memeorandum: Virginia Governor McDonnell backs away from transvaginal ultrasound bill (Laura Conaway/msnbc.com)

4:15 PM ET, February 24, 2012

Top Items:

Rick Santorum winning more support from Republican women — Over the past several weeks, Republicans have watched squeamishly as presidential contender Rick Santorum has waded into multiple controversies that risk alienating half the 2012 electorate: women.

Discussion: Wake up America, Los Angeles Times, Indianapolis Star, Taylor Marsh, Pirate's Cove, Hot Air, Politico, Rasmussen Reports, Sabato's Crystal Ball and The Page

Politico:

The ‘gotcha’ campaign — MILFORD, Mich. — Caught in a make-or-break moment, Mitt Romney went to the videotape. — To hear him tell it, the GOP front-runner clicked on a classic piece of opposition research for a peek. The six-day-old Fox News clip summed up the day's attacks on Rick Santorum.

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Other McCain, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos and Hot Air

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

What happens if Mitt Romney wins Michigan? — DETROIT — For the past week, much of the focus of the Republican presidential race has centered on the consequences Mitt Romney will face if he loses Michigan's primary. After a debate in Arizona on Wednesday, the question should be: What will happen if he wins his home state?

Discussion: Politico, News Desk, New York Times, detroitnews.com, The Huffington Post, Online NewsHour, MLive.com, FiveThirtyEight, ABCNEWS and Las Vegas Sun Blogs

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Santorum Swings Hard At Romney, Says His Team Is ‘All Democrats’ … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Michigan Republican Primary, Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Primary, Rick Santorum, Elections 2012, Video, Team, Politics News — WASHINGTON — As his lead in the polls slips ahead …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Daily Kos

Kyle Leighton / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Why Mitt Romney Might Be Even Weaker Than You Think

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Obama Diary

Alex Roarty / 2012 Decoded:
Republican Race's Volatility is Historic

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Tim Mak / Politico:
Arlen Specter: Rick Santorum ‘so far to the right’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, PhillyNow and On Top Magazine Headlines

Rick Santorum / Washington Post:
Rick Santorum winning more support from Republican women

Discussion: American Prospect

Rosie Gray / Politics:
Ron Paul Fans Outraged At Hearty Post-Debate Handshake

Discussion: Althouse, Stop The ACLU, Shakesville, iOwnTheWorld.com and Hot Air

Arizona Republic:
Romney right for these times

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Talking Points Memo, CNN and GOP 12

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Romney speech falls flat in Detroit — Mitt Romney spoke to several empty seats Friday in Detroit, in a speech that offered Democrats more fodder for their attacks and failed to deliver the major economic address his campaign promised. — Television cameras showed rows of empty chairs …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Wonkette, Algemeiner.com and Guardian

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Romney Boasts: He Has Not One, But Four, American Cars — He also thinks Michigan's trees are “just the right height.” — (Original Photo Source: Getty Images) — DETROIT, Michigan—Mitt Romney addressed the Detroit Economic Club today and proved once again why he's hard to relate to.

Discussion: Wake up America and The Daily Caller

Steven Rattner / New York Times:
Delusions About the Detroit Bailout

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, Brad DeLong, Politico, CNN, Gallup, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, A plain blog about politics, Mediaite, The Atlantic Online, Jared Bernstein, ABCNEWS and Detroit Free Press

Sandhya Somashekhar / Washington Post:

Karen Santorum: husband's presidential run is 'God's will' — Rick Santorum's wife granted a rare interview Thursday, telling conservative talk show host Glenn Beck that she initially had been against her husband running for president but finally concluded it was “God's will.”

Discussion: Hot Air, Shakesville, The Raw Story and Althouse

Rebecca Kaplan / NationalJournal.com:

Santorum: Obama College Plan Aimed at ‘Indoctrination’ — DALLAS, Texas - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Thursday that President Obama wants more young adults to go to college so they can undergo “indoctrination” to a secular world view.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, Wonkette and A plain blog about politics

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Karen Santorum: Husband's surge 'is God's will'

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Gateway Pundit

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Palin said her divorce was ‘when,’ not ‘if’ — Sarah Palin, in 2007, indicated she was contemplating a divorce. — In a Sept. 26, 2007, email obtained by The Associated Press, Palin wrote to an aide and her husband, Todd Palin: “So speaking of. .. If we, er, when we get a divorce …

Discussion: Associated Press and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:
Emails show Palin wanted to leave Alaska governor's job months before she resigned

Discussion: msnbc.com, Politico, Wonkette, Mediaite and The Jane Dough

Investor's Business Daily:

5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech — Energy: The White House billed President Obama's energy policy speech as a response to mounting criticism of record high gas prices. What he delivered was a grab bag of excuses and outright falsehoods. — Obama's main message to struggling motorists …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, BuzzFeed, Wake up America, Patterico's Pontifications, The Gateway Pundit, Wizbang, JunkScience.com, Hot Air, Betsy's Page, Power Line, Doug Ross and New York Times

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
White House says nothing ‘off the table’ in dealing with gas prices

Discussion: Algemeiner.com

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Romney's Economic Closet — According to Michael Kinsley, a gaffe is when a politician accidently tells the truth. That's certainly what happened to Mitt Romney on Tuesday, when in a rare moment of candor — and, in his case, such moments are really, really rare — he gave away the game.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Balloon Juice

Elizabeth Warren / The Boston Globe:

Denying women coverage under any guise is a big step backward — MAYBE YOU saw the pictures. Five middle-age men seated at a congressional hearing table to discuss freedom of religion and contraception. And not a single woman was on the panel. Unbelievable.

Discussion: Washington Post, JustOneMinute, Politico and Daily Kos

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Seven states sue over contraception mandate

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and Jammie Wearing Fools

Tim Mak / Politico:

Reports: Jeb Bush says 2012ers are 'appealing to people's fears' — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said Thursday that he found it “troubling” that the 2012 presidential candidates are “appealing to people's fears and emotion” on the campaign trail, according to reports.

Discussion: Hot Air, CBS Dallas, Fox News, UPI, Swampland, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, GOP 12, Booman Tribune and LewRockwell.com Blog

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Romney's Stadium Speech Today Dwarfed By Obama Stadium Speech In 2008 — At this very moment, Mitt Romney is holding an event at Ford Stadium which has failed to attract enough people to come even close to filling it up (in fact, you could fit Romney's 1,200 person crowd in the 65,000-seat stadium 54 times over).

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and NetRight Daily

Ken Dilanian / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb — The latest U.S. intelligence report indicates Iran is pursuing research that could enable it to build a nuclear weapon, but that it has not sought to do so. — Revolutionary Guard personnel watch the launch of a Zelzal missile in June 2011 near Qom, Iran.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Guardian, Reuters, Washington Post, Associated Press and The Agonist

Patrick Goodenough / CNSNews:

Taliban's Response to Obama's Apology: ‘Kill Them, Beat Them, Take Them as Prisoners’ — (CNSNews.com) - In the wake of President Barack Obama sending a three-page letter to Afghan President Hamid Kharzai, apologizing for U.S. forces having mistakenly burned some Qur'ans at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and protein wisdom

Sam Baker / The Hill:

Schumer says Republicans ‘overplayed their hand’ in birth control fight — Republicans are ginning up a debate over social issues to distract from the improving economy, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) charged Friday. — Schumer said the birth-control mandate in President Obama's healthcare law might …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

David Pogue / Pogue's Posts:

What Cameras Inside Foxconn Found — I wrote about the Apple/China/Foxconn controversy in this space a couple of weeks ago, but there have been some developments, some progress and some new revelations. — The story so far: Last month, The New York Times published a front-page article …

Discussion: National Review, Modeled Behavior, Democracy in America, Salon and TPM Idea Lab

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Maryland Senate passes same-sex marriage bill — Maryland will join seven states and the District in allowing same-sex marriage, ending a year-long drama in Annapolis over the legislation and expanding nationwide momentum for gay rights. — The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 25 …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Crooks and Liars, The Impolitic, The BLT, CNN, The Page, US Politics, Mother Jones and The Reaction

Amanda Peterson Beadle / ThinkProgress:

Buchanan To Republicans: You're Overeaching On Birth Control — Women's health care has dominated political discussions as GOP-controlled state legislatures consider legislation to extremely curtail women's access to abortions and right-wing leaders claim the Obama administration is infringing …

Discussion: Wonkette

JournalGazette.net:

You choose, we deliver … The Scoop — A written report from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources: (Rochester) Conservation Officers investigated an off-road vehicle accident that occurred in Fulton County on February 22nd during the early evening hours.Today 7:34 am

Discussion: Politico, The Jane Dough, WANE-TV and 89.3 WFPL News

Josh Kraushaar / 2012 Decoded:

Dem Pollster: Voters Don't Think America's Back — Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg is out with a must-read polling memo this morning, which offers some eye-opening advice to President Obama and his re-election team. After testing several of the president's economic messages …

Discussion: Don Surber, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

The Death Star Is a Surprisingly Cost-Effective Weapons System — There's been a lot of loose talk about the Death Star lately. I want to put it into a bit of perspective. — As background, some students at Lehigh University have estimated that it would be a very expensive project.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Enik Rising, The Jawa Report and US Politics