Top Items:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama looking stronger — PPP's monthly look ahead to next year's Presidential race finds Barack Obama in his best position against the major Republican contenders since 2009. — The GOP hopefuls who would make it most competitive against Obama continue to be Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, each of whom he leads by 5 points.
Discussion:
GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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The Fix:
A three-way pileup atop 2012 GOP presidential race — Former Govs. Mike Huckabee (Ark.), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Mass.) make up the top tier of the 2012 Republican presidential field, according to a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.
Lbentzterp / CNN:
Huckabee's book tour lavishes attention on Iowa, South Carolina — Washington (CNN) - Mike Huckabee will visit six cities in Iowa and five in South Carolina during his upcoming book tour - one more sign that the former Arkansas governor wants to keep his name in the presidential mix for 2012 …
Discussion:
GOP 12 and Ben Smith's Blog
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Are the political winds changing?
First Thoughts: Are the political winds changing?
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Other McCain
Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:
Huck adviser to be Hill CoS
Huck adviser to be Hill CoS
Discussion:
Swampland, Daily Kos, CNN, The Brody File and GOP 12
Dan Friedman / The Atlantic Online:
GOP Can Force a Senate Vote on Repeal — While the health care repeal that the House passed Wednesday has little chance of passage in the Senate, Republicans will probably succeed in eventually forcing a vote on the measure — albeit with at least a 60-vote threshold.
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com and Salon
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Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
How Should Dems Manage the Healthcare Repeal Circus? — It's a slow day, so let's do some political strategizing. Here's what the LA Times has to say about yesterday's vote in the House to repeal healthcare reform: … Here's my take: Democrats are nuts to take this attitude.
Discussion:
Yglesias and Ezra Klein
Mark Weaver / 630 WMAL:
Michelle Obama's ‘Get Moving’ Program Linked to Pedestrian Deaths — WASHINGTON — The Governors Highway Safety Association says pedestrian deaths increased in the first half of 2010 and the First Lady's program to get Americans to be more active could be partly responsible.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Powers That Be
RELATED:
James Joyner / Outside the Beltway:
Michelle Obama “Linked” to Pedestrian Deaths
Michelle Obama “Linked” to Pedestrian Deaths
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The Atlantic Online, Detroit News, Hot Air and USA Today
Scott McCabe / Washington Examiner:
Exercise, iPods could be causing pedestrian deaths
Exercise, iPods could be causing pedestrian deaths
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly and Ben Smith's Blog
Amanda Carey / The Daily Caller:
First Lady's anti-obesity campaign could be causing more pedestrian deaths
First Lady's anti-obesity campaign could be causing more pedestrian deaths
Discussion:
Wonkette
Jon Ward / The Daily Caller:
A number of the House GOP's leading conservative members on Thursday will announce legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be by far the most ambitious and far-reaching proposal by the new majority to cut federal government spending.
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air, Wake up America, No More Mister Nice Blog and AmSpecBlog
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Scott Conroy / Real Clear Politics:
Palin Putting Out Presidential Feelers in Iowa — DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has tasked her aides with quietly gauging her level of support for a potential presidential campaign by making inquiries to a select pool of likely allies and grassroots activists in Iowa, RealClearPolitics has learned.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin, Washington Post, GOP 12, TPMDC and National Review
RELATED:
Andy Barr / The Politico:
High-level Iowa meets for Bachmann
High-level Iowa meets for Bachmann
Discussion:
Cubachi, GOP 12 and Liberty Pundits Blog
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Rick Santorum plays race card on President Obama — In eye-brow raising comments, possible presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is questioning how President Barack Obama - as an African-American - can support abortion rights. — Santorum, a former Republican senator from Pennsylvania …
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Ezra Klein:
If Obama wants to be bold, he should be bold — Peter Baker has a lot of juicy tidbits about the frequent infighting and petty spats that split the White House economic team over the past two years, but the individual who comes off worst in the article is not Larry Summers or Christina Romer or Peter Orszag or Rahm Emanuel.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Huffington Post, Grasping Reality …, Booman Tribune, Felix Salmon, Commentary, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice and AmSpecBlog
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
NBC/WSJ poll: Obama bouncing back — The president's approval rating returns to the 50s, but challenges remain, according to the latest poll — Below: — Deputy political director — WASHINGTON — What a difference a few weeks can make. — Last month, Republicans were celebrating …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Salon, Outside the Beltway, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, AOL News, Daily Kos and The Page
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The Note:
SPOTTED: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan Waiting for Jury Duty — ABC News' Devin Dwyer reports: If you thought Supreme Court justices are exempt from jury duty in their local courts, think again. — Justice Elena Kagan was spotted among a crowd of prospective jurors huddled in a waiting lounge this morning at D.C. Superior Court.
RELATED:
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Advocacy Group Says Justices May Have Conflict in Campaign Finance Cases — WASHINGTON — When the conservative financier Charles Koch sent out invitations for a political retreat in Palm Springs later this month, he highlighted past appearances at the gathering of “notable leaders” …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Obama to Close Political Office and Start 2012 Campaign — WASHINGTON — President Obama will close the office of political affairs at the White House, aides said, restructuring his organization to prepare for his re-election campaign, which is to start building a fund-raising and grassroots operation based in Chicago by late March.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Fix, CNN, Lynn Sweet, Taegan Goddard's …, Political Punch and msnbc.com
Jonathan Dienst / NBC New York:
FBI Rounding Up 100 Mobsters in Biggest Mafia Bust in New York History — Charges range from gambling to racketeering to murder — The FBI calls it the biggest mafia round-up in New York history. More than 100 suspected mobsters are being arrested this morning in connection …
Discussion:
newsfeed.time.com, TPMMuckraker and Gawker
RELATED:
William K. Rashbaum / New York Times:
F.B.I. and Police Arrest More Than 100 in Mob Sweep
F.B.I. and Police Arrest More Than 100 in Mob Sweep
Discussion:
New York Magazine, AOL News and Eschaton
Jose Lambiet / Page2Live.com:
Parents of Giffords' doc supported Tea Partier Christine O'Donnell with Palm Beach cash — The name of Michael Lemole, the University of Arizona neurosurgeon who's been treating U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' brain injuries since the Jan. 8 shooting, may sound familiar to Palm Beachers.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Patterico's Pontifications
RELATED:
P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Palm Beach Post Columnist Slams Parents of Rep. Giffords Doctor …
Palm Beach Post Columnist Slams Parents of Rep. Giffords Doctor …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin and Page2Live.com
Gail Collins / New York Times:
Goodbye to a Guy Named Joe — On Wednesday, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced that he won't be a candidate for re-election in 2012. Normally people look particularly appealing when they're promising to go away. This time, not so much. — “I can't help but also think about …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Commentary, Connecting.the.Dots, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Swampland, First Draft and The New Republic
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Palinoia, the Destroyer — What's behind the left's deranged hatred. — Why does their hatred of her burn so hot? — Ask them, and they'll most likely tell you: Because she's a moron. But that is obviously false. To be sure, her skills at extemporaneous speaking leave much to be desired.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Mediaite, JustOneMinute, Conservatives4Palin, Classical Values and Power Line
Murphy / The Beast:
The 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010 — Charges: The A.Q. Khan of the culinary world, her secret recipes are demonstrably more dangerous to America than a nuclear armed North Korea. When not delighting delusional hicks on “Huckabee,” she's cooking up coronary-clogging treats like the …
Discussion:
Liberty Street, Althouse and Pharyngula
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Delusions of world-historical grandeur — One thing that is endlessly amusing about the contemporary right is their comical lack of historical proportion, their frequent tendency to compare their current situation to the plight endured by history's leading victims of oppression, persecution, and genocide.
Discussion:
TPMDC
RELATED:
CNN:
CNN Poll: JFK remains most popular past president — (CNN)-It's a golden anniversary Thursday for John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner will mark the 50th anniversary with a tribute ceremony, that will include remarks by Vice President Joe Biden …
Discussion:
The Politico
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