memeorandum: Appointments Challenge Senate Role, Experts Say (Jonathan Weisman/New York Times)

12:35 AM ET, January 9, 2012

Top Items:

Romney holding steady in NH — Mitt Romney continues to be headed for a comfortable win in New Hampshire. PPP's final poll there finds him with 35% to 18% for Ron Paul, 16% for Jon Huntsman, 12% for Newt Gingrich, 11% for Rick Santorum, 3% for Buddy Roemer, and 1% for Rick Perry.

Discussion: WMUR, The Politico and Taegan Goddard's …

New York Times:

Pro-Gingrich PAC Details Ads Against Romney's Bain Role — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner, a group supporting New Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Caucus, Little Green Footballs, LewRockwell.com Blog, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Hot Air

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Super PAC debate a sign they're here to stay — There's no better evidence that the Republican presidential field has embraced super PACs as a driving force in their campaign than the debate over what to do about them. — Mitt Romney has called for the abolition of super PACs and Newt Gingrich …

Robert Walker / The Huffington Post:

Santorum and the ‘Anti-contraception’ Conservatives — If the current GOP presidential primary campaign is remembered for nothing else, it will be known for the meteoric rise of the “anti-contraception conservatives.” — The Republican leadership has been anti-abortion since time immemorial …

Discussion: Washington Post

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

The Boffo Awfulness — In the preceding post I referenced this swift-boat-style ‘documentary’ on Mitt Romney and Bain Capital which the Gingrich-backing SuperPAC (Winning Our Future) has bought and will use as the battering ram against Romney in South Carolina. They've put up a trailer for it now which you can see after the jump.

Discussion: Political Mojo

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Romney tells voters he knows what it's like to fear getting a ‘pink slip’

Discussion: The Politico

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Stephanopoulos struggles with fairness during NH debate

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Wizbang, Wake up America, bustardblog, Los Angeles Times, The Gateway Pundit, Doug Ross, NO QUARTER, RedState, Mediaite, Instapundit and The Lonely Conservative

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
2012 ABC/Yahoo!/WMUR New Hampshire GOP primary debate (Transcript)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, US Politics, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Althouse and Campaign 2012

Gautham Nagesh / Ballot Box:
GOP debate: Gingrich, Romney trade barbs over super-PAC ads

Discussion: The Politico, CBS News and ThinkProgress

ABCNEWS:
Why Mitt Romney Didn't Get Attacked In Saturday Night's Debate

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Connecting.the.Dots, The Daily Caller, American Spectator, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, Outside the Beltway and Ballot Box

James V. Grimaldi / Washington Post:
Billionaire Adelson gives millions to Gingrich Super PAC

Discussion: Hot Air, Capital New York, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice and The Politico

Michael O'Brien / msnbc.com: Romney faces fire at NBC News-Facebook debate

BuzzFeed:

Romney: Politics For The Rich — His father told him he shouldn't go into politics if he had a mortgage to pay. Most people have mortgages to pay. — (Reuters / JIM BOURG) — Mitt Romney suggested in today's debate that only rich people should run for office, and then quickly celebrated …

Discussion: PERRspectives, Politics, Hullabaloo, The New Republic, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, Taegan Goddard's … and ThinkProgress

Buzzfeed Politics / Politics:
Romney's Inexplicable Debate Fibs

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line and The Mahablog

ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney Says He Feared Getting ‘Fired’

Discussion: Riehl World View

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Romney: elected office is for the rich

Discussion: The Reaction, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com

New York Post:

White House threw secret ‘Alice in Wonderland’ bash during recession — It was the tea party the Obamas just couldn't resist. — A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never …

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Verum Serum, Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs, Doug Ross, New York Magazine and The Lonely Conservative

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:

White House ‘covered up’ Tim Burton-staged Alice in Wonderland Halloween party — The White House covered up an Alice in Wonderland-themed Halloween party staged by film director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp for fear of creating the wrong impression during a recession, a new book on the Obamas has claimed.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire: New Book Portrays Explosive White House Dynamics

Kevinliptak / CNN:

TRENDING: Christie takes on protesters chanting at Romney rally — Exeter, New Hampshire (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fired back at protesters at a rally Sunday for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. — The brash Republican governor …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Politico

Katrina Trinko / National Review:
Christie Squares Off with Occupiers at Romney Rally

Discussion: Washington Post, Nice Deb and Ed Driscoll

David Eldridge / Washington Times:

Ex-Times Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley dead at 63 — Tony Blankley, a noted conservative author and commentator and former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, died Sunday morning, according to family sources. He was 63 and had been battling stomach cancer.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters.org, The Daily Caller, The Other McCain and Outside the Beltway

Gschwarzcnn / CNN: Tony Blankley, conservative author, dies at 63

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Black Man Confronts Gingrich On Food Stamps Comments: ‘Stop Using Blacks As A Punching Bag’ — MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich defended himself today against charges of racial insensitivity by noting that he's worked with African-American leaders in the past.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Angry Black Lady Chronicles

CNN:

STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY — Interview with Jon Huntsman; Interview with Bob Walker, John Sununu; Interview with Nancy Pelosi — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — CANDY CROWLEY, HOST: Good morning from New Hampshire.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Pelosi: Obama right to run against Congress

Discussion: Hot Air

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — Carl Paladino Trash-Talks The Entire GOP Field (Except Newt) — MANCHESTER, NH — Ron Paul's about to “get on the mother-ship and go back to the mother planet,” Rick Perry's going nowhere unless it's to “hang around the shooting range,” and Jon Huntsman clearly loves the Chinese so much he “should move to China.”

Discussion: Capital New York, The Politico and No More Mister Nice Blog

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Marriage Equality Opponent Mitt Romney To Gay People: 'I Don't Discriminate' — Mitt Romney had a hard time explaining how he has lived up to his 1994 campaign promise to “foster anti-discrimination efforts” on behalf of gays and lesbians within the Republican party during the NBC/Facebook debate in New Hampshire Sunday morning.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay