Top Items:
Beltway Buzz:
Evangelicals Throw Support to Santorum — After a two day meeting at a ranch outside of Houston a group of 150 Christian leaders, business leaders and conservative activists have coalesced behind Rick Santorum. — Friday night surrogates from every GOP campaign (except that of Jon Huntsman) …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Box Turtle Bulletin and The Hinterland Gazette
RELATED:
Jeff Mason / Reuters:
Romney opens 21-point lead in South Carolina: Reuters/Ipsos poll — (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened a wide lead over his rivals in the South Carolina primary election race, trouncing Newt Gingrich and gaining momentum in his march toward the party's nomination, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
Discussion:
Power Line, The Politico, Don Surber and The Hinterland Gazette
Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
Santorum: US wrong to condemn Iran scientist death — GREENVILLE, S.C.—Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Saturday the U.S. was wrong to condemn the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist this week. — The Obama administration's public posture on the death Wednesday …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, nation.foxnews.com and Jihad Watch
Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
What does Ron Paul want? — Ron Paul is on track to end the GOP presidential race in second place. But his refusal to directly take on the man who's ahed of him — Mitt Romney — has Republicans wondering: What does Ron Paul want? — Paul has already ruled out a return to the House …
Discussion:
The Politico, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune and Public Policy Polling
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Social conservatives back Rick Santorum
Social conservatives back Rick Santorum
Discussion:
Politics, Rick Santorum for President and ABCNEWS
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Santorum wins support of evangelical leaders at Texas meeting
Santorum wins support of evangelical leaders at Texas meeting
Discussion:
Sky Dancing
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
150 Social Conservative Activists Settle on Supporting Santorum In Stop Romney Move
150 Social Conservative Activists Settle on Supporting Santorum In Stop Romney Move
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Raw Story and The Other McCain
New York Times:
In Reversal, Gingrich Calls for Withdrawal of Film Attacking Romney and Bain
In Reversal, Gingrich Calls for Withdrawal of Film Attacking Romney and Bain
Discussion:
The Caucus, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway
Kim Geiger / Los Angeles Times:
Religious leaders rally behind Rick Santorum
Religious leaders rally behind Rick Santorum
Discussion:
Applesauce and The New Civil Rights Movement
Josh Dorner / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Social Conservatives Officially Unite on Rick Santorum As Romney Alternative
BREAKING: Social Conservatives Officially Unite on Rick Santorum As Romney Alternative
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
BBC:
Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia: Search for missing — The BBC's Alan Johnston says it “must have been an extraordinarily harrowing experience” — Emergency teams in Italy are racing to rescue those missing after a cruise ship ran aground off the country's west coast with about 4,000 people on board.
Discussion:
The Stir By CafeMom, Suburban Guerrilla, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story
RELATED:
CNN:
Police arrest Italian captain of cruise ship that ran aground, killing 3 — Cruise ship runs aground off Italy — Porto Santo Stefano, Italy (CNN) — The Italian captain of the cruise ship that ran aground — killing three people, injuring 20 and leaving dozens unaccounted for …
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette, Runnin' Scared, Scared Monkeys and Gawker
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Mitt Romney's new problem: A rising sun — Mitt Romney was on the campaign trail in South Carolina yesterday, and brought up the issue he expects to ride into the White House: the U.S. economy. Unfortunately for the former governor, the message isn't quite the same as it was a few months ago.
Discussion:
msnbc.com and The Reality-Based Community
Macon Phillips / White House.gov Blog:
Obama Administration Responds to We the People Petitions on SOPA and Online Piracy — The White House has responded to two petitions about legislative approaches to combat online piracy. In their response, Victoria Espinel, Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Gothamist, AllThingsD, VentureBeat, Deadline.com, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Engadget and Fire Andrea Mitchell!, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA
Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, The Politico, Techdirt, Wake up America, Balloon Juice, Electronic Frontier Foundation, GigaOM and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Jeffrey Sachs / The Huffington Post:
How the Wall Street Journal Misleads About Federal Jobs — The editorial board of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal has a simple game. They want to cut taxes for the rich and government services for the rest, and end regulations of banks and the environment.
Financial Times:
Merkel says eurozone must act fast — By Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin and Scheherazade Daneshkhu in Paris — German chancellor Angela Merkel has called on eurozone governments speedily to implement tough new fiscal rules after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of France and Austria and seven other second-tier sovereigns.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, The Moderate Voice, mainly macro and Hullabaloo
RELATED:
Kim Severson / New York Times:
Town, Cast as Romney's Victim, Says, ‘Huh?’ — GAFFNEY, S.C. — This small Southern town that once boomed with peaches and cotton mills has found itself the unexpected star of the latest bruising fight in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Warns Israel on Strike — Officials Lobby Against Attack on Iran as Military Leaders Bolster Defenses — WASHINGTON—U.S. defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran, over U.S. objections, and have stepped up contingency planning …
Discussion:
Informed Comment, Weasel Zippers, Tikun Olam, Taylor Marsh, Sky Dancing, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Israel Matzav, The Daily Dish and emptywheel
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Mandarin Smackdown! Stewart vs. Huntsman vs. Xiao Li — What do Messrs. Stewart and Huntsman have in common, apart from spelling their first name Jon? Apparently an interest in Asian language. Stewart puts the needle effectively in Huntsman for using Mandarin on the campaign trail, starting at time 5:00 of this clip.
Discussion:
The Agonist
James Freeman / Wall Street Journal:
‘Supply-Sider’ for the Working Man — Mitt Romney's conservative rival Rick Santorum wants to grow the economy with tax breaks for manufacturing—and babies. — Manchester, N.H. — 'I'm someone who believes that making things creates wealth," says Rick Santorum.
Discussion:
National Review