memeorandum: Idaho 1st Congressional District candidate charged with aggravated assault (Idaho Statesman)

1:40 AM ET, March 19, 2012

Top Items:

Romney will win Puerto Rico's GOP primary, CNN projects — San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) — Mitt Romney will win Sunday's Republican presidential primary in Puerto Rico, CNN projects, based on vote results obtained from local party and election officials. — At 6:50 p.m. ET …

Discussion: News Desk, The Reaction, Little Green Footballs and Scared Monkeys

Kristina Peterson / Wall Street Journal:

Romney Wins Primary in Puerto Rico — Mitt Romney won the Puerto Rico Republican presidential primary contest on Sunday, winning all of the island's 20 delegates at stake because be took more than half of the votes. — The campaign for Puerto Rico's support served as a fresh reminder …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Lonely Conservative

Juana Summers / Politico:

Mitt Romney easily wins Puerto Rico — SHREVEPORT, La. — Mitt Romney handily beat Rick Santorum in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, the Associated Press reported on Sunday night. — Romney's victory was so convincing that he took all 20 of the island's delegates because he scored more than 50 percent of the vote.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Other McCain, CNN and The Caucus

ABCNEWS: Haley Barbour: Contested GOP Convention ‘Not Necessarily Bad’

Pete Kasperowicz / Ballot Box: Romney wins Puerto Rico GOP primary

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Sen. McCain: Romney ‘improving dramatically’ as a GOP candidate

Discussion: Politico, The Caucus, CNN and FiveThirtyEight

CNN:
Ed Gillespie: Romney benefits from longer primary season

Discussion: Politico and CBS News

Emily Schultheis / Politico:
McCain says Romney is ‘improving dramatically’

Discussion: CNN

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

C-Span Founder to Step Down as Chief Executive — Brian Lamb, who created the revolutionary nonprofit cable television network C-Span in the late 1970s and has been its public face ever since, is handing it over to two lieutenants, Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:

Israel shifts views on Iran — JERUSALEM - Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:

Pro-Israeli Groups Differ on Approaches Toward Iran — WASHINGTON — Even before President Obama declared this month that “I have Israel's back” in its escalating confrontation with Iran, pro-Israel figures like the evangelical Christian leader Gary L. Bauer and the conservative commentator William Kristol were pushing for more.

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog

Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:

THE VETTING - HOLDER 1995: WE MUST ‘BRAINWASH’ PEOPLE ON GUNS — Breitbart.com has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to “really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.” — Holder was addressing the Woman's National Democratic Club.

Discussion: The POH Diaries, TBogg, The Daily Caller, The Jawa Report and The Lonely Conservative

T.W. Farnam / Washington Post:

Obama's high-dollar donations lagging — President Obama is struggling to draw in big-dollar donations, with half as many people writing large checks to his campaign than at this point four years ago. — Obama is outpacing his Republican rivals in fundraising overall …

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog and Doug Ross

Paul Krugman:

The Collapse of Employment-Based Coverage — Reed Abelson at Economix points us to a startling study on the effects of the Great Recession on health insurance. You can see similar trends in the Census data, but for whatever reason this survey — carried out by a highly reputable group — is even stronger.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Brad DeLong, The Confluence and The Mahablog

ABCNEWS:

Brown Teases Santorum About Using ‘Protection’ — Sen. Scott Brown joked at a St. Patrick's Day that Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's secret service detail may be the first time he's ever “used protection.” — “I'm hopeful that all of you are actually following presidential politics.

Discussion: Politico

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Senator Scott Brown On Santorum's Security: “The First Time He's Actually Ever Used Protection”

Discussion: Jezebel

Paul Krugman:

The Power of Plutocratic Pettiness — Via Rich Yeselson, Alec MacGillis has a fantastic piece in the New Republic (unfortunately paywalled) about how hedge fund managers' love for Obama has turned into blind, spitting hatred. His main argument is that it's all about feeling disrespected:

Discussion: Modeled Behavior and Washington Monthly

Serena Marshall / ABCNEWS:

Obama Introduces Bullying Documentary on Cartoon Network — President Obama opened up a 30-minute documentary on childhood bullying for Cartoon Network this evening, continuing awareness initiatives he set into motion last year. — The minute-long introduction, which was pre-taped …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine:

SAN DIEGO TEA PARTY LEADER ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPE — Lemon Grove resident Michael John Kobulnicky, 50, a leader in the San Diego Tea Party and former regional director of the Southern California Conservative Party, is under arrest for allegedly kidnapping and raping a local woman on Fiesta Island.

Discussion: Addicting Info, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Impolitic and Crooks and Liars

Lauren Steussy / KNSD-TV:
Sex Assault Suspect a Tea Party Leader

Discussion: Conservative Hideout 2.0, Jammie Wearing Fools, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story

Rasmussen Reports:

New Low: 28% Give Supreme Court Positive Ratings — Even before the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearings later this month on the constitutionality of the national health care law, fewer voters than ever view the high court positively. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey …

Discussion: Althouse and Campaign 2012