memeorandum: Trump: Fellow Republicans are ‘jealous as hell’ of Putin's praise (Jenna Johnson/Washington Post)

4:55 AM ET, December 20, 2015

Top Items:

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

14 key moments from the Democratic debate — There were only three candidates on the stage in the latest Democratic presidential debate, but each had plenty of big moments as they argued about taxes on the middle class, intervention abroad, and the safety of their campaign data.

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg.com news, Yahoo Politics, NPR, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, TIME and Daily Kos

Amy Dacey / Medium:

Here's what happened with NGP VAN, the Sanders Campaign, and the Clinton Campaign — And here are the steps we are taking to address the problem — The Democratic National Committee, through its software partner NGP VAN, provides tools for Democratic campaigns that are invaluable and second to none.

Discussion: New York Times, Mashable and Politico

Bloomberg Business:

Data Breach Takes Back Seat to Fights Over Foreign Policy and Finance in Democratic Debate — Democratic debate comes on the heels of a major blowup between the campaigns of the two leading contenders. — jeneps — Foreign policy and domestic finance fueled the fiercest disagreements …

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Slate, ABC News and Politico

Politico:

The POLITICO Wrongometer — POLITICO's analysis of where the Democratic field stretched the truth, steered around some inconvenient facts, or just plain got it wrong. — Hillary's bold new education plan? Not so bold — Hillary Clinton said during tonight's presidential debate …

Discussion: Vox, Slate and The Right Scoop

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:

An Explanation of What Bernie Sanders Staffers Actually Did and Why It Matters — After a spat lasting just over 24 hours, it appears that the top news story of the day is already resolving itself: the DNC has come to an agreement to return voter database access to the Bernie Sanders campaign …

Discussion: Salon, Hot Air, The Mahablog, Washington Post, Towleroad, Mother Jones, Liberal Values, TIME, PoliticusUSA, addictinginfo.org, Althouse and Power Line

ABC News:

Sanders Apologizes to Clinton Over Accessing Voter Data — Bernie Sanders apologized to Hillary Clinton in the third Democratic debate hosted by ABC News after his staffers accessed Clinton's voter data. “Yes, I apologize,” he said when asked whether Clinton was owed an apology.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Associated Press, Politico, abc13.com, Bloomberg.com news, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo: Clinton: Trump ‘Is Becoming ISIS’ Best Recruiter'

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Amid DNC dust-up, Sanders raises $1 million in a single day, campaign associate says

Discussion: Political Wire and Independent Journal

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
O'Malley: Clinton ‘Shamefully’ Used 9/11 To Hide ‘Cozy’ Wall Street Ties

Discussion: The Week

ABC News:
Transcript for Democrats Debate What Should Take Priority: Ousting Assad or Fighting ISIS?

Discussion: Politico

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Sanders gets the fight he wanted

Discussion: hillaryclinton.com, ABC News, PoliticusUSA and abc13.com

ABC News:
ABC News Third Democratic Debate: New Hampshire Edition

Discussion: Bloomberg.com news, abc13.com, Politico and Common Dreams

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Some Big Picture Thoughts on the Sanders/DNC Derp War

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Dem rivalry takes nasty turn

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:
DNC, Sanders reach deal restoring access to voter data

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, ABC News, Politico, Political Wire, Bloomberg.com news, Hot Air and Mediaite

Larry Diamond / The Atlantic:

What Is America Fighting For? … The United States has been at war with ISIS for more than a year, and with Islamic extremism for nearly a decade and a half. But beyond defending the homeland against terrorism, U.S. leaders have not offered a compelling answer to this vital question: What is it that America is fighting for?

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Trump: Fellow Republicans are ‘jealous as hell’ of Putin's praise — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Saturday that anyone who criticizes the warm compliments he has swapped with Russian President Vladimir Putin is simply “jealous as hell.”

Discussion: Political Wire, Politico, addictinginfo.org, Mashable, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Mediaite, RedState and Raw Story

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Trump Doubles Down On Putin Love, Says There's “A Lot Of Truth” To U.S. Killing People

Discussion: alan.com

Benjamin Oreskes / Politico:
GOP gobsmacked by Trump's warm embrace of Putin

Discussion: whorunsGov

CBS News:

Ted Cruz to air parody ad during “SNL” — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is planning to air a parody commercial in Iowa during “Saturday Night Live,” just weeks before the nation's first nominating contest in the state. — “In the spirit of the upcoming holiday we are excited …

Benny Johnson / Independent Journal:
Watch the Campy Christmas Infomercial Ted Cruz Is About To Play During SNL

Discussion: Hot Air and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Oliver Darcy / TheBlaze.com:
Watch the Christmas Parody Infomercial the Ted Cruz Campaign Has Paid to Air During ‘SNL’

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Liberal Values, No More Mister Nice Blog, Western Journalism and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Oliver Darcy / TheBlaze.com:

Photo of Ben Carson Holding Sign With Two-Word Message Goes Viral: ‘Not Afraid to Say...’ — A photo of 2016 Republican presidential contender Ben Carson holding a “Merry Christmas” sign went viral Friday evening on Facebook. — Carson's post had amassed more than 450,000 “likes” and nearly 32,000 shares at the time of publication.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Western Journalism

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Trump jumps, Cruz climbs, Carson sinks in GOP race

Discussion: Daily Mail, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Public Policy Polling, Outside the Beltway and Boston Herald

Daily Mail:

Bullring ‘bomb plot’: New image found on Paris jihadi's phone points to plan by terror cell to target Birmingham shopping centre — The evil mastermind behind the Paris terror attacks had a photograph of one of Britain's busiest shopping centres on his mobile phone, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Pamela Geller

Awr Hawkins / Breitbart:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Executive Order or Not, 'I'm Not Surrendering the Guns' — On December 18, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio referenced President Obama's pending executive action on gun control and said executive order or not, guns will not be surrendered.

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Right

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Jeb Bush: ‘Donald Trump is a jerk’ — Contoocook, New Hampshire (CNN)While Jeb Bush has been railing against Donald Trump all week, he still had more to say on Saturday, uttering perhaps his strongest comments yet about the Republican presidential front-runner.