Top Items:
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Santorum exits presidential race — Rick Santorum will drop out of the presidential race Tuesday afternoon, a campaign consultant told The Hill, essentially guaranteeing Mitt Romney the GOP nomination. — Santorum will announce that he is suspending his campaign at an event in his home state …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, CNN, ABCNEWS, Wake up America, Donklephant, GOP 12, neo-neocon and Pirate's Cove
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The Caucus:
Santorum Suspends Presidential Campaign — Updated Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign on Tuesday, bowing to the inevitability of Mitt Romney's nomination and ending his improbable, come-from-behind quest to become the party's conservative standard-bearer in the fall.
Washington Post:
Obama holds key leads on Romney, as economy malaise looms over reelection bid — With the general-election campaign beginning to take shape, President Obama holds clear advantages over Mitt Romney on personal attributes and a number of key issues, but remains vulnerable to discontent …
Discussion:
American Prospect, ABCNEWS, The Hill, Little Green Footballs, Hullabaloo, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, Politico, Swampland, Shakesville, Hot Air, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, 2012 Decoded, The Page, Taegan Goddard's …, CNN, The Maddow Blog, GOP 12, Ballot Box, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Campaign 2012, Vodkapundit, Yahoo! News, Ezra Klein, American Power, Washington Wire, Pew Research Center … and Conservatives4Palin
Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:
Rick Santorum ends presidential campaign after conceding to Mitt Romney in phone call — After calling Mitt Romney to say he is ending his presidential campaign, Rick Santorum announced the end of his presidential campaign Tuesday during a press conference in Pennsylvania, his home state.
Washington Post:
Rick Santorum to drop out of the presidential race — Rick Santorum will announce Tuesday that he is suspending his presidential campaign, all but bringing to a close the 2012 GOP presidential contest and formally handing the nomination to Mitt Romney, according to an official close to the campaign.
Discussion:
Gawker, New York Magazine, Truth Wins Out and ThinkProgress
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
How Romney can solve his woman problem — Mitt Romney's electoral trouble with women — more precisely with college-educated women — is real enough. Recent polling has Romney trailing President Obama by 18 points among this group in Ohio, with similar gaps in other battleground states.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, Booman Tribune, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Fox News, Roll Call and The Huffington Post
Politico:
Rick Santorum drops 2012 campaign for president — Rick Santorum announced Tuesday afternoon that he is ending his campaign for the presidency, effectively closing out the GOP primary season and cementing Mitt Romney's status as his party's presumptive nominee.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and NetRight Daily
Mj Lee / Politico:
Herman Cain drops Newt Gingrich, ready to back Mitt Romney
Herman Cain drops Newt Gingrich, ready to back Mitt Romney
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Indecision Forever, LifeNews.com, The Hill and New York Magazine
Rick Santorum / CNN:
BREAKING: Santorum to suspend campaign
BREAKING: Santorum to suspend campaign
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, The Page, Hot Air and Liberal Values
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Rick Santorum Drops Out: GOP Presidential Candidate Suspends 2012 Campaign
Rick Santorum Drops Out: GOP Presidential Candidate Suspends 2012 Campaign
Discussion:
GOP 12, Outside the Beltway and US Politics
Darius Dixon / Politico:
George W. Bush: Wish tax cuts not in my name — George W. Bush said Tuesday that he wishes the tax cuts originally approved under his watch didn't carry the burden of his family name. — “I wish they weren't called the Bush tax cuts,” the former president said as he kicked off …
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Steve Schaefer / Exile On Wall Street:
George W. Bush: I Wish They Weren't Called The Bush Tax Cuts — Former U.S. President George W. Bush called for pro-growth tax policies to create a more robust private sector Tuesday morning in a rare public appearance. — Growing the public sector is easy, Bush said, “just raise taxes.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, GILL REPORT, The Raw Story and Dependable Renegade
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Bogus Obamacare-Deficit Study — Little did Obama know there is no Medicare crisis. — The Washington Post has an apparent blockbuster story today. It reports that a new study finds that Obamacare will increase the budget deficit, not decrease it, as the Congressional Budget Office has found:
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, National Review and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Health-care law will add $340 billion to deficit, new study finds
Health-care law will add $340 billion to deficit, new study finds
Jeanne Lambrew / White House.gov Blog:
Official Sources Agree: The Affordable Care Act Reduces the Deficit
Official Sources Agree: The Affordable Care Act Reduces the Deficit
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Mercatus and nation.foxnews.com
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Report Disputes Christie's Basis for Halting Tunnel — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey exaggerated when he declared that unforeseen costs to the state were forcing him to cancel the new train tunnel planned to relieve congested routes across the Hudson River, according to a long-awaited report …
Dallas Voice:
TX minister: Gays will destroy Democratic Party — Denis Dison at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund alerts us to this letter from a Houston minister attacking Lane Lewis, the openly gay former president of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus who's running for Harris County Democratic Party chair.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
RELATED:
Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
Obama faces pressure over same-sex marriage
Obama faces pressure over same-sex marriage
Discussion:
Associated Press, Minnesota Public Radio and The Maddow Blog
BuzzFeed:
Paul Ryan Claims Secret Democratic Support — They'd come out for his budget but fear they'd “get killed. Ryan on Romney: An “earnest ... throwback to the '50s. Ryan with Romney on April 3. — (Getty Images / Scott Olson) — House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan told reporters in New York today …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Politico, The Brody File, Weekly Standard, GOP 12, Indecision Forever, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Swampland
John Cook / Gawker:
New York Times Reporter Blasts Boss In Email to 150 of His Best Friends — A few weeks ago, New York Times science and health reporter Don McNeil sent out a scathing email to colleagues attacking Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. for piloting a “ghost ship” and running off to the Himalayas …
Discussion:
New York Magazine and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »
Matt Stoller / Republic Report:
Corruption Responsible for 80% of Your Cell Phone Bill — Last year, a new company called Lightsquared promised an innovative business model that would dramatically lower cell phone costs and improve the quality of service, threatening the incumbent phone operators like AT&T and Verizon.
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla and Crooks and Liars
Ashley Judd / The Daily Beast:
Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation Over Her ‘Puffy’ Appearance — Ashley Judd's ‘puffy’ appearance sparked a viral media frenzy. But, the actress writes, the conversation is really a misogynistic assault on all women. — The Conversation about women's bodies exists largely outside …
Discussion:
Guardian, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain, Jezebel, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, Feministing, The Jane Dough and BuzzFeed
Jeffrey Lord / American Spectator:
Huckabee Show Opens With Staged Caller — Wow. — As we often say here: you just can't make it up. — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took his first phone call of his new talk radio call-in show yesterday. From “Mike in San Francisco.” Remember: the show is being positioned …
Discussion:
GOP 12 and Riehl World View
Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:
Study suggests students grow less interested in promoting racial understanding — By — One stereotype about college is that the experience encourages students to be more interested in diversity and promoting racial understanding. To some this is a great virtue of higher education …
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, National Review, Gawker, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Instapundit
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: George Zimmerman Launches Website, Features Vandalized Black Cultural Center — According to NBC News correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, George Zimmerman has launched a new website: … On the website — therealgeorgezimmerman.com — Zimmerman solicits donations to support his “living expenses and legal defense.”
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Josh Boak / Politico:
Buffett rule not solution to debt, W.H. says — The Obama administration is emphasizing “fairness” over deficit reduction in its renewed pitch for the “Buffett rule” ahead of next week's scheduled Senate vote. — Introducing a minimum 30 percent income tax on millionaires …