memeorandum: Why Iowa gets to go first, and other facts about tonight's caucus (Ezra Klein/Washington Post)

5:00 PM ET, January 3, 2012

Top Items:

David Brooks / New York Times:

Workers of the World, Unite! — The Republican Party is the party of the white working class. This group — whites with high school degrees and maybe some college — is still the largest block in the electorate. They overwhelmingly favor Republicans. — It's a diverse group, obviously …

Discussion: The Caucus, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog, Don Surber, Rod Dreher, Wonkette, Balloon Juice and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

John Garver / The Daily Caller:

The trouble with my uncle, Rick Santorum — If you want another big-government politician who supports the status quo to run our country, you should vote for my uncle, Rick Santorum. America is based on a strong belief in individual liberty. My uncle's interventionist policies …

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:

Iowa Caucus Final Poll Snapshot: Close, But Romney's Ahead … 2012 Election , Michele Bachmann , Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Rick Santorum , Elections 2012 , Michele Bachmann 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Rick Perry , Ron Paul , Video , Iowa Caucuses , Iowa Poll , Mitt Romney Iowa …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Guardian, 2012 Decoded, Saint Petersblog and New York Times

Serafin Gomez / Fox News:
Santorum: “ Ron Paul is Disgusting.”

Discussion: Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers and The Hill

Kevin Drum / Political Mojo:
Crackpots Do Not Make Good Messengers

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Dish, Lawyers, Guns & Money, US Politics, Balloon Juice and Daniel W. Drezner

A.Killough / CNN:
Last-day Ron Paul ad is his sharpest anti-Romney attack yet

Discussion: Reuters, The Politico, The Daily Caller and Democratic Strategist

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Santorum's Tressel Gambit

Discussion: Saint Petersblog

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box: Ron Paul supporters heckle Santorum

Mary Stegmeir / Iowa Caucuses: Ron Paul gets rock star reception at Valley High School

marginoferror.org:
Iowa Prediction: Romney Will Probably Win

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, Hit & Run, Saint Petersblog, National Review, Politics & Elections Blog and Washington Post

Charles Dharapak / ABCNEWS:
Does Ron Paul See Himself in the Oval Office? ‘Not Really’

Discussion: American Spectator, Indecision Forever and Hot Air

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
How Ron Paul's Libertarian Principles Support Racism

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Mahablog, The Daily Dish, Feministing, LewRockwell.com Blog and Addicting Info

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Iowa Poll Shows Paul-Romney-Santorum Dead Heat

Discussion: Caffeinated Thoughts, theGrio, Political Mojo, Bleeding Heartland, The Impolitic, American Spectator, Washington Post and New York Magazine

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: Catholic Bandita, Cato @ Liberty, The Week, Los Angeles Times, ABCNEWS, The Hinterland Gazette, The Daily Dish and Prairie Weather

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: Democracy in America, Mashable!, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, Runnin' Scared, Shakesville, The Hill, Hotline On Call and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

Remember the Crying Girl? — Last night I called my wife and told her I loved her, after listening to Rick Santorum's speech to his supporters at the final town hall meeting before Caucus Day here in Iowa. Santorum paid tribute to his wife, Karen, and also to his children, who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much:

Discussion: And So it Goes in Shreveport, American Spectator, Maggie's Notebook, The Lonely Conservative and Daily Pundit

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Alan Colmes: The way Santorum dealt with the death of his child sure was crazy

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Nice Deb, americanthinker.com, Pundit & Pundette, ABCNEWS, Althouse, American Spectator, Betsy's Page, Israel Matzav, Mediaite and The PJ Tatler

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: Associated Press, Election Law Blog, Washington Monthly, Iowa Caucuses, The Week, Shakesville, neo-neocon, The PJ Tatler, Indecision Forever, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and ABCNEWS

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Why Iowa gets to go first, and other facts about tonight's caucus — (Jessica Reilly) David Redlawsk is a political scientist at Rutgers University and co-author of “Why Iowa? How Caucuses and Sequential Elections improve the Nominating Process.” We spoke earlier today …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
In Iowa, Six Candidates Compete to Beat Expectations

