memeorandum: Occupy protesters engage in other ways (Annie Gowen/Washington Post)

2:50 PM ET, February 28, 2012

Top Items:

After Many Momentum Shifts, Michigan Is Too Close to Call — People sometimes apply the term “tossup” a bit too broadly, using it to refer to anything close enough that they don't want to render a prediction about it. — In Michigan, however, the term is appropriate.

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Romney also said he voted in Dem primaries to influence the race — The Romney campaign has been denouncing Democratic efforts - and now those by Rick Santorum - to get Democrats to vote in Michigan's open primary. — Mitt Romney himself called it a “new low” in politics in a round of TV interviews.

Discussion: CNN, Wake up America, Daily Kos, CBS News and ThinkProgress

ABCNEWS:

What Happens if Rick Santorum Wins Michigan? — That's the question I asked ABC News contributor Matt Dowd ahead of tonight's primary. Mitt Romney has been bouncing up and down in the polls of his home state, and is now neck and neck with Rick Santorum. — “If Rick Santorum wins tonight it's …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Momentum back toward Santorum in MI? — PPP's final poll in Michigan finds Rick Santorum holding on to the smallest of leads with 38% to 37% for Mitt Romney, 14% for Ron Paul, and 9% for Newt Gingrich. — It's always good to be cautious with one night poll numbers, but momentum seems to be swinging in Santorum's direction.

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:
Santorum Robocalls to Michigan Democrats: Help Me Stop Romney

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, Washington Post and The Spectacle Blog

Rick Santorum / CNN:
Santorum on top in second straight Ohio poll

Discussion: Mail Online, The Hill and Institute for Policy …

Evan McMorris-Santoro / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
Updated at 5:10 EST with audio of the call.

Jon Cohen / Washington Post:
Conservatives take dimmer view of Romney ahead of voting

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Boston Globe, Prairie Weather and msnbc.com

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
How Mitt Romney booked Kid Rock

Discussion: Dependable Renegade

Sarah B. Boxer / NationalJournal.com:
Romney Says Santorum Trying to ‘Kidnap’ Primary Process

Discussion: Ballot Box, Liberal Values, Taegan Goddard's … and ABCNEWS

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Decision Day in Michigan (and Arizona)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post and ABCNEWS

Rick Santorum / CNN:
Romney hits Santorum robo calls as ‘new low’ in campaign

Discussion: Politico, American Prospect, Big Government, Campaign 2012 and The Moderate Voice

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Romney Advocate Says “Christian Right” is Key to Santorum's Successes

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Enterprise Blog and Metro

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:

Sorry, The Restaurant Receipt Left By That Nasty, Rich Banker Is A Photoshop Hoax — The restaurant receipt that a California banker purportedly used to denigrate a waitress—while also leaving her a one percent tip—was wildly “altered and exaggerated,” according to a spokesperson …

Discussion: Associated Press, JIMROMENESKO.COM, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Daily What and The Political Carnival

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Obama hits Romney with withering mockery as he makes case for reelection — In a speech to the United Auto Workers just now, Obama defended his decision to bail out the auto industry, lacing into Mitt Romney with withering derision. But this speech was about more than the auto-bailout.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
President Obama Suggests Romney Shoveling ‘A Load of You-Know-What’

Discussion: Campaign 2012

Max Fisher / The Atlantic Online:

Stratfor Is a Joke and So Is Wikileaks for Taking It Seriously — The corporate research firm has branded itself as a CIA-like “global intelligence” firm, but only Julian Assange and some over-paying clients are fooled. — On June 2, 2009, Anya Alfano of Stratfor, which describes itself as a private …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Guardian, The Raw Story and Algemeiner.com

Damien McElroy / Telegraph:
Stratfor: Osama bin Laden 'was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency'

Discussion: Verum Serum

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Possum Republicans — Politicians do what they must to get re-elected. So it's not unexpected that Republican senators like Richard Lugar and Orrin Hatch would swing sharply to the right to fend off primary challengers. — As Jonathan Weisman reported in The Times on Sunday …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, p m carpenter's commentary, The Maddow Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, RedState, Booman Tribune and NewsBusters.org blogs

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Santorum regrets ‘throw up’ response to Kennedy speech — Rick Santorum regrets saying that he wanted to “throw up” in response to watching a video clip of President John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech about the separation of church and state. — “I wish I had that particular line back,” …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Little Green Footballs, GOP 12, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Booman Tribune

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

What's the Matter With ‘Nebraska’? — A frivolous essay underscores the left's serious prejudices. — This column has recently become skeptical of the view—nearly universal on the liberal left but common as well among conservative elites—that Rick Santorum is “unelectable” …

Discussion: Rod Dreher

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — President Obama Delivers Barnburner To UAW, Dings Romney And Santorum — Mitt Romney won't “light his hair on fire” just to excite the conservative base, he admitted to an audience Tuesday. President Obama offered him a helpful political clinic the same day …

Discussion: Washington Post, ABCNEWS, Fox News, Swampland and The Political Carnival

David A. Lieb / bnd.com:

Carnahan files for St. Louis congressional seat — JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Scores of hopeful candidates turned out Tuesday to file for political offices in Missouri, including a pair of incumbent St. Louis congressman now poised to square off in a Democratic primary, despite legal uncertainty over the district boundaries.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Hotline On Call

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box: Carnahan opts to challenge fellow Dem

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

The Unbearable Gleickness of Being: An Omnibus Climate Update — The Gleickgate hits just keep coming. (Or is it Fakegate, as Heartland is calling it, or Gleick-Out, as I've called it? Doesn't matter.) First, Gleick has taken a leave of absence from his post as president of the Pacific Institute …

Discussion: Watts Up With That? and National Review

Politico:

GOP frets over 2012 knife fight — National Republican leaders are voicing increasing dismay over the course of the party's presidential primary, which has fallen into such a negative grind that they warn could cost them the White House. — At the core of their concern is the atmosphere …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Political Carnival

Elizabeth Lopatto / Bloomberg:

Wealthy More Likely to Lie, Cheat: Researchers — Are society's most noble actors found within society's nobility? — That question spurred Paul Piff, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, to explore whether higher social class is linked to higher ideals, he said in a telephone interview.

Discussion: Wired, Gothamist, Guardian, Feministing and Suburban Guerrilla

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:

New Hampshire May Revoke Its Gay Marriage Law — As same-sex marriage supporters celebrate victories in Washington and Maryland this month, they are keeping a wary eye on New Hampshire, where lawmakers may soon vote to repeal the state's two-year-old law allowing gay couples to wed.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Law Blog, Gay Politics and Balloon Juice

David White / al.com:

Senator plans to rewrite bill in Alabama Legislature that would require ultrasounds before abortions — State Sen. Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville, today said he plans to rewrite an abortion bill he sponsored so that it could not require a woman seeking an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, WTKR-TV, Montgomery Advertiser, ThinkProgress, Salon, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, Hotline On Call, American Prospect and TimesDaily.com

Digby / Crooks and Liars:

Blue America Welcomes Ken Aden (D-AR) — One of the greatest difficulties for progressives these days is imagining how we can possibly win elections when the 1% has uncapped a fire hose full of money into our politics. It's a daunting prospect, to be sure.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:

Democratic lobbyists giving cold shoulder to Obama super-PAC — Democratic lobbyists who have been barred from fundraising for President Obama's campaign are showing little interest in donating instead to a super-PAC that supports him. — Unlike Obama's official campaign …

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Jessica Firger / Wall Street Journal:

Occupy Groups Get Funding — A group of business leaders—including Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and former Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg—are planning to pour substantial funds into the Occupy Wall Street movement in hopes of sustaining the protests and fostering political change.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Gothamist