memeorandum: Pelosi avoids criticism of Obama, Sebelius on morning-after pill (Sam Baker/The Hill)

3:45 PM ET, December 8, 2011

Top Items:

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.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, The Politico and American Spectator

New York Times:

Democrats See 2-Horse Race, Adding Whip — WASHINGTON — The White House and its allies are starting to turn their sights to Newt Gingrich, invoking his tumultuous history as House speaker to brand him as the “king of gridlock,” a testament to his new viability and the sudden realization …

Discussion: neo-neocon, The Hill, Law Blog, UrbanGrounds, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABCNEWS, The Caucus, The Page, Prairie Weather, Campaign 2012 and The Smoking Gun

Hayley Peterson / Campaign 2012:

Christie heckles ‘Occupy’ protesters in Iowa — Follow on Twitter:Follow @hcpeterson — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie heckled a group of protesters at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Iowa on Wednesday, calling them immature and dissilusioned for supporting President Obama.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Impolitic and Los Angeles Times

ABCNEWS:
Here Comes the Romney SuperPAC

Discussion: CNN, HotAirPundit and The Caucus

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
New Romney Ad Turns Up Heat on Gingrich

Discussion: Erick's blog, The Caucus, Washington Post, NO QUARTER, msnbc.com, The Reaction and Indecision Forever

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
GOPers prep for ‘alpha dog’ debate

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Media Decoder and The Caucus

Sarah B. Boxer / CBS News:
N.J. Gov. Christie gets “Occupied” in Iowa

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gothamist and CNN

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Huntsman lashes out at GOP frontrunners

Discussion: The Politico

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Romney launches coordinated assault on Gingrich

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and CNN

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, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story, Mediaite, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, National Review and INSTAPUTZ

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: Washington Monthly and Frontloading HQ

Richard A. Oppel Jr / The Caucus:

Perry Also Passes on Trump Debate — MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. - Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has joined other candidates, including Mitt Romney, in passing on Donald Trump's Dec. 27 debate in Iowa. His campaign issued this statement on Thursday: … Mr. Trump's involvement has been criticized …

Discussion: GOP 12 and New York Times

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

Poll: Elizabeth Warren soars 7 up over Scott Brown — UMass-Lowell, Herald poll shows attack ads harm both — Democrat Elizabeth Warren has opened up a lead against Republican incumbent Scott Brown for the first time in their U.S. Senate showdown, but a barrage of attack ads appears …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jammie Wearing Fools and HotAirPundit

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
45 GOP Senators Filibustering Consumer Protection Nominee Have Received Millions From Wall Street This Year

Discussion: campaignmoney.org, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG and The Impolitic

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum — National Republicans and conservatives …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Swampland, Hullabaloo, Politics Extra and ABCNEWS

Scott Wong / The Politico:
GOP blocks Cordray for CFPB

Discussion: CNN and americanthinker.com

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 …

Discussion: Ballot Box, GOP 12, The Daily Dish, ThinkProgress, Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and The Political Carnival

Lerone Graham / WDBJ-TV:

Police officer shot on Virginia Tech campus — A police officer is reportedly the one who has been shot. — A police officer has been shot on the campus of Virginia Tech. — There is a report of a shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech. — BLACKSBURG, Va.—

Discussion: msnbc.com, Gothamist, ABCNEWS, Verum Serum, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, New York Times, Scared Monkeys and Hot Air

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.

Discussion: Guardian, msnbc.com, Runnin' Scared, CBS New York, Gawker, Poynter, Outside the Beltway, National Review and KNXV, more at Mediagazer »

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 …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Hotline On Call, Questions and Observations, The Politico, Washington Post, Business Insider, Shakesville, Daily Kos, IntoxiNation, Prairie Weather, Campaign 2012 and USA Today

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

Obama delaying Keystone pipeline to appease envelope stuffers, suggests McConnell — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday said President Obama decided to delay a decision on whether or not to permit construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in order to maintain the support …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Dems warn: McConnell will regret these filibusters

Discussion: The American Prospect, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, New York Times and ACS Blog

Ben Geman / The Hill:
Obama threatens veto if pipeline decision is added to payroll tax cut

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, RedState, National Review and The Gateway Pundit

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: Hot Air, Law Blog, The Heritage Foundation and americanthinker.com

David S. Hilzenrath / Washington Post:
Jon Corzine tells panel he was ‘devastated’ by MF Global bankruptcy

Discussion: National Review, Outside the Beltway, Belmont Club, New York Post, The Lonely Conservative and The PJ Tatler

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

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: House leaders ‘petty’ to block insider trading bill

Discussion: The Politico

Sam Baker / The Hill:

Pelosi avoids criticism of Obama, Sebelius on morning-after pill — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) avoided criticizing President Obama or Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for the decision to overrule federal regulators and limit access to the morning-after pill.

Discussion: The Politico

Michelle Goldberg / The Daily Beast:
Obama's Restrictions on Morning-After Pill Are Politically Driven

Discussion: The American Prospect and Hot Air

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

GOP lawmaker: AG Holder could be impeached over gun-tracking program — A senior GOP lawmaker said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder could be impeached over the botched gun tracking operation Fast and Furious. — Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) suggested at a House Judiciary Committee hearing …

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and Jammie Wearing Fools

Fox News:
Holder Suggests ‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for ‘Years to Come’

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers and The Spectacle Blog

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Eric Boehlert Targeted In Bungled ‘Verizon’ Sting … Verizon , Video , 99 Percent , Eric Boehlert , Mandy Nagy , Media Matters , Media Criticism , Mike Flynn , Sam Stein , Andrew Breitbart , James o'Keefe , To Catch a Journalist , Politics News — It was the middle of the day on Friday, and Eric Boehlert heard a knock on the door.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Big Journalism and Balloon Juice

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: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

BBC:

Malawi to review homosexuality law — Last year, a gay couple were given a 14-year jail term before being pardoned — Malawi will review a series of controversial laws, including a ban on homosexual acts, Justice Minister Ephraim Chiume has said. — Mr Chiume said the review was in response to “public opinion”.

Discussion: ThinkProgress