memeorandum: Why Washington Is Shocked, Shocked By Newt Gingrich's Rise Over Mitt Romney (Christian Whiton/Fox News)

10:40 AM ET, December 11, 2011

Top Items:

Richard Adams / Guardian:

GOP presidential debate in Iowa: as it happened — Mitt Romney suffered a $10,000 gaffe while Newt Gingrich brushed off a series of attacks during the GOP debate in Iowa — Live from Des Moines, it's Saturday night - and welcome to live-blogging coverage of the GOP presidential debate in Des Moines …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Sky Dancing, ABCNEWS, Iowa Caucuses, Balloon Juice and CNN

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Glenn Beck: The Tea Party Supporting Gingrich Over Obama ‘Must Be About Race’ — Glenn Beck has made no secret of how much he dislikes Newt Gingrich- not even to Newt Gingrich's face. But he has yet to confront his supporters until last night, when he reasoned to Freedom Watch host Judge Andrew Napolitano …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Right Scoop, The Moderate Voice, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Raw Story and The Lonely Conservative

Christian Whiton / Fox News:

Why Washington Is Shocked, Shocked By Newt Gingrich's Rise Over Mitt Romney — One of the more enjoyable spectacles out of Washington lately has been the horror of establishment Beltway Republicans that Newt Gingrich just might be their presidential nominee, having jumped ahead of Mitt Romney in recent polls.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Daily Pundit

New York Times:

Race Reshaped, Rivals Target Gingrich in G.O.P. Debate — DES MOINES — Newt Gingrich offered a robust defense of his views on the Middle East, his lucrative work after leaving Congress and his conservative credentials during a spirited debate here on Saturday night as his Republican …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, ABCNEWS, The Iowa Republican, The Caucus, The Page, Balloon Juice and American Power, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Gingrich comes under attack in GOP debate — View Photo Gallery — With 24 days before the state's key caucuses, six candidates gather onstage. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are taking on different roles than in previous matchups as Gingrich has climbed in the polls.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, New York Times, Daily Kos and Campaign 2012

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

Rick Santorum Will Score Upset Win in Tonight's ‘Pivotal’ ABC Debate in Iowa — That's not the headline on the ABC News story, of course: … We should recognize this as what it is: Hype, of the same sort of stuff Hunter S. Thompson used to write when he was moonlighting as a publicist for a Florida wrestling promoter:

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Spectacle Blog, The Lonely Conservative and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

The ABC/Yahoo Iowa Debate: What to Watch For — No days off! — That's the motto of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates (and the people that cover them) with only 24 days left before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. — FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2011, file photo Republican presidential …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Iowa Caucuses, Burnt Orange Report, Reuters, ABCNEWS, Althouse and Booman Tribune

Nate / 2012 Election Central:
ABC News GOP debate tonight at 9pm ET from Iowa

Discussion: Catholic Bandita, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin and Taylor Marsh

Paul Krugman:

Lessons From Europe — Let me return for a minute to Kevin O'Rourke's recent piece on the European summit. Aside from pointing out just how bad an idea the new super-stability pact is, O'Rourke makes an important observation about what the European experience teaches us about macroeconomics:

Discussion: Sky Dancing and The Moderate Voice

CNN:

“Putin Out,” Russian protesters chant — Moscow (CNN) — Tens of thousands of Russians turned out in central Moscow and across the country Saturday to protest what they believe were rigged parliamentary elections. — United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin …

Discussion: Firedoglake

Miriam Elder / Guardian:
Russians protest over ‘election fraud’

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Truthdig

CNN:

Palestinians attack Gingrich comment on ‘invented’ people — (CNN) — Senior Palestinian leaders on Saturday strongly criticized comments by Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich that the Palestinians are an “invented” people, calling them ignorant and racist.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER, American Spectator, American Power, National Review, The Moderate Voice, Atlas Shrugs, The Raw Story, The Caucus, The Hill and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:
Palestinians outraged by Gingrich remarks

Discussion: Jihad Watch, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, American Spectator, Booman Tribune and Washington Wire

Fox News:
Gingrich Describes Palestinian People as ‘Invented’

Discussion: Associated Press and The PJ Tatler

CBS News:

Obama: Not redistributing wealth — In a “60 Minutes” interview with Steve Kroft, President Obama disputes the notion he is trying to redistribute wealth with his plans to treat the country's economic ills. He tells Kroft he's just attempting to deliver the “American Deal” of a strong middle class …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

New York Times:

Two Romneys: Wealthy Man, Thrifty Habits — BOSTON — Soon after Mitt Romney handed out eye-popping bonuses to top performers at his private equity firm in the early 1990s, a young employee invited him to ride in his brand-new toy — a $90,000 Porsche 911 Carrera.

Discussion: The Caucus

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

LightSquared disrupts 75% of GPS receivers in gov't testing — The saga of LightSquared added a new chapter last night, as Bloomberg reported on the preliminary result of tests of the satellite Internet provider's service in relation to GPS devices. The Obama administration has pushed LightSquared …