Top Items:
Rhodes Cook / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
2012 Republican Race: The Field May Not Be Closed — Conventional wisdom is that the Republican presidential field is set, and that it is much too late for a new candidate to enter the race. — In years past, that would be absolutely correct. Over the last few decades …
Discussion:
Wizbang, Frontloading HQ and Washington Monthly
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Mj Lee / The Politico:
Priebus: ‘Malpractice’ for me to back Trump debate — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spoke out Thursday against an upcoming GOP presidential debate to be moderated by Donald Trump, saying it would be “malpractice” for him as the leader of the party not to think the debate was problematic.
Discussion:
CNN, Don Surber, Hot Air, The Raw Story, Mediaite, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, National Review and INSTAPUTZ
Richard A. Oppel Jr / The Caucus:
Perry and Bachmann Also Pass on Trump Debate — 6:51 p.m. | Updated MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. - Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Michele Bachmann have joined other candidates, including Mitt Romney, in passing on Donald Trump's Dec. 27 debate in Iowa. Mr. Perry's campaign issued this statement on Thursday:
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, New York Times and GOP 12
A.Killough / CNN:
Santorum on Trump debate no-shows: They're hypocrites
Santorum on Trump debate no-shows: They're hypocrites
Discussion:
The Politico and HotAirPundit
Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Perry Goes After Gingrich, Romney; Declines Trump
Perry Goes After Gingrich, Romney; Declines Trump
Discussion:
Ballot Box
NW Daily Marker:
Tweets from Congressional Staffers Describe On-Job Drinking in Office of Congressman Larsen — For young men and women with ambitions toward a career in politics, working in a Congressional office can be a heady, almost dreamlike experience. Left unsupervised, the combination of youth indiscretion …
Discussion:
The Hill, Wonkette, FishbowlDC, Hotline On Call and The PJ Tatler
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The Politico:
Hill staffers fired for off-color tweets — They called it a “December to Remember”: a mission to spend the final month of the legislative session partying under the patronage of Rep. Rick Larsen. — Eight days into it, and a series of ill-advised tweets later, three staffers …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Rick Perry's Anti-Gay Iowa Ad Divides His Top Staff … 2012 Election , Log Cabin Republicans , Elections 2012 , Rick Perry , Video , Iowa Caucuses , Fabrizio Perry , Iowa Caucus 2012 , Perry Ad , Perry Dadt , Rick Perry 2012 , Rick Perry Ad Campaign , Rick Perry Don't Ask Don't Tell …
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Matt Ortega / 2012 US Elections:
Perry's jacket in anti-gay ad? Heath Ledger wore it in “Brokeback Mountain”
Perry's jacket in anti-gay ad? Heath Ledger wore it in “Brokeback Mountain”
Discussion:
Political Theater and Towleroad News #gay
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Dems' payroll tax cut extension goes down again in Senate — Senate Republicans blocked the latest installment of President Obama's jobs plan — a bill to extend the payroll tax cut — for the second week in a row on Thursday. — The bill, titled the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, was shot down 50-48.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and The Page
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New York Times:
House Republicans Unveil Plan to Extend Payroll Tax Cut
House Republicans Unveil Plan to Extend Payroll Tax Cut
Discussion:
The Caucus and Reuters
Joel Gehrke / Campaign 2012:
Obama: More jobs in jobless benefits than Keystone
Obama: More jobs in jobless benefits than Keystone
Discussion:
The Hill, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Michelle Malkin and The PJ Tatler
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Dems warn: McConnell will regret these filibusters
Dems warn: McConnell will regret these filibusters
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The American Prospect, The Atlantic Online and ACS Blog
John H. Cushman Jr / New York Times:
Senate Blocks Obama Choice for Consumer Panel
Senate Blocks Obama Choice for Consumer Panel
Discussion:
Swampland, White House.gov Blog, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Truthdig, ACS Blog and RedState
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Winning the argument — Just one more quick point about that new poll casting doubt on whether efforts to tar Elizabeth Warren with Occupy Wall Street are working. — A few weeks ago, the Rove-founded Crossroads GPS spent six figures on an ad that was all about Occupy Wall Street …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman, The Raw Story and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum — National Republicans and conservatives …
The Morning Plum — National Republicans and conservatives …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Swampland, Politics Extra, GOP 12 and Hullabaloo
Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:
Poll: Elizabeth Warren soars 7 up over Scott Brown
Poll: Elizabeth Warren soars 7 up over Scott Brown
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jammie Wearing Fools, Talking Points Memo and HotAirPundit
Wall Street Journal:
Corzine: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where The Money Is’ — A contrite Jon S. Corzine will express both sorrow and a firm defense of his actions Thursday in his first public appearance since the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. in late October. — “Recognizing the enormous impact …
Discussion:
Law Blog, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air and americanthinker.com
RELATED:
David S. Hilzenrath / Washington Post:
Corzine says he could have been misunderstood on transfer of MF Global accounts — Jon S. Corzine, the former U.S. senator and governor who presided over the collapse of the commodities brokerage MF Global, told lawmakers Thursday that he never intended to authorize a transfer of customer funds …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Belmont Club, New York Post, The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative
Christopher Elias / Thomson Reuters News …:
MF Global and the great Wall St re-hypothecation scandal
MF Global and the great Wall St re-hypothecation scandal
Discussion:
FT Alphaville, Felix Salmon and Belmont Club
Ann Coulter / Townhall.com:
Ann Coulter Newt Presents a Fresh New Virtual Face — Before you newly active Republicans commit to Newt Gingrich as your presidential nominee on the basis of the recent debates, here's a bit of Newt history you ought to know. I promise you, it's going to come up if he's the candidate.
RELATED:
Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Sensenbrenner floats impeachment of Obama admin. officials as ‘Fast and Furious’ response — Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee where Attorney General Eric Holder testified on Thursday, suggested that impeachment …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Other McCain
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Fox News:
Holder Suggests ‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for ‘Years to Come’
Holder Suggests ‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for ‘Years to Come’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, Weekly Standard and The Spectacle Blog
Jordy Yager / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: AG Holder could be impeached over gun-tracking program
GOP lawmaker: AG Holder could be impeached over gun-tracking program
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Guardian, Sister Toldjah and Jammie Wearing Fools
Josh Glasstetter / Right Wing Watch:
VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly Hits Community Organizer with Umbrella, Tries to Get Him Arrested — Anyone who has watched the footage of Bill O'Reilly's infamous meltdown on the set of Inside Edition knows that the Fox News personality has a hot temper. But you would expect the Fox News personality …
Discussion:
Mediaite, FishbowlDC, Gawker, US Politics, The Political Carnival and Towleroad News #gay
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Republicans Less Enthusiastic About Voting in 2012 — Republicans' enthusiasm gap over Democrats narrows — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans' enthusiasm about voting in the election for president next year has decreased, with 49% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican now saying …
Journalism.org:
TWITTER AND THE CAMPAIGN — HOW THE DISCUSSION ON TWITTER VARIES FROM BLOGS AND NEWS COVERAGE AND RON PAUL'S TWITTER TRIUMPH — A detailed examination of more than 20 million Tweets about the race for president finds that the political discussion on Twitter is measurably different …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Poynter and Campaign 2012
RELATED:
Mj Lee / The Politico:
Study: Ron Paul is winning on Twitter
Study: Ron Paul is winning on Twitter
Discussion:
Indecision Forever and Hit & Run
David Frum / FrumForum:
The Coming GOP Gingrich Freakout — Today's question is: will the Gingrich balloon deflate like all the previous Not Mitt balloons? — The answer is: yes of course-but given that these balloons take typically 6-8 weeks to shrivel, the impending Gingrich bust may not arrive soon enough to save Romney.
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABCNEWS and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
BBC:
Iran shows film of captured US drone — The BBC's James Reynolds says the video appears to support Iran's claims — Iranian TV has shown the first video footage of an advanced US drone aircraft that Tehran says it downed near the Afghan border. — Images show Iranian military officials inspecting …
Discussion:
New York Times, Conservative Daily News, Truthdig and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
RELATED:
Rick Gladstone / New York Times:
Iran Shows U.S. Drone on TV, and Lodges a Protest
Iran Shows U.S. Drone on TV, and Lodges a Protest
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Post and Danger Room
Daniel deVise / Washington Post:
Virginia Tech Police officer, one other, killed on campus — A Virginia Tech police officer was fatally shot Thursday during a routine traffic stop on the Blacksburg campus and a second person was found slain in a nearby parking lot after the gunman fled, the university reports.
Jennifer Jacobs / Iowa Caucuses:
BIG BARNSTORM: Rick Perry to hit 44 Iowa cities on two-week bus tour — Texas Gov. Rick Perry campaigns in Charleston, S.C. earlier today. (AP Photo/Alice Keeney) — In an effort to put gas in his sputtering campaign, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry will hit the road in Iowa …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and GOP 12
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Mason City / ABCNEWS:
Rick Perry to Roll Through 42 Cities in Iowa on December Bus Tour
Rick Perry to Roll Through 42 Cities in Iowa on December Bus Tour
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Politico, Indecision Forever and Swampland
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Eric Cantor smacks down ‘insider’ Spencer Bachus — A day after Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said he would move forward on an insider-trading bill, Majority Leader Eric Cantor stopped him dead in his tracks. — In a Wednesday meeting described by one source as …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Booman Tribune
RELATED:
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: House leaders ‘petty’ to block insider trading bill
GOP lawmaker: House leaders ‘petty’ to block insider trading bill
Discussion:
The Politico
Jon Brooks / KQED News Fix:
Live Coverage: Prop 8 Hearing on Trial Video, Judge Vaughn Walker's Same-Sex Relationship — Today a 9th Circuit Court panel hears oral arguments on two ancillary issues in the long-lasting legal battle to decide the fate of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Capitol Alert and Joe. My. God.