memeorandum: Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for ‘Our Daughters’ to Have Same Chance As Sons to ‘Fulfill Their Dreams’ (Fred Lucas/CNSNews)

1:20 PM ET, January 23, 2012

Top Items:

Mitt Romney tells ‘interrupters’ at rally to ‘take a hike’ — Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Allstar Building Materials in Ormond Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak / January 22, 2012) — Mitt Romney opened an aggressive new phase …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The PJ Tatler, Shakesville, Riehl World View, The Caucus, Booman Tribune, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Raw Story

NewsMax.com:

Newt Surges to Lead in Fla., Romney Trails by 8 Points — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — Newt Gingrich has now surged to a significant lead over Mitt Romney in Florida …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Politico, Mediaite, Indecision Forever, The PJ Tatler, American Power, New York Magazine and The Political Carnival

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:

Poll: Gingrich surges to lead in Florida primary — Fresh off his victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary, a new poll shows Newt Gingrich surging into the lead in the next Republican battleground, Florida. — An InsiderAdvantage poll released late Sunday shows the former House speaker leading …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, Questions and Observations, Outside the Beltway, GOP 12, Prairie Weather, Naked Politics and The Hill

Jim Vandeheiand Mike Allen / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich: The master of disguise

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Pirate's Cove, Gothamist and Reuters

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Mitt Romney: Newt Gingrich is a ‘failed leader,’ ‘disgrace’

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Towleroad News #gay, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway, Riehl World View, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Weekly Standard and Ballot Box

Wall Street Journal:
The Gingrich Challenge — A test for Romney, GOP officials …

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog and GOP 12

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
What are Newt Gingrich's big ideas?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Democracy in America, Law Blog, Cato @ Liberty and The Volokh Conspiracy

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Still Preferred To Newt Gingrich By Power Outsiders

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Enik Rising, Presidential Power, FiveThirtyEight, Campaign 2012, A plain blog about politics and Daily Kos

Alexander Burnsand Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Mitt Romney's misery, in a word: Bain

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, Connecting.the.Dots, Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Sen. Rand Paul ‘detained’ by TSA in Nashville, TSA denies — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul's press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn. — “Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday.

Discussion: Reuters, Michelle Malkin, Caffeinated Thoughts, Hit & Run, The Mahablog, RedState, Guardian, The Raw Story, Gothamist and LewRockwell.com Blog

A.Killough / CNN:

BREAKING: Spokeswoman: TSA turns away Sen. Rand Paul — (CNN) - Authorities blocked U.S. Sen. Rand Paul at the Nashville airport Monday after the Kentucky Republican refused a pat-down at a security checkpoint, his spokeswoman said. — Paul went through a scanner at the airport and set off an alarm …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and National Review

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Rand Paul detained by TSA — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was detained Monday by the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville, Tenn., after refusing a full body pat-down, POLITICO has confirmed. — “I spoke with him five minutes ago and he was being detained indefinitely,” Paul spokesperson Moira Bagley said.

Discussion: Campaign 2012

ABCNEWS:
Rand Paul in Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville

Discussion: Hot Air, PolitickerNY, The Gateway Pundit, Big Government, Outside the Beltway and Mediaite

David Kravets / Threat Level:

Warrants Needed for GPS Monitoring, Supreme Court Rules — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that law enforcement authorities need a probable-cause warrant from a judge to affix a GPS device to a vehicle and monitor its every move. — The decision (.pdf) in what is arguably …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Above the Law, Gizmodo and Gov 2.0, more at Techmeme »

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:
Supreme Court says no to debate over Elena Kagan health care role

Discussion: CNN and Hit & Run

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

THE OBAMA MEMOS … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - TABLE OF CONTENTS - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, The New Republic, Washington Post, Paul Krugman and News Desk

Wallacegw / CNN:

TRENDING: Paul skipping primary night in Florida — (CNN) - Want more proof Rep. Ron Paul is looking past Florida to February's contests? Well, here it is. — While the Republican presidential candidate and longtime congressman from Texas will attend both of the GOP debates being held …

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box: Gingrich tops 40 percent in Rasmussen Florida poll

Fred Lucas / CNSNews:

Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for ‘Our Daughters’ to Have Same Chance As Sons to ‘Fulfill Their Dreams’ — (CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama says the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is the chance to recognize the “fundamental constitutional right” to abortion and to …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Rick Santorum / Wall Street Journal:
My Fight for Life — The other Republican candidates simply check the pro-life box.

Discussion: The Hill, The Politico and New York Magazine

Mark Steyn / National Review:

The Man Who Gave Us Newt — The nature of this peculiar primary season - the reason it seems at odds with both the 2009-2010 political narrative and the seriousness of the times - was determined by Mitt Romney. Even if you don't mind RomneyCare, or the abortion flip-flop, or any of the rest …

Discussion: GOP 12, Ross Douthat, Jay Bookman, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Wonkette, Betsy's Page and News Desk

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

U.S. Economy Most Toxic of 24 Issues — Scope of government and U.S. morality also rankle Americans — PRINCETON, NJ — As President Barack Obama prepares his annual address to Congress, Americans are broadly dissatisfied with the state of the nation in several specific issue areas …

Discussion: The Politico, Don Surber, Weasel Zippers and National Review

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Santorum Promises To Outlaw Gay Civil Marriage Because It Does Not Reflect 'God's Will For Us' — Rick Santorum told CNN's Piers Morgan on Friday that he would never change his opposition to same-sex marriage because it does not reflect “God's will for us.”

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

The Politico:

Mitt faces a perfect mess — Perfect resume, perfect looks, perfect family, and a perfect roster of skilled campaign operatives and blue-chip endorsements: Mitt Romney has them all. — Yet he comes out of his drubbing in South Carolina with a perfect problem.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Chicago Tribune:

Sen. Mark Kirk undergoes surgery after suffering stroke — U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk underwent surgery today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after suffering a stroke, his office said. — “On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Daniel Klaidman / The Daily Beast:

Obama Team to Break Silence on al-Awlaki Killing — Inside the White House debate over how to talk about al Qaeda's Anwar al-Awlaki. — After months of internal debate, the Obama administration is planning to reveal publicly the legal reasoning behind its decision to kill the American-born leader …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, emptywheel and americanthinker.com