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, The Other McCain, CJR, The Week, Iowa Caucuses, The Politico, Democracy in America, The Reaction, Patterico's Pontifications, The Blotter, Balloon Juice, The Staggers, Saint Petersblog, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Associated Press

Ned Martel / Washington Post:
Conflicting reports: Political reporters share a home but not their stories

Discussion: Poynter and Price of Politics, Etc., more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

W.H. to Boehner: Ditch the GOP, pass bills — John Boehner walks to a news conference on the payroll tax cut with Eric Cantor on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. AP Photo — A senior White House official challenged House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to buck his own Republican conference …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Pat Dollard

Russell Berman / The Hill: GOP Rep. King knocks Boehner's leadership on spending fights

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama willing to work with Congress in 2012 on taxes, cutting debt

Discussion: CNN and The Political Carnival

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Santorum: States Should Have The Right To Outlaw Birth Control — Rick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw contraception during an interview with ABC News yesterday, saying, “The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that.

Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes, Little Green Footballs, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette, Taylor Marsh and Eschaton

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Gingrich: I 'Wouldn't Make Exceptions' For Abortions In Cases Of Rape Or Incest — Newt Gingrich explicitly told a voter in Iowa this afternoon that he opposes all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, joining fellow GOP presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and The Political Carnival

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich would not support rape, incest abortion exceptions

Discussion: LifeNews.com

Thomas Erdbrink / Washington Post:

Iran warns U.S. carrier not to return to Persian Gulf — Handout/Reuters - Iranian naval ships take part in a naval parade on the last day of the Velayat-90 war game in the Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Iran's army chief has warned an American aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf.

Discussion: Jay Bookman, The Right Scoop and Israel Matzav

Reuters:
Iran threatens action if US carrier returns-IRNA

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, The Atlantic Online and Questions and Observations

O.Kay Henderson:

Huckabee: Rs more interested in defeating Obama than in rebuilding USA (audio) — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, victor in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses, called into the Radio Iowa newsroom this morning for a chat. I'll be posted snippets over the next few hours.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Weasel Zippers

Mary C. Curtis / Washington Post:

Michelle Obama's backside is your business how? — Can you imagine how the incident would play out if an African American congressman made a crude remark about First Lady Laura Bush's body? It certainly would have taken more than an insincere apology to wash that sin away.

Discussion: Alas, a Blog and Weasel Zippers

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: Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Online NewsHour, Battleland, The Politico, Cato @ Liberty, americanthinker.com, Via Meadia and ThinkProgress

Joshua Spivak / The Recall Elections Blog:

Wisconsin: No Roger, No Rerun, No Recall? Barrett and the unusual nature of the recall Rematch/Rerun — As we heard earlier this week, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2010, is considering running in the recall against Governor Scott Walker.

NBC's Carrie Dann / msnbc.com:

Perry: ‘This is Omaha Beach’ — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — With a sense of history on the biggest political day — to date — of the 2012 cycle, Texas Gov. Rick Perry today compared the GOP's quest to defeat President Barack Obama to one of the deadliest battles of the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Saint Petersblog

George Packer / News Desk:

Un-American Activities — In the tenth paragraph of a page A15 Times piece, Rick Santorum accuses Barack Obama of engaging in “absolutely un-American activities.” What are they? The article doesn't say. The quote appears without explanation or comment, in an article entitled …

Discussion: The Politico, The Daily Dish, Political Mojo and Daily Kos

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy / The Huffington Post:

Double Barrel Blast From Big Sky Country: Montana Rejects Citizens United — On December 30, 2011, by a vote of 5 to 2 the Montana Supreme Court decided that Montana's ban on corporate political expenditures dating back to 1912 could stand. In a hard hitting decision …

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

Young, gay caucus-goers talk politics, support for GOP — Several young gay Iowa caucus goers discuss which GOP candidates they will support today. (Washington Blade photo by Chris Johnson) — DES MOINES, Iowa — For some gay Iowa Republicans, the 2012 presidential election is about more than just LGBT issues.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Truth Wins Out