has continued his dominance with independents and increased his ability to win over Obama voters …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Firedoglake, Washington Wire, The Fix, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, FiveThirtyEight, Pajamas Media, AmSpecBlog, Ben Smith's Blog, Wake up America, Jules Crittenden, The Caucus, Raw Story, The Lonely Conservative, Washington Times, Betsy's Page, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, RedState, Don Surber, The Politico, Taylor Marsh, National Review Online, The Daily Caller, Blue Mass. Group, Watchdog News, Scared Monkeys, Plain Dealer, Left Coast Rebel, Real Clear Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reaction, Weasel Zippers and Conservatives4Palin.com
Grant Bosse / Watchdog News:
Snow Day In Boston: Phone Banks Empty. — (BOSTON, MA) On the eve of one of the most anticipated state elections in modern American history, it's still a day off for Massachusetts state employees. The Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office in downtown B oston is closed to the public for Martin Luther King Day.
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Trendspotting in Massachusetts — Charles Franklin has a typically articulate analysis up at Pollster.com which comes to a somewhat different conclusion than mine about the state of play in Massachusetts. His analysis works by lumping polls together into different bundles (e.g. “non-partisan” …
The Rothenberg / The Rothenberg Political Report:
MA Sen Moved to Lean Takeover — While special elections often come down to turnout - and they therefore are more difficult to predict than normal elections - the combination of public and private survey research and anecdotal information now strongly suggests that Republican Scott Brown …
Discussion:
The Fix, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics, The Strata-Sphere, National Review Online and TPMDC
Robert Kuttner / The Huffington Post:
A Wake Up Call — How could the health care issue have turned from a reform that was going to make Barack Obama ten feet tall into a poison pill for Democratic senators? Whether or not Martha Coakley squeaks through in Massachusetts on Tuesday, the health bill has already done incalculable political damage and will likely do more.
MyFox Boston:
Poll: Scott Brown surges to double-digit lead over Martha Coakley — BOSTON (FOX25, myfoxboston) - A poll released a day before the special Senate race shows Senator Scott Brown surging to a double-digit lead over Attorney General Martha Coakley in the race for the open Massachusetts Senate seat.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Betsy's Page, The Strata-Sphere, National Review Online and Red Mass Group
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Two factors will decide Massachusetts Senate race — After all the speeches, politicking, and attack ads, there are just two issues that will determine the winner of the Massachusetts Senate seat in Tuesday's special election. The first is health care and the second is one-party government.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Is There An X Factor? — It seems pretty clear now that the plan …
Is There An X Factor? — It seems pretty clear now that the plan …
Discussion:
The Incidental Economist
Felicia Sonmez / Hotline On Call:
After Obama Rally, Dems Pin Blame On Bush
After Obama Rally, Dems Pin Blame On Bush
Discussion:
Donklephant, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Sister Toldjah, sara in italy, theblogprof, The Caucus, The Greenroom, Another Black Conservative, Dennis the Peasant, Townhall.com, Pundit & Pundette, Big Journalism, Power Line, Left Coast Rebel, Confederate Yankee, QandO, The Corner on National …, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Neptunus Lex, Pajamas Media, TPMDC, sisu, The Lonely Conservative, Don Surber, The Natural Truth, RedState, Tim Blair, American Conservative …, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Washington Post, Instapundit and Jules Crittenden
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Hoping It Won't Be Needed, Democrats Ponder a Backup Plan on Health Care Bill
Hoping It Won't Be Needed, Democrats Ponder a Backup Plan on Health Care Bill
Discussion:
Firedoglake, New York Times, Betsy's Page, Prairie Weather, Real Clear Politics and Kausfiles
Scott Horton / Harper's:
The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle — 1. “Asymmetrical Warfare” — When President Barack Obama took office last year, he promised to “restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great.”
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret ‘Jesus’ Bible Codes — Pentagon Supplier for Rifle Sights Says It Has ‘Always’ Added New Testament References — Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided …
RELATED:
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Mass. Senate race's lesson for Obama — In June 2008, a few months before the financial implosions began, I asked two smart financiers who happened to be Republican about the future of the seemingly shaky American economy. — Defying the moment's conventional predictions …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, AmSpecBlog, RedState, Taylor Marsh, Dennis the Peasant, TalkLeft and The Moderate Voice
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
VP: Constitution ‘on its head’ — Five U.S. senators attend a hearing on Afghanistan on Capitol Hill on Dec. 8, 2009. AP — Vice President Joe Biden said at a Florida fundraiser Sunday that the 60-seat threshold for passing legislation in the Senate put a dangerous new roadblock in the way of American government.
RELATED:
Dexter Filkins / New York Times:
A Team of Militants Launches a Bold Attack in Kabul — KABUL, Afghanistan — A team of militants launched a spectacular assault at the heart of the Afghan government Monday, with two men detonating suicide bombs and the rest fighting to the death only 50 yards from the gates of the presidential palace.
RELATED:
Robert Booth / Guardian:
Cruise ships still find Haitian berth — Luxury liners are still docking at private beaches near Haiti's devastated earthquake zone for holidaymakers to enjoy the water — Sixty miles from Haiti's devastated earthquake zone, luxury liners dock at private beaches where passengers enjoy jetski rides …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Another Black Conservative, Gawker, Wizbang, Boing Boing, The Awl and Instapundit
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Coleman not running for governor — (CNN) - Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman will not run for governor in 2010, the Republican announced Sunday on his Facebook page. — Coleman, who lost re-election to Democrat Al Franken in a close contest in 2008 that took six months to resolve …
RELATED:
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Coleman says he's not going to run for governor
Coleman says he's not going to run for governor
Discussion:
The Fix, Politics Daily, Swing State Project, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com and The Page
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
Professor Is a Label That Leans to the Left — The overwhelmingly liberal tilt of university professors has been explained by everything from outright bias to higher I.Q. scores. Now new research suggests that critics may have been asking the wrong question.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
What Didn't Happen — Lately many people have been second-guessing the Obama administration's political strategy. The conventional wisdom seems to be that President Obama tried to do too much — in particular, that he should have put health care on one side and focused on the economy. — I disagree.