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Topline Results of Nov. 29-Dec. 6, 2011, CNN/TIME/ORC Poll — FLORIDA — BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH 446 REGISTERED REPUBLICANS WHO ARE LIKELY TO VOTE IN THE FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY — SAMPLING ERROR: +/- 4.5 PERCENTAGE PTS. — 1. If the Republican presidential primary were held today …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, Don Surber, The PJ Tatler, Ballot Box, Hot Air, National Review, The Page and Business Insider
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Gingrich or Romney: McCain prepares to play kingmaker in 2012 GOP primary — Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee in 2008, is moving toward endorsing a candidate for 2012. — Republican sources familiar with his thinking say he will probably endorse his onetime political enemy, Mitt Romney.
Discussion:
CNN, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Politico, The Right Scoop, ABCNEWS and Taylor Marsh

Romney Losing Among Fox News Viewers — If there were a Fox News primary, Mitt Romney would be losing it. — Among Republican voters in Iowa, nearly 40 percent say they get most of their news from the network and its many conservative hosts, according to the most recent New York Times poll.

My Confession — The problem with Mitt Romney is the inconsistencies in his record.
Discussion:
Money & Politics Blog and GOP 12

CNN Poll: Gingrich front-runner in 3 of first 4 states to vote
Discussion:
Guardian and Politics & Elections Blog


Gingrich Clocks Huge Gains in All Early Voting States
Discussion:
Swampland and Capital J | JTA

Romney says he'd consider naming his Cabinet early
Discussion:
ABCNEWS and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Colorado shows GOP electability differences
Discussion:
Hot Air and Ballot Box


Obama administration refuses to relax Plan B restrictions — The federal government Wednesday rejected a request to let young teenage girls buy the controversial morning-after pill Plan B directly off drugstore and supermarket shelves without a prescription.
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A Statement by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius — Plan B One-Step is an emergency contraceptive, sometimes referred to as the “morning after pill.” Plan B One-Step is currently labeled over the counter to women ages 17 years and older, but is sold behind the pharmacy counter.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Firedoglake, Religion Dispatches, Daily Kos, Gothamist, CBS Boston, Jessica Valenti, TIME Healthland and Feministing

Statement from FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. on Plan B One-Step
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, The PJ Tatler, LifeNews.com and TIME Healthland

Health Secretary Overrules F.D.A. on Sale of Contraceptives
Discussion:
Truthdig and Feministing

Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years — Disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison after he made a final plea for leniency, acknowledging his guilt and saying, “I am unbelievably sorry.” — “I believe he did, in fact, accept [responsibility] …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Scared Monkeys, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, The Hill, The Raw Story, Business Insider, New York Magazine and Indecision Forever
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Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 96 — Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96.
Discussion:
entertainment.time.com, Washington Post, Portland Mercury, Macleans.ca and Inside TV

Documents: ATF used “Fast and Furious” to make the case for gun regulations — Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation “Fast and Furious” to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.


Israel rift roils Democratic ranks — Two of the Democratic Party's core institutions are challenging a bipartisan consensus on Israel and Palestine that has dominated American foreign policy for more than a decade. — The Center for American Progress, the party's key hub of ideas and strategy …

Lawmakers Blast Administration For Calling Fort Hood Massacre ‘Workplace Violence’ — Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, BLACKFIVE, The Lonely Conservative and The PJ Tatler


Sidwell Friends School, Sasha and Malia Obama's School, Opts For Asian, including Japanese Food On Pearl Harbor Day — Sidwell Friends School's website shows the menu for Wednesday December 7th, 2011, the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, as an Asian food day.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Don Surber, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, iOwnTheWorld.com, Wonkette, Michelle Malkin, Rumproast, Gawker, The PJ Tatler, UrbanGrounds and HotAirPundit
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Fewer Veterans to Remember Pearl Harbor Day
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly


Nasa's Voyager 1 in ‘cosmic purgatory’ on verge of entering Milky Way — Nasa's Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space between the Solar System and interstellar space in what Nasa has described as a ‘cosmic purgatory’. — Nasa's Voyager 1 spacecraft
Discussion:
Clayton Cramer's Blog

Rick Perry TV ad hits President Obama ‘war on religion’ — Rick Perry's latest spot in his Iowa ad buy rotation is another faith-based appeal, but one that has one of the most audible dog-whistles so far this cycle about President Obama. — In the spot, “Strong,” Perry says …
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and Hullabaloo

What in the world is Romney talking about? — In presenting a fairly detailed picture of his economic worldview, President Obama explained yesterday that “the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history. It's led to a prosperity and a standard of living unmatched by the rest of the world.”
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Economist's View, Paul Krugman, The New Republic and The Impolitic

Death penalty dropped against Mumia Abu-Jamal — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will no longer pursue the death penalty against former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, meaning he will spend the rest of his life in prison for gunning down a white police officer nearly 30 years ago.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Colorlines, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Raw Story, Truthdig, Michelle Malkin, Gawker and Shakesville

Gingrich Promise Breaks the Law — Newt Gingrich promised he would ask former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton “to be his secretary of state if he's elected president next year,” the Washington Times reports. — Unfortunately, naming individuals you would appoint to office before the election is apparently illegal.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Election Law Blog, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop


Jon Huntsman dials back squishiness on climate change — POLITICO's James Hohmann reports:


Obama unveils new border rules — President Barack Obama joined Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday to announce the details of two new initiatives designed to improve safety and streamline trade and commerce between the United States and its largest trading partner.
Discussion:
CNN and ThinkProgress


1. Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread — On Sept. 17, a couple hundred protesters demonstrating against the excesses of corporate execs and the pervasive influence of high finance in U.S. politics set up camp in Lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park and refused to leave.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Nation, Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, OccupyOurHomes, National Review and Daily Kos

President Obama won't go to Hawaii while payroll tax is in limbo — President Obama is not vacationing in Hawaii with his wife and children while the extension of the payroll tax holiday remains in limbo, and has warned GOP congressional leaders to stay in town as well.
Discussion:
The Politico, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Post


Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn't a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court—Imposes $2.5 Million Judgement on Her — A U.S. District Court judge in Portland has drawn a line in the sand between “journalist” and “blogger.” And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter end of that comparison, the distinction has cost her $2.5 million.
Discussion:
The Not-So Private Parts, Portland Mercury, Hit & Run, Law Blog, Shot in the Dark and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Voters Flee Democratic Party in Key Swing States — President Obama's uphill battle to re-election is getting steeper. — A report released today by the centrist think-tank Third Way showed that more than 825,000 voters in eight key battleground states have fled the Democratic Party since Obama won election in 2008.
Discussion:
Jammie Wearing Fools


Transcript of our interview with Mitt Romney — MARK TAPSCOTT: From the very beginning of this race you've drawn support from about 25 percent of Republican voters and there's been a succession of “not Romney” shooting stars, if you will, who shot up and then down.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012 and American Spectator


Obama's Kansas speech: some suspect facts — “I mean, understand, it's not as if we haven't tried this theory. Remember in those years, in 2001 and 2003, Congress passed two of the most expensive tax cuts for the wealthy in history. And what did they get us? The slowest job growth in half a century.”


Why a Gingrich vs. Obama Matchup Would Be Good For the Country — I sincerely hope Newt Gingrich wins the Republican nomination for president: It could bring a healthy candor to our politics and end up boosting the fortunes of liberalism as well. Now, I realize the former Speaker may not be able …
Discussion:
Campaign Stops and Business Insider