memeorandum: Newt's slide is not about attack ads (John G. Geer/The Politico)

9:55 AM ET, January 3, 2012

Top Items:

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Fox News' Alan Colmes Flips Out When Called Out For ‘Cheap Shot’ About Rick Santorum Baby (Updated) — In a wild exchange on Fox News' Happening Now, longtime contributor Alan Colmes lost it a little bit when National Review's Rich Lowry pressed him over an attack on Rick Santorum's handling of the 1996 death of his newborn son.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, 2012 Decoded, GOP 12, American Spectator, The Other McCain, No More Mister Nice Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, nation.foxnews.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Sleeveless and V-Necked, Santorum's Sweaters Are Turning Heads — PERRY, Iowa — Rick Santorum is definitely pro-traditional sweater. — It's just that in Iowa, he happens to like a smart, sleeveless V-neck number. — Crewnecks, with their neck-hugging collars, aren't suitable …

Discussion: The Hill, Runnin' Scared, The Caucus and Hotline On Call

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Rick Santorum's curious closing argument — POLK CITY, Iowa — Nothing fires up a crowd like cloture. — Rick Santorum, the man who has improbably become a contender in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, was making his closing argument to a sea of TV cameras here on Monday when he swerved into a thicket of Senate trivia.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Hinterland Gazette and Prairie Weather

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Alan Colmes: The way Santorum dealt with the death of his child sure was crazy — You'd think liberals would want to pull their punches against Santorum until he's built up enough momentum nationally to complicate life for Romney, yet here's Colmesy throwing an uppercut straight to the groin.

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Althouse, Pundit & Pundette, Betsy's Page and The PJ Tatler

Lucy Madison / CBS News:

Santorum targets blacks in entitlement reform — At a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa on Sunday, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum singled out blacks as being recipients of assistance through federal benefit programs, telling a mostly-white audience he doesn't want to …

Discussion: Jay Bookman, Pat Dollard, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, Telegraph, Verum Serum, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, Campaign 2012, NO QUARTER, The Gateway Pundit and The Politico

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:

Santorums Emotional at Talk of Dead Newborn — NEWTON, Iowa — During the question and answer portion of Rick Santorum's second to last campaign event of the day, a voter brought up a painful memory from the former Pennsylvania senator's past. — At a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Newton …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Iowa Caucuses, Mediaite, Flopping Aces, NewsHounds blog, The Right Scoop and The Atlantic Online

Brian Stelter / The Caucus:
Taking to Twitter, Murdoch Signals Support for Santorum

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Page, Balloon Juice, The Right Scoop and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Evan McMorris-Santoro / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Rand Paul Calls Rick Santorum A War-Mongering Moderate

Discussion: Campaign 2012, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, CNN and nation.foxnews.com

John G. Geer / The Politico:

Newt's slide is not about attack ads — It looks like one major story line coming out of Iowa will be the role negative ads played in bringing down former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. — In early December, Gingrich led in Iowa, with about 30 percent in the polls.

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post and Democratic Strategist

CBS News:

Gingrich: Mitt Romney is a liar — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose support in Iowa has withered after riding on top of the polls, today called former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a liar who would lie to the American people if elected to the White House …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Joe Klein / Swampland:
1 Day Till Iowa: I Approve This Message

Discussion: Truthdig and Saint Petersblog

Rabbi Kaufman / We Are For Israel:
Caucus Craziness and Israel

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Wallacegw / CNN:
Gingrich: Paul plays by different set of rules

Discussion: The TrogloPundit, American Prospect and Washington Monthly

Philip Klein / Campaign 2012:
Be wary of reports of “packed rooms” in Iowa

Discussion: The Politico and Betsy's Page

Ginger Gibson / The Politico:
Newt sends mixed signals on Iowa expectations

Discussion: National Review

Tony Leys / Iowa Caucuses:
Mitt Romney: “We're going to win this thing”

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, msnbc.com, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org blogs and The Daily Caller

ABCNEWS: Romney in Iowa: 'We're Gonna Win This Thing'

Wallacegw / CNN:
Santorum's fundraising soars along with his poll numbers

Discussion: The Politico, Reuters, The Other McCain, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Rajiv Sethi, National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

NBC's Alex Moe / msnbc.com:
Gingrich: 'I don't think I'm going to win' in Iowa

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Bleeding Heartland, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Caller, Campaign 2012, National Review, Indecision Forever, Saint Petersblog and New York Magazine

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The GOP's game plan to end Obama's presidency — National Republicans who are putting together the battle plan to defeat Obama face a dilemma. How do they attack Obama's presidency as a failure, given that voters understand just how catastrophic a situation he inherited …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Washington Monthly, NationalJournal.com, Democratic Strategist, BuzzFeed, Pat Dollard, National Review, New York Magazine and Vodkapundit

ABCNEWS:
President Obama's Words: RNC Weapon of Choice in 2012

Discussion: About.com US Liberal Politics and Daily Kos

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Obama to speak to Iowa caucus voters Tuesday — President Obama will hold a televideo conference with Iowa caucus voters on Tuesday evening. — He will hold the event at 8:15 p.m., the White House announced Monday. — Obama hasn't campaigned in the early caucus state during the primary process …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Weasel Zippers, The Page and The Politico

John T. Bennett / The Hill:
President Obama to visit Cleveland to deliver address on economy

Discussion: Don Surber

New York Times:

The Next War: Pentagon to Present Vision of Reduced Military — WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is set this week to reveal his strategy that will guide the Pentagon in cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from its budget, and with it the Obama administration's vision …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Online NewsHour and Battleland

videocafe.crooksandliars.com:

Eric Cantor's Press Secretary Interrupts 60 Min Interview to Claim Reagan Never Raised Taxes … In what was overall a pretty softball interview with Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, there was one pretty telling moment to illustrate the type of toxic political environment we're living in …

Discussion: CBS News, Philly.com, Towleroad News #gay, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and PERRspectives

Donald Douglas / American Power:

‘Occupy’ Crashes Rose Parade: Attacks ‘Corporate Greed’ With 70-Foot Nazi-Era Octopus Depicting Global Jewish Conspiracy — Are people so afraid to stand up against the hatred, public hatred broadcast for the entire world to see? The image of the octopus has been used in attacks on the Jews for over a century.

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Informer, Atlas Shrugs, Doug Ross, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Scared Monkeys

Attaturk / Firedoglake:

Finally it comes to an end — Media outnumber voters by no small amount at rally with Ron Paul and son Rand — Today is the day all these months of suffering will come to an end for us Iowans. It's bad enough we cannot escape their television commercials but Mitt Romney has even invaded Hulu.

Discussion: Eschaton

Richard Winton / L.A. NOW:

L.A. arson suspect is 24-year-old Hollywood man — Los Angeles police on Monday afternoon booked a 24-year-old man on suspicion of arson after an L.A. County sheriff's deputy detained him in connection with a string of more than 50 deliberately set fires — Booking records identified …

Discussion: The Informer, msnbc.com, Nice Deb, Hit & Run and The PJ Tatler

Jonathan Bernstein / A plain blog about politics:

No, You Can't Skip New Hampshire Either — Rick Perry is apparently telling reporters that he'll skip New Hampshire and make a last stand in South Carolina. — Two things. First, presidential candidates always say that they're going to stay in the race no matter what.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway