memeorandum: Romney's National Lead Down to 10 Points (Frank Newport/Gallup)

7:25 PM ET, January 20, 2012

Top Items:

Wallacegw / CNN:

Fake CNN email used as dirty trick in South Carolina — CNN did not send out the email alert. — Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @politicalticker — It's not clear how many people received the fake email, though at least two members of the South Carolina GOP Executive Committee …

Discussion: The Politico, FITSNews, Telegraph, The Other McCain, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, 2012 Decoded, American Spectator, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Chuck Norris / WND:

MY ENDORSEMENT FOR PRESIDENT — Exclusive: Chuck Norris reveals his choice for Republican nomination — Our republic as America's founders created it is under assault from extremists outside our country and anti-constitutionalists inside our country. Combined with the flailing American economy …

Discussion: The Hill, Balloon Juice, Pat Dollard, Mediaite, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Gawker and The Daily Caller

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Romney's National Lead Down to 10 Points — Romney 30%, Gingrich 20% in the latest Gallup Daily tracking — PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney is a considerably weaker front-runner among Republican registered voters nationally than he was at the beginning of the week.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Post, CNN, Pat Dollard, 2012 Decoded, The Political Carnival, Indecision Forever, Daily Kos, The Caucus, The Daily Dish and Connecting.the.Dots

Clemson University:

Clemson Palmetto Poll finds Gingrich leading, 20% of S.C. voters still uncommitted — CLEMSON, S.C. — With polls opening in less than 24 hours for the important South Carolina presidential primary election, the final Palmetto Poll shows Newt Gingrich leading over Mitt Romney in a gritty battle fraught …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, Guardian, Booman Tribune, American Spectator, weaskamerica.com, National Review, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Trail Blazers Blog, Campaign 2012, Public Policy Polling, newt.org and Washington Times

Dr. Keith Ablow / Fox News:

Newt Gingrich's three marriages mean he might make a strong president — really — Former Speaker of the House and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was attacked Thursday in an interview on ABC News by his second wife Marianne. She accused him of beginning an affair …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, Wonkette and The Stranger …

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Romney adviser: We could lose South Carolina — Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With Newt Gingrich creeping up in the polls and potentially on the cusp of a South Carolina victory, one of Mitt Romney's senior advisers sought to change expectations ahead of Saturdays' pivotal presidential primary.

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Telegraph, The Daily Caller and Guardian

Jonathan Martinand Alexander Burns / Reuters:
Why Newt Gingrich is surging in South Carolina

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, FITSNews, Washington Post, Hardball Blog, Wake up America, Washington Wire, The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway and Taylor Marsh

Matt Stout / Boston Herald:
Sen. Scott Brown urges Romney, Gingrich — come clean

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress, Hot Air and The Hill

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Romney's ‘Prevent Defense’ Yielding Big Gains to Opponents

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, American Prospect, The New Republic, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Mahablog and PoliPundit.com

A.Killough / CNN:
Colbert: Vote for Cain, he's on the ballot

Discussion: The Politico

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
“I THINK GRANDIOSE THOUGHTS”

Discussion: Althouse, Swampland, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway and Mail Online

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Santorum: Newt Has ‘Issues of Character’

Discussion: Hot Air and Wonkette

Kristin Ford / Faith in Public Life:
Catholic Leaders Challenge Gingrich and Santorum on Divisive Rhetoric Around Race and Poverty

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The American Independent

Steve Kornacki / Salon:
The power of conservative victimhood

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Little Green Footballs

Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:
‘Cautiously optimistic’ Mitt Romney hints he could lose South Carolina, talks tax returns

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed and Guardian

Conn Carroll / Campaign 2012:
America hates Newt Gingrich

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Peter Overby / NPR:
As ‘Citizens United’ Turns 2, SuperPACs Draw Protests

Discussion: Guardian, Hit & Run, Prairie Weather and The Huffington Post

Dylan Byers / The Politico:
Mitt Romney leaves NBC Florida Republican debate uncertain

Discussion: Daily Kos, Naked Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABCNEWS

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney calls on Gingrich to release House Ethics report

Discussion: Daily Kos

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:

Breaking News: Supreme Court Decides Texas Redistricting Case, Reverses Lower Court — In a unanimous per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court (with Justice Thomas concurring separately in the judgment) has reversed the maps drawn by the three judge court and remanded to draw new maps under new standards.

