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Santorum's Turn — At the moment Rick Santorum appears to be overtaking Newt Gingrich as the principal challenger to Mitt Romney. Santorum has won more contests than Gingrich (who has won only one), has more delegates, and leads him in the polls. In at least one poll, he also leads Romney.
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Santorum moves ahead in Michigan — Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary. He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich. — Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Severe Conservative Syndrome — Mitt Romney has a gift for words — self-destructive words. On Friday he did it again, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was a “severely conservative governor.” — As Molly Ball of The Atlantic pointed out, Mr. Romney “described conservatism as if it were a disease.”
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Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race — Obama Leads Both in General Election Matchups — OVERVIEW — Rick Santorum's support among Tea Party Republicans and white evangelicals is surging, and he now has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
Washington Post, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's … and The Page
American Research Group:
Presidential Primary Preference: — Michigan — Rick Santorum leads the Michigan Republican presidential primary with 33%. Santorum is followed by Mitt Romney with 27%, Newt Gingrich with 21%, and Ron Paul with 12%. — Santorum leads Gingrich 42% to 24% among self-identified Republicans …
Bob McDonnell / CNN:
McDonnell hits Santorum over ‘emotions’ remarks
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Sen. Inhofe says Santorum has ‘better’ record on defense, economy, energy
Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Gingrich Money Hunt Faces Obstacles
Gingrich Money Hunt Faces Obstacles
Discussion:
The Loyal Opposition, ABCNEWS, Political Mojo, GOP 12, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Bark Bark Woof Woof and The Page
Robert Costa / National Review:
Romney's Case — Last week, Rick Santorum's three-state sweep …
Romney's Case — Last week, Rick Santorum's three-state sweep …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, GOP 12 and msnbc.com
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Dem lawmaker: Obama budget is a ‘nervous breakdown on paper’ — Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) expressed concern President Obama's budget would go too far to rein in government spending in the midst of an economic recovery, calling the forthcoming proposal a ‘nervous breakdown on paper.’
Discussion:
Politico, Guardian, Weasel Zippers and Ron Paul 2012 Presidential …
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Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
WH Chief of Staff Errs on Senate Budget Rules — As President Obama prepares to unveil his FY2013 budget Monday, White House chief of staff Jack Lew this morning was asked by CNN to defend the Senate's refusal to pass a budget in more than 1,000 days. — “You can't pass a budget in the Senate …
Discussion:
Fox News, Campaign 2012, Betsy's Page, Power Line, americanthinker.com, Erick's blog, ThinkProgress and tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Jack Lew's misleading claim about the Senate's failure to pass a budget resolution — “But we also need to be honest. You can't pass a budget in the Senate of the United States without 60 votes and you can't get 60 votes without bipartisan support. So unless Republicans are willing to work …
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Obama budget slated for $3.8 trillion
Discussion:
New York Times and RedState
Ben Geman / The Hill:
Senate GOP pushes for Keystone vote on highway measure
Senate GOP pushes for Keystone vote on highway measure
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Guardian
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Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations — This is the first in a Daily Caller investigative series on Media Matters For America. Daily Caller reporters Alex Pappas and Will Rahn contributed to this report.
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Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative — Even with the president's approval rating showing signs of life and the Republicans busily bashing themselves over the head — “one is a practicing polygamist and he's not even the Mormon,” retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quipped …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, In America, The Reaction and Althouse
John Holbo / Crooked Timber:
Religious Freedom and Contraception (among other things) — I'm amazed by the turns this issue has taken. I posted about it two weeks ago. My post had problems. Among other things, I slighted legal issues to focus on what I took to be really going on, motivation-wise.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Pundit & Pundette and Stinque
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Mike Lillis / The Hill:
McConnell: Birth-control debate will continue until Obama ‘backs down’
McConnell: Birth-control debate will continue until Obama ‘backs down’
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, Shakesville, White House.gov Blog, ThinkProgress, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Booman Tribune
Lydia McGrew / What's Wrong with the World:
How to lie with statistics, example umpteen [Updated]
How to lie with statistics, example umpteen [Updated]
Discussion:
CatholicVote.org, Campaign 2012 and LifeNews.com
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Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia — (Reuters) - Bombers targeted staff at Israel's embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of involvement.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, Jihad Watch, American Spectator and National Review
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E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Contraception and the cost of culture wars — Politicized culture wars are debilitating because they almost always require partisans to denigrate the moral legitimacy of their opponents, and sometimes to deny their very humanity. It's often not enough to defeat a foe.
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Wall Street turns wrath — and cash — on Obama — NEW YORK — Profits and bonuses are down across Wall Street. Banks are slicing jobs and shuttering once profitable trading units in the face of new regulations. — But the financial services industry is poised to set records in one arena in 2012: politics.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Business Insider
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
We Hear From The Department Of Good Ideas And False Choices — Nick Kristof joins in on the contraception debate. No prizes for guessing what side he is on - he trivializes the opposition, presents reams of information documenting the notion that contraception care is a good idea …
Discussion:
CatholicVote.org
Kristin Huguet / Apple:
Fair Labor Association Begins Inspections of Foxconn — Apple® today announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple's final assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, at Apple's request.
Discussion:
Guardian, The Raw Story, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Verge and utsandiego.com, more at Techmeme »