memeorandum: Gov. Daniels Says Won't Reconsider Presidential Run (Mary Beth Schneider/IndyStar Bloggers)

10:40 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: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Dish, TheBlaze.com, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box and Politico

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, Washington Post, msnbc.com and Politico

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, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Hot Air, About.com US Liberal Politics, TheBlaze.com, ABCNEWS, Booman Tribune, Fox News and Mediaite

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, The Maddow Blog and American Power

Mary Beth Schneider / IndyStar Bloggers: Gov. Daniels Says Won't Reconsider Presidential Run

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

Discussion: Guardian, Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Michigan GOP race tightens

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

Discussion: Politico and Hot Air

SoonerPoll:
Tulsa World: Poll shows state Republicans favor Santorum

Discussion: Hot Air and Rick Santorum for President

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

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos and Truthdig

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 …

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

Donald Trump / CNN:
Trump takes hatchet to Santorum

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

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

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

Juana Summers / Politico:
Rick Santorum defends attacks on Obama ‘theology’

Discussion: Gothamist, Taylor Marsh and CNN

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

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

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

Discussion: Politics, CNN and ABCNEWS

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CBS News:
Santorum: Obama's worldview upside-down

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Religion Dispatches, The Reality-Based Community, Firedoglake and ABCNEWS

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: The Sundries Shack, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, 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 Raw Story, The Maddow Blog, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway 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, Patterico's Pontifications, Ed Driscoll, Hot Air, Politico, Mediaite, Althouse, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CBS Chicago, THEROOT.COM, BuzzFeed, Gothamist, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, 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: Daily Kos, Weasel Zippers and Truthdig

Peter H. Gleick / The Huffington Post:

The Origin of the Heartland Documents — Climate Change , Global Warming , Heartland Institute , Heartland Institute Leaked Documents , Green News — Since the release in mid-February of a series of documents related to the internal strategy of the Heartland Institute to cast doubt on climate science …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Dot Earth

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Illegitimacy becoming the norm — Just as the AP Stylebook advised journalists against using the term “illegitimate child,” illegitimacy is becoming more widespread in the United States. — Now more than half of all births to American women under 30 are born out of wedlock …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

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

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, Ed Driscoll and The PJ Tatler

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