Discussion: Reuters, Daily Kos, Washington Post, SCOTUSblog, Los Angeles Times, ACS Blog, Off the Kuff and Political Watch

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Rejects Judge-Drawn Maps in Texas Redistricting Case — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday instructed a lower court in Texas to take a fresh look at election maps it had drawn in place of a competing set of maps from the Texas Legislature.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, ProPublica, Election Law Blog and Washington Monthly

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Court rejects Texas maps, delays W.Va. map

Discussion: TEXAS REDISTRICTING, Election Law Blog, Greg's Opinion and Swampland

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court sides with Texas on redistricting plan

Discussion: American Prospect and NewsBusters.org

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
SCOTUS kills judge-drawn Texas map

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice and RedState

ThinkProgress:

Obama Administration Approves Rule That Guarantees Near-Universal Contraceptive Coverage — Our guest blogger is Jessica Arons, Director of the Women's Health and Rights Program at American Progress. — Today, in a huge victory for women's health, Health and Human Services Secretary …

Discussion: Salon, Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Religion Dispatches and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays — Most healthcare plans will be required to cover birth control without charging co-pays or deductibles starting Aug. 1, the Obama administration announced Friday. — The final regulation retains the approach federal health officials proposed …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, The Lonely Conservative and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Nando Di Fino / Mediaite:

NBC's Chuck Todd Blasts Stephen Colbert: ‘He Is Making A Mockery Of The System’ — Appearing at a Winthrop University panel Thursday, MSNBC host and NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd ripped into Stephen Colbert and his not-yet-official run, suggesting that Colbert might …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Big Journalism, Balloon Juice and Rumproast

Todd Leopold / CNN:

Singing legend Etta James dies at 73 — Etta James, here performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2009, died Friday, January 20, due to complications from leukeimia, said her longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon. The singer was 73. — HIDE CAPTION — Etta James through the years

Discussion: THEROOT.COM, Washington Post, TalkLeft, Gothamist and The Democratic Daily

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Romney: I Won't Release My Tax Returns Because 'I Don't Want To Give The Democrats A Nice Little Present' — GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney endured a hail of boos during the CNN debate last night when he refused to commit to releasing his 2011 tax returns.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Towleroad News #gay and Daily Kos

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Four Years Ago, Romney's Wealth Was Not an Issue

Discussion: The Mahablog

Keith Laing / The Hill:

Lawmakers reach deal on labor to clear FAA funding for takeoff — Lawmakers have reached a deal on a long-term funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that is likely to prevent shutdowns of the beleaguered agency for the foreseeable future, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said late Friday afternoon.

Discussion: The Politico and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Jennifer Martinez / The Politico:
SOPA and PIPA dead, for now

Discussion: Senate Democrats, The Verge, The Democratic Daily, Gothamist, Balloon Juice, Policy Blog, GigaOM, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Wake up America and RedState, more at Techmeme »

Ben Fischer / bizjournals:

Supreme Court's Antonin Scalia sounds off at law gathering … Justice Antonin Scalia said Thursday he is prepared to discard a major precedent in abortion law when considering a future challenge to state regulations that require extra staff and expensive equipment at abortion clinics, such as one approved in Virginia last year.

Discussion: LifeNews.com and Shakesville

Sydney Morning Herald:

Love online: 100,000 Grindr users exposed in hack attack — The Grindr app, left, and founder Joel Simkhai's profile. — A popular “meat-market” smartphone app that spawned a sexual revolution in Australia's gay community has been compromised by a Sydney hacker, potentially exposing …

Discussion: Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, AKSARBENT and The Raw Story

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Understanding the nature of ‘hypocrisy,’ redux — Brian McGrory reports this week on Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) new attack on Elizabeth Warren: she's apparently an “elitist hypocrite.” … The National Republican Senatorial Committee began pushing this same line in November, and I continue to find it remarkable.

Discussion: Paul Krugman

Robert Wright / The Atlantic Online:

How to Smear a Washington Think Tank — Suddenly lots of people are asking whether calling someone an “Israel-firster” is anti-Semitic. The occasion for these reflections is a controversy—the subject of a Washington Post piece yesterday—surrounding the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress.

Discussion: New York Post and Washington Post

Tjfang / CBS San Francisco:

Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New Parts — FREMONT (CBS 5) — After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts.