memeorandum: Beyond Blue 5: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (Walter Russell Mead/Via Meadia)

7:40 PM ET, February 20, 2012

Top Items:

UT/TT Poll: Santorum Crushing GOP Hopefuls in Texas … Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates in Texas, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. — Santorum would get the votes of 45 percent of the respondents …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Politico, Outside the Beltway, TheBlaze.com, Ballot Box and The Daily Dish

Maggie Habermanand Jonathan Martin / Politico:

Worry over Mitt Romney sparks talk of Tampa — There are growing calls for an alternative to Mitt Romney as the Republican standard-bearer, with the names of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie again being seen as the most likely saviors.

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and Fox News

Susan Page / USA Today:

Poll: Republican voters oppose a ‘brokered’ convention — WASHINGTON - While most Republicans wish they had different choices in the party's presidential field, a nationwide USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds overwhelming resistance to the idea of an old-styled brokered convention that would pick some new contender as the nominee.

Discussion: Ballot Box, msnbc.com, TheBlaze.com, Washington Post and Politico

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

In Michigan, Momentum for Romney? — A new Public Policy Polling survey of Michigan ahead of the Republican primary there shows Rick Santorum with 37 percent to Mitt Romney's 33 percent, essentially tied, since the poll had a four-percentage-point margin of error.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Democracy in America and American Power

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Michigan GOP race tightens

Walter Shapiro / The New Republic:
Why Mitt Romney's Presidential Prospects May Not Be Salvageable

Discussion: Guardian and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney lead small in Arizona

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air and Taegan Goddard's …

SoonerPoll:
Tulsa World: Poll shows state Republicans favor Santorum

Discussion: Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's … and Rick Santorum for President

Nicholas Confessore / The Caucus:
Pro-Romney ‘Super PAC’ Spent $14 Million in January

Discussion: Daily Kos and Truthdig

Alicia M. Cohn / Ballot Box:
Slouching toward nomination, Romney needs win in Michigan

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Prairie Weather

ABCNEWS:
Donald Trump Hitting The Michigan Airwaves For Mitt Romney

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Daily Kos, Hot Air, The Maddow Blog, The Hill, Thoughts and Rantings, HotAirPundit and Politico

Rick Santorum / CNN:

Santorum denies Hitler-Obama comparison — (CNN) - Rick Santorum on Monday denied he was comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler while using a World War II analogy the previous day. — During a speech at a Georgia church on Sunday, Santorum paralleled the election to America's slow response …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Juana Summers / Politico:

Rick Santorum defends attacks on Obama ‘theology’ — STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Rick Santorum continued to play defense Monday, working to explain a handful of controversial statements that appear to draw links between President Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler, and seem to question the president's Christianity.

Discussion: Gothamist, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh and CNN

CNN:

Sheriff's former boyfriend speaks out — (CNN) - The man accusing Mitt Romney's former Arizona campaign co-chair of threatening to deport him if he made their relationship public stood by his claim Monday in an interview with CNN. — A Mexican national (whose attorney requested that he be identified as …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Santorum draws World War II parallel in describing threat facing the nation

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The New Republic and Eunomia

Donald Trump / CNN:
TRENDING: Trump takes hatchet to Santorum

Discussion: Mediaite

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Santorum Defends Remarks on Obama and Government's Role in Education

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Caucus, Pundit & Pundette, ABCNEWS, The Maddow Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Enterprise Blog

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Romney adviser says Michigan not a ‘must-win’ for campaign

Discussion: CNN

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

Protest of Trans-Vaginal Ultrasound Bill in Virginia Leads to Delay — Hundreds join silent protest against Virginia bill to legalize forced trans-vaginal examinations (Photo via The Shad Plank) — The Virginia abortion bill, which would mandate that the women seeking an abortion …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Sundries Shack, Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers and ECHIDNE of the snakes

Olympia Meola / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Poll finds most Virginians oppose changes in abortion, gun laws — Virginia voters, by wide margins, want to retain the state's landmark one-handgun-a-month law and oppose mandating that a woman receive an ultrasound before having an abortion, according to a new poll.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos

Wesley P. Hester / Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Hundreds at Capitol for women's rights rally

Discussion: Daily Kos

NY Daily News:

Jeremy Lin headline slur was ‘honest mistake,’ fired ESPN editor Anthony Federico claims — EXCLUSIVE: ‘This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny’ — Jeremy Lin looks on during Knicks' victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. — The ESPN editor fired Sunday for using …

Discussion: Big Journalism, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Ed Driscoll, Politico, Mediaite, Althouse, THEROOT.COM, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CBS Chicago, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Gothamist, SBNation.com and angry asian man, more at Mediagazer »

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Santorum aide ties Obama to Islam — Rick Santorum's spokeswoman Alice Stewart said in a TV interview on Monday that Santorum was referring to President Barack Obama's “radical Islamic policies” when he said the president's agenda was driven by “phony theology” — but then quickly called …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Truthdig

Damian Carrington / Guardian:

Canada threatens trade war with EU — The row over the EU's plan to label tar sands oil as highly polluting escalates as Canada says it ‘will not hesitate to defend its interests’ — Canada has threatened a trade war with European Union over the bloc's plan to label oil from Alberta's vast tar sands …

Discussion: US Politics and InsideClimate News

David Martosko / The Daily Caller:
Campaign against Canadian Keystone XL pipeline driven by US foundation millions

Discussion: Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Simone Sebastian / Houston Chronicle:

U.S. oil gusher blows out projections — The United States' rapidly declining crude oil supply has made a stunning about-face, shredding federal oil projections and putting energy independence in sight of some analyst forecasts. — After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009.

Discussion: msnbc.com and Balloon Juice

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Santorum: Liberals ‘are the anti-science ones’ — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum charged on Monday that President Barack Obama and Democrats were “anti-science” because they refused to exploit the Earth's natural resources to the limits of technology.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and The Agonist

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:

Beyond Blue 5: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs — America's economic structure, the labor market and the American workplace have changed greatly in the last twenty years and will likely change even more in the twenty years to come. Some of these changes are unpredictable; others look baked into the cake.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm and Sense of Events