memeorandum: Michelle Obama Injects Optimism Into Campaign (Mark Landler/New York Times)

4:15 PM ET, February 11, 2012

Top Items:

Santorum surges into the lead — Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul. — Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, Guardian, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, Booman Tribune, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wake up America, Daily Kos, Brad DeLong, Taegan Goddard's …, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and USA Today

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

CPAC ‘severely’ conflicted over Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney wanted to use his CPAC speech Friday to allay concerns about his candidacy on the Republican right, but with one ad-libbed word he reinforced conservative fears that he's not one of them. — “I was a severely conservative Republican governor …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Outside the Beltway, AlterNet and Washington Blade

Sarah Palin / CNN:

TRENDING: Palin calls on Romney to work harder for the conservative vote — Washington (CNN) - Sarah Palin issued a warning to Mitt Romney Saturday, calling on the former Massachusetts governor to do a better job explaining his record to conservatives or risk dampening voter turnout in November …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
The Bettor's Case for Santorum

Discussion: Liberal Values, Enik Rising, Public Policy Polling, Booman Tribune and Hit & Run

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Bishops: Contraception deal ‘unacceptable’ — Hours after calling the Obama administration's contraceptives compromise a “first step,” the Catholic bishops said Friday night they have “two serious objections” to the new policy and will fight its enactment. — First, the U.S. Conference …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, dotCommonweal, Balloon Juice, Jezebel and Hot Air

usccb.org:

Bishops Renew Call To Legislative Action On Religious Liberty — Regulatory changes limited and unclear Rescission of mandate only complete solution Continue urging passage of Respect for Rights of Conscience Act — WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico, Firedoglake, New York Times, Daily Kos, National Review, dotCommonweal, Pundit & Pundette, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, The PJ Tatler and Esquire, more at Mediagazer »

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
GOP Ups The Ante, Introduces Legislation To Allow Any Employer To Deny Any Preventive Health Service

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles, New York Times, Wake up America, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

New York Post:
Obama amends contraception rule amid backlash

Discussion: Power Line and Campaign 2012

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

The Contraception Controversy Would Have Been Avoided If Obama Were President — Helene Cooper and Laurie Goldstein of the Ministry of Truth pick up the pom-poms to cover the contraception controversy and assure their readers of two points - Obama is caving in to the Religious Left …

Discussion: New York Times, The Lede and Truthdig

Lee Smith / Weekly Standard:

Assad@axisofevil.com . . . Leaked emails show Westerners truckling to the Syrian regime. — In the fall of 2007 Israel reportedly hacked into Syria's air defense systems and disabled them, as a prelude to bombing a nuclear facility in the Syrian desert. This vaunted cyber exploit …

Jonathan S. Landay / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
U.S. officials: Al Qaida behind Syria bombings

Discussion: msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

CNN:

Ahmadinejad: Major nuclear announcement expected within days — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the 25th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on February 8, 2012 — (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Saturday that the nation will reveal …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

Shannon Travis / CNN:

Romney does campaign first as Paul hopes for first win in Maine — Tune in Saturday at 6 p.m. ET for CNN's live special coverage of the Maine caucuses and follow real-time results on CNNPolitics.com and on Twitter at #cnnelections. Stay up to date with CNN apps for iPhone, iPad, Android or other phones.

Elizabeth Hartfield / ABCNEWS:
Maine's Voting Contest: A Lazy Caucus in Vacationland

Discussion: Mitt Romney Central and Hot Air

New York Times:

A Chilling Verdict in Spain — The enemies of Judge Baltasar Garzón have finally gotten their way. Spain's Supreme Court this week found the judge guilty of misapplying the country's wiretap law and suspended him from the courts for 11 years. — Judge Garzón has played …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Chipotle Is Apple — The burrito chain is revolutionizing food: Why doesn't it get more respect? — Hunting for business success stories in a recession is a difficult (and sometimes depressing) task. Most of the feel-good stories seem to come from the high-tech world and the burgeoning app economy.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

8 Arrested in Inquiry Into Murdoch's Tabloids — LONDON — British authorities arrested eight people on Saturday, including five employees of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid The Sun, as part of an investigation into bribery of public officials by journalists, according to Scotland Yard and the newspaper's parent company.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Max Fisher / The Atlantic Online:

Believing the Unbelievable: Why Kim Jong Un Death Rumors Won't Die — An incredible story that the North Korean leader was killed in Beijing gained remarkable attention in the West, revealing some of the ways Americans can misunderstand Asian societies. — North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un waves …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, Gawker and Mashable!