memeorandum: Gingrich Pledges Not To Commit Infidelity A Third Time, Reaffirms Opposition To Marriage Equality (Igor Volsky/ThinkProgress)

5:45 PM ET, December 12, 2011

Top Items:

SAVAGE OFFERS GINGRICH $1 MILLION TO DROP OUT OF THE RACE — WILL ANNOUNCE ON SHOW TODAY — THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FIELD HAS COME DOWN TO TWO CANDIDATES WHO HAVE A REAL CHANCE OF GETTING THE NOMINATION: NEWT GINGRICH AND MITT ROMNEY. WHILE IT'S TRUE THAT ROMNEY IS NOT AS STRONG …

Discussion: Mediaite, Campaign 2012 and The Lonely Conservative

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Mitt Romney on Newt Gingrich: He's the front-runner — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney, who just a month ago had hoped to seal the GOP presidential nomination with Florida's primary on Jan. 31, tells POLITICO that he now foresees an epic fight with Newt Gingrich that could last through the California primary on June 5.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, FishbowlDC, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, GOP 12, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, National Review, Iowa Caucuses and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Newt Strikes Back — In Monday Londderry press availability, former Speaker repsonds to Romney's demand he return Freddic Mac cash by invoking Romney's Bain windfall. — Gingrich: If gov romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees …

Discussion: Swampland, The Moderate Voice, American Spectator, RedState and The Daily Dish

The Right Scoop:
Glenn Beck: I'd consider Ron Paul as third party over Newt Gingrich

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, ThinkProgress, GOP 12, Nice Deb and The PJ Tatler

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Mitt Romney, ‘human-like’

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Iowa Caucuses, Indecision Forever, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, The New Republic, Business Insider, National Review and Reuters

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Radio host offers Gingrich $1 million to drop out of GOP race

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Romney wants to ‘keep America American’

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Maggie Haberman / The Politico: Mitt: There's ‘no whining in politics’

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Gingrich Calls For Romney To Return All The Money He Made ‘Bankrupting Companies And Laying Off Employees’

Discussion: Odd Man Out

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Newt takes no-adultery pledge — When the Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader unveiled a sweeping pledge on marriage and abortion over the summer, Newt Gingrich was one of the candidates who passed on signing it. — Now, Gingrich has answered the pledge with a lengthy written response …

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The Loyal Opposition, Little Green Footballs, Sense of Events, Outside the Beltway, Indecision Forever, Guardian, Balloon Juice and Joe. My. God.

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Gingrich Pledges Not To Commit Infidelity A Third Time, Reaffirms Opposition To Marriage Equality

Discussion: The Iowa Republican, The Political Carnival, Shakesville, The Raw Story, Wonkette and Towleroad News #gay

The Family Leader:
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich Provides Written Response to The FAMiLY LEADER's Marriage Pledge

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard and Good As You

Zachary Pleat / Media Matters for America:

Today In Dishonest Fox News Charts — It looks like Fox is trying to mislead its viewers on the unemployment rate. Again. — On Monday, Fox News displayed a chart illustrating changes to the unemployment rate during 2011: — Note how the 8.6 percent unemployment rate in November looks higher …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Gawker

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:
Math Fail: Fox News Says 8.6 Percent Unemployment Is Greater Than 8.8 And Equal To 9

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:

Iowa audience members yell at Rick Perry after Ames appearance [includes video] — Ames, Ia. - A packed coffee house where Rick Perry spoke this afternoon turned into a bit of a ruckus that left the candidate heading out the back door and straight to his vehicle after several Iowans screamed questions about his views on gays.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars, The Other McCain, Los Angeles Times, LGBTQ Nation, On Top Magazine Headlines, Towleroad News #gay, Indecision Forever and The Raw Story

Jason Noble / Iowa Caucuses:
Conversation with Rick Perry: Back trouble affected campaign

Discussion: Hot Air, American Prospect, The Other McCain, Daily Kos, The PJ Tatler, The Spectacle Blog and CNN

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Sarah Palin Pitching New Reality Show About Husband Todd's Snowmobile Adventures (Exclusive) … Sarah Palin announced in October that she would not run for president, leaving her free to focus on her media career. But the GOP kingmaker and Fox News contributor is having some trouble selling …

Discussion: The Hill, GOP 12, Mediaite, Business Insider and Big Hollywood

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Depression and Democracy — It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort. Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, Business Insider, Catholic Bandita, Daily Kos, US Politics, Vox Popoli and Truthdig

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

Barack Obama's ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Has Me Screaming at My TV Again — Today on Morning Joe, they were playing clips of Steve Kroft's 60 Minutes interview with President Obama, and I literally started screaming. There is only so much of this bulls-t I can endure without talking back to my TV:

Discussion: Don Surber, Questions and Observations, GayPatriot, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, The Lonely Conservative, The Politico and Daily Pundit

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to hear challenge of Arizona's restrictive immigration law — The Supreme Court on Monday said it would review Arizona's restrictive immigration law that sparked a national controversy and inspired similar state efforts across the country to crack down on illegal immigrants.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Ricochet Conversations Feed, THEROOT.COM, National Review, The PJ Tatler and The Spectacle Blog

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Agree to Hear Challenge to Arizona Immigration Laws

Discussion: The Week, Outside the Beltway, National Review, The Washington Independent and Tucson Citizen

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

DNC chair: Unemployment didn't go up under Obama! — Denial — it ain't just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn't go up in Barack Obama's term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, The Right Scoop, Pirate's Cove and Campaign 2012

William J. Broad / New York Times:

Gingrich's Electromagnetic Pulse Warning Has Skeptics — Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential hopeful, wants you to know that as commander in chief he is ready to confront one of the most nightmarish of doomsday scenarios: a nuclear blast high above the United States that would instantly throw the nation into a dark age.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Battleland, The Confluence, Daniel W. Drezner, The Daily Dish, Wonkette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Religion Dispatches

Hoover Institution:

Populist-in-Chief — by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force) — Can Obama's progressive policies save the middle class from economic hardship? — One clear sign of America's social unease …

Discussion: GayPatriot, Questions and Observations and Ricochet Conversations Feed

DealBook:

A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic — Soon after taking the reins of MF Global in 2010, Jon S. Corzine visited the Wall Street firm's Chicago offices for the first time, greeting the brokers, analysts and sales staff there. — One broker, Cy Monley, caught Mr. Corzine's eye.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Felix Salmon, Business Insider, Campaign 2012, Gothamist, Eschaton and New York Times

David Fisher / New Zealand Herald:

Sperm-donor kept wife in the dark — A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples - even though he has campaigned against gay marriage. — American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch helping run the earthquake recovery …

Discussion: Breaking News …, Gawker, Business Insider, Towleroad News #gay, Wonkette, The Raw Story, The Other McCain and Jesus' General

Jewel Samad / Investor's Business Daily:

As Americans struggle, the Obamas make do with 37 Christmas trees — The economy may be weak, unemployment strong and the first family soon to vacate the White House for another half-month of vacation in Hawaii. — But the Obamas have gone all out in decorating their house this year …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, HillBuzz.org, Balloon Juice and Jammie Wearing Fools

Matt Viser / Boston Globe:

Gay veteran quizzes Mitt Romney on single-sex marriage — MANCHESTER, NH - It started out as a seemingly safe situation. Mitt Romney, working a friendly room at a the Chez Vachon diner here, approached an older man wearing a Vietnam Veteran cap and sidled up next to him.

Discussion: The Daily What, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.

Michael J. Crosbie / The Atlantic Online:

Why the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Failed—and How to Fix It — The design vision was strong, and the artist accomplished, but a couple of key changes were made between conception and execution — Nearly 15 years after President Clinton signed legislation for the construction …

Discussion: National Review and The PJ Tatler

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Veto threat looms over high-stakes talks on terrorism detainees — House and Senate conferees are meeting Monday evening to finalize the Defense authorization bill, congressional sources told The Hill, potentially forcing President Obama to follow through on his threat to veto the legislation.

Discussion: Hot Air and Booman Tribune