Top Items:
CNN:
Trump: 'I don't get Rick Santorum;' talks Romney cabinet position — Donald Trump sits down with CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield to discuss GOP candidates for president as well as what position he would want in Mitt Romney's cabinet. — Trump says, “Rick Santorum was a sitting senator …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Political Insider, TalkLeft and Connecting.the.Dots
RELATED:
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Santorum Upsets G.O.P. Race With Three Victories — His candidacy all but dismissed just days ago, Rick Santorum won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri on Tuesday, an unexpected trifecta that raised fresh questions about Mitt Romney's ability to corral conservative support.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, JustOneMinute, Wall Street Journal, National Review, Craig Crawford's Trail Mix, The Monkey Cage, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay, The Confluence, The Caucus, American Spectator, Truthdig, msnbc.com, BAGnewsNotes, The Political Carnival, The Page, Blue Mass Group and FiveThirtyEight
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
G.O.P. Race Has Hallmarks of Prolonged Battle — Whatever your perspective on how likely Mitt Romney was to lose the Republican nomination race prior to Tuesday evening, it should be acknowledged that he had about the worst results conceivable. — In Minnesota, a state which Mr. Romney carried easily …
Quinnipiac University:
Obama Inches Past Romney In Virginia Presidential Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Senate Race Still Tied — For the first time in this election cycle, President Barack Obama inches ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the leading Republican candidate, 47 - 43 percent in Virginia …
Discussion:
CNN, GOP 12, Reuters, Ballot Box, Taegan Goddard's …, Hot Air, Hotline On Call and Campaign 2012
Washington Post:
Santorum revives campaign with wins in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota — DENVER — Rick Santorum had a breakthrough night Tuesday, winning GOP presidential contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, all of which is expected to breathe life into his struggling campaign and slow Mitt Romney's march …
Discussion:
Reuters, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, 2012 Decoded, Washington Wire, The Daily Beast, Wake up America, Erick's blog, Guardian, Daily Pundit, Los Angeles Times, The Colorado Independent, Ballot Box, USA Today, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, Investor's Business Daily, The Other McCain, American Spectator, Don Surber, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing News, US Politics, Denver Post, Wonkette, Israel Matzav, Taegan Goddard's …, ThinkProgress, Michelle Malkin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Last Tradition, Newshoggers.com, Shakesville and Althouse
Politico:
Primer: How super PACs rake it in — Super PACs raised about $181 million in the last two years — with roughly half of it coming from fewer than 200 super-rich people. — Those are the findings in a new study that confirms what public interest groups have long feared and campaigns …
Discussion:
THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE
American Prospect:
Santorum's Missing Ingredient — Despite the fact that Mitt Romney chose not to compete in Missouri and Minnesota—and spent little time in Colorado—his loss last night in all three states, to Rick Santorum, has been spun by the media as a terrible wound for the former Massachusetts governor.
Discussion:
New York Times, msnbc.com, Washington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
The Incredible Shrinking Mitt: Romney's 2008 Support Crumbles In Three Key States
The Incredible Shrinking Mitt: Romney's 2008 Support Crumbles In Three Key States
Discussion:
New York Times, The Impolitic, The Maddow Blog and Campaign 2012
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Huckabee: Santorum shows Romney isn't inevitable
Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
Fresh off GOP victories, Santorum goes on attack against Romney
Fresh off GOP victories, Santorum goes on attack against Romney
Discussion:
Politico, GOP 12 and National Review
CNN:
Romney will take tougher approach to Santorum, adviser says
Romney will take tougher approach to Santorum, adviser says
Discussion:
Reuters, Big Government, Riehl World View, The Reality-Based Community, Opinion L.A. and nation.foxnews.com
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Romneycare: Worth Getting Worried About
Romneycare: Worth Getting Worried About
Discussion:
Power Line and Politico
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Santorum claims momentum with wins in three states
Santorum claims momentum with wins in three states
Discussion:
National Review and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Online:
Romney's Squeeze: Struggles With the Base and Independents Alike
Romney's Squeeze: Struggles With the Base and Independents Alike
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Santorum scores triple win
Santorum scores triple win
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, Erin Burnett OutFront, Gawker, No More Mister Nice Blog, The American Independent, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Marbury, ABCNEWS, Conservatives4Palin, The Colorado Independent, Donklephant, Opinion L.A., Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Reaction, Reuters, Sky Dancing and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com
Ashley Parker / The Caucus:
Romney Campaign Tries to Put an Optimistic Face on a Disappointing Night
Romney Campaign Tries to Put an Optimistic Face on a Disappointing Night
Discussion:
Media Decoder, more at Mediagazer »
Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:
Why White House sees political opportunity in the contraception battle — (Public Religion Research Institute) The controversy over the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation's decision to eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood—and subsequent reversal— continues.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Reuters, Jill Stanek, Florida Independent, CNN and Feministing
RELATED:
New York Times:
Obama Tries to Ease Ire on Contraception Rule — WASHINGTON — Facing vocal opposition from religious leaders and an escalating political fight, the White House sought on Tuesday to ease mounting objections to a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans …
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Boehner, GOP pledge to reverse Obama birth-control mandate — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday vowed that Congress would repeal an Obama administration regulation requiring employers, including religious organizations, to provide birth-control coverage in their employees' health plans.
