memeorandum: GOP field readies spending spree (Alexander Burns/The Politico)

9:45 AM ET, November 21, 2011

Top Items:

Newt Gingrich was a lobbyist, plain and simple — Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) arrives for a meeting in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill March 31, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gingrich met with about 20 freshman Republican members of Congress and discussed ways …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Spectacle Blog, Outside the Beltway, Campaign 2012 and Betsy's Page

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Romney, Gingrich Now Top Choices for GOP Nomination — Gingrich's support on the rise this month — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans are most likely to name Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as their first choice for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, with Herman Cain close behind.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, GOP 12, Los Angeles Times and The Page

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Krugman: ‘Only fools and clowns’ believe Republican ideology — New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says that Newt Gingrich is just the latest of the “fools and clowns” in the Republican presidential race to become a frontrunner. — “I have a structural hypothesis here,” Krugman told ABC's Christiane Amanpour Sunday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs and The Gateway Pundit

Susan Page / USA Today: Gingrich rises, Cain drops in new poll

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A frightening forum in Iowa

Discussion: Wonkette, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Washington Post and The Politico

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
GOP field readies spending spree

Discussion: The Hill, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, CNN and Metro

Detroit Free Press:
Return of the Reagan Democrats? Blue-collar voters in Macomb County bolting for the GOP, Free Press poll finds

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Justin Sink / The Hill:
NH Rep. Charlie Bass endorsing Romney

Discussion: Nashuatelegraph.com, CNN and GOP 12

Wall Street Journal:

The Hillary Moment — President Obama can't win by running a constructive campaign, and he won't be able to govern if he does win a second term. — When Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson accepted the reality that they could not effectively govern the nation if they sought re-election to the White House …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Sky Dancing, americanthinker.com, Pat Dollard, Taylor Marsh, Wizbang, Israel Matzav, The Lonely Conservative, Jammie Wearing Fools and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michael Catalini / NationalJournal.com:

Democratic Pollsters: Obama Should Abandon Run for Second Term — President Obama should abandon his run for a second term and turn over the reins of the Democratic Party to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two one-time Democratic pollsters wrote in Monday's Wall Street Journal, which appeared online Sunday.

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and The Gateway Pundit

Andrew Malcolm / Investor's Business Daily:

The ‘Dump Obama’ movement has begun; Guess who'd replace him? — Faced with peanut-sized Jimmy Carter poll numbers, disturbing big-donor reluctance, unacceptable unemployment and depressing economic forecasts, President Obama heads back on the road tomorrow to do what he always does when in trouble:

Discussion: YID With LID and Newshoggers.com

New York Times:

Deficit Deal Fell Apart After Seeming Agreement — WASHINGTON — The one sliver of real hope came a week ago, in the darkened Capitol on the Sunday night after Veterans Day. — Called away from dinner tables, the Jets-Patriots game on television and, in one case, a soccer team party …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, News Desk, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and Brilliant at Breakfast

Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Lawmakers Trade Blame As Deficit Talks Crumble

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Washington Post, The Caucus, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Truthdig, Booman Tribune and Reuters

BBC:
‘Super-committee’ on brink of US deficit failure

Discussion: The Agonist

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Debt supercommittee members brace for failure

Discussion: The Huffington Post, USA Today, The Heritage Foundation, Prairie Weather and The Democratic Daily

The Politico:
Supercommittee blame everywhere

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog

CNN:
Aides: ‘Super Committee’ likely to announce failure to reach debt deal

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CBS News and Mediaite

Alan Diaz / ABCNEWS:

Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden Draw Boos at NASCAR Event — First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden were grand marshals at today's NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, appearing as part of their charitable campaign to support military veterans and their families.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, US Politics, Pat Dollard and The Lonely Conservative

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

First Lady Michelle Obama Booed At NASCAR Race — First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden were on hand this afternoon at the Homestead-Miami Speedway to Grand Marshall NASCAR's Sprint Cup finale, and to support Joining Forces, an initiative to hire and train veterans.

Discussion: Don Surber, Freakonomics, FITSNews, Associated Press, Gawker, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Jezebel

New York Times:

Jose Pimentel Is Charged in N.Y.C. Bomb Plot — A Manhattan man who became fascinated by the American-born Muslim militant Anwar al-Awlaki was arrested on charges of plotting to build and detonate bombs in New York, city officials announced on Sunday night.

Discussion: YID With LID, Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, PolitickerNY, Jihad Watch and Blogs of War

Joseph Goldstein / City Room:
Man Arrested and Charged in Bomb Plot

Discussion: CNN, Right Wing News, Jihad Watch, National Review, Gates of Vienna, TalkLeft, Jammie Wearing Fools, Business Insider, Atlas Shrugs and Fausta's Blog

CNN:
‘Lone wolf’ terror suspect arrested in New York

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The PJ Tatler and New York Post

Kerry Picket / Washington Times:

Michigan lawmaker's family accuses congressman of past sexual abuse of family member — The family members of Congressman Dale Kildee, Michigan Democrat, are charging that the Capitol Hill lawmaker sexually abused his second cousin 50 years ago. Patrick Kildee, who was a 12 …

Discussion: Don Surber, Washington Post, Hotline On Call, CNN, Associated Press, RedState, DownWithTyranny!, Gawker and nation.foxnews.com

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Rep. Kildee denies sex abuse allegations

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Detroit Free Press and The Politico

Judd Gregg / The Hill:

Where in the world is Obama? — The president was in Hawaii while the supercommittee hit stall speed. What is new about this? Very little. — Throughout his term, President Obama has avoided leading on the issue of fiscal responsibility. He walked away from his own commission …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Betsy's Page, ABCNEWS and The Lonely Conservative

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Boring Cruel Romantics — There's a word I keep hearing lately: “technocrat.” Sometimes it's used as a term of scorn — the creators of the euro, we're told, were technocrats who failed to take human and cultural factors into account. Sometimes it's a term of praise …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

CBS News:

America's new poor — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO … In Forsyth County's rolling subdivisions near Atlanta, Easy Street seems to run forever. What recession? The average household here earns $88,000 - the highest in Georgia, 13th highest in America. — But for more families here, prosperity is a pretense.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

President Obama's base of support remains solid heading into 2012 — View Photo Gallery — President Obama's reelection campaign and DNC together raised $70 million in the third quarter of 2011. Outside of fundraising, the president is ramping up support for his reelection …

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review and US Politics

BBC:

Spain election: Rajoy's Popular Party declares victory — Spain's centre-right Popular Party (PP) has won a resounding victory in a parliamentary election dominated by the country's deep debt crisis. — With almost all the votes counted, the PP, led by Mariano Rajoy, is assured of a clear majority in the lower chamber.

Discussion: normblog and Calculated Risk