memeorandum: Stacey Campfield, Tennessee Senator Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Bill, On Bullying, AIDS And Homosexual ‘Glorification’ (Michelangelo Signorile/The Huffington …)

9:55 AM ET, January 27, 2012

Top Items:

Romney Pulls Ahead In See-Saw Florida Gop Primary, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Men Shift From Gingrich To Romney — Just four days before the nation's first big-state presidential primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney opens up a 38 - 29 percent lead over former House Speaker …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NationalJournal.com, Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Florida Times Union, Washington Post and Post on Politics

New York Times:

Romney Stays on the Offense With Gingrich — Newt Gingrich, left, and Mitt Romney during a commercial break at Thursday's debate. Other moments were less agreeable. — The competition between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich dominated the last debate before the Florida primary …

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, Media Decoder and The Page

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Newt pulls punches in Fla. — JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Newt Gingrich abandoned his role as Mitt Romney's chief antagonist in Thursday night's presidential debate, going easy on the national GOP front-runner as a third candidate joined the fray in force. — It was Rick Santorum …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Connecting.the.Dots and Ballot Box

National Review:

Dole Goes Nuclear — The Romney campaign sends along a statement by Bob Dole pasted below. Relations between Dole — an establishment figure in the party — and Gingrich were well known to be tense during the 1990s. Here it is: — I have not been critical of Newt Gingrich but it is now time to take a stand before it is too late.

Robert Costa / National Review:
Jeb to Newt: Stop the ‘Ridiculous’ Crist Talk

Discussion: ABCNEWS and GOP 12

Ginger Gibson / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich gets mad

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Questions and Observations, Campaign Stops, The Caucus, The Gateway Pundit and Balloon Juice

Jim Meyers / NewsMax.com:
Mike Reagan, Rush Limbaugh Blast Romney

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, The Caucus and The Politico

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney takes the fight to Gingrich in Republican debate in Florida

Discussion: CNN and The Politico

Newt Camp / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Newt Gingrich's campaign staff are scratching …

Discussion: The New Republic, Political Mojo and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Romney paints Gingrich as mentally unstable

Discussion: Townhall.com, The Daily Dish, The Other McCain, Shakesville, RADAMISTO, Riehl World View, New York Times, The Caucus and ABCNEWS

PolitiFact:
Spanish-language ad says Newt Gingrich said Spanish is “the language of the ghetto”

Discussion: National Review, Betsy's Page, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Washington Wire, New York Magazine, Univision News Tumblr, Mediaite, The Reality-Based Community, 2012 Decoded, The Caucus and ABCNEWS

Scogginsj / CNN:
Gingrich wrong about his claim offering ABC character witnesses

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and National Review

Stephanie Pappas / Yahoo! News:

Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice — There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy. — The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Democratic Daily, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, iOwnTheWorld.com, Firedoglake, The Political Carnival, NewsBusters.org blogs, Fausta's Blog, Whiskey Fire and INSTAPUTZ

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Romney Packed Debate Hall With Supporters, Gingrich Aide Says … 2012 Election , Barack Obama , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Republican Presidential Primary , Rick Santorum , Elections 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Video , FL Election , FL Election 2012 , FL Primary , FL Primary 2012 …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Politico, Mediaite, ABCNEWS and National Review

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
GOP hopefuls to battle at last debate before Florida primary

Discussion: RedState, Wonkette, NO QUARTER, The Gateway Pundit, HousingWire, Washington Wire, 2012 Decoded, Firedoglake, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, CBS News, Wake up America and 2012 Election Central

Liam Dillon / Voice of San Diego:

Duke to Newt: I've Got Your Back

Discussion: The Politico, msnbc.com, The Brody File, Washington Post, Gawker, The Huffington Post, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette and Balloon Juice

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

President Obama: I Want Second Term ‘Badly’ — President Barack Obama today signaled an aggressive tact for his early re-election campaign, critiquing his Republican opponents by name and insisting he's ready to “fight with every fiber of my being” for a second term. — “How much do you want it?”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

