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Trump Tops Republican Pack By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; But Dems Trump Trump In General Election — With 20 percent of Republican voters, Donald Trump is the clear leader in the crowded Republican presidential primary field, but he trails any of three leading …
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Politico, Bloomberg Business, The PJ Tatler, ABC News, Business Insider, RedState, Fox News, Red Alert Politics, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Reuters, Washington Monthly, Sun-Times National, Washington Times, FiveThirtyEight, OnPolitics, Real Clear Politics, Naked Politics, Political Wire, Weekly Standard, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, The Week and Mediaite
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Rand Paul attributes Trump's rise to a ‘loss of sanity’ — Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) is attributing GOP rival Donald Trump's rise in the polls to a momentary “loss of sanity.” — “I think this is a temporary sort of loss of sanity, but we're going to come back to our senses and look …
Discussion:
ABC News and Political Wire


Trump lowers expectations for debate — GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he has “no idea” how he will perform in next week's Republican 2016 debate. — Trump argued that he is a man of action rather than words during a news conference in Turnberry, Scotland, that afternoon.

Donald Trump offered access to the Republican National Committee's voter file
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Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Politico and EcoWatch


“Ted Cruz gives me the willies”: Camille Paglia analyzes the GOP field — and takes on Hillary Clinton
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The Daily Caller

Donald Trump Winning Facebook by a Landslide
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Politico, Business Insider, Sun-Times National, OnPolitics, Fox News and Political Wire

Planned Parenthood VP Says Fetuses May Come Out Intact, Agrees Payments Specific to the Specimen — #PPSellsBabyParts PLANNED PARENTHOOD VP SAYS FETUSES MAY COME OUT INTACT, AGREES PAYMENTS SPECIFIC TO THE SPECIMEN — Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains VP & Medical Director Savita Ginde …
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How Planned Parenthood could shut down the government
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NBC News, Washington Post, RH Reality Check, Daily Kos, Reuters, LifeNews.com, PoliticusUSA, Slantpoint, Talking Points Memo, US News, Hot Air and CNN

Planned Parenthood's ‘Hacked’ Website Looks Like PR Stunt
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The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Young Conservatives and BizzyBlog

Planned Parenthood “Hacking” Sure Looks Like An Orchestrated PR Stunt
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CNN, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, LifeNews.com, Truth Revolt, Mediaite, The NonProfit Times, The Right Scoop and Addicting Info

Pelosi: Dems ‘overwhelmingly’ against defunding Planned Parenthood
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LifeNews.com, Hit & Run and Washington Free Beacon


Many Republican Polls Are Measuring a Unicorn Electorate — Recent elections around the world have not been kind to pollsters. In contests in Israel and Britain, and in a referendum in Scotland, pre-election polls all showed tight races that ended up being, well, not so tight.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Progress Pond and Outside the Beltway
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The Fox News GOP Debate Could Draw the Biggest Audience in Cable News History — and Roger Ailes Is Making All the Rules — “Crazy stuff! You have a TV executive deciding who is in — and out — of a presidential debate! ” — Shares
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Politico, Poynter., Raw Story and UnionLeader.com


MSNBC cancels three shows amid transition — MSNBC has formally decided to cancel three programs — “The Cycle,” “Now with Alex Wagner” and “The Ed Show” — as part of a larger effort to shift its daytime lineup away from opinion programming, network sources told the On Media blog on Thursday.
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Mediaite, PoliticusUSA and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

New Hampshire Voters Explain the Appeal of Donald Trump — A Bloomberg Politics focus group of Donald Trump supporters in the Granite State helps illuminate the billionaire's rise in the polls. — t writerknowles — Donald Trump is a brand, and his New Hampshire supporters are itching to buy it.
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Progress Pond, SaintPetersBlog, Shakesville, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Business Insider
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Trump's immigration plan: Deport the undocumented, ‘legal status’ for some — Story highlights — (CNN)Donald Trump, the Republican presidential hopeful who shot up to the head of the pack over his controversial comments about illegal immigrants, is finally starting to lay out an immigration policy.
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Opposing Views, Liberaland, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Hot Air, America's Voice and Hullabaloo

Bring on the Cattle Cars, the Police State!
Discussion:
CNN and America's Voice


Facts in Clinton's ‘secret’ emails came from five intelligence agencies — Revelations put Clinton in the cross-hairs of a broadening inquiry into whether she mishandled classified information — Officials reviewed five classified emails and determined that they included information from five intelligence agencies
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Guardian, American Spectator, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon and Politico
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Judge explodes over Hillary email delays
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Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon and BizPac Review


AP Investigation: Olympic teams to swim, boat in Rio's filth — 24 photos — RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Athletes in next year's Summer Olympics here will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games …
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Guardian, Mashable, NBC News, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Just Sayin', SBNation.com and Press Association
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Jon Stewart opens up on ‘secret’ White House visits — “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is opening up about his “secret” White House meetings with President Obama, revealing that they were far more sinister than initially reported. — “It was a roundtable meeting with the president …
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Daily Mail and Sun-Times National
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THE DAILY SHOW PRODUCERS ON JON STEWART'S LAST SHOW: 'DONALD TRUMP IS NOT COMING ON THE SHOW
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FishbowlDC and Sun-Times National

Canary in Coal Mine: Trouble Ahead for Poll Leaders Trump and Clinton — The two presidential candidates rated as least favorable, most untrustworthy, and least likely to care about the needs and problems of regular folks are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and they are leading their respective party primaries.
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Associated Press and The Hill
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James Woods Sues Twitter User for $10 Million Over “Cocaine Addict” Accusation — The actor files a defamation lawsuit against an individual who replied to his tweets about Barack Obama and Caitlyn Jenner. — Incivility on social media seems to be a regular occurrence …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Guardian, BizPac Review and Mashable

After Firedoglake — As many of you know, Firedoglake has been on hiatus for eight months while I recovered from hip replacement surgery. During that time I've been contemplating what the next chapter should be for the website. After some personal reflection, I have decided to pass …
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skippy the bush kangaroo


Senate sends three-month highway bill to Obama — The Senate on Thursday approved an $8 billion extension of federal transportation funding, sending it to President Obama's desk with just one day to go before the nation's road and transit spending expires. — The bill, which extends …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and The PJ Tatler


Donald Trump: Number one with Hispanics and expecting to win — POLITICKING WITH COTTON CANDY: The early caucus state of Iowa's famed annual state fair turns into a political showcase every fourth year as candidates in party primaries vie for the kind of attention a helicopter can easily deliver
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Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics and Mashable


Santa Cruz: Disturbing details emerge about suspect, how Maddy Middleton died — SANTA CRUZ — When they first got word that he was a murder suspect, those who watched 15-year-old Adrian Jerry “A.J."Gonzalez grow up before their eyes at the Tannery Arts Center held out hope.
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Los Angeles Times, KTLA, Daily Mail, Washington Post, KFOR-TV, New York Times and KRON4.com


‘What lion?’ Zimbabweans ask, amid global Cecil circus — As social media exploded with outrage this week at the killing of Cecil the lion, the untimely passing of the celebrated predator at the hands of an American dentist went largely unnoticed in the animal's native Zimbabwe.
Discussion:
petitions.whitehouse.gov, Joe. My. God., Mediaite and The Daily Caller