memeorandum: Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P. (Jeff Zeleny/The Caucus)

5:20 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.

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Romney wins The Washington Times/CPAC Straw Poll — Returns to top after two years on the outs — Mitt Romney won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll on Saturday, and also nipped Rick Santorum as the top choice of conservatives nationwide, according to a new version …

Discussion: Hot Air, BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos and The Other McCain

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: Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Page

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P. — Sarah Palin said Saturday that Republicans should be in no hurry to wrap up the presidential nominating contest, declaring that a competitive campaign until the August convention in Tampa would not complicate the party's efforts to defeat President Obama.

Discussion: GOP 12, Conservatives4Palin and New York Times

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

usccb.org:
Bishops Renew Call To Legislative Action On Religious Liberty

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

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

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

ABCNEWS:

Which Republican Presidential Candidate Supported Sotomayor? — Pop quiz: Which Republican presidential candidate supported the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor? — Hint: It's the same one who endorsed a pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate in an earlier campaign. — Give up?

Discussion: National Review

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

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: Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

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