memeorandum: Washington state set to approve gay marriage (Mackenzie Weinger/The Politico)

10:40 PM ET, January 23, 2012

Top Items:

Newt up 5 in Florida — PPP's first post-South Carolina poll in Florida finds Newt Gingrich with a small lead. He's at 38% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 10% for Ron Paul. — Gingrich has gained 12 points since a PPP poll conducted in Florida a week ago. Romney has dropped 8 points.

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Ross Douthat:

Calling Mitch Daniels — For months now, even as the rest of the conservative commentariat has gradually resigned itself to the existing presidential field, the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol has continued to pine — publicly, unstintingly, immune to either embarrassment or fatigue— for another candidate to jump into the race.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Eunomia, The Daily Caller, Rod Dreher, National Review, A plain blog about politics and COURAGE IN AMERICA

Alicia M. Cohn / Ballot Box:
GOP debate: Romney, Gingrich exchange fire from the start

Discussion: The Politico

Richard Adams / Guardian:
Republican debate in Florida - live

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

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

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, NewsMax.com, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, The Other McCain, GOP 12 and Orlando Sentinel

Michael Crowley / Swampland:
Newt Gingrich vs.the Establishment: South Carolina Sets Up Intra-GOP Conflict

Discussion: New York Times, Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Online, Tales from the Trail and Mad Kane's Political Madness

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

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, National Review, Hot Air, Reuters, Big Government, Telegraph, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Little Green Footballs and Pirate's Cove

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
FLORIDA FAMILIES — While Florida families struggled during …

Discussion: New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, The Caucus, Washington Post, Don Surber, ABCNEWS, News Desk, No More Mister Nice Blog, PJ Media, Orlando Sentinel and Swampland

Ardem / Blue Arkansas:

Ken Aden's Campaign Manager Comes Home To Find Cat Killed; “LIBERAL” Written On Its Corpse — This post includes a graphic picture. It is included here not for shock value, but to show just how heinous some people can be. — Last night, I got the most chilling phone call I have ever received.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Reuters, Balloon Juice, RADAMISTO, BuzzFeed, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

Ken Aden For Congress:
Democratic Congressional Campaign Manager's Family Pet Killed

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Political Carnival, msnbc.com and The Raw Story

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress: Arkansas Democratic Campaign Manager Comes Home To Find Child's Cat Murdered, ‘LIBERAL’ Written On Dead Body

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Democratic Operative's Cat Slaughtered, ‘Liberal’ Painted On Corpse

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

David Catanese / The Politico: Ark. campaign manager's cat slaughtered

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: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Washington Post, The Reaction, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs, US Politics, Indecision Forever and Campaign 2012

Keith Laing / The Hill:

White House sides with TSA in Rand Paul standoff — The White House is standing by the Transportation Security Administration in its standoff with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his father, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). — The elder Paul called the TSA a …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and The Other McCain

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Rand Paul on TSA detainment: 'I was barked at: 'Do not leave the cubicle! " — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul told The Daily Caller that being “detained” by the Transportation Security Administration at the Nashville airport Monday was a major ordeal that underscores flaws in TSA's procedures …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The TSA Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, The Mahablog and Campaign 2012

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Sen. Rand Paul ‘detained’ by TSA in Nashville, TSA denies

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Sen. Rand Paul declines TSA pat-down, is escorted from security checkpoint

Discussion: New York Times and Rod Dreher

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: Hit & Run, Jared Bernstein, Weasel Zippers, DealBook, Washington Post, Politics, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Paul Krugman and The New Republic

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:

11 stunning revelations from Larry Summers's secret economics memo to Barack Obama — A lengthy piece in The New Yorker looks at policymaking in the Obama White House. A key source for writer Ryan Lizza is a 57-page, “Sensitive & Confidential” memo written by economist Larry Summers …

Discussion: Doug Ross and The PJ Tatler

Ryan Lizza / News Desk:
The Summers Memo — In a piece this week on Barack Obama's shift …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Santorum To Rape Victims: ‘Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation’ — Standing steadfast as the most socially right-wing candidate in the GOP presidential field, Rick Santorum has repeatedly touted his extreme anti-choice position, which dictates that abortion should be uniformly illegal, even in cases of rape or incest.

Discussion: TBogg, Shakesville, Wonkette, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Little Green Footballs

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:
At Florida Town Hall, Rick Santorum Cowardly Panders To Woman Who Alleges Obama Is ‘An Avowed Muslim’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Daily Dish, Swampland, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Post on Politics

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Santorum Promises To Outlaw Gay Civil Marriage Because It Does Not Reflect 'God's Will For Us'

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

Former CIA officer charged in alleged leaks — The Justice Department on Monday charged a former CIA officer with repeatedly leaking classified information, including the identities of agency operatives involved in the capture and interrogation of alleged terrorists.

Discussion: The Politico, msnbc.com, RedState, Atlas Shrugs and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

From Gingrich To Palin To Gingrich — Let us now play the tiniest violin for what is called the “Republican Establishment”. I'm not sure what this phrase means or represents any more - the Chamber of Commerce? John Boehner? The Bush family? But the concept of a responsible, sane …

Discussion: Enik Rising, driftglass, A plain blog about politics and Eunomia

David Frum / CNN:
Why Gingrich's politics self-destruct

Discussion: This Just In

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:

Washington state set to approve gay marriage — Washington state is set to become the seventh in the country to legalize gay marriage, according to a report Monday. — Democratic Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen announced she would be the 25th vote needed to pass the same-sex marriage bill …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Outside the Beltway and The Debate Link

Laurel Ramseyer / Firedoglake:
BREAKING: Washington's Marriage Equality Bill Has Enough Votes to Pass

Discussion: Nation Now, Washington Blade and msnbc.com

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Police Use of GPS Is Ruled Unconstitutional — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on a suspect's car and monitored its movements for 28 days.

Discussion: USA Today, SCOTUSblog, emptywheel, Threat Level, The Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, The Politico, The Agitator, Outside the Beltway, ACS Blog and Washington Monthly, more at Techmeme »

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
For Justices, State of the Union Can Be a Trial

Discussion: Law Blog and Hit & Run

Politics:

Is This Barack Obama's Willie Horton? — Is This Barack Obama's Willie Horton? — Politics Buzz There's a long political history of tying a politician — from Michael Dukakis to Mike Huckabee — to a dangerous felon who was released and committed more crimes.

Discussion: Hot Air

Sports Illustrated:

Bruins' goalie Thomas declines White House visit — (SI.com) — The Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins visited the White House today to be honored by President Barack Obama, but the team's star goaltender declined to attend for poltical reasons. — According to Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli …

Discussion: Nation Now, Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Politico and No More Mister Nice Blog

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, The Moderate Voice, Israel Matzav, Shakesville and The Gateway Pundit

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Don't Be Stupid: It's Not About the Money — I keep hearing that people are claiming it's a problem that Mitt Romney is rich. Only no one actually seems to be saying that. I understand why Mitt Romney is claiming that, which he continually does. He's changing the subject and trying to fight with a straw-man.