memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Chris Christie Lands a Key Texas Bundler for Prez Run (Ken Kurson/The New York Observer)

11:40 AM ET, January 13, 2015

Top Items:

I Refuse to Believe Romney '16 Is Real — Join the Romney Campaign Truthers. — Shares — When the Washington Post reported last Friday that Mitt Romney had assembled donors and told them he wants to be president, I refused to believe it. Then the Post reported last night that Romney has said he …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

Romney moves to reassemble campaign team for ‘almost certain’ 2016 bid — Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network, calling former aides, donors and other supporters over the weekend and on Monday in a concerted push to signal his seriousness about possibly launching a 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: National Review, Algemeiner.com, Fox News, Patterico's Pontifications, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed, Little Green Footballs, Bloomberg Politics, Hullabaloo, Washington Monthly, Power Line and Bloomberg View

Politico:

The selling of Mitt 3.0 — Romney is promising he'll be ‘different’ this time. — Getty — Shortly after Election Day in 2012, a Mitt Romney supporter moaned to POLITICO about the failed GOP nominee's performance: “We had no message, and we gave it to the worst communicator in the world.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Daily Beast and Hot Air

Alex Moe / NBC News:
Paul Ryan Won't Run for President in 2016

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Ted Cruz on Mitt Romney: No need for ‘mushy middle’

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:

White House: 'It's fair to say' we were wrong on Paris unity rally — The White House said Monday that it made a mistake in not sending President Obama or a top administration official to the weekend unity march in Paris, a rare concession that it had botched the optics of an important international event.

Discussion: Hit & Run, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, ABC News, Liberal Values, OnPolitics and TIME

Wall Street Journal:
Lafayette, We Are Not Here — It was not a missed public relations opportunity.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Commentary Magazine, Roger L. Simon, alicublog, Tablet Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and Politico

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
White House was out of step as Paris march grew

Discussion: Townhall.com, National Review, The Federalist, The Huffington Post and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Anne Penketh / Guardian:

Charlie Hebdo: first cover since terror attack depicts prophet Muhammad — French satirical magazine's surviving columnist says cover is a call to forgive the terrorists who murdered her colleagues last week — Warning: this article contains the image of the magazine cover, which some may find offensive.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Liberaland, Poynter, New York Magazine, Business Insider, FOX News Radio, Telegraph and Observer, more at Mediagazer »

Rachel Donadio / New York Times:
Charlie Hebdo's New Issue Has Muhammad on the Cover

Discussion: Fox News, NPR, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, WCTX-TV, EW.com, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Mashable, New York Magazine and Althouse

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
The return of Charlie Hebdo: Magazine gets ready to publish again

Discussion: USA Today, Taylor Marsh, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality and Telegraph, more at Mediagazer »

Laura Barron-Lopez / The Hill:

Democrats plan tough votes for GOP on Keystone pipeline bill — Democrats are poised to make Republicans cast a series of tough votes on legislation approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which the GOP hopes to send to President Obama's desk soon. — Obama has vowed to veto the bill …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

Dems' next big issue — Democrats are seizing on the fight for mandatory paid leave in the United States as their next big pocketbook issue. — The Obama administration has for months called upon Congress to require employers to offer paid leave, with Labor Secretary Tom Perez relentlessly pressing …

Bill Clark / Roll Call: Can Democrats Win the House in 2016?

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:

Atty. Gen. Harris to announce U.S. Senate bid on Tuesday — California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris will announce Tuesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Boxer, according to a Harris advisor. — “She's not testing the waters. She's charting the course.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, BuzzFeed, Hinterland Gazette, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Gavin Newsom's California power play

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos and Bloomberg Politics

Bill / The Hill: Bill Press: New Gold Rush

The Columbus Dispatch:

Tear gas disperses revelers around campus after Ohio State win — Authorities used tear gas early today to disperse thousands of Buckeye fans on N. High Street along campus celebrating Ohio State's win over Oregon. — Three canisters were used in front of the Ohio Union around 1:15 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Hit & Run, Associated Press, Raw Story and Shakesville

Anomaly / FreakOutNation:

White People Riot In Columbus After Football Game, Media Calls It A ‘Celebration’ — Police did not deploy military tanks, or open fire on a bunch of white people began rioting last night after Ohio State's national title win over the Oregon Ducks. Property was destroyed, fires were started all over town.

Discussion: NBC News and Liberaland

Carlos Lozada / Washington Post:

The time Obama walked in on a staffer who had a friend in bed — Reggie Love knows how to put the body in “bodyman.” — In a memoir due out in early February, Love recounts his years working for Barack Obama - in the Senate, on the 2008 campaign and in the White House.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Althouse, Daily Mail, Mediaite, New York Magazine and The Huffington Post

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Republicans' inconsistent attacks on Obama's Paris response — There is a certain je ne sais quoi in conservatives' criticism of the Obama administration over last week's terrorist attack in France. — A decade ago, Republicans in Congress were renaming French fries “freedom fries” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller and Prairie Weather

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg View:

Obama's College Plan Bows to Elites — President Obama has announced a plan to make community college “as free and universal as high school.” A lot could be said about this plan, and most of it already has been—see Tyler Cowen for a comprehensive roundup with a bottom line I endorse …

Discussion: The Dish and Marginal REVOLUTION

Richard D. Kahlenberg / The Atlantic Online:
The Genius of Obama's Two-Year College Proposal

Discussion: Bloomberg View and The Dish

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Scalise voted against apology for slavery — Six years before he spoke to a white supremacist group, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) voted as a state lawmaker against a resolution apologizing for slavery, according to a 1996 article from the Times-Picayune.

Discussion: Political Wire and PoliticusUSA

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama to business: Share data for cyber-protection — President Obama will propose new legislation Tuesday that encourages companies to share sensitive data with the government in a bid to ward off cyber attacks — and protects them from potential lawsuits if they opt to do so.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

Associated Press:
White House to meet with college athletics officials

Discussion: TPNN, The Daily Caller and ThinkProgress

Ben White / Politico:

Elizabeth Warren wins on Antonio Weiss nomination — Antonio Weiss pulls out of Treasury slot; will instead serve as counselor. — NEW YORK — Antonio Weiss, the Wall Street banker who President Barack Obama had picked to be the third-ranking official at the Treasury Department …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, Booman Tribune, Bloomberg Politics, Bloomberg View, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, New York Times, Hullabaloo, Fusion, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Washington Times

Dana Kennedy / The Daily Beast:

Paris's Muslim Suburbs Blame Jews for Charlie — In France, the projects don't look like ghettoes, but they're filled with a poisonous mix of conspiracy theories and a some support for murderous jihadis. — SEVRAN, France — As more than 1.5 million people, including 40 world leaders …

Discussion: Hot Air and Israel Matzav