memeorandum: Rand Paul remains on main debate stage (Hadas Gold/Politico)

1:50 PM ET, December 13, 2015

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

A top Democratic opposition research group says it won't go after Marco Rubio — but why? — After an early career as a conservative operative dedicated to bringing down Bill Clinton, David Brock has emerged as one of the top guys in the world of Democratic-aligned fundraising, messaging, and opposition research.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico and RedState

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Rand Paul remains on main debate stage — Rand Paul will be on the main stage at Tuesday's GOP presidential debate in Las Vegas after CNN apparently tweaked its criteria to add a ninth podium for the Kentucky senator, the network announced Sunday. — The candidates who will be on the main stage are …

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider, Political Wire and The Right Scoop

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Cruz, Trump ahead in Iowa, Clinton holds caucus lead — Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are the top two candidates Iowa Republican caucus-goers say are the most qualified to handle the top two issues facing the country — the economy and national security.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Political Wire and The Right Scoop

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Trump attacks Cruz: ‘A little bit of a maniac’ — GOP front-runner Donald Trump attacked Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unqualified to be president, arguing his fellow conservative insurgent has been too intransigent to get things done. — “I don't think he's qualified to be president,” …

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Podesta to donors: Cruz is likely GOP nominee — Donald Trump's apparent belief that the Republican primary contest is now a two-person race between himself and Ted Cruz isn't exactly shared at the top of Hillary Clinton's campaign. — Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta handicapped …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and The Right Scoop

Bradford Richardson / The Hill: Trump expecting shots from Cruz

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:
Cruz Soars to Front of the Pack in Iowa Poll; Trump Support Stays Flat

Discussion: ABC News, Independent Journal, Bloomberg View, Prairie Weather, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Trump Leads National GOP Horserace, Cruz Surges Into 2nd Place

Discussion: Political Wire and The Right Scoop

Des Moines Register:
Last Slide — Cruz is now leading with two critical blocs …

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, CNN, Washington Post, The Right Scoop, Slantpoint, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Althouse, Outside the Beltway, National Review and RedState

Economist:

Playing with fear — In America and Europe, right-wing populist politicians are on the march. The threat is real — From the print edition — POPULISTS have a new grievance. For many years, on both sides of the Atlantic, they have thrived on the belief that a selfish elite cannot …

Discussion: Instapundit

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:

How Well Do You Know Religion? — Donald Trump's proposal to bar Muslims from America may be a gift to ISIS recruitment and a grotesque echo of the sentiment behind the Chinese Exclusion Act and the internment of Japanese-Americans. But, like those earlier spasms of exclusion, the Trump proposal has plenty of supporters.

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

NY Times Editors Continue War on Reality — The Times editors - yes, the folks who recently linked to an Onion wanna-be for factual support - continue their editorializing on guns, and the issue is far too important to let tedious facts get in their way: — Despair Over Gun Deaths Is Not an Option

New York Times: Despair Over Gun Deaths Is Not an Option

New York Times:

U.S. Visa Process Missed San Bernardino Wife's Zealotry on Social Media — WASHINGTON — Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband carried out the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., passed three background checks by American immigration officials as she moved to the United States from Pakistan.

Discussion: National Review, Pamela Geller, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Althouse, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Carson doubles down on threat to leave the GOP — Ben Carson doubled down on his stance that he will leave the GOP if party elite are planning to mount a floor fight at the nominating convention. — “Well, one of the reasons that I got into this is because I heard the frustration in the people …

Discussion: Political Wire

Paul Sperry / New York Post:

They're ‘so nice,’ until they get religion and want to kill us — 'We see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers," President Obama said while addressing the nation in the wake of the latest homegrown massacre at the hands of Muslims.

Beth Brelje / Pocono Record:

Police shoot and kill armed man in East Stroudsburg Walmart — A man armed with two handguns and a machete was shot and killed inside the East Stroudsburg Walmart on Saturday night, according to state police. — The 20-year-old white male entered the Walmart, on Lincoln Avenue …

Discussion: ABC News

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Trump: I can't wash my hair properly because of water regs — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says water regulations from the are making it difficult for him to keep his famed mane clean. — Asked about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) “Waters of the United States” …

Discussion: Politico, Booman Tribune and Talking Points Memo