ABCNEWS:
Exclusive - Obama Says Encounter With Arizona Gov. ‘Blown Out of Proportion’

Discussion: BAGnewsNotes and Weasel Zippers

Adele Hampton / The Hill:
Brewer defends finger pointing at Obama

Discussion: KTAR.com, Washington Post, The Politico, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, RADAMISTO, Outside the Beltway and The PJ Tatler

Los Angeles Times:

Romney tax returns detail funds not identified in ethics forms — Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks under a sign during a campaign event at Paramount Printing in Jacksonville, Florida. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / January 26, 2012)

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Daily Kos, The Impolitic, msnbc.com, Wake up America, The Reaction and ThinkProgress

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Worst News Story of 2012? — This Reuters hit piece on Marco Rubio-nowadays, when I talk about Rubio, I have to stop and think whether it's Marco or Ricky-is an early contender for the title. Reuters' theme is that Rubio criticizes extravagant federal spending and deficits, but has had financial problems himself.

Discussion: Big Journalism, National Review and A plain blog about politics

Matt K. Lewis / The Daily Caller:
Reuters is out with a tough story on Sen. Marco Rubio today …

Discussion: Hotline On Call, Big Journalism, Campaign 2012, Saint Petersblog and Reuters

Josh White / Washington Post:

Motive of shooter who targeted military sites is unclear — Yonathan Melaku was sneaking through Fort Myer and Arlington National Cemetery, his backpack filled with plastic bags of ammonium nitrate, a notebook containing jihadist messages, and a can of black spray paint.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Wizbang, Atlas Shrugs, NewsBusters.org, Jihad Watch and CBS News

Wall Street Journal:

No Need to Panic About Global Warming — There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world's economy. — Editor's Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article: — A candidate for public office …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Ratings Historically Polarized — Job approval 80% among Democrats, 12% among Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — The historically high gap between partisans' job approval ratings of Barack Obama continued during Obama's third year in office, with an average of 80% of Democrats and 12% …

Discussion: The Politico

Emma Ross-Thomas / Bloomberg:

Unemployment in Spain Rises to 15-Year High of 22.9% — Spain's unemployment rate rose to 22.9 percent, the highest in 15 years, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to deliver on his election pledge to create jobs in a shrinking economy. — The unemployment rate rose …

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Republicans' Electoral College Newt-Mare — Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley, U.Va. Center for Politics … In the aftermath of voting in the deeply conservative South Carolina primary, one voter quoted by The Washington Post seemed to summarize what Republicans there were looking for in a candidate:

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Firedoglake, Patterico's Pontifications, GOP 12 and Saint Petersblog

Michelangelo Signorile / The Huffington Post:

Stacey Campfield, Tennessee Senator Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Bill, On Bullying, AIDS And Homosexual ‘Glorification’ … HIV/AIDS , LGBT Rights , Aids , Gay Discrimination , Gay Rights , Anti-Gay Bullying , Gay Bullying , Homophobia , Homosexuality , Stacey Campfield , Stacey Campfield Don't Say Gay Bill …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Addicting Info and The Raw Story

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

How Siri is ruining your cellphone service — Paul Farhi covers media for The Post. — Like a few million other people this past holiday season, we bought an iPhone 4S, with its much-hyped Siri feature. The vocal interface allows users to speak all kinds of commands into the phone …

David Roberts / Grist:

Clean energy is a wedge issue that favors Democrats — Indiana wind farm. (Photo by clarmaxwell.) — During Obama's State of the Union speech, Democracy Corps ran a dial-test focus group. Fifty swing voters were given devices that let them register approval or disapproval continuously throughout the speech.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Gingrich: Gay Marriage a ‘Perfect Example of What I Mean by the Rise of Paganism’ — Yesterday, Newt Gingrich held another conference call for Religious Right supporters, seeking to mobilize them ahead of the Republican primary in Florida. — The call was hosted by Jim Garlow and featured several …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, ThinkProgress and Joe. My. God.