Discussion:
Politico and ThinkProgress
Bloomberg:
Obama Weighed Faith Politics in Contraceptives — President Barack Obama ended months of internal White House debate by siding with a group of mostly female advisers who urged him not to limit a health-care law mandate to provide contraceptives, even at the risk of alienating Catholic voters in November …
Discussion:
Politico, ABCNEWS, Reuters and Weasel Zippers
Heritage Foundation:
The 2012 Index of Dependence on Government — Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Heritage Foundation and Business Insider
RELATED:
John Merline / Investor's Business Daily:
Dependency Index Surges 23% Under President Obama — The American public's dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation.
Discussion:
RedState, Weasel Zippers, The Enterprise Blog and The Lonely Conservative
Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Report: Gov't dependence soars
Demos:
AUCTIONING DEMOCRACY: THE RISE OF SUPER PACS AND THE 2012 ELECTION — The presidential race had barely gotten off the ground when it became clear that 2012 would be the year of the Super PAC. The millions of dollars raised and spent by these strange and powerful court-created entities have created a kind of parallel campaign.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
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New York Times:
Another Campaign for Sale
Another Campaign for Sale
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Don Surber, Political Mojo, Democracy 21, Washington Free Beacon, Guardian and The Loyal Opposition
Robert Reich / Business Insider:
Obama Has Handed The Election Over To The Super Rich
Obama Has Handed The Election Over To The Super Rich
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Althouse, AlterNet, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Crooks and Liars
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Santorum Compares 9th Circuit To Soviet Union, Says Court Is ‘Intolerant’ For Striking Down Proposition 8 — During a town hall in McKinney, Texas on Wednesday afternoon, Rick Santorum lashed out at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for striking down Proposition 8, arguing that the judges displaced …
Discussion:
Mitt Romney for President …, Towleroad News #gay and NOM Blog
RELATED:
Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Thoughts on the Ninth Circuit's Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Thoughts on the Ninth Circuit's Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Discussion:
Slate, National Review, L.A. NOW, Concurring Opinions, Poliglot, News Desk, Balkinization, Rod Dreher, Sky Dancing, The Daily Dish and Election Law Blog
David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement:
Prop 8 Supporters Announce U.S. Supreme Court Appeal
Prop 8 Supporters Announce U.S. Supreme Court Appeal
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Republican Enthusiasm Issue is Real — The paltry turnout in the Republican Presidential contests over the last week reflects what we've seen in our recent national polling: Democrats are now more excited about voting this fall than Republicans are, reversing the enthusiasm gap that plagued the party in 2010.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Maddow Blog, Balloon Juice, Politico, Taegan Goddard's … and Saint Petersblog
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Santorum Invents New Front In Fake War On Religion: Obama Wants Female Catholic Priests — For weeks, Republicans have pretended that President Obama is waging some kind of war on religion because his administration recently approved regulations requiring insurers to cover contraceptive care …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Michael Brendan Dougherty / Business Insider:
FORGET JOBS: The 2012 Election Is About The Culture War — Everyone thought that the 2012 election would be about jobs, jobs, jobs. — They were wrong. — First corporate profits went up. The market has been strong for almost two months. Unemployment is falling.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Rod Dreher
RELATED:
Ross Douthat / Campaign Stops:
The Persistence of the Culture War
The Persistence of the Culture War
Discussion:
TBogg, New York Times, The Maddow Blog, American Prospect and Wonkette
Tina Daunt / Hollywood Reporter:
Clint Eastwood's Chrysler Super Bowl Ad: The Untold Obama Connection — Two members of the creative team that produced the two-minute minute spot for ad agency Wieden+Kennedy donated their personal time in 2008 to make pro-Obama art. — This year's most discussed Super Bowl ad …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Hill, The Other McCain and nation.foxnews.com