memeorandum: Scott Brown: Media's pulling punches with Elizabeth Warren (Hillary Chabot/Boston Herald)

9:30 PM ET, December 29, 2011

Top Items:

Ron Paul: Sanctions against Iran are ‘acts of war’ — Ron Paul campaigns during an event honoring veterans at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press) — Reporting from Perry, Iowa— Defending himself against charges of isolationism …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Dish and The PJ Tatler

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Americans See Views of GOP Candidates Closer to Their Own — Obama, Bachmann furthest away on ideological scale — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans perceive Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul as closest to themselves ideologically, and Michele Bachmann and Barack Obama as furthest away.

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Liberal Values, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post and Prairie Weather

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Santorum Surge In Iowa and Beyond — The extent to which Rick Santorum has gained in Iowa polling is not entirely clear. Although two polls have him with 16 percent of the vote, two others that were in the field at the same time have him at 10 and 11 percent, respectively.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and The Caucus

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Rick Santorum Gets A Big Polling Boost, Goes After Ron Paul

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN, Daily Kos, Weasel Zippers and New York Times

msnbc.com:
Bachmann campaign loses second key staffer in Ron Paul flap

Discussion: National Review and The Page

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
New Iowa Poll May Understate Paul's Support

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Campaign 2012, The Daily Dish and Outside the Beltway

Niall Stanage / Ballot Box:
New poll shows Romney with big NH lead

Discussion: CNN and The Moderate Voice

CNN:
Bachmann defection opens new rift in campaign

Discussion: The Politico, 2012 Decoded, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney still up big in New Hampshire

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mediaite, CNN and Guardian

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Romney Edges Gingrich, 27% to 23%, for National GOP Lead

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Campaign 2012 and Ballot Box

Fox News:
Santorum Claims Iowa ‘Spark’ as Polls Show Candidacy Surging

Discussion: Naked DC

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Top Santorum supporter says he can win Iowa caucus

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Politico, National Review and American Spectator

The Daily:
Pro-Bachmann Super PAC switches to Romney

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Race 4 2012, Hot Air, Guardian and Ballot Box

Juana Summersand Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
Ron Paul soft spot emerges: Foreign policy

Discussion: CNN, Tom Watson, Mediaite and Mercury Rising

Jeffrey Scott Shapiro / Big Government:

EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Pelosi's Daughter: ‘My Mom Wants to Leave Congress’ — Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Leader and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Big Government this week that her mother wants to leave Congress-and that she remains in Washington only at the behest of her campaign donors.

Discussion: The Hill, The Anchoress, Hot Air, Don Surber, Sister Toldjah, The Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Lonely Conservative, NewsBusters.org blogs and The Other McCain

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Pelosi aides dispute daughter's claim — Nancy Pelosi's office says her daughter is wrong when she says the California Democrat wants to leave politics. — Alexandra Pelosi, the Democratic activist and filmmaker, said in an interview with Andrew Breitbart's Big Government …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Political Predictions for 2012 — Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid …

Discussion: Don Surber, Betsy's Page and The Impolitic

Hunter Walker / PolitickerNY:

Stormfront Founder Don Black Says White Supremacists Thought Ron Paul Was ‘One of Us’ — Ron Paul was a hot topic this week on the talk radio show hosted by prominent white supremacist Don Black and his son Derek. Mr. Black said he received Mr. Paul's controversial newsletters …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, The PJ Tatler, Pat Dollard, Little Green Footballs and The Atlantic Online

Joseph W. McQuaid / unionleader.com:

Ron Paul is truly dangerous — Ron Paul is a dangerous man. While his domestic libertarian views are quite attractive to some voters fed up with politics as usual, it is Paul's position on issues of our national security that are truly dangerous. — Those views have been largely overlooked …

Discussion: The Politico, Los Angeles Times, The Raw Story and Washington Post

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Ron Paul Downplays Newsletters : Only ‘Eight To Ten Sentences’ Were Offensive

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos

James Kirchick / Campaign Stops:
Ron Paul's World

Discussion: Slate, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Campaign 2012, Rortybomb, The Huffington Post, Hit & Run, The Atlantic Online and The PJ Tatler

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

White House Memo: Obama Gains Reputation as Distant in Washington — WASHINGTON — Air Force One had just landed in Manchester, N.H., on a brisk Tuesday morning last month when President Obama made an admission to Valerie B. Jarrett, his close friend and senior adviser. — “I just called Reggie,” Mr. Obama said.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Prairie Weather, Althouse, americanthinker.com and Hullabaloo

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

Slow News Week Leads to Headache-Inducing Obama Personality Profile — He's the one in control (White House photo) — This feels suspiciously like “he came in and trashed the place and it's not his place” journalism. Maybe the ghost of David Broder animated this journalist for the purposes of the story:

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Pew Research Center:

Little Change in Public's Response to ‘Capitalism,’ ‘Socialism’ — A Political Rhetoric Test — OVERVIEW — The recent Occupy Wall Street protests have focused public attention on what organizers see as the excesses of America's free market system, but perceptions of capitalism …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, nation.foxnews.com, Washington Monthly, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Daily Pundit, American Power, The Political Carnival, The Politico, Firedoglake, Verum Serum and Scared Monkeys

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Despite GOP opposition, light bulb standards will phase in on Jan. 1 — New light bulb efficiency standards will begin phasing in on Jan. 1 despite intense opposition from conservatives, who have blasted the rules as a textbook unnecessary federal regulation.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Rick Santorum's Two-Step Plan To End Poverty … WASHINGTON — At a campaign event in Iowa on Wednesday, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum laid out his simple two-point plan for eradicating poverty in America. — “Do you know if you do two things in your life — if you do two things in your life …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

The New Republic:

TNR On the Most Overlooked Stories of 2011 — Lawrence Kaplan: America's Silent Withdrawal From Iraq — War is over. — No, really. “Permanent” bases? Absolutely not. A decades-long partnership between Iraq and the United States? With the American officials who guide the fortunes …

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, Political Mojo, Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

ABCNEWS:

Perry Draws Blank on Landmark Texas Anti-Sodomy Supreme Court Case — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry admitted Thursday that he didn't know about the Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, a case decided while he was governor which struck down the state's anti-sodomy law and similar laws in 13 others.

Discussion: Firedoglake, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Talking Points Memo, GOP 12, Towleroad News #gay and ThinkProgress

Robert Reich:

My Political Prediction for 2012: It's Obama-Clinton — My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he's apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, THEROOT.COM, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Capital Tonight, Booman Tribune and The Politico

Robert Reich / Business Insider:
Get Ready For A Obama-Clinton Presidential Ticket

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Daily Caller, National Review, Politisite and The Anchoress

Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:

Scott Brown: Media's pulling punches with Elizabeth Warren — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown yesterday opened the door to as many as four debates with likely Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren, even as he griped that the media is treating the Harvard Law professor with kid gloves while taking roundhouse punches at him.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Daily Kos