memeorandum: Obama's Re-Election Path May Be Written in Will St. Clair's Code (Julianna Goldman/Bloomberg)

6:35 PM ET, December 14, 2011

Top Items:

Romney Warns of Nominating ‘Zany’ Gingrich — Mitt Romney is sharpening his warning to Republicans about the consequences of nominating Newt Gingrich as the party's presidential candidate, declaring in an interview on Wednesday: “Zany is not what we need in a president.” — “Zany is great in a campaign.

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Newt Gingrich commits a capital crime — Newt Gingrich — the friend of his detractors, to whom he offers serial vindications — provided on Monday redundant evidence for the proposition that he is the least conservative candidate seeking the Republican presidential nomination: He faulted Mitt Romney for committing acts of capitalism.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Daily Dish, Business Insider, Riehl World View, The New Republic and National Review

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Christine O'Donnell: I like Mitt Romney's flip — Talk about a backhanded compliment. — Christine O'Donnell, who has endorsed Mitt Romney, appeared on CNN Wednesday and inadvertently drew attention to one of the charges against the former Massachusetts governor from his critics - flip-flopping.

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Fox News, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Monthly, Indecision Forever, Washington Post, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, Harry's Place, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Connecting.the.Dots, The Moderate Voice and Public Policy Polling

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama looking good in Virginia — PPP has polled Virginia four times in 2011 and has come to the same conclusion every time: Barack Obama just hasn't slipped there to the extent he has nationally. That's a finding with major, major implications for his reelection prospects …

Discussion: The Politico, Ballot Box, Hot Air and USA Today

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

Mitt Romney: Gingrich a “very wealthy” man — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney doesn't want to be cast as the only rich person in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. — In the wake of his attempt to make a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry during Saturday's Republican …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Page, Hot Air, National Review, Business Insider and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Romney's Eerie Post-Flip-Flop Consistency

Discussion: Hot Air, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Reaction and The Politico

Opinionator:
With Candidates Like This ... David Brooks: Gail …

Discussion: Gallup and Hullabaloo

Kevinliptak / CNN:

TRENDING: Paul reacts to positive poll fortunes, nagging questions about electability — Amherst, New Hampshire (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is currently confronted by two political realities: promising poll numbers in the states that hold the first two presidential contests …

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Rick Perry, Mitt Romney internals show Newt Gingrich slippage, sources say

Discussion: CNN, Swampland, Campaign 2012, Pundit & Pundette and Daily Kos

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Ron Paul For The GOP Nomination

Discussion: The Hill, Hit & Run, Belmont Club, The PJ Tatler and GOP 12

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Occupy Protesters Interrupt Gingrich

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and MyFox Philadelphia

Jonathan Bernstein / Washington Monthly:
Stepping back and watching a mugging

Discussion: Prairie Weather and National Review

The Iowa Republican:
Focus Group Fallout

Discussion: USA Today, Catholic Bandita, The Other McCain, Washington Wire, Iowa Caucuses, Washington Post, The Raw Story, Shakesville and Taylor Marsh

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Ron Paul questions his own stamina in protracted nomination fight

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hot Air

Kurt Andersen / Time:

The Protester — Once upon a time, when major news events were chronicled strictly by professionals and printed on paper or transmitted through the air by the few for the masses, protesters were prime makers of history. Back then, when citizen multitudes took to the streets without weapons …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Guardian, Washington Post, The Hill, NewsBusters.org, The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Law Librarian Blog, JustOneMinute, The Lonely Conservative, News Desk, Boing Boing and Poynter

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Time's POTY: “The Protester”

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, The Week, Patterico's Pontifications and Washington Post

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

MSNBC Likens Romney To The KKK For Saying “Keep America America” — MSNBC daytime anchor Thomas Roberts seizes on Mitt Romney's use of the phrase “Keep America America.” The network claims the phrase plays homage to the Ku Klux Klan slogan of “Keep America American.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Big Journalism, NewsBusters.org, The PJ Tatler and Ed Driscoll

James Crugnale / Mediaite:
Obamney Fail: Fox News Mistakenly Uses Barack Obama Photo On Mitt Romney Poll Graphic

Discussion: The Right Scoop, The Daily What, Inside Cable News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
NBC News Brass Reportedly Furious Over Handling Of Romney KKK Slogan Story

Discussion: Don Surber, US Politics, Inside Cable News, Jack & Jill Politics and The Hinterland Gazette

WISN Milwaukee's Channel 12:

Mickey Mouse, Adolf Hitler Allowed On Wis. Recall Petitions — GAB Rules Address, Date More Important Than Names — MADISON, Wis. — The signatures of Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler will be counted on recall petitions targeting Gov. Scott Walker as long as they are properly dated and include …

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, The Heritage Foundation, Wizbang, Mediaite, Althouse, The Daily Caller, The Jawa Report, The PJ Tatler, The Impolitic and Instapundit

CNN:

Senate Democrats to offer new payroll tax plan — Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats will offer a new proposal for extending the payroll tax cut that drops a provision to tax income over $1 million, a Democratic source told CNN on Wednesday. — The so-called “millionaires tax” …

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, CANNONFIRE, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin and New York Times

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner gets tough with Senate: Time to act on House payroll tax extension

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and The Political Carnival

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell blocks Senate vote on House payroll-tax-cut package

Discussion: Roll Call, Wake up America and Daily Kos

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Marines' Haditha Interviews Found in Iraqi Junkyard — BAGHDAD — One by one, the Marines sat down, swore to tell the truth and began to give secret interviews discussing one of the most horrific episodes of America's time in Iraq: the 2005 massacre by Marines of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune

Robert / KAYAK:

We Handled This Poorly — We would like to apologize to anyone who was offended by how we handled our decision not to continue advertising on All-American Muslim when it returns in January. We decided to advertise on it in the first place because we adamantly support tolerance and diversity.

Discussion: The Star-Ledger Editorial Page, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Media Decoder, The Daily What and National Review

Trent Hill / Independent Political Report:

IPR Exclusive: Gary Johnson to Announce Libertarian Switch Tomorrow — UPDATE: Johnson has told a reporter that this is something he's looking at and that he will be in New York tomorrow to do “as many media appearances as they can wind me up and send me in that direction.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12

Justin Sink / The Hill: Gary Johnson to leave GOP race, run as Libertarian

Stephanie Hallett / The Huffington Post:

Marriage Rate In America Drops Drastically … Barely half of Americans over the age 18 are married, according to a new report from the Pew Research Institute. The number of married couples dropped a startling five percent between 2009 and 2010 and has declined by more than 20 percent since 1960.

Discussion: Pew Social & … and On Top Magazine Headlines

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Santorum Blames Gays For Plummeting Marriage Rate

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Keith Koffler / White House Dossier:

Obama Campaign Collecting GOP Emails — The Obama presidential campaign is launching an effort to collect Republican email addresses by inviting its supporters to submit information about their Republican associates to the Obama 2012 website. — The effort could help the Obama campaign build …

Discussion: Don Surber, Hit & Run, The Hill, Nice Deb, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, Daily Pundit and Sister Toldjah

Office of the Assistant Secretary …:

2.5 Million Young Adults Gain Health Insurance Due to the Affordable Care Act — This Issue Brief is available on the Internet at: — Printer Friendly version in PDF format (2 pages) — [Free PDF reader ] — How to Obtain a Printed Copy — Results released today [12/14/11] …

Discussion: Associated Press, The New Republic, ThinkProgress, White House.gov Blog, American Prospect, The Hill, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Daily Kos, The Raw Story and Booman Tribune

CNBC:

Realtors: We Overcounted Home Sales for Five Years — Data on sales of previously owned U.S. homes from 2007 through October this year will be revised down next week because of double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Outside the Beltway, americanthinker.com, Balloon Juice and KVOA-TV

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Gary Busey withdraws Gingrich endorsement — Actor Gary Busey is withdrawing his endorsement of Newt Gingrich for president. — {mosads}"It is not time for me to be endorsing anyone at this time! When there are the two final candidates, then I will endorse," Busey said Wednesday in a statement released through his representative.

Discussion: PopWatch, Indecision Forever and The Daily Caller

Malcolm Moore / Telegraph:

Inside Wukan: the Chinese village that fought back — Something extraordinary has happened in the Chinese village of Wukan. — Thousands of Wukan's residents gathered for a second day in front of a triple-roofed pagoda that serves as the village hall — For the first time on record …

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway, The Lede, Global Spin, americanthinker.com, Vox Popoli and msnbc.com

Robert Costa / National Review:

Ryan to Gingrich: ‘This Is Not the 1990s’ — Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the influential Budget Committee chairman, has kept his distance from the GOP primary. But after reading Newt Gingrich's latest comments about entitlement reform, he says the contenders must seriously address the debt crisis, not play political games.

Discussion: Time, American Spectator, RedState, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Hill and The Enterprise Blog

Matthew Lynn / MarketWatch:

This slump won't end until 2031 — Commentary: Our predicament parallels the Long Depression of 1870s — LONDON (MarketWatch) — In retrospect, it wasn't hard to see that the markets were becoming dangerously unstable. Germany had just adopted a new monetary system, and Europe was being flooded with cheap German money.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Outside the Beltway and The Reaction