memeorandum: For vision and national unity, Huntsman for GOP nominee (Boston Globe)

1:30 PM ET, January 6, 2012

Top Items:

Could Typo Rewrite Caucus History? — Caucus Vote Counter Says Romney Mistakenly Given 20 Votes — DES MOINES, Iowa — Caucus night was chaotic in many places, with hundreds of voters, candidates showing up and the throngs of media who followed. The world's eyes were on Iowa.

Rasmussen Reports:

South Carolina Primary: Romney 27%, Santorum 24%, Gingrich 18% — What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote.

Boston Globe:

For vision and national unity, Huntsman for GOP nominee — DISSATISFACTION WITH the economy, expressed in spasms of anger toward Wall Street and Washington; the dashed hopes of many who believed that Barack Obama's election would create a new spirit of unity; and genuine uncertainty …

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Gingrich: Romney should drop out if he doesn't win New Hampshire primary — Newt Gingrich said if Mitt Romney doesn't win the New Hampshire primary, he should drop out of the race. — “Look, this is one of his best states other than Utah and Massachusetts.

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and Business Insider

Rasmussen Reports:

New Hampshire: Romney 42%, Paul 18%, Santorum 13%, Huntsman 12% — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is pulling away from the pack in New Hampshire as Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary nears. His nearest rival now trails him by more than 20 points.

Discussion: Eunomia, Taegan Goddard's …, Campaign 2012, GOP 12, Big Government and Hot Air

ABCNEWS: Gingrich on Romney Debating the President: ‘Obama is Going to Laugh at Him’

Wall Street Journal:
Romney Wins but Takes a Beating

Discussion: Eunomia and GOP 12

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Romney hits Obama's economic record despite improving jobs numbers

Discussion: The Politico

Josh Boak / The Politico:
Unemployment rate falls to 8.5 percent, economy adds 200K jobs

Discussion: CNN

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
A worthy challenger — After every other conservative alternative …

Discussion: The New Republic, New York Times, GOP 12, The Atlantic Wire, New York Magazine and Associated Press

Shaila Dewan / New York Times:

U.S. Adds 200,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate at 8.5% — The United States added a robust 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, in a sign that the long-awaited economic recovery has finally built up a head of steam. — The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Calculated Risk, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Economix, Reuters, Brookings Institute, Campaign 2012, News Desk, Taylor Marsh and Gothamist

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
A good jobs report — and a good year

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Monthly and The Big Picture

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Private sector jobs looking much stronger

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Brad DeLong

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Unemployment Falls to 8.5%; 200,000 New Jobs Created

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Calculated Risk, Washington Post, FT Alphaville, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and The Political Carnival

Phil Izzo / Real Time Economics:
Unemployment Rate Drop Is for Real

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Tim Mullaney / USA Today:
Dec. unemployment rate lowest in nearly 3 years

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Marathon Pundit

Alan Krueger / White House.gov Blog:
The Employment Situation in December

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Wire

David Brooks / New York Times:

A New Social Agenda — I'm to Rick Santorum's left on most social issues, like same-sex marriage and abortion. I'm also put off by his Manichaean political rhetoric. He seems to imagine America's problems can best be described as the result of a culture war between the God-fearing conservatives and the narcissistic liberals.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Hill, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Dish, The New Republic, The Atlantic Online, The Mahablog, driftglass and Connecting.the.Dots

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:

Santorum Booed After Gay Marriage Exchange — Rick Santorum was booed after a lengthy back-and-forth with several students in Concord, N.H., on the issue of same-sex marriage, which is legal in New Hampshire. — As Santorum addressed a group of college students, one asked …

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Catholic Bandita, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Right Scoop and Patterico's Pontifications

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Santorum Booed Again For Saying Gays Aren't Entitled To Marriage Or Military Service

Discussion: American Power, The Reaction and Towleroad News #gay

Julia Preston / New York Times:

Path to Green Card for Illegal Immigrant Family Members of Americans — Obama administration officials announced on Friday that they will propose a fix to a notorious snag in immigration law that will spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from immigrant spouses and children.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Colorlines

Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
Obama rule would let undocumented stay in U.S. during application

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Reuters:

Special report: Romney's steel skeleton in the Bain closet — (Reuters) - It was funny at first. — The young men in business suits, gingerly picking their way among the millwrights, machinists and pipefitters at Kansas City's Worldwide Grinding Systems steel mill.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Brad Cooper / Kansas City Star:

Legislator apologizes for ‘YoMama’ email about first lady — Kansas legislator acknowledges forwarding email note mocking first lady's name, hair style. — Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal on Thursday apologized for an email that made fun of first lady Michelle Obama's hair style and mockingly called her “Mrs. YoMama.”

Discussion: The Lawrence Journal-World, The Politico, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Hinterland Gazette and The Huffington Post

Jason Mattera / Human Events:

Rubio in letter to Obama: You are turning America into a ‘deadbeat nation’ — In a scathing letter sent to Barack Obama this morning, Senator Marco Rubio said that under the President's first term in office, “more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation.”

Discussion: The Radio Patriot and Campaign 2012

David Frum / FrumForum:

All Good Things... FrumForum launched itself almost exactly three years ago, on Inauguration Day 2009. Over the subsequent interval, our hundreds of contributors have reached more than 5 million individual readers. I like to think that together we have helped to move the national debate.

Discussion: driftglass

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Students Laugh When Obama Tells Them “You Inspire Me” — During his opening remarks at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, President Obama got laughs when he told students that they inspire him. — “I want you to know you're the reason that I ran for this office in the first place.

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Short NBC gig for Chelsea? — Chelsea Clinton's much-trumpeted deal with NBC seems to be nearly done. Her contract is for only 90 days, and while she'll provide the network with two more stories, sources say it is not certain she'll immediately sign again.

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, Business Insider and Althouse