Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A tale of two speeches — After watching Mitt Romney's speech in New Hampshire last night, I went back and watched Barack Obama's speech in New Hampshire, delivered almost exactly four years ago. The contrast told me quite a bit about the two candidates. — Obama, who'd just lost …
Discussion:
FP Passport and Balloon Juice
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Zeke Miller / Politics:
Ron Paul To Everyone But Mitt: Drop Out — Campaign says unite behind Ron Paul to defeat Romney. — (Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla) — MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Rep. Ron Paul's campaign called on the rest of the Republican field to drop out of the race and unite behind him in order to defeat Mitt Romney.
The Politico:
Mitt Romney vs. the dead-enders — HOOKSETT, N.H. - Any remotely sympathetic observer would have to say that Mitt Romney easily cleared the bar on what he needed to do in the New Hampshire primary, and in the process took a big step toward the Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
CNN, The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh and Wall Street Journal
David Weigel / Slate:
Haven't We Lived Through This Primary Before? — I'm thinking of a Republican primary. It starts with a candidate (John McCain/Mitt Romney) who ran once before, came in second place, and won over the party's elite class without winning over its base. Other candidates, understandably unwilling …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Romney likens work at Bain Capital to Obama's auto industry bailout — On the heels of his decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney took the attacks on his private sector record used by GOP rivals and turned them against President Obama. — Romney's critics have accused …
Discussion:
CNN, The Strata-Sphere and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
A.Killough / CNN:
Santorum to spend fundraising haul immediately in S.C. — (CNN) - Rick Santorum's presidential campaign said Wednesday they've raised $3 million in the week since the former senator from Pennsylvania's strong second place finish in the Iowa caucuses. — Santorum, once a long shot in the race …
Discussion:
The Hill and Ballot Box
A.Killough / CNN:
TRENDING: Poll: Romney, Santorum tied with Obama in Florida — (CNN) - A new poll shows President Barack Obama statistically tied with Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney in Florida, a state that holds its primary on January 31 and widely expected to be a swing state in the general election.
Discussion:
The Politico and Reuters
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Romney Looks Strong in South Carolina and Beyond — The conventional wisdom holds that South Carolina is likely to be the toughest test yet for Mitt Romney's campaign. But I'm not so sure that's true. From my vantage point, Mr. Romney's position there looks fairly robust.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Politico, Washington Post, New York Times, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Democratic Strategist, Politics and Saint Petersblog
msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Next up: The last stand — Next up: The last stand of South Carolina... And it's likely to get nasty there... How will Romney emerge 10 days for now: battered or the de facto nominee?... The message that could take on Romney (but is there a messenger to deliver it?)...
Discussion:
Time, Saint Petersblog, The Political Carnival and ABCNEWS
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Santorum gambles, and loses, in NH
Discussion:
The Politico, The State, NY Daily News, msnbc.com, CNN and Reuters
Washington Post:
Conservative activists scramble to stop Mitt Romney
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, The Politico and Taylor Marsh
Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Rush Limbaugh: Newt Gingrich ‘Sounds Like Elizabeth Warren’
Discussion:
Don Surber, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Rush Limbaugh and EconoSpeak
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Sen. DeMint predicts Romney will win SC
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway and Ballot Box
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Mitt Romney still must answer 5 questions after New Hampshire
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, New York Times, ABCNEWS, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Huffington Post
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney raises impressive $24M in fourth quarter
Discussion:
GOP 12, The Politico, Washington Post and Hot Air
Adam Beam / The State:
Rally will feature Gingrich, Clyburn
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Other McCain, Don Surber, The Daily Caller and National Review
New York Times:
Blaming U.S. and Israel, Iran Reports Killing of Nuclear Scientist — LONDON — At a time of growing tension over its nuclear program and mounting belligerence toward the West, Iran reported on Wednesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist died in what was termed a “terrorist bomb blast” …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Global Public Square, The Daily Dish, News Desk, The Lede and The Impolitic
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Gordon Corera / BBC:
Iran car explosion ‘kills nuclear scientist’ in Tehran — BBC's Mohsen Asgari: “It seems a motor cyclist pasted a bomb to his car which he was in with two other passengers — A university lecturer and nuclear scientist has been killed in a car explosion in north Tehran, reports say.
Discussion:
Truthdig, Lawyers, Guns & Money, nation.foxnews.com and The Gateway Pundit
Fars News Agency:
Nuclear Scientist Killed in Terrorist Blast in Tehran
Discussion:
emptywheel, YID With LID, Israel Matzav and Hot Air
Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
Another Iranian Nuclear Scientist Assassinated, and What it Means
Mary Lu Carnevale / Washington Wire:
Obama Scores Easy Win; Rivals Pick Up 18% of N.H. Vote — While few noticed, President Barack Obama cruised to an easy victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, though a baker's dozen of others on the ballot and write-in candidates garnered about 18% of the vote.
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ABCNEWS:
Biden Jabs Romney, Compares Republican Candidates to ‘Brush’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and CNN
The Politico:
Mitt Romney's victory speech
Discussion:
The New Republic, Betsy's Page, The Boston Globe and CNN
Michelle Obama / CBS News:
No tension with husband's aides — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — Michelle Obama said depictions of friction in a new book, “The Obamas,” between her and former top aides to her husband, President Obama, aren't true. — In a wide-ranging interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS and The Raw Story
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Byron Tau / The Politico:
Michelle Obama denies White House tensions
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers and nation.foxnews.com
Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:
In Greece, fears that austerity is killing the economy — ATHENS — Deeply indebted and nearly bankrupt, this Mediterranean nation was forced to adopt tough austerity measures to slash its deficit and secure an international bailout. But as the Greek economy slides into free fall …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Paul Krugman and ECHIDNE of the snakes
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Maryland Senate President: Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘An Attack On The Family’ — Maryland Senate President Mike Miller (D) spoke out against Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) push for marriage equality, describing the effort as “an attack on traditional families” this morning on The Marc Steiner Show.
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement and Good As You
John Cook / Gawker:
John Castle, 76-Year-Old Palm Beach Plutocrat, Breaks Insolent Waiter's Finger — It's an age-old and vexing question: How much is it fair to shave off the tip at a high-end restaurant to signal dissatisfaction with the waitstaff? Two percent? Five percent? Should you stiff them?
Discussion:
DealBook
Jim Dwyer / New York Times:
About New York: Belgian Tourist Arrested, but Crime Never Happened — Just before he was loaded into the police car, Aaron Vansintjan said, one of the officers looked at him. — “He said, 'I'm embarrassed,' ” Mr. Vansintjan said. — That was no obstacle to a bad situation's getting more perplexing by the minute.
Carl Campanile / New York Post:
Mayor's plan to limit booze sales — Party pooper! — First, Mayor Bloomberg went after smoking in public places. Then trans-fats, salt and sugary drinks. — Now Bloomberg — known for sipping fine wine and downing a cold beer from time to time — wants to crack down on alcohol sales …
Discussion:
Gothamist, The Raw Story and Capital New York
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