Top Items:

The reach of the GOP establishment — I remain pretty skeptical about Newt Gingrich's chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination, but on the “Why Newt Will Lose” list of arguments, some points are more compelling than others. — Ezra Klein makes the case today …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, No More Mister Nice Blog and Balloon Juice
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Gingrich Is Inspiring—and Disturbing — The first potential president about whom there is too much information. — I had a friend once who amused herself thinking up bumper stickers for states. The one she made up for California was brilliant. “California: It's All True.”
Discussion:
The Caucus, The Spectacle Blog, Vodkapundit, GOP 12, Betsy's Page, National Review, JustOneMinute, Slate, Indecision Forever, 2012 Decoded and Connecting.the.Dots


Donald Trump looks into canceling GOP debate he's set to host — The Donald says he may still run for the White House as an independent — Donald Trump smiles at left as Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talks to media after their meeting in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Gothamist, The Political Carnival, Campaign 2012 and Jammie Wearing Fools

The Gingrich Tragedy — Of all the major Republicans, the one who comes closest to my worldview is Newt Gingrich. Despite his erratically shifting views and odd phases, he continually returns to this core political refrain: He talks about using government in energetic but limited ways to increase growth, dynamism and social mobility.

If you're a conservative Mitt Romney apparently doesn't want you / Update Romney Camp cries false — Matt Lewis in the daily caller reports that in an attempt to make the case that Newt Gingrich as unacceptable to conservatives proceeded to insult conservatives by taking no questions from conservatives outlets.
Discussion:
LifeNews.com, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Catholic Bandita

Rand Paul: Republicans would take a giant step backward by choosing Gingrich


As you probably heard, some Mitt Romney surrogates hosted …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Jamie Dupree Washington …, Datechguy's Blog, Big Journalism, Reuters and Sister Toldjah

Newt Strikes Back at Romney
Discussion:
Coffee and Markets, The PJ Tatler, Daily Kos and The Page

Mitt Romney Goes After Gingrich: 'We're Going To Have To Make Changes Like The Ones Paul Ryan Proposed'
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The New Republic and Washington Monthly

Newt Gingrich carries slight lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters in Michigan's Feb. 28 primary
Discussion:
Ballot Box, GOP 12 and Campaign 2012

Mitt's moment — Mitt Romney is running out of time to stop New Gingrich.
Discussion:
The Politico


Europe's great divorce — WE JOURNALISTS are probably too bleary-eyed after a sleepless night to understand the full significance of what has just happened in Brussels. What is clear is that after a long, hard and rancorous negotiation, at about 5am this morning the European Union split in a fundamental way.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, BBC and Bagehot's notebook
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Europe's disastrous summit — I thought disasters were all meant to happen over the weekend? Somehow, in Brussels, EU leaders have contrived to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory on Thursday night, leaving Friday for finger-pointing and recriminations and wondering whether anybody …


Following Cameron's Europe raspberry, how low can Nick Clegg go?
Discussion:
Making Light

Cameron: ‘Britain better off outside treaty’
Discussion:
Financial Times, Firedoglake, News Desk and National Review

Oops: Perry Forgets Justice Sotomayor's Name — Echoing his devastating “oops” moment in an earlier GOP debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) forgot the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in an interview today with the Des Moines Register editorial board. He had to be assisted by a reporter who offered the jurist's name.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite and Shakesville
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Repeal of sodomy, bestiality ban sparks fight on Defense bill — One surprising issue is riling both social conservatives and animal rights activists: the repeal of a ban on sodomy and bestiality. — As the final Defense authorization bill gets hammered out in conference committee …
Discussion:
Hot Air

Ron Paul: 9/11 prompted “glee” in Bush administration — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday evening that Bush administration officials were gleeful after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it gave them a pretext to invade Iraq. — “Just think of what happened after 9/11.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Raw Story
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Ron Paul on steady upward trajectory, third-party talk will escalate
Discussion:
CNN, ABCNEWS, The Daily Caller and Campaign 2012

Newsmax Says Trump Debate Is ‘Full Steam Ahead’ — The Great Donald Trump Debate (well, maybe slightly less great than its organizers had hoped) is still going forward even with just two committed candidates, its organizers said Friday. — “We just had a production meeting this morning …
Discussion:
TVNewser
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Trump might scrub his GOP presidential debate
Discussion:
Wonkette, Indecision Forever, The Right Scoop and Little Green Footballs

Trump ‘very disappointed in’ Bachmann
Discussion:
CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12

Labor Board Drops Case Against Boeing — A top official with the National Labor Relations Board announced on Friday that the agency was dropping its politically charged case against Boeing, in which the agency had accused the company of violating federal labor law by opening a new aircraft production plant in South Carolina.
Discussion:
NLRB, Hot Air, RedState, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers, The ChamberPost, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Right Scoop and The PJ Tatler
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GOP candidates applaud NLRB complaint withdrawl
Discussion:
The Hill, ThinkProgress, CNN and Reuters


Gingrich: Palestinians ‘invented,’ promises Netanyahu-style foreign policy — Former Speaker Newt Gingrich dismissed the Palestinian bid for statehood as the effort of an “invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community.”
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, TJC Newsdesk, The Daily Dish, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and National Review


The Real G.O.P. Dark Horse: None of the Above — Two of my favorite analysts, Rhodes Cook and Josh Putnam, have a good debate going about just how plausible it is that a Republican who is not currently running for president could enter the race later and potentially win it (probably necessitating a brokered convention).


GOP Objects To ‘Millionaires Surtax’; Millionaires We Found? Not So Much — For the second week in a row, the Senate on Thursday voted down proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday through next year. In the case of the Democrats' proposal, Republicans objected to the “millionaires surtax” that would be used to pay for it.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Felix Salmon, ThinkProgress, The Impolitic, Little Green Footballs, Prairie Weather and Political Mojo

Corzine's Loss May Be Soros's Gain — Investor Places Big Bet on Euro Debt, Buying MF Global Former Holdings — Investor George Soros's family fund bought about $2 billion of European bonds formerly owned by MF Global Holdings Ltd., the very debt that helped force the securities firm …
Discussion:
Wizbang, The Lonely Conservative and Business Insider
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Corzine Defends His Actions at MF Global
Discussion:
American Prospect, Wonkette and naked capitalism

House GOP releases payroll-tax package under Obama veto threat — House Republicans on Friday released their legislation to extend the payroll-tax cut, reform and extend unemployment insurance and delay changes to the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors.
Discussion:
CNN, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Elizabeth Warren slaps down Karl Rove, latest attack ad — A feisty Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren shot back at Republican strategist Karl Rove yesterday — calling his second negative ad “factually wrong and morally wrong” after a University of Massachusetts …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler and The Baseline Scenario

The Huntsman 2016 Fallacy — Jon Chait points out, correctly, that Newt Gingrich should be hoping against hope that a Jon Huntsman surge in New Hampshire cuts into Mitt Romney's support. But then he veers off into implausible speculations about Huntsman's 2016 ambitions:
Discussion:
American Prospect, New York Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications