memeorandum: New Helper mayor chosen by picking name from a basket (Geoff Liesik/KSL-TV)

10:00 AM ET, March 17, 2013

Top Items:

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Rand Paul edges Rubio to win CPAC straw poll — Rand Paul edged out Marco Rubio in the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, reinforcing their standing as the preeminent favorites of the Republican base heading into 2016.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

USA Today:

Rand Paul edges Marco Rubio in CPAC straw poll — Tea Party favorites such as Paul and Rubio won the hearts of the grass-roots activists, many of them young people, who attended the CPAC event. — OXON HILL, Md. — The next presidential election is more than three years away …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and The Reaction

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
John McCain apologizes to Rand Paul, Ted Cruz for ‘wacko birds’

Discussion: Althouse, Weasel Zippers and Ballot Box

Washington Times:
Rand Paul wins The Washington Times-CPAC 2013 Straw Poll

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Post Politics and No More Mister Nice Blog

Rand Paul / CNN:
TRENDING: Rand Paul wins 2013 CPAC presidential straw poll

Discussion: Politico, his vorpal sword, NBCNews.com and The Spectacle Blog

Reuters:

Cyprus' savers bear brunt of unprecedented bailout — (Reuters) - The euro zone agreed on Saturday to hand Cyprus a bailout worth 10 billion euros ($13 billion), but demanded depositors in its banks forfeit some money to stave off bankruptcy despite the risk of a wider run on savings.

Discussion: Zero Hedge, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Wonkblog, Calculated Risk, The Agonist and Wall Street Journal

Liz Alderman / New York Times:

Facing Bailout Tax, Cypriots Try to Get Cash Out of Banks — ATHENS — In a move that could set off new fears of contagion across the euro zone, anxious depositors lined up at cash machines on Saturday in Cyprus to withdraw money hours after European officials in Brussels required that part …

Discussion: Via Meadia, Belmont Club and Eschaton

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

When The GOP Told Whitey I Aint Gonna Take It No More — Yesterday, a CPAC breakout session on reaching out to black voters broke down in shouting and acrimony as a handful of ‘disenfranchised whites’ attacked the premise of the session (along with black complaints about slaveholders) …

Discussion: Brad DeLong

Jillian Rayfield / Salon:
CPAC panel on racism goes awry

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Hullabaloo, Corrente, PolicyMic and The Raw Story

Kyle Trygstad / Roll Call:

Utah: Love Hires Top Hatch Strategist for Matheson Rematch — Love prepares for a rematch with Matheson (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo) — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After a 1-point loss in Utah last year, Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love is actively laying the groundwork …

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

American public increasingly sympathetic towards Israel — The extent to which Americans sympathize more with Israelis than with Palestinians has reached its all-time high, according to a new Gallup poll. The survey found that the sympathies of 64 percent of Americans reside with Israelis …

Discussion: Gallup

Geoff Liesik / KSL-TV:

New Helper mayor chosen by picking name from a basket — HELPER — The city's new mayor was sworn in Friday after winning his seat by luck of the draw. — “I was kind of shocked that I was the one whose name was drawn,” Mayor Ed Chavez Jr. said. — In two rounds of voting Thursday night …

Discussion: NBC New York

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

Pamela Geller: CPAC's Muslim Board Member Is ‘Worse Than Al-Awlaki’ — Another year, another attack on Suhail Khan — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A prominent conservative activist Saturday accused of Muslim conservative of waging a “stealth Jihad” against the movement, warning his position …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Atlas Shrugs, The Gateway Pundit, American Power and Right Wing Watch

The Raw Story:

Scientists excited by discovery of ‘Underground Galapagos’ — Diverse underground ecosystems buried deep beneath the Earth's crust may offer clues to the origins of life on Earth, several recent studies have revealed. — Whether it is tiny worms found wriggling in the depths of a South African mine …

David Taylor / BBC:

The Lyndon Johnson tapes: Richard Nixon's ‘treason’ — Declassified tapes of President Lyndon Johnson's telephone calls provide a fresh insight into his world. Among the revelations - he planned to fly into the 1968 Democratic Convention and win the presidential nomination.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Booman Tribune

Jerusalem Post:

US asks Turkey for help with ME peace process — Kerry calls Turkish counterpart, asks for Ankara's help in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace process; Ankara turns down request. — US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu this week …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Sarah Palin fires up conservative grassroots in speech at CPAC — Sarah Palin called for the conservative grassroots to avoid consultants in a fiercely anti-establishment speech that received the strongest response yet from a packed auditorium at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday.

Jim Newell / Guardian:
CPAC 2013: Sarah Palin delivers rallying call to Republican crowd - live

Discussion: Rumproast, PolicyMic, Connecting.the.Dots and Wonkette

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Bachmann Accuses Obama Of Living A Life Of Excess — In one of her first major addresses since winning a close re-election bid in November, the Tea Party favorite conceded during her address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday that Obama and his family …