memeorandum: BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL (Michael Barone/Washington Examiner)

4:00 PM ET, June 14, 2011

Top Items:

Debate Swings Door Open for Perry, Closed for Palin — Most people have better things to do than to watch a presidential debate eight months in advance of the Iowa caucuses. So when considering a debate like the one that took place among Republican candidates in New Hampshire tonight, it's important to be mindful of the following:

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Michele Bachmann steals the show at GOP debate — “Assume the position!” CNN's John King ordered the candidates as they approached their lecterns just before airtime for Monday night's debate. — The Republican presidential contenders did as the moderator told them.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Wake up America, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Questions and Observations, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, Politics and Firedoglake

Tammy Bruce / Big Government:

Why Sarah Palin Must Run in 2012 — One of the prevailing debates in the GOP these days (if not the only one) is whether or not Governor Sarah Palin will, or should, run for president. Not only should she, she must if the GOP has any hope of having a legitimate nominee whom everyone can support for the 2012 election.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack and Taylor Marsh

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — My take on the New Hampshire debate — Senior Political Analyst Follow Him @MichaelBarone — My Washington Examiner colleagues have given their ongoing reactions to the CNN/WMUR/New Hampshire Union Leader two-hour debate at St. Anselm's College (what a fab auditorium! …

Discussion: Datechguy's Blog, National Review, NewsBusters.org blogs, CNN, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Enterprise Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

The Politico:

Pawlenty beats hasty N.H. retreat — GOFFSTOWN, N.H. - Tim Pawlenty's puzzling decision at Monday's debate to abandon a new line of attack on Mitt Romney's healthcare record is prompting fresh doubts among members of his own party about his readiness to confront the GOP frontrunner.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, The Note, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, GOP 12, Gallup, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Politics, Iowa Caucuses, The Lonely Conservative, Shakesville and FrumForum

The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty beats hasty New Hampshire retreat

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

CNN:
CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The New Republic, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Washington Post and The Washington Independent

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
New Hampshire Republican debate: Winners and losers

Discussion: New York Times, Ross Douthat, Wall Street Journal, Commentary Magazine, Top of the Ticket, Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, The Greenroom, New York Magazine, The Lonely Conservative, The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, Riehl World View, Writes Like She Talks, No More Mister Nice Blog, BlogHer and White House Dossier

Rand Simberg / National Review:
An Out-of-This-World Debate Question

Discussion: Transterrestrial Musings

Emily Yahr / Washington Post:
GOP candidates tackle major issues during debate — Leno vs. Conan, ‘DWTS’ vs. ‘Idol’

Discussion: Gawker and Don Surber

David Frum / FrumForum: Pawlenty Is Debate's Biggest Loser

David Brooks / New York Times:

Pundit Under Protest — I'll be writing a lot about the presidential election over the next 16 months, but at the outset I would just like to remark that I'm opining on this whole campaign under protest. I'm registering a protest because for someone of my Hamiltonian/National Greatness perspective …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Other McCain, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Balkinization, No More Mister Nice Blog, A plain blog about politics and Balloon Juice

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:

CREW Files Complaint Over House DOMA Defense, Boehner Spokesman Calls It “Stupid” — Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) regarding the $500,000 contracted by the Office …

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Group files ethics complaint against Boehner over DOMA defense

Discussion: ThinkProgress

CNNMoney.com:

Wingnut debt ceiling demands — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A lot of politicians are weighing in with demands before they'll support raising the debt ceiling. Most of their conditions are related to debt, such as put in place a debt reduction plan or cut spending.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, Moonbattery, Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications, Verum Serum, NewsBusters.org blogs and Michelle Malkin

ABCNEWS:

Newt Gingrich Charity Paid Cash To Gingrich For-Profit Business — A non-profit charity founded by Newt Gingrich to promote freedom, faith and free enterprise also served as another avenue to promote Gingrich's political views, and came dangerously close, some experts say …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Raw Story and National Review

Jsimoncnn / CNN: Gingrich confronted over cash, charity

Jay Root / The Texas Tribune:

Rick Perry Says Voters Want More Options In GOP Field — Keywords: — Enlargephoto by: Bob Daemmrich — Texas Governor Rick Perry carries his bags off a private plane at the San Antonio International Airport on November 1, 2010. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in New York …

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, The Politico and National Review

A.Killough / CNN:
Perry hits New York amid talk of possible presidential run

Discussion: The Politico

Matthew Hendley / The Daily Pulp:

Allen West Violates Federal Law During Weekend Diving Trip — There's nothing really bad to say about Rep. Allen West going diving off the coast of Deerfield Beach with a bunch of military veterans — except for the fact that he violated U.S. federal law in the process, and provided pictorial of himself doing so.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, TPMDC, The Washington Independent and Gawker

Mark Steyn / National Review:

Is Every Lesbian Blogger a Middle-Aged Man? — We're one lesbian away from a bona fide Fleet Street “trend”. Further to yesterday's post, a lesbian blogger who helped unmask the Syrian lesbian blogger as a middle-aged American male has herself been revealed to be a middle-aged American male:

Discussion: BBC, Outside the Beltway, Patterico's Pontifications, Guardian, Moe Lane and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man

Discussion: Guardian, Hit & Run, Pajamas Media, In the Arena, Queerty, The Daily Dish, Towleroad News #gay, Firedoglake, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice, Wake up America, Gawker, Jesus' General, Reclusive Leftist, Council of Conservative … and Shakesville

Associated Press:

Obama: My family would be fine with just 1 term — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his wife and daughters aren't “invested” in him being president and would have been fine had he decided against running for re-election. But he says they believe in what he's doing for the country.

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, FrumForum and PoliPundit.com

The Politico:
FLOTUS tells of Obama's worry

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and National Review

hellomagazine.com:

HELLO! exclusive: Mildred Baena, the housekeeper who had a child with Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks out for the first time — When it was revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a 13-year-old child with a trusted member of the family's domestic staff, the world let out a collective gasp.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, PopEater, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Gawker

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Citing his own past, Frank passes on Weiner judgment — Citing his own brush with sexual scandal, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that he's in no position to judge the lurid actions of colleague Anthony Weiner. — “Given these circumstances, where I was myself engaged in activity …

Discussion: National Review and JammieWearingFool

Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:

High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field — Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed. — In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana …

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, iOwnTheWorld.com and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

National poll: Anthony Weiner's got to go — As Rep. Anthony Weiner continues to face calls for his immediate resignation, a new poll finds six in 10 Americans agree with those who want him out of Congress - and only eight percent have a favorable view of the lawmaker.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Verum Serum

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Obama fundraiser underwhelms — The empty seats at President Obama's fundraiser in Miami, Fl. were hard to miss. — MIAMI, Fla. — A low-dollar fundraiser here Monday felt like a throwback to the 2008 campaign. — There was the same old soundtrack - including “City of Blinding Lights” …

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, Political Punch, Hot Air, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs, Washington Times, americanthinker.com, The Daily Caller, The Lonely Conservative, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Don Surber and HotAirPundit

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Fact-checking the GOP debate in New Hampshire — That was some collection of facts and statistics during the GOP debate in New Hampshire on Monday night that aired on CNN. — We're going to take an instant stab at some of them, and then perhaps come back later this week with a more extended look at other assertions.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Brobinson / Fox Nation:

Obama Blames ATMs for High Unemployment — President Obama explained to NBC News that the reason companies aren't hiring are not because of his policies, it's because the economy is so automated. ... “There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Gateway Pundit

Dan Froomkin / The Huffington Post:

Cass Sunstein: The Obama Administration's Ambivalent Regulator … When President Barack Obama let it be known in January 2009 that he had selected Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein to be his regulatory czar, it was an early example of how some of his staffing decisions would undercut his lofty campaign promises.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Truthdig

Peter Wallsten / Washington Post:

Activists cry foul over FBI probe — CHICAGO — FBI agents took box after box of address books, family calendars, artwork and personal letters in their 10-hour raid in September of the century-old house shared by Stephanie Weiner and her husband. — The agents seemed keenly interested …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, National Review and Pajamas Media

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Bachmann says she won't seek re-election to Congress, while running for president — MINNEAPOLIS - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann says she's not running for re-election in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District while she's campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress and Indecision Forever

host.madison.com:

Capitol Report: ‘Extraordinary’ session never before used to pass budget — If top Republican lawmakers move forward Tuesday with a plan to pass the state budget in “extraordinary session,” it will be the first time lawmakers have used this speedy political maneuver to pass a budget in at least 80 years.

Discussion: Firedoglake, TPMDC, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG and Balloon Juice