memeorandum: Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead (Paul Polls/Pew Research Center …)

12:15 AM ET, January 19, 2012

Top Items:

NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES ‘ETHICS’ OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY — Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband's career with a single interview. — Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

David Bauder / Associated Press:

AP source: ABC interviewed Gingrich ex-wife — NEW YORK (AP) - An ABC News executive tells The Associated Press that the network has interviewed Newt Gingrich's second wife and is likely to air the segment Thursday on “Nightline.” — That's two days before the South Carolina primary …

Discussion: Gretawire, The Right Scoop, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, Mediaite, The Powers That Be and Political Mojo, more at Mediagazer »

Wallacegw / CNN:

CNN/Time Poll: Race for South Carolina tightening — Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With three days to go until the first-in-the south primary, Mitt Romney remains in the lead in the Palmetto State, but according to a new poll, his advantage over Newt Gingrich is rapidly shrinking.

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, ABCNEWS, American Power, The Situation Room …, The Moderate Voice, Campaign 2012, National Review, Trail Blazers Blog, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S … and Washington Examiner

Roz Helderman / Washington Post:

Santorum says the only woman he's ever sat on a couch with is his wife — Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told a Spartanburg crowd Wednesday that the only woman he's ever sat on a couch with is his wife, a not-so-subtle dig at former House speaker Newt Gingrich …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Indecision Forever and Washington Wire

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

Rick Perry's Final Act: King Maker? — “Rick Perry's campaign has come to an end. But he could leave on an unexpected high note — helping conservatives unite around one not-Romney” — Barring a miracle, this is Rick Perry's final act in the 2012 elections. On Saturday, he will come in last in South Carolina.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Ballot Box, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Democratic Daily

The Politico:

Anxious Mitt Romney lights into Newt Gingrich — ROCK HILL, S.C. — Clear signs Mitt Romney is again worried about Newt Gingrich: He released two new negative web videos, unleashed attacking surrogates and even went after the former House speaker himself. — And that was all before lunch on Wednesday.

Discussion: CNN and This Just In

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Jimmy Carter Tells Piers Morgan That Newt Gingrich ‘Has That Subtlety Of Racism’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

New York Times:
Preaching Division in South Carolina

Discussion: Big Government, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, Economix, The New Republic, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway and The Caucus

ABCNEWS:
New Orwellian-Themed Santorum Ad Takes Aim At ‘Establishment’ and Romney

Discussion: Hot Air and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Gingrich would consider Palin for his administration

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:

Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline — The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

Discussion: Grist, The Hill, Business Insider, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Opinion L.A., Questions and Observations, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, Sunlight Foundation Blog, Booman Tribune, Michelle Malkin, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, St. Louis Activist Hub, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air and Mediaite

Brad Johnson / ThinkProgress:
President Obama: ‘Rushed And Arbitrary Deadline’ Of GOP Forced Me To Reject Keystone XL

Discussion: Mediaite, ABCNEWS, Pat Dollard and Weasel Zippers

The White House:
Statement by the President on the Keystone XL Pipeline

Discussion: Political Mojo, Power Line and Firedoglake

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
AFL-CIO's Trumka slams Obama's jobs council

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Weasel Zippers

US Department of State:
Denial of the Keystone XL Pipeline Application

Discussion: New York Times, Campaign 2012, RedState and Grist

Darren Goode / Reuters:
Keystone XL pipeline rejected by Obama administration

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, The Politico, Grist, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, Heritage Action for America, Mediaite, The Daily Dish, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Pirate's Cove

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
Obama's jobs council report says ‘drill’

Discussion: Washington Post, The Politico, The Heritage Foundation, Reuters, Wake up America, CNN, Grist, Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, The 1600 Report, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, JustOneMinute, Questions and Observations and Betsy's Page

Jennifer Martinez / The Politico:

SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect — Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting. — Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Threat Level, Guardian, PC World, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mashable!, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Omaha World-Herald, The Political Carnival, Liberal Values, Techdirt, American Spectator, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Megan Slack / White House.gov Blog:
By the Numbers: 103,785 — A total of 103,785 people signed …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, L.A. Times Tech Blog, WTVM-TV, TechCrunch, Bits, Threat Level, Mashable!, CNN and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Jim Puzzanghera / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests

Discussion: Bits, Mashable!, Company Town, GigaOM, Runnin' Scared, THEROOT.COM, nytm.org and Opinion L.A., more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
In Fight Over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old

Discussion: Media Decoder, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Firedoglake, News Desk, Taylor Marsh, Wonkette and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:

Morning Jay: What to Make of Obama's Approval Bounce? — You might have noticed recently that Barack Obama's job approval has ticked up slightly in the last few weeks. What to make of this? — Here is the RealClearPolitics average: — Two months ago, the president's job approval was 43.7 percent.

Marjorie Connelly / The Caucus:
G.O.P. in Congress Gets Blame for Gridlock

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish

Elizabeth Williamson / Wall Street Journal:

Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans — A year into his first full-time teaching job, Newt Gingrich applied to be college president, submitting with his application a paper titled “Some Projections on West Georgia College's Next Thirty Years.”

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Wonkette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, FishbowlDC, Swampland and Washington Post

Paul Polls / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead — OVERVIEW — Days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney maintains a substantial lead nationally in the race for the GOP nomination. Yet his image among all voters has slipped since November and he runs no better …

Discussion: CBS News, Hot Air, The Political Carnival, Indecision Forever, Firedoglake, American Prospect and Weekly Standard

ABCNEWS:

Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands — Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven. — A spokesperson for the Romney campaign …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Guardian

Esquire:

Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On — Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days. He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus. So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Bill Clinton: MSNBC is ‘our version of Fox’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

3rd Annual TV News Trust Poll — PPP's 3rd annual TV news trust poll (2011 version here, 2010 version here) finds that Fox News tops the list for both the source Americans trust the most and the one they trust the least. — Fox is the most trusted TV news source for 34% of voters …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake and Hot Air

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Obama pollster calls Herman Cain ‘racist’ on camera... then denies he did it — We'll have to see if this one makes Anderson Cooper's “Keeping Them Honest” segment on CNN's “AC360.” — On Cooper's Tuesday program, Democratic strategist and Obama 2012 campaign pollster Cornell Belcher took aim …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:

Scott Brown floats plan to bar outside group spending from Senate race — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has offered his Democratic rival a creative way to dispose of pesky outside groups who have already pledged to spend millions in his Senate race. The first-term senator wants both campaigns …

Discussion: The Politico

Opinionator:

David Brooks: Gail, I'm sorry we missed each other in South Carolina, but I've moved on to the next primary state, Florida, in search of people who pay Mitt Romney's 15 percent tax rate. I'm in Palm Beach now. I think I've found them. — By the way, why do we make candidates release their tax forms?

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, The New Republic, Eunomia and Balloon Juice

Kari Huus / msnbc.com:

Prosecutors aim new weapon at Occupy activists: lynching allegation — Screen grab from youtube video showing the arrest of Occupy LA activist Sergio Ballesteros on Thursday, Jan. 12. Ballesteros, 30, was released on $50,000 bail early Tuesday. He is charged with “lynching” …

Discussion: Don Surber and Weasel Zippers

John Melloy / Fast Money:

Stephen Schwarzman Hosting Private Party for Romney, Amid Criticism — Executive Producer, Fast Money & Halftime — Blackstone [BX Loading... () ] Co-Chairman Stephen Schwarzman is hosting a party for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney Tuesday evening at his Park Avenue apartment …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Politico and